IDC 4O - Media Studies

Pac Man (1980)      As a game, Pac-Man is an incredibly well-designed masterpiece, iconic and influential to video games in countless ways. At it's core, Pac-Man is an incredibly simple and accessible to people of all ages; it's controlled only with the joystick and before you even start controlling Pac-Man he's already eating dots and teaching the player how to play. The ghosts are obviously the bad guys, and the only remaining element on the screen, the giant Pac-Dots, can be experimented with with little risk on the first level. The game teaches the player and within seconds, anyone can pick up and play the game due to this simplicity. Designed to be simple.      Now, the dangers of making a game simple is that it risks becoming monotonous and boring after a couple of levels. The layout of the board never actually changes, so the only real variety that comes with each level is the fruits that show up for bonus points. The game SHOULD get bo...

Black Mirror: S3E4 "San Junipero"      No matter what age you are, I feel like death is always a weird thing to think about. Although it's typically reserved for the elderly, death is an all-encompassing and unavoidable part of life than can really affect anyone at any given moment. As a teenager, it's easy for me to forget this; I typically only associate death with old people, and (although this may seem heartless) I don't usually feel that sad when the elderly die-- I always assume that they had lived fulfilling lives which simply had to come to a natural conclusion. As a result, I've built this disconnect between myself and people beyond their golden years; it's fine that they die because that's just what old people do. Death is just one of...The Facts of Life      I don't think this revelation is entirely my own fault. I have very rarely seen old people humanized in media, and whenever I see older characters they're typically ...

            When we first got into this game, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the hyper realistic details of the characters. They obviously didn’t look human, and even though the graphics were just imperfect enough to kind of strike that into that uncanny valley line, I thought it worked for the androids, who purposely mimic human behaviour. Unfortunately, minus their mannerisms, the humans and androids are basically indistinguishable, which does not bode well for the equally uncanny valley human beings. It’s almost perfect, but not quite. Although I typically prefer stylized graphics (since I think in general they age better [see: cartoony Legend of Zelda Wind Waker vs dated Twilight Princess, which both came out on GameCube around the same time]) I feel like they would clash with the grittier realism that the story tries to portray. It’s also harder to be scary (see Zlatik from Toy Story and his monstrosity machin...

I think it’s incredibly fair for Detroit: Become Human to have an M Rating. It deals with heavy themes, including lots of violence and murder (somehow in every character’s arc but especially in Connor’s, the literal homicide investigator), characters like Lieutenant Anderson who swear constantly, signs of alcoholism and drug use (whatever Red Ice), and domestic abuse (including both child and elder abuse). The game also deals with heavy themes of identity along with intense and consequential decision making that younger audiences may not be…mature enough to handle. I don’t think this game would appeal to many kids or younger teens in the first place, and even though it doesn’t involve humans I think the junkyard scene would be traumatizing as well. I can’t imagine this game receiving anything less than a 17+ rating.

            Detroit: Become Human is very different from the types of games that I typically look for and play. In general, I don’t look for games that put the story and cutscenes first (all I really have is a Wii and a DS, and Nintendo isn’t known for these deeper and complex stories), and when I play video games, I’ll usually do it passively, and with the sound off. That being said, I’m not against these story based games, just unfamiliar with them. I think this game is very ambitious with its storyline, and the ability to have multiple storylines based on the decisions of the character really lends well to enhancing the experience. It presents an intricate and extensive world that is interesting to explore and feels like more than just a vessel for gameplay. The near future aspect, although I’m sure it will become dated in the future, brings an interesting perspective that comments on current technological tre...