Build-A-Cyborg: Summary

The Game Concept:

The purpose of our game, as made obvious by the title of this post, is to build a cyborg. To accomplish this goal, players select quotations from the bottom of the MAME screen and apply them to images of body parts found on the left side of the screen. The right side of the MAME screen shows a hand painting the quotations onto the body parts as per the player’s selections while a voice reads it (at this point, there will be a pre-recorded live action shot of a hand painting the quotation on the body part). The video that we created for class demonstrates one possible version of this game. Figure 1 depicts a typical screenshot of the game-play area.

The player then repeats this process. As the player makes his or her selections more quickly, the live action shots and the voices reading the quotations begin to overlap. In this process, the game learns the player’s patterns and replicates them. At this point, the overlaps become so significant that the images and voices become indistinguishable. The computer begins to take over the process to the point where it takes total control of the game. In that sense, the machine completes the transition from human to cyborg. Thus, the player both wins and loses – the player has built a cyborg and has therefore fulfilled the goal of the game, but in doing so the player loses control over the game. The game concludes shortly thereafter once the body parts are completely covered in the painted quotations. The final clips show body parts that are so metallic that they appear robotic; so layered with paint that they look scaly and animal; and still, somehow, also human.

Image created and provided by Am

The Theory:

This game was intended to play with the concept of posthumanism. In particular, we were interested in negotiating the relationship between human, animal, and robot. In this sense, the cyborg being built was metaphoric – blurring the lines (and power relationships) between these categories.

We were also interested in the importance of writing. We opted to build the cyborgs with quotations because language is so important to the theories behind cyborg identities and posthumanism. Not only is it the tool we use to describe these categories, language is also the way we defer dealing with the power relationships associated with these categories. Moreover, literature – especially science fiction – has been of particular importance to illustrate the implications of cyborg and posthuman identities.

The Flaws:

Perhaps unsurprisingly, our game concept was not perfect. First and foremost, the idea of building a cyborg is inherently flawed as cyborgs always already are – they don’t need to be built. Thus, the ultimate goal of our game is defeated. Moreover, logistically, actually building this is not feasible as the amount of filming required would take far too long for a four month term.

The Result:

As much as we liked our concept and thought the demonstrative video was interesting, we decided that we could do better. So, our next project will be something different. Stay tuned to watch us figure something out.