953 – Saints Row IV (2013 video game)

Saints Row IV is an open world action-adventure video game with third-person shooter elements developed by Volition and published by Deep Silver. It is the fourth title in the Saints Row series. In the game, the playable character is the leader of the 3rd Street Saints, a street gang that has become the world’s most powerful and popular organization, and must fend off an alien invasion after becoming President of the United States and receiving superpowers.

The player is free to explore their environment while completing main and side missions at their leisure. The game incorporates elements from science fiction video games and films, and continues the series’ reputation for over-the-top parody. It was released in August 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and was later ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Linux in 2015.

The game is set in a nearly identical simulation of Steelport, the fictional city setting from Saints Row: The Third, though individual story missions have new, custom-designed levels. 

Saints Row IV‘s story parodies science fiction video games, especially Mass Effect 2, as well as films like The Matrix and Zero Dark Thirty, and other “nerd culture”. Some story missions are propelled by individual characters’ existential crises, as each Saint character is stuck in a personal simulation of their own hell, and must be rescued by the player. Other elements borrowed from video game culture include BioWare-style character romances games and a Metal Gear-style mission with an unhelpful partner.

Saints Row IV received several limited and summative edition releases, and was briefly banned in Australia.

System Requirements (Minimum) CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 | AMD Athlon II x3. / OS: Windows Vista (x86 or x64) / VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GTX 260 | AMD Radeon HD 5800 series. / FREE DISK SPACE: 10 GB. / DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 896 MB.

steam

0896 – Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

timespace coordinates: Persian Empire 6th century BC

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a 2010 American action fantasy film directed by Mike Newell. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan, Gemma Arterton as Princess Tamina, Ben Kingsley as Nizam, and Alfred Molina as Sheik Amar.

The film has the same title as the video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time developed and published by Ubisoft, and is primarily based on it. Elements from Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, the two other titles from the Sands of Time trilogy of the Prince of Persia video game franchise, are also incorporated.

The film seems to be set in ancient Persia, as the film starts with a map portending to show the expanse of the Persian Empire 2500 years ago. The film set design seems to be based on Islamic Persia. Islamic architecture with intricate use of geometric shapes and domes are shown. The cities in the film all appear to have minarets. The Allied Kingdom of Alamut, shown in the movie wasn’t established until 9th century (after Islamic Conquest of Persia). The Alamut castle was built by the Justanid ruler, Wahsudan b. Marzuban, a follower of zaydi Islam, around 865 AD. It was seized by Hassan-i Sabbah, who was the leader of the Nizārī Ismā‘īlītes and the founder of the secret order known as Assassins. (wiki)

PRINCE OF PERSIA THE SANDS OF TIME Gameplay Walkthrough FULL GAME No Commentary (1080p HD 60fps)

---

imdb

0864 – BioShock 2 (2010 Video game)

timespace coordinates: city of Rapture 1968

BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Marin and published by 2K Games. A part of the Bioshock series, it is the sequel to the 2007 video game BioShock and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360 on February 9, 2010. Feral Interactive released an OS X version of the game on March 30, 2012.  A remastered version of the game was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 13, 2016, as part of BioShock: The Collection.

Set in the fictional underwater dystopian city of Rapture, the game’s story takes place eight years after BioShock. Assuming control of Subject Delta, a hulking Big Daddy, players are tasked with fighting through “splicers”, the psychotic human population of the city, using weapons and an array of genetic modifications. The game also introduces a story-driven multiplayer mode called Fall of Rapture, which takes place during Rapture’s 1959 civil war, before the events of the first game.

SONY DSC

---

(Themes) In contrast to the first BioShock‘s focus on libertarianism and Ayn Rand’s philosophies, BioShock 2 focuses on collectivist ideals. Lamb’s philosophy of altruism is based on that of Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill. “Her motto is ‘Make the world your family’ meaning force your mind into becoming loyal to the world in a way usually reserved for your child, and that’s intellectually daunting,” said Thomas. In comparison to the first game’s questions of free will and destiny, Thomas said that the player character is “almost the ultimate individual” whom Lamb goads to fulfill her goals. 

Professor Ryan Lizardi draws parallels between BioShock 2‘s themes of community versus the individual and the issues of McCarthyism and the hippie movement that occurred around the time period of the game’s setting. “As this sequel is an extension of the first game’s storylines and characters, there are direct contrasts between the extreme politics of Andrew Ryan’s objectivism and the extreme religion/politics of Lamb’s collectivism,” he writes. “Bioshock 2 specifically asks players to question all sides of debates when extreme stances are taken, and asks players to weigh their decisions in an alternate and complex history. ” (wiki)

steam // www.bioshock2game.com

---

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (remastered version) MINIMUM:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system/ OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit. Platform Update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1/ Processor: Intel E6750 Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHZ / Memory: 4 GB RAM / Graphics: 2GB AMD Radeon HD 7770 / 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 / DirectX: Version 11 / Storage: 25 GB available space / Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Device

853 – 9 (2009)

9 is a 2009 American computer-animated post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Shane Acker and written by Pamela Pettler. The film is based on Acker’s Academy Award-nominated 2005 short film/student project of the same name, created at the UCLA Animation Workshop.

9 final movie poster Shane Acker

imdb

834 – Lola rennt (1998)

timespace coordinates: 1998  Berlin, Germany

(FAST, smart & fun)

Run Lola Run is a 1998 German thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer, and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend’s life. (wiki) imdb / rt  / THEMES

---

Wir lassen nie vom Suchen ab, /
und doch, am Ende allen unsren Suchens, /
sind wir am Ausgangspunkt zurück /
und werden diesen Ort zum ersten Mal erfassen. /
(T.S. Eliot)

---

0792 – Future Man (2017- TV series)

timespace coordinates: 2162 >> 2017 / 1969 / 1985  Los(t) Angeles / >> 1950’s -1980’s

Future Man is an American comedy web television series created by Howard Overman, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir that premiered on November 14, 2017 on Hulu. The series follows Josh Futturman, a janitor by day and a gamer by night, recruited by mysterious visitors to travel through time to prevent the extinction of humanity.. It stars Josh Hutcherson, Eliza Coupe, Derek Wilson, Ed Begley, Jr. and Glenne Headly. On January 8, 2018, the series was renewed for a second season consisting of thirteen episodes. (wiki)

imdb

777 – Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)

timespace coordinates: 2691 – 1991 San Dimas, California 

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is a 1991 American science fiction comedy film, and the directing debut of Pete Hewitt. It is the second film in the Bill & Ted franchise, and a sequel to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989). Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and George Carlin reprise their roles.

The film’s original working title was Bill & Ted Go to Hell and the film’s soundtrack featured the song “Go to Hell” by Megadeth, which Dave Mustaine wrote for the film. Despite mixed reviews from film critics, like its predecessor, the film has since gained a cult following thanks in large part to its spoof of Ingmar Bergman‘s 1950s classic film The Seventh Seal.

As was particularly common at the time, the soundtrack album focuses on the rock music heard throughout the film. An album of the full orchestral score by David Newman would not become available until 2007.  The song Bill and Ted play for the battle of the bands is “Final Guitar Solo” by Steve Vai, which he wrote to help blend into “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll to You II” by Kiss, although they appear similar in appearance to Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.  There’s also a reference to the lyrics from “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Poison.

Sequel

In 2010, Reeves indicated that Matheson and Solomon were working on a script for a third film, confirming in April 2011 that a draft was complete.Winter said in March 2012 that he and Reeves both like the finished script, which revisits the two characters after the changes of the past twenty years. Despite the script being finished and satisfied by both parties, no specific filming dates have been named. In April 2016, Winter said that he hoped the film would begin production in 2017.  Reeves gave an update on the film in February 2017 and said a story has been written for the third film. “Basically, they’re supposed to write a song to save the world and they haven’t done that. The pressure of having to save the world, their marriages are falling apart, their kids are kind of mad at them, and then someone comes from the future and tells them if they don’t write the song it’s not just the world, it’s the universe. So they have to save the universe because time is breaking apart.” On May 8, 2018, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that a third film, Bill & Ted: Face the Music, was officially in pre-production with Dean Parisot directing. No release date has been announced yet. (wiki)

imdb