Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Even before reading The Depth of Shallow Culture (maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much) I've always enjoyed digging deeper into what is presented to us on Tv ads, movies and of course video games. All these media merely scratches the surface of deeper ideological iceburghs and this is my take on Mega Man.
The game consists of a little blue robot who in order to save the world must destroy 8 (except in the first game, only 6) "Robot Masters" and eventually capture their creator, Dr. Wily (which he does over, and over and over again...). The Game debuted way back in the mid 80's and became an instant hit. In trying to find out why the game is/was so popular expert offer the great music (for 8-bit beeps and boops anyway), graphics and the FREEDOM to choose your own path as the reasons why. This last one is the one I'd like to focus on. Mega Man all of a sudden is a microcosm of the free will vs. predetermination dilema. You have 8 robots you have to defeat, and you can choose which one to face 1st-8th, but no matter in what order you beat them you are destined to fight Wily. Kind of like no matter what path you choose in life you'll die eventually...
In the 90's Capcom gave the little blue bomber a face lift (along with a new identity) in Mega Man X. "X" is the first conscious robot, it has the ability to feel and make it's own desicions. Dr. Light is no longer living, but has left X several pods with enhancements to help him on his quest. When you find the first pod Dr. Light says that he created X with the ability to make up his own mind and he had hoped he would have chosen a peaceful existence, yet it seemed that he was destined to fight.... Something Dr. Light doesn't mention, but the booklet does hehe, is that the current robots were made off of X's source code and X feels somewhat responsible for the mayhem. Thus, could X simply have chosen a peaceful existence? Was he "destined" to fight? Or was his desicion an obvious one? In other words how "free" are we in our desicion making?
Another reason why the series has been so successful is because once you defeat a Robot Master you acquire its weapon which you can turn on the next RM you face. This brings me to two things. The first is that the creator likened the process to Rock, Paper, Scissors. He stated that no one thing is stronger than everything else, everything has a weakness, but if Mega Man acquires all the weapons, what is his weakness? Easy.. You and your decision-making abilities. The second is the simple fact you take the weapons. While it may be a stretch this reminds me of how there is always something you can learn (or quite literally take away from) every relationship/person you have/meet... including your enemies. We are social creatures with an uncanny knack for sharing information and if you pay attention even the crazy alcoholic hobo at the bus stop can teach you something.
The game consists of a little blue robot who in order to save the world must destroy 8 (except in the first game, only 6) "Robot Masters" and eventually capture their creator, Dr. Wily (which he does over, and over and over again...). The Game debuted way back in the mid 80's and became an instant hit. In trying to find out why the game is/was so popular expert offer the great music (for 8-bit beeps and boops anyway), graphics and the FREEDOM to choose your own path as the reasons why. This last one is the one I'd like to focus on. Mega Man all of a sudden is a microcosm of the free will vs. predetermination dilema. You have 8 robots you have to defeat, and you can choose which one to face 1st-8th, but no matter in what order you beat them you are destined to fight Wily. Kind of like no matter what path you choose in life you'll die eventually...
In the 90's Capcom gave the little blue bomber a face lift (along with a new identity) in Mega Man X. "X" is the first conscious robot, it has the ability to feel and make it's own desicions. Dr. Light is no longer living, but has left X several pods with enhancements to help him on his quest. When you find the first pod Dr. Light says that he created X with the ability to make up his own mind and he had hoped he would have chosen a peaceful existence, yet it seemed that he was destined to fight.... Something Dr. Light doesn't mention, but the booklet does hehe, is that the current robots were made off of X's source code and X feels somewhat responsible for the mayhem. Thus, could X simply have chosen a peaceful existence? Was he "destined" to fight? Or was his desicion an obvious one? In other words how "free" are we in our desicion making?
Another reason why the series has been so successful is because once you defeat a Robot Master you acquire its weapon which you can turn on the next RM you face. This brings me to two things. The first is that the creator likened the process to Rock, Paper, Scissors. He stated that no one thing is stronger than everything else, everything has a weakness, but if Mega Man acquires all the weapons, what is his weakness? Easy.. You and your decision-making abilities. The second is the simple fact you take the weapons. While it may be a stretch this reminds me of how there is always something you can learn (or quite literally take away from) every relationship/person you have/meet... including your enemies. We are social creatures with an uncanny knack for sharing information and if you pay attention even the crazy alcoholic hobo at the bus stop can teach you something.