WATCH_DOGS

[Ross_Varn]

I'm watching the E3 live coverage. Sequel after sequel after - Internet Explorer on the 360 - after sequel, and it isn't looking like anything interesting. The Old Republic goes FTP in July, the WiiU is officially announced, and it doesn't look like there's much in store for interesting gaming, despite all the "innovative" and "boundary-pushing" buzzwords being flung around, with every developer touting their shinily named physics engines as stuff blows up on screen. Meh.

And then Ubisoft's director steps out on stage with the final announcement of their panel.

"We've created a brand new IP.

WATCH_DOGS."

Chicago has installed a mainframe, ctOS, that controls every element of the city. You've hacked it. You literally have the city in your pocket, on your phone. And you're about to take it on from within.

Everything is connected. Connection is power.

And everything is beautiful again.

[Arkbrik]

Huh, an interesting game.

[mgb519]

I'd buy it.

[Tzan]

Grand Theft Data

[Blitzen]

Ugggghhhhhhhhhhhhh. That trailer was awful. Why are people afraid of data collection? Why are people afraid of companies advertising to them? Preying on fear of the future is such old hat. It's not 1899 anymore.

[Ross_Varn]

It's still a fear that applies to a lot of people, though, so of course it's entertaining!

[mgb519]

Ugggghhhhhhhhhhhhh. That trailer was awful. Why are people afraid of data collection? Why are people afraid of companies advertising to them? Preying on fear of the future is such old hat. It's not 1899 anymore.

Stop complaining and watch the gameplay.

[Blitzen]

Yes, it's very pretty. But the concept of some guy with a cellphone being the most dangerous thing in existence rubs me the wrong way.

[mgb519]

Well it's not just that he's a guy with a cell phone. He's obviously equipped with a mother-lode of software to screw everyone over. Properly realistic? Hell, it's cyberpunk, so deal with it. But if you could make it so all the lights at an intersection go green all of a sudden, you could absolutely cause a massive car wreck.

[Blitzen]

I never said it's unrealistic. I just don't like the implications of the concept, from a philosophical point of view.

[Ross_Varn]

Hey, he's only hacking over Chicago. It's a matter of perspective.

pfft no I know what you mean, but Big Brother worries me a bit more than a vigilante on the street, from the philosophical side of things.

[Blitzen]

Have you ever read 1984? Big Brother isn't a product of technology. It's a product of... other things. Social things. Creepy omnipresent organization things.

I think the fear of "Big Brother" comes from the structure of the internet. We feel safe here because we are relatively anonymous. We can be assholes to each other because it harbors no real-life consequences. We can walk away from here and never come back, if we want to. But when internet companies get our personal information, it becomes invasive. People ask what the companies will do with that information. Sell it? Use it? I can assure you that no company will track you down, individually, for the sole purpose of doing you harm. The actual purpose (and real value) of personal demographical information is for advertising. It's companies harnessing data to place ads more efficiently, to get a sale. They do this already, or at least they try to do it. Business as usual. You only have to be afraid if you already can't control your own wallet.

You can't actually be controlled by an intangible outside force. It's all in the mind.

[Ross_Varn]

Yes, it's all in your mind, but speculative fiction like 1984 wonder what it would be like if one of those companies, or, god forbid, the government, decided that all that personal information out there can be used to keep track of your every move, and if you do something off-kilter, bam, consequences. It's much like the cultural influence of the zombie apocalypse, in that manner. It's just one of the possible Bad Endings we think up that gnaw on the corner of our minds, because we can see the way it could happen, although it'll never happen like the stereotype thinks.

[Zupponn]

I'm actually more afraid of hackers gaining all that information.

[Scottsman]

To be fair, he can only influence the infrastructure. While this is still pretty potent (blocking comunications, identifying people, monitering calls, messing with stoplights, messing with bridges) it does have its limits. When they came looking for him, he ran, because he isn't omnipotent, even with all that, because there is enough of a human element. People will still act like people, all he can do is manipulate the enviroment. But enough with the seriousness. I wonder what you could actually do with some of those powers. The train control one doesn't seem very usefull, but you never know. I would like to see how much havoc one could cause without even getting out a batton.