Theory

[icycalm]

This is the official Insomnia "message manufacturing" thread. Let's show the fags we can pump this shit out with the best of them!

8bit, you can take ANY mechanic from ANY stupid game and affix ANY "meaning" onto it, in the same way you can take any modernist abortion and find an infinity of hidden messages. Street Fighter? That your super meter builds as you get hit is a "message" that "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger", that the game is divided into rounds implies that life will always give you a second chance, and so on ad infinitum. Guess what? Street Fighter manges to be really ****ing fun to play, too (oh, wait, I forgot, that disqualifies it from being art, right, lol).

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/gen ... ost3885411

[Icemael]

The Gears of War series is a metaphor for a traumatized person recovering from depression. The Emergence Day represents a trauma, after which the entire world seems broken, gray and depressing. The weapons represent medication used to overcome the Locust, the negative thoughts that relentlessly attack the traumatized's mind, while the boss fights represent therapy sessions, and the squad represents his loved ones, who support him throughout his recovery and pull him back to life at points where he gets dangerously close to committing suicide. Dom is, in reality, Marcus' brother, and his wife had a similar depression, which lead to her death (represented in the game by her dying because of the Locust -- Dom finishing her off shows how part of him blames himself for her death) -- this makes Dom's resolve to help Marcus fight his demons even stronger, as he couldn't bear to lose another family member to the "Locust". The change in environments throughout the series, from completely gray in the first game, to slightly more colourful in the second, and green and bright in the third, represents Marcus' gradual healing. The triumphs at the end of the first and second game (the blowing up of large parts of the Locust army, and the flooding of their caves) represent major breakthroughs at therapy sessions. The mutating Lambent represent the imperfections of modern psychotherapy and medication -- though it does help, it can also cause psychological issues to morph and take on new forms.

As for the combat system: cover represents things Marcus does to temporarily escape from reality -- listen to music, meditate and so on -- so as to move away from thoughts of suicide (represented by damage). Active reloading represent the taking of medication: when he takes the right amount of pills, the fight against depression gets easier, and when he takes too few or too many, things only get worse. The little meter in the upper right corner showing the proper timing for active reloading is the doctor's prescription.

And voilà: Gears of War is now art! Right up there with Braid, Passage and Silent Hill 2! At long last, hipsters can enjoy chainsawing Locust to death without feeling guilty because they're playing something without "psychological depth" or "room for thought-provoking interpretations" or whatever it is they like to call their bullshit!

[BrianDawkins]

Video poker is all about the randomness and harshness of life. The player feels like he's in control. He thinks he can just play the odds and expect to win some money over several hands. But sometimes, the cards just don't fall his way. And he has to live with that.

The reason that video poker is better than poker with real cards is that video poker has a computerized, randomized dealer. This type of procedural generation is far superior to "shuffling," because the player has to trust that the computer isn't screwing him over.

In the end, any observant and sensitive player will gain new insight into relationship between luck and materialism.

[Worm]

Much joking has been made of the visual elements present in Shigeru Miyamoto's 1985 interactive installation Super Mario Bros. With mushrooms, flying turtles, and surreal landscapes, superficial analysis commonly "reveals" that the message of the work is "obviously" about drugs, or more generally, about hallucinations. And of course we have the tedious literalists that continue to bleat and insist that it is "about" saving a princess. However, such shallow investigations small-mindedly focus on what is present in the installation instead of what is reflected in it, which is the flaws of us, its human audience.

Of notable poignancy is the coin-collecting mechanic, in which we tirelessly prance and cavort in an effort to seize those shiny baubles, which are often tantalizingly presented just out of easy reach. But what is our reward for all this running and jumping? Only the nullification of achievement as the counter passes 99 and rolls back around to 0, returning us to the beginning of our Sisyphean task. This cruel blow nearly crushes us with the gravity of its message: that such monetary pursuits are not productive, are not desirable, and are not life. In fact they are as empty as the zeroes that appear when the cycle begins anew. Yet, the installation does affirm this behavior by bestowing a 1-up as our progress is reset. And we might well ask, what therefore are the coins if not life?

The distinction is subtle, for a 1-up is not life but an extra life. It is a chance to try again. And with this boon comes the gentle insistence that we wake up and realize what we are living for. It is not the trinkets that we collect, but the progress that we make. There is no going back, neither in Super Mario Bros. nor in reality. It is our continued determination in the face of death, our one-way march towards danger and discovery, that propels us onward to our final end. The 1-up merely allows us to go further down the path before that end comes.

In short, Super Mario Bros. is an affirmation of all the nobility and tragedy of the human spirit. It masterfully captures both our highest goals and our pettiest compulsions. Super Mario Bros. offers a truly human resonance, and no mushrooms are needed to grasp its messages.

[icycalm]

Utterly hilarious. If you can throw in a couple of extra paragraphs we can use it for the Artistic Art section. You'll be ghostwriting as Leigh Rogers, of course...

There's no rush -- just saying. If you ever feel like adding a couple of extra paragraphs I'll be glad to use it.

[faceplant]

The Zelda Rupee



There is an infinite amount of meaning in the Zelda Rupee. It's meaning and genius cannot be contained in mere words, but this mortal will try anyway. Try and break himself against the impenetrable rock that is the Zelda Rupee. At most, I can say this was a noble sacrifice.

Those who have read my previous essay, "The ramifications for social justice on the placement of tile 1F in the title screen of Duck Hunt" will know well that this is a topic to take with the utmost seriousness. Truly, the information gleaned here is vital to the survival of the human race as a whole.

The first row, one white pixel and one orange pixel, represent the light and darkness of the eternal soul that persists in the hearts and minds of every person on the planet. And believe me when I say we are just getting started delving into the depths of this unparalleled masterpiece.

The next two rows, represent strife and dissonance, as the gulf and number between the pixels widens and creates a sense of definite tension, as if the pixels themselves could split apart at any moment and collapse into nothingness. The agony! The pain and despair! Truly all the world's "Realist" paintings could not hold a candle to the arrangement of these pixels.

The 4th row represents the congruent merging of all the world's races into one harmonious sparkling white destiny of peace, harmony and love. It's mixing of white and orange cannot be described in mere words - one merely needs to look upon it and gaze into it's infinite depths of meaning and resonance in the hearts of all men and women, nay, hearts of all living things that have ever existed! Even though bacteria lack hearts, I am sure even they can appreciate it on some level.

The next seven rows are the seven pillars of infinite justice, spelled out for all to see. If you can't see it, well, I suppose you'd just have to kill yourself out of shame. There is no room in the Zelda Rupee's new utopia of infinite peace, love and justice for nay-sayers.

The next row, a perfect inversion of the 4th row, represents the yin and yang of all creation. Do not be confused for this row's form on the Zelda Cereal box, however, as it was modified and thus was ruined what could have been the perfect breakfast cereal to ever have been created.

Finally, the final rows represent perfect peace and harmony as the orange color floods the pixelscape for a finale of beauty. Please do not ask why it does not have any white pixels, you just don't understand.

And then, we have the Zelda 3 rupees. Ugh! Truly whoever made these understood nothing about the genius of the originals, as they've been stripped of all meaning and look like ugly little blobs of refraction, light and color. They actually almost resemble a real thing, if you look at it the right way. It even has a shadow, of all things! Just disgusting. Obviously, whoever made these abominations will burn in the lowest levels of hell for all eternity. Not to mention, there are three Rupees, instead of just two. And three is just not a good number. I don't like it. Don't ask why, you may inadvertently release some deep childhood trauma I never knew about until now.

But let us forget about this for now, and go back to the Zelda Rupee as a whole work.

When you collect the Zelda Rupee in-game, the sound it makes, could be compared to 10,000 newborn doves crying out for the first time. It also acts as the sound that's made when you make a selection in the menu screen, justifying it's worth as a choice everyone can (and should) make.

There are at least 1,000 more pages to go, so I'll stop here. Needless to say, when it is finished, it will be the greatest message of all time.

[Worm]

If you can throw in a couple of extra paragraphs we can use it for the Artistic Art section.

Thanks. It was fun to write, but I'd need another flash of inspired bullshit to add anything. If I come up with something, I'll let you know.