A pocket full of poses, yes it is an old song, apparently created around 1898. It was a song about the seemingly bliss of the created song referring to the plague as said in “Since the Second World War, the rhyme has often been associated with the Great Plague of 1665 in England or with earlier outbreaks of the bubonic plague in England.” There are voices for and against that resolution. Yet in 2012 Ndemic games gave us “The game was inspired by the 2011 film Contagion and the 2008 browser game Pandemic 2”, I saw the movie, loved it and I got the game on my android in the early days. But what happens when we get some serious power?
We might think it is a joke, but there is an interesting setting between gaming and exploration, this is not some setting to make people ‘fearful’ but the setting that there are larger stages to be played, also gives us the optional settings that there are things that not everyone thinks of. I usually get the game to wipe out humanity in about 300 days, all 8 billion of them. In two cases I was unable to do that and the few people in Greenland that were not infected avoiding the stage of arthritis (read: early onset rigor mortis) and I failed the game, a mere 99.34% achieved.
The game allows for deployment in several settings as well as the interesting setting that the game in March 2013, the game went on to win multiple categories of the Pocket Gamer Awards, including Overall Game of the Year. It has been downloaded has been downloaded over 160,000,000 times, as of May 2021. That is the prime setting they are working with. If a successful game sells over 30 million times, so what is the greed driven revenue appeal for a game with 500% of that?
That is the setting that is out there, a game with the premise to be one of the most successful in history. When we consider the larger implication that a PC (or Playstation 5) can compute hundreds times faster and correlate thousands times faster. We know that both can give us much more on a 55” screen, but what if the larger players give Ndemic games the tools to make a groundbreaking product? What happens when the science boffins make this a new style of game? A game set on informing the people and show them that this game is to illustrate, not to create chaos. Michael Crichton did a stellar job of that when he completed The Andromeda Strain in 1969. I saw the movie in 1972, a year after it was release. I also saw the mini series of that title (2008). So there is a larger interest, but after the 2011 version of Contagion by Steven Soderbergh the people are taking a more scientific minded thinking pattern, but according to Clarence Boddicker (played by Kurtwood Smith) tells us that good business is where you find it and 160,000,000 players is a strong message. So what happens when when the game has an easy mode and an authentic mode? What happens when the true techies add some of their magic to a game? Will that open up a larger setting of awareness? We got technology from TV series (mobile phase, kindle and a few other settings decades ahead of their design. What happens when we breed awareness though games? Not the setting of RPG’s but the spark created through games that might alert some with ideas on fighting biohazards. It is merely an idea, but what did we consider the thoughts of Gene Roddenberry to be when he created Star Trek around 1964? In the meantime that original created spinoffs and the originals is still seen as magic 60 years later. The spark of creativity has the longest reach when the right people apply it.
We see one side of a picture, but the larger view, what does it hold? What if the game designers spark the scientific boffins to think different? What if it fuels the creativity of the next generation?
All good questions and not all handing the required answers, but that is the field of creativity. It goes in unpredicted ways. At present we are given “Biological hazards, also known as biohazards, are organic substances that pose a threat to the health of humans and other living organisms. Generally speaking, biological hazards include pathogenic micro-organisms, viruses, toxins (from biological sources), spores, fungi and bio- active substances.” So did anyone thought that the spark of creativity might someday include “toxins (from digital sources)” we are all so driven to become part of the internet, it is only time until we get informed through the spread from digital sources. As such a smart wearable system (SWS) is an end-to-end integrated and connected system. Did anyone consider that it could be the transmitter of systems? As such the ‘old’ line of “Sensor nodes can monitor a.o. body location, motion & posture, body vital signs and local context. Actuator nodes can influence properties of the worn items, e.g. in order to protect the wearer from risks, or provide wearer with feedback/recommendations.” As we have learned (over decades) that the setting of “Actuator nodes can influence properties of the worn items, e.g. in order to protect the wearer from risks” is the first step in the setting of “worn items could influence the actuator nodes of the worn items, e.g. in order to infect the wearer towards risks”, so when will that happen?
A setting from a game that could start creativity is the stepping stone to more. In that case the setting of influence was given to us in H+: The Digital Series (2012), A series produced by Bryan Singer and created by John Cabrera and Cosimo De Tommaso. Until the season finale on January 16, 2013. I always hoped it would be a mini series shown on the bigger screen (TV), and this is now a mere stepping stone away from realism. All this and human culling too? Well tune in next week when we hear nurse piggy say “Et toi Kermit?” It seems basic and apt to include the gen that Jim Henson gave us with The Muppet Show in 1974.
We are having a great day I say, as such you have a good one too and please enjoy The Muppet Show, The Andromeda Strain, H+ (YouTube) and Contagion this week and see where your creativity leads you.
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 