Earthrise

Earthrise is a post apocalyptic science fiction MMORPG set in the distant future.
In the aftermath of the Third World War, mankind has managed to survive and build a new society: the prosperous city of Sal Vitas. Cloning, nanotechnology and quantum engineering are part of a new reality. Thanks to these technological advances, the human species has become immortal; each individual’s consciousness is stored in a data vault, ready to be uploaded into a cloned body as necessary. New energy sources have been discovered. There is a unified government that takes good care of those citizens who abide by its strict laws. Paradise, it appears, might really have come to Earth, and the people have embraced it.
But not everything is as perfect as it appears. By exercising full control over the cloning process, Sal Vitas' government decides who will live and who will not, playing the role of God on Earth. Insurgent forces have accused the city's rulers of crimes against humanity. Armed factions fight for resources and power within the new system. And from the waves of discontent, a rebellion has fomented and formed a shadow government: Noir.
Featuring a unique skill-based advancement system and player-driven economy, as well as extensive, meaningful player-vs.-player combat, Earthrise gives you innumerable choices to forge your destiny. Whether you're a noble soldier in the raging conflict between the Utopia and the rebellion, a criminal hiding from the law or a world-renowned engineer whose power extends into intricate trade and politics, your actions will echo throughout the game world.
Key Features:
- A unique post-apocalyptic setting where the cloned remnants of mankind battle to survive and rebuild. Yet while humanity may have evolved, human nature remains as treacherous as ever…
- Highly customizable characters with over 100 different skills, abilities, and tactics. No artificial "class" restrictions get in the way of making the character you want.
- Fast-paced action combat featuring dynamic targeting, customizable power armor, huge mechanized exoskeletons, and hundreds of high-tech weapons.
- Sophisticated Player versus Player (PvP) mechanics that let you fight for the established order, join the revolutionary underground, or carve your own bloody path as an independent criminal.
- Territorial conquest and defense that matters. In your domain, you create your own rules – or let anarchy reign.
- Character progression that keeps you advancing in your career even when you’re not logged in.
- An advanced market-based economy with in-game supply and demand based on player activities.
- Deep crafting mechanics that let you design and manufacture unique items from customizable blueprints and raw resources.

Syndicate Wars

Syndicate Wars is the third video game title in the Syndicate Series created by Bullfrog Productions in 1996. It was released for PC and PlayStation, with a Sega Saturn version also planned, but eventually cancelled. This was the final game in the series and the one that marked the transition to three dimensional landscape.
Syndicate Wars presents a rough sequel to the events in Syndicate. At the game's opening, the player-controlled syndicate (called the Eurocorp Syndicate) is at the peak of its power (achieved in the previous game), an alliance of corporations controlling the world through a combination of military and economic power, and technological mind control. Corporate decisions are facilitated through a number of AI entities connected through a global communications network.
As the game opens, this totalitarian status quo is threatened by the emergence of a virus named "Harbinger" in the global communications system, damaging mind-control implants and leaving citizens vulnerable to co-option. Some of the newly liberated persons, dubbed "unguided citizens," choose to engage in an armed insurrection. The Unguided appear in early missions as random antagonistic elements, but over time form a well-organized militia. Viral damage to the global network causes disruption to Syndicate coordinations, with individual stations isolating themselves to avoid receiving rogue communication. The London station, as the headquarters of the Eurocorp Syndicate, attempts to regain authority via direct intervention by the game's signature quartets of heavily armed agents.
The bulk of the game concerns the development of armed conflict between Eurocorp and the Church of the New Epoch, a church (led by a group called "The Nine") seeking to undermine the world rule by corporations in favor of subjecting its paritioners to its own variety of mind control. "Harbinger" was their first step in demolishing the existing world order. As insurrections take hold, the player is also obliged to conduct missions to control rogue elements within the syndicate itself, as various sub-corporations change allegiances or make bids for independence.
The ironic parallels between the objectives of Church of the New Epoch and the original Eurocorp syndicate itself are abundantly clear throughout the game, and indeed the game can be played from the point of view of the Church itself to similar ends (indeed, it is revealed very early in the game, when played on the Church's side, that the "disciple" in control of Church agents is a former Eurocorp agent who has been converted).


The campaign for the Unguided rebels was unfinished, but the levels are still accessible.

Bioshock

Bioshock Trailer

BioShock is a first-person shooter video game by 2K Boston/2K Australia—previously known as Irrational Games—designed by Ken Levine. The game is available for the Windows operating system and the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released on August 21, 2007, in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia.
The game received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and ranks as the thirteenth best video game on Game Rankings based on reviews from critics. It was particularly well-reviewed in the mainstream press where its "morality-based" storyline, immersive environment and Ayn Rand-inspired dystopian setting were all singled out for praise. BioShock has been praised for providing "an entirely new tool through which to explore philosophy, psychology, and morality."
A sequel, while not officially announced, is rumored, following high sales and positive reviews for BioShock.
Set in an alternative history 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater Objectivist-dystopian city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it. The game incorporates elements found in role-playing and survival horror games, and is described by the developers and Levine as a "spiritual successor" to their previous titles in the System Shock series.

Setting
BioShock is set during 1960, in Rapture, a fictional underwater dystopian city. The history of Rapture is learned by the player through audio recordings as they explore the city. Secretly built in 1946 on the mid-Atlantic seabed, Rapture was entirely self-sufficient and powered by submarine volcanoes. Constructed by business magnate Andrew Ryan (voice by Armin Shimerman), Rapture was envisioned as the solution to what he saw as increasingly oppressive political and religious authority. The city was populated by those whom Ryan believed exemplified the best in humanity. It was revealed in an audio log that Ryan wanted Rapture to become an "Eden," a concept furthered by the resources ADAM and EVE, which are named after the biblical inhabitants of Eden. During the early 1950s, Rapture's population peaked at several thousand, though an elite emerged, discomforting many of the inhabitants.

The development of ADAM—stem cells created from a species of sea slug—by Dr. Bridgette Tennenbaum further upset the social balance. ADAM's prevalence greatly accelerated genetic engineering research, creating a plasmid industry that sold everything from a cure for male pattern baldness to skills like telekinesis, with non-passive types like the latter requiring a serum, EVE. In order to improve ADAM yields, Rapture scientists created the "Little Sisters," young girls, each with a slug embedded in their body. Although initially just ADAM "factories," during the war which later broke out, they were repurposed via mental conditioning to extract ADAM from the dead, and recycle it within themselves.[34] At the same time, the scientists created "Big Daddies," (voiced by Stephen Stanton) armed and highly enhanced humans in diving suits—to defend the Little Sisters as they worked.

For several years, Rapture was what Ryan originally intended it to be: a paradise of freedom and wealth. But ultimately, the very reason it was created—Ryan's hatred of authority—caused the city's downfall, and the ideals Ryan had envisaged to be corrupted and lost. To keep his utopia a secret, Ryan passed a single law: contact with the surface was prohibited. This turned out to be one too many. The edict made smuggling profitable, resulting in the formation of a small black market. This market came to be dominated by a man with just as much determination as Ryan: former mobster Frank Fontaine (voiced by Greg Baldwin). Unlike Ryan, however, Fontaine wanted control. His wealth, combined with his monopoly on Tennenbaum's research, soon gained Fontaine enough power and followers to challenge Ryan for control of the city.

In late 1958, Ryan lost patience with the conflict, and apparently had Fontaine killed—an action that proved useless, as another figure, Atlas, took Fontaine's place as the leader of the opposition. On New Year's Eve that year, Atlas and his ADAM-augmented followers fomented a riot involving the lower and upper classes. This sparked a civil war between Ryan and Atlas that eventually spread to all of Rapture, crippling the city. As the war progressed, Ryan began to betray his ideals. The former advocate of reason and self-determination began using torture and mind control in his battle with Atlas. Eventually, he became so unreasonable that a number of his supporters attempted to assassinate him. By the time the player enters Rapture, only the "Splicers"—citizens with severe mental and physical problems caused by excessive ADAM use—are left, scavenging throughout the city. The remaining non-mutated humans have managed to barricade themselves in the few remaining undamaged areas.

Objectivism in Bioshock.

Ayn Rand = Adrew Ryan?

Atlas -> Atlas Shrugged?

Wired Review

Andrew Ryan speaks out against altruism

Confrontation with Andrew Ryan (spoiler)

Download the Bioshock Art Book

Ken Ishii

Ken Ishii - Extra

Ken Ishii vs FLR - SPACE INVADERS 2003

Ken debuted on a legendary Belgian techno label, R & S Records, in 1993. Then he won No.1 on the UK’s NME magazine’s techno chart which led him to worldwide recognition. In 1995, the highly praised album "Jelly Tones" (R & S / Sony) was released. In the following year, the video clip for the single "Extra" from the "Jelly Tones" album (directed by Koji Morimoto, the animator of the worldwide hit cartoon, "Akira") won MTV Europe's "Dance Video of the Year" award. Since then, Ken has been regarded as one of the Japanese pioneers whose creation is on a world standard.

In 1998, Ken composed and produced the official theme song for the winter Olympics which took place in Nagano, Japan and it was played in more than 70 countries around the world. Then in 2000, Ken was on the cover of "Newsweek" magazine, featured as a symbol of the Japanese new culture. Also in the same year, he composed the theme song and soundtracks for the mega hit Japanese film, "Whiteout", which led him to a nomination for Japanese Academy Awards. Then in 2002, Ken finally set up his own label, 70 Drums, and released an album “Future In Light.”

These days, Ken spends 2/3 of his time in Europe, Asia, North and South America and Oceania DJing and working as a true international artist. In 2004, he was awarded the best techno DJ at "Dance Music Awards" in Ibiza, Spain, proving himself to be one of the world’s most talented DJs in the scene. Last year, he was in charge of the music for Japanese Government's Seto-Nippon Pavilion at World Expo, held in Aichi, Japan. In November, 2006, he released an original album "SUNRISER". He has also been continuously releasing on his side project, FLR, focusing on the dance floor.
Visit his website