The gaming community has become alerted with some buzz circling the upcoming VGAs. In particular, Sony apparently had an early announcement about their latest exclusive The Last of Us. That sounds cool and all, but what exactly is this title about? Here’s what is known from various posts across the net:
The title is a PS3 exclusive;
It now has a trailer instead of a teaser, ready for debut at the 2011 Video Game Awards (VGAs);
It contains clips from BBC’s Planet Earth series;
Blah, blah, blah!
Yeah, that’s really not all that inviting is it? No publisher!? No genre even!? Speculation rules the day, but that speculation being thrown around the net is great! It means that gamers are actively gathering information, are excited about new titles and the VGAs; but let’s leave it there for now. Honestly, only one site I have come across even thinks of guessing anything outside a future apocalypse. Do you automatically gravitate towards such a horrific scene? Are you guessing that The Last of Us deals with the future?
Most, if not all, of the clips shown on the official website are of the past and very real present. Governments are collapsing every day. Global citizens are being displaced from homes by aggressive businesses and far-reaching multi-national corporations. Outside of the small fraction of population that constitutes the modern-world, travesties are a regular occurrence from disease-spreading insects to naturally arsenic-laden aquifers. I think as a people we have romanticized this situation to the point, when faced with it, push it off as something to come.
Let us use a greater imagination for what this title has to offer. Let’s go beyond supra-destruction scenarios, zombies and the like. Perhaps the game is of consumerism. Perhaps the game is a side-scrolling title taking out the mind-boggling angry birds…
Whatever the case may be, we have a little more than two days to keep churning out ideas. Check out the site for yourself and make your own inferences. I trust you can. I trust you will.