[lbo-talk] Down the Rabbit Hole

[dredmond at efn.org]

Though the new Matrix videogame bombed, as genre-crossing spin-offs are wont to
do, a much more ambitious multiplayer version is on the way: 

http://thematrixonline.warnerbros.com/index2.html?movie=about

On the plus side: the PC developer in question, Monolith Productions, has a
solid track record of producing quirky but entertaining PC games (Shogo and No
One Lives Forever). On the minus side: the FAQ mentions a monthly licensing fee. 

In all honesty, I have mixed feelings about all this. The Matrix flicks are a
huge step forwards from the horrid tripe of Star Wars or Aliens, sci-fi
narratives which are saturated with virulently neocon ideologies; there are
positive, Trekkie-like moments in there which no other narrative has dared to
touch. But the limit of the narrative is the limit of the 3D videogame as form
-- problematic, because the great 3D videogames (Half Life, Neil Manke's mods,
Max Payne) rise to the level of multinational *content* -- a.k.a. 21st century
geopolitics. Nowadays utopia has become literally unthinkable without
referencing the Eurostate and/or East Asia. 

-- DRR