Transistor as the Death of an Online Community
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2024
- A story perspective on Supergiant Games' most enigmatic work: Transistor. Specifically, exploring the angle that the events of Transistor take place within an online community of humans.
0:00 Intro
1:13 Gameplay
6:27 Aesthetics
9:12 Story Perspective
13:07 Cloudbank as an Online Community
22:41 Our Online Communities
26:49 Odds and Ends
28:45 Conclusion - เกม
The usenet-to-forum era of internet communities was so much better than the platform based social media internet, it just leaves me depressed when I contrast it with what we have now. The internet is so much worse than what I grew up with.
I actually really like this theory. It does lower the stakes but it also explains a lot of how this world works with a digital landscape and seemingly organic residents.
I think The Boxer is good as he is, being entirely faceless, because he is our window into the story. We may control Red but he is equally the protagonist imo. We get to project ourselves onto him as much as we do Red. A girl without a voice and a boy without a body :)
Camerata is also a creative name/nod to the chat room / online community moderators or admin.
"The term referred originally to the place where a group would meet; camerata comes from the root 'camera,' which means chamber or room in Italian. Therefore, camerata in its Renaissance usage simply means a place, or club, where a group of people would meet to discuss whatever topics were related to their club"
Did not know that, interesting tidbit!
Great theory! I’m so glad to see Transistor content still being made :)
"sword boyfriend online (TM)" is how i will be referring to this game from now on
great game!! and great insight!! Althought Cloudbank is something like an art forum, where people share, in game, it is very much a real thing. the country where many retire exists in the real world. Cloudbank was something like a separate reality, where people uploaded themselves to live in the utopia that is cloudbank. Now the insides of the transistor is also a separate reality where red and her boyfriend currently reside.
The cameratas were tired of the utopia they were living in, because there wasn't any lasting consequence to any action, there wasnt any conflict, hence there wasnt any need to develop or improve. The story can exist only when cloudbank isn't an allegory to forums and imageboards, but a real place in the game. But the plot certainly depicts the death of online communities the way you explained. The are so many threads made in imageboards but no lasting conversation.
great to see you back. thanks for the video
Underrated channel, great video I hope supergiant makes a sequel of this beautiful game so I can see more of this artstyle
i think the best compromise, theory-wise, is that this is /one community of many/ in some sort of posthuman/transhuman world that primarily exists within Matrix-style simulations. possibly even nested simulations, with "the country" either being whatever the meat-layer is or simply the next layer up of the simulation.
Great essay. I'm glad this game is still talked about.
The biggest other analogue to Transistor's combat is the 3D entries of the Fallout series; the "VATS" system is very similiar to Transistor's "TURN()"
I think you missed a hint in the setting's name - Cloudbank.
The residents aren't hybrids, but they don't have 'real lives' outside the world either. They're human minds - uploaded to the Cloud. "Sky looks blue because we want it to", as the uploaded residents can vote on their surroundings; but the Camerata is frustrated at this impermanence relative to the real world.
When we see 'the Country' we also see other people in the pods there, and other transistors. As you note - Cloudbank is the kind of virtual world you'd enjoy being uploaded to if you're a young creative type. But people can't just 'log off' - they 'go to the Country' - they leave Cloudbank and go to the underlying structure of the different worlds. Where do they go from there? Either a different shared world for uploaded humans, or (as might be implied by the ending) go to a private server - like a small farm in the country.
Blue is sad to see Red give up on the idea of rebuilding Cloudbank - but he's happy to share a private server with her instead.
Interesting, I hadn't considered that possibility. I think the game Hard Reset has a society somewhat like that. Though I would think that uploaded human consciousnesses would remember their original lives and have trouble coming to grips with life in cloudbank.
This is how I've always interpreted the game. Was actually surprised this wasn't one of the interpretations he talked about.
Interesting theory. :)
This game isn't a topic of interest for me so I didn't make it too far into this vid but I wanted to leave a comment for the engagement to help support your channel's growth, I discovered you from your MST3K video and then subbed after following it up with your video on Leftist philosophy, as a fellow Leftist I think it's important to support the growth of smaller Leftist channels so I just wanted to do my part to bump you up in the algorithm, lookin forward to your next vid bro
Hey thanks, I genuinely appreciate it!
Also you may like what I have coming for the next video a lot more!
I think my only real gripe with the balancing is that void is way too overpowered. Once I found out you could stack it, it was over.
Doesn't fallout mix realtime amd turn-based in pretty much the same way as transistor? It has VATS
You know, I think you're right. I didn't consider that one, good example!
2:22 Mario + Rabbids 2 maybe
who is that bald guy in the beginning why does he sound and look familiar?
That would be Greg Kasavin, the Creative Director of Supergiant Games. Would definitely recommend watching the whole documentary that clip is from: th-cam.com/video/SL2Pk2jP_6s/w-d-xo.html
I didn't know this before, but apparently he was the editor in chief for Gamespot for a time, so you may know him from that.
P R O M O S M 😴