For this week's tutorial we are to write or re-write an article relating to a form of
cyberpunk. The category I have chosen is the "fusion of man and machine." Many movies have put forward this kind of movement in technology with movies such as I Robot, Terminator etc. A current news story that can relate back to this form of evolving technology is with the addiction of the game, Sims. The article has been inserted below.
EA Denies "Sims Addiction"- Lies to Congress – Ignores the Evolution of Man and Machine becoming one.
REDWOOD CITY, CA- Since its launch in November, The Sims Online has shot straight to the top of the top seller lists, leaving a trail of broken families and shattered lives in its path. The game where players control a number of virtual humans has ensnared thousands of real people in its mind-numbing web. All the while Electronic Arts, the game's maker, continues to maintain that the ceaseless, pixel-pushing drudgery of The Sims Online is nothing more than a fun escape from the very real drudgery of everyday life. Still, the Federal Trade Commission is looking into allegations that the game is "dangerous and addictive," and several consumer advocates have called for the title to be banned. Furthermore, the Sims games shows how technology is slowly moving towards the idea of man and machine coming together either in virtual or real reality. This movement will be the start of a massive addication that will greatly effect society and EA continues to ignore this fact and instead, they encourage it.
Last month Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst testified before a Congressional committee that The Sims is not addictive and it doesn’t influence the thought of virtual reality and the becoming of what technology maybe and that such a notion is, in his words "dunder-headed." However, the story didn't end there. Last week, a leaked memo from deep within EA indicated that the company has known for years just how addictive the game really is and that it actually designed The Sims Online to enhance the addictive and influential nature of their product. Once this came to light, EA executives were again called before Congress and threatened with purgery charges. Probst denied that The Sims Online is habit-forming and then went on to deny his previous testimony. Committee members reminded the executive that we was under oath and not to be so defensive.
"I wouldn't characterize my statements as defensive, Mr. Congressman," Probst told the committee. "With all due respect, I submit that your behavior has been more than a little antagonistic."
As this debate over the addication of this virtual games rages on, the effects of the disorder can be seen everywhere. Some at the Centers for Disease Control are seriously thinking of classifying it as an epidemic. Todd Harpum, a counselor at an area behavioral rehabilitation center, says he has seen over a hundred patients in the past month, all suffering from this same addiction. "We had a similar event during the Tetris outbreak of the late 80's. This looks several times worse."
Though some may dismiss it, this addiction is as real as any other physical dependency. But this kind of addiction isn’t just about a “fun escape from the everyday lifestyle,” it is also pushing boundaries and technology into evoloving the ways of technology ruling our human lives. This can be related to the movie, Surrogates. This is movie is set in the future where humans control and interact through their surrogate robots. It puts forward an idea of safety of living and controling their robots in their perfect society. However, trouble comes knocking on there door when murders of surrogates start appearing in this faultless environment.
A trailer of the movie is below:
This movie shows what the technology could become. Man and machine becoming one and this addiction through the Sims Online game can be the starting point of this masked reality. A perfect and safe society can only last so long before it becomes unreal. Sims is that type of game. A virtual game that will never jump out from the computer screen, but the addictors tell a different story. Their own lives become slowly affected and taken over by their addiction.
The addictors start with periods of lost time and obsessive behaviors associated with problem Simming can affect work, home, and family life. Health experts point to statistics for the period immediately following the online game's release and predict a baby bust in the fall of 2003 owing to the fact that so many people have lost their interest in interaction with fleshy humans in favor of pixel-based ones. In short, people have stopped having sex.
"The issue of whether EA lied to Congress about Sims Addiction is nothing more than a distraction," argues consumer advocate Ralph Nader. "What we really need is a way to help people quit."
Quitting or decreasing the number of people addicated to this game would be better for society, but EA will try to win them back with newer and better products. However, several companies have offered to manufacture dongle devices to automatically quit the game after a predetermined amount of time: first three hours, then two, then one. Proponents of the system say that within a few weeks, a player could become completely free of Sims cravings.
Unfortunately, several Sims addicts in the test group simply went out and bought new computers. As if that weren't enough, Electronic Arts claimed that the after-market products violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and had the dongle makers hanged.
On Monday, GlaxoSmithKilne announced that a Sims cessation aid is in the pipeline and should be on store shelves by the fall. The product, which will likely come in the form of a skin-adhesive patch, will slowly release a feeling of belonging and God-like power throughout the day. However, officials at the FDA are concerned that the patch itself may become far more dangerous and addictive than the game itself. Cause a patch making you feel powerful will be so much better than living and becoming addicted to a virutal reality game, right?
The choice is up to you really, but society should be cautious in the steps they take with the evolution of the technology that they will or will be creating.
The article reflects on this issue greatly. My own editing is written in purple and the original article can be found through this website: http://www.ridiculopathy.com/news_detail.php?id=742
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