Press Start To Play

I’ve been thinking alot on how we’re missing something vital in our relationship to video games. The secret parts or “Easter eggs” are a metaphor for how reality is malleable via magick. We should see also a metaphor, between our reality as simulation and our relationship to the simulations that we build. Video games constantly obsess over all the same ideas that we do in here, and are predominantly either about Masonry, CIA, psychic abilities, or mythology, ancient aliens or artificial intelligence. There’s something very important, I believe, in how we can “hack” or change a game with a line of code, or by venturing outside a given “reality” by thinking outside the box in a given situation. Here, when I say “reality” I mean the borders of a board, or what used to be known as a level.

For a very long time I’ve been putting off writing about video games. I was always convincing myself that the medium was frowned at and looked down upon, really.             I also learned the hard way, that people either quite enjoy games and game discussion, or tend to think they are rotting kids brains or some such; I’m sure you know the type, friends.

I will always defend it as an expansive and enchanting, even mind altering medium, transcendent as it is haunting, the format of open yet designed experience is beyond simulation or “game”.  It reached something More than expected, I think some time around 1997, but games have never in their entire history been a stranger to dark, mature, bizarre, macabre, occult and alternative ideas. The paranormal and psychological depth that is now completely normal for the plots and subplots of most games shows a casual evolution, making the entire medium more like it’s major influences- comic books in general and Japanese animation. Interesting to see things like Ghost In The Shell and Total Recall being remade for a culture obviously saturated in that kind of influence.

Jericho-That time Clive Barker envisioned a stargate in Iraq, but instead of the way Jack Kirby saw it, Barker’s connects to Aleister Crowley and MI5, and visuals, you have to experience to understand. Much more atmosphere and depth than a Hellraiser film makes the game quite unique:

The game begins with General Arnold Leach, a high-ranking member of a secret U.S. organization called the Department of Occult Warfare (DOW), being contacted by the Firstborn, a being that was imprisoned by God at the beginning of time in a patch of reality called the Box. The Firstborn convinces Leach to help it escape from the Box. Leach leaves the DOW, and spends the next twenty years committing acts of great evil to build up evil energy to cause a breach in the Box.

Eventually, a breach is made, and the DOW sends in a Special Forces team called Jericho to seal the breach. Being unable to seal it any other way, they enter the Box to close the breach from within.

Once inside, they must battle the souls of those who have breached the Box in the past; a Nazi officer, a fallen Catholic priest from the Middle Ages, a depraved Roman Governor, and six ancient Sumerian priests (Ninlil and Ki, Inanna and Enlil as well as Nanna and Utu, who were the first to banish the Firstborn but ultimately fell victim to its corruption). Jericho is aided by the souls of those who ultimately resealed the breach each time it was broken.

When they finally reach the point at which they can seal the breach, they decide that they should kill the Firstborn rather than try to reseal the breach, as resealing would just result in them being trapped in the Box and endlessly tortured until the breach was opened again. When Jericho passes into the Firstborn’s cavern, they find the Firstborn in the middle of an island on a lake, with Leach tied to a wall. During the final battle between Jericho and the Firstborn, Leach breaks free of his bonds. Angered at the Firstborn’s betrayal, he grabs it and carries it to a tunnel of light, with the fate of both left unknown.

The cavern soon begins to collapse. Jericho jumps into the water and swims as deep and far as they can. The game ends as they emerge from under the water in a vast ocean under an orange sky.-Jericho at wiki

Which sounds awfully familiar March 9th 2017: Footage has emerged of an intriguing network of caves found through a rabbit hole that many believe were built by the Knights Templar order 700 years ago.

Speaking of the Templar…

 

Call Of Duty

 

 

“Gentlemen, allow me to take this opportunity to welcome you group nine three five. This is a prestigious moment in the history of our race. You represent the future of technological advancement. You are the pioneers of human discovery. In your hands lies the destiny of mankind. In our hands is a great power and with that power comes a price. You have volunteered to be part of this great experiment and with that decision comes the responsibility of absolute secrecy. No one is to know what you do, where you work, what our research has discovered, or what our purpose will be. You will have no further contact with your governments or with your families. Your decision to fully dedicate your lives to Group 935 is absolute. In your lockers you will find your field ops manual which will direct you should our manifest get compromised. We cannot afford to let this power fall into the wrong hands and therefore the field ops manual should be considered your bible. Make your preparations now. A new dawn is beginning for mankind.”-small paper in game from here

black pyramid in a Soviet base on the moon. (below)

Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare_20161108103442

Assassin’s Creed-

Wolfenstein

Ideas about the New World Order, the Black Sun, and the Thule, for example, have gone from the seemingly remote weird obsessions of games like Wolfenstein, to the back pocket philosophy of Presidential aid and attempted NSC pirate, Steve Bannon in the real world. This Great Value Himmler and Steve Mnuchkin alone (also Trump cabinet, Producer of The Purge, Suicide Squad) were related in getting dark film projects which portray end games, the death of freedom and liberty, the return to the archaic cultural wilderness of the Wild West.  Though we don’t live in this world, we barely don’t. Our unconscious is teaming with these possible ends. If you play video games, you’ve played through more apocalypse’s than a film buff has watched Keanu in the same suit when all hell breaks loose.

http://coub.com/view/1pyan

The id universe (there may not be an official name for the idea) is a concept associated with the Id universe timeline, which interprets that all of the original Wolfenstein games (and up to Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and possibly Wolfenstein (2009)), the various ID phone RPG game series, Doom 1/2/3/4, Quake/2/3, and Commander Keen (and maybe others) are all part of the same universe, but at different points in history. It explains that many of the series characters are related somehow often through the Blazkowicz family line (this was first introduced with Doom RPG and its website which confirmed that the character (B.J. Blazkowicz in Doom RPG, is the same marine in Doom, Doom II, and Doom 3^[1]). -Wolfenstein wiki

 

PSI-OPS and Second Sight:

 

Polybius: Property of U.S. Government? or MIB? or something

The Urban Legend of the Government’s Mind-Controlling Arcade Game

The twisted tale of Polybius, the world’s most dangerous video game. -Atlas Obscura

XCOM

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

GTA 5 USO 

GTA 5 UFOs

Area 51 (3 games total)

original arcade version

“Looking back the game has some pretty cool voice acting cast. David Duchovny,Marilyn Manson, Powers Boothe. I mean the game has gotta be creepy with Manson voicing an all empowered ancient Grey right?”
http://67.227.255.239/forum/showthread.php?t=1222065

Oops! wrong floor

Prey (Both)

The game’s story is focused on Cherokee Domasi “Tommy” Tawodi as he, his girlfriend, and grandfather are abducted aboard an alien spaceship known as The Sphere as it consumes material, both inanimate and living, from Earth in order to sustain itself. Tommy’s Cherokee past allows him to let his spirit roam freely at times, and gives Tommy an edge in his attempt to stop the Sphere Prey wiki

 

COD image

 

MARIO, SEGA and NINTENDO The RED and BLUE PILL, GREEN PIPES, and STARGATES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Genie

MAY 17 · 2013

Odd Switch of Identities:

Mr. Video gives in to legal problems, switches his name to Mario

“Mr.Video was planned as the character for all the games that Miyamato would work on. According to a widely circulated story, during localization of Donkey Kong for North American audiences, Nintendo of America’s warehouse landlord Mario Segale confronted its then-president Minoru Arakawa, demanding back rent. Following a heated argument in which the Nintendo employees eventually convinced Segale he would be paid, they opted to name the character in the game Mario after him”–from wikipedia for Mario

Miyamato had no problem with this change in name, lacking some faith in his original name for the character. He believed Mario’s profession really fit the game’s design.

“Miyamoto commented that if he had named Mario “Mr. Video”, Mario likely would have “disappeared off the face of the Earth.”-from wikipedia for Mario

“Since Donkey Kong was set on a construction site, Mario was made into a carpenter. When he appeared again in Mario Bros., it was decided he should be a plumber, since a lot of the game is played in underground settings. Mario’s character design, particularly his large nose, draws on western influences; once he became a plumber, Miyamoto decided to “put him in New York” and make him Italian, lightheartedly attributing Mario’s nationality to his mustache. Other sources have Mario’s profession chosen to be carpenter in an effort to depict the character as an ordinary hard worker, and make it easier for players to identify with him. After a colleague suggested that Mario more closely resembled a plumber, Miyamoto changed Mario’s profession accordingly and developed Mario Bros., featuring the character in the sewers of New York City.“

In a quasi-spiritual context, the old arcade machine is like a monolith we stare into and the monkey/gorilla (Donkey Kong) stares out of it. He is somewhat King Kong ascending a great tower or pillarmyd. Lightning may strike the tower, which has it’s own resonance of course, but here we have one of the first games being based around a Donkey in a construction site, not unlike the one on the Moon in 2001 or in some weird Planet of the Apes metaphor, and he is confronted with a split personality plumber (traveler of underground realms) or carpenter (Jesus/another born and resurrected/related to stargates or Masonic symbolism).

“Due to the graphical limitations of arcade hardware at the time, Miyamoto clothed the character in red overalls and a blue shirt to contrast against each other and the background. A red cap was added to let Miyamoto avoid drawing the character’s hairstyle, forehead, and eyebrows, as well as to circumvent the issue of animating his hair as he jumped. To make him appear human onscreen despite his small size, Mario was given distinct features, prominently a large nose and a mustache, which avoided the need to draw a mouth and facial expressions on the small onscreen character.”

For one reason or another I always note Mario as the red pill. He is as red as the Nintendo logo and a periodically ingest psychedelic mushrooms to adjust his state of mind, allowing him powers (often in a context sensitive situation) Sonic and Sega of course are somehow the blue pill in all this. When we look at the cultural history of the reptilians or snake like entities in shamanic history, and the history of mushroom use, we wind up, often in a similar place. They are both ancient ideas, ruling sacred, archaic religions and mystical philosophies.

“Miyamoto developed Mario with the idea of using him as a “go to” character that could be put into any title as needed, albeit in cameo appearances, as at the time Miyamoto was not expecting Mario to become popular. To this end, he originally called the character “Mr. Video”, comparing his intent to have Mario appear in later games (like the) the cameos done by Alfred Hitchcock within Hitchcock’s films. Over time, Mario’s appearance has become more defined; white gloves, brown shoes, a red “M” in a white circle on the front of his hat and gold buttons on his overalls have been added. The colors of his shirt and overalls were also reversed from a blue shirt with red overalls to a red shirt with blue overalls. Miyamoto attributed this process to the different development teams and artists for each game as well as advances in technology as time has gone on. “Mario was originally portrayed as a two-dimensional sprite, but in later games, he is shown as a three-dimensional, polygonal model. He is depicted as a portly plumber who lives in the fictional land of the Mushroom Kingdom with Luigi, his younger, taller brother. In the television series and film, Mario and Luigi are originally from Brooklyn, New York. Little is known of Mario’s childhood, though the infant version of Mario, Baby Mario, first appeared in 1995 in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, and has often appeared in Nintendo sports games since that time. Baby Mario has a major role along with Baby Luigi in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and appears in Yoshi’s Island DS. He (along with the adult Mario) is voiced by Charles Martinet

“Nintendo has never revealed Mario’s full name, stating only that it was not “Mario Mario” despite the implication of the Mario Bros. series’ title, its use in the live-action film adaptation, and information given in the Prima official Guidebook to Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.“

The cover of Mario’s Time Machine has him setting his time travel machine for 1776…The Declaration of independence was also signed in this year.

“The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, “enlightened”) is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776 to oppose superstition, prejudice, religious influence over public life, abuses of state power, and to support women’s education and gender equality. “
–http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati

“During the American Revolution, many important political discussions took place in the inns and taverns of Philadelphia. The discussion that founded the Marine Corps is no exception. A committee of the Continental Congress met at Tun Tavern to draft a resolution calling for two battalions of Marines able to fight for independence at sea and on shore. The resolution was approved on November 10, 1775, officially forming the Continental Marines. 

As the first order of business, Samuel Nicholas became Commandant of the newly formed Marines. Tun Tavern’s owner and popular patriot, Robert Mullan, became his first captain and recruiter. They began gathering support and were ready for action by early 1776.”
–http://www.marines.com/history-heritage/timeline

Shigeru Miyamoto was born on November 16, 1952. He is a Japanese video game designer and producer and creator of Donkey Kong, Starfox, Zelda, F-Zero (one of the inspirations for creating the being known as Frank Zero ; ) Pikmin, Wii, and MARIO. He grew up in Kyoto, a prefecture of Japan in Kansai on the Island of Honshu. A place that he has said inspired the landscapes of Mario’s world.

Miyamoto currently manages the Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development department, overseeing many of Nintendo’s most highly profitable games. His work has appeared on every single Nintendo console and gaming platform. From years of all that revolutionary work in Nintendo, he has gained praise from the official and fan based communities of Nintendo.

Initially Miyamato wanted to use Popeye ( patch on eye Osiris) and the gang, but due to legal discrepancies, (later he acquired those rights in 1982…) he had to create a new character Mr.Video. Mr.Video, in many ways was the prototype for what we now know as Mario. He also created Donkey Kong and a game called Pauline at that time as well.

“When Donkey Kong first launched, Mario wasn’t able to jump, so there became more of a focus on escaping a MAZE. Eventually Miyamato added Mario’s ability to jump.“

If the cubicle is the beginning of us being human batteries, is the virtual maze our new chosen holographic prison? On the other hand, is the video game realm one of the last nodes of human imagination left blazing, does it instead house all new possibilities for interacting with mythology and new ideas?

On the cover of the first Mario Bros for Nintendo, Mario is apparently about to die. If he dies and is reborn, he would just be that much more like a mythological mystic type character.

Green Pipes and Green Doors

http://thesearenotmymemories.tumblr.com/post/41107466688

http://thesearenotmymemories.tumblr.com/post/41105987602/dont-stop-dreaming-of-the-green-door

We already know that green doors can be associated with secrecy, intimate secrets, military secrets, etc… Steve Wilner and Jake Kotze see Mario in a similar way that I do, as a stargate traveler, and also a magical mushroom ingesting psychonaut. Mario, besides crossing many checkered chess game designs and entering actual mirrors, and rainbow bridges (Asgard) … uses green pipes to move from this world to the underworld. The underworld, of course where “Nightmare Hall(s)” await him at the deepest levels… Reptilian humanoids who want his scarlet woman for hybridization if their nice, and some kind of sacrifice on the Midnight Meat Train if their not. Both, if they saw too many Christopher Lee 70’s horror flicks.

These green pipes can be seen as green doors to the world we don’t know exist, or the “secret” world. The idea here being shared with older Greek mythological ideas of the maze and Minotaur. In movies like Dark City, 23, Truman Show, etc… the lead character is stuck in a maze, their world is a maze. We get closer to video game metaphor in films such as the Matrix and 13th Floor. In these films we get the idea of being trapped, and through virtual enticement, in a world of endless possibilities as well. Video games are a closed illusion that can be easily manipulated by the user to train in a sense of reaction and intuition that cannot be gained at such a rapid rate elsewhere.

1981-1990
In Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario quests to save the rulers of seven kingdoms from Bowser and his children, the Koopalings, and Mario travels across eight worlds to restore order to the Mushroom World and to rescue Princess Peach. Mario is introduced to new power-ups that augment his abilities”

“In Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Mario saves Princess Toadstool (later known as Princess Peach) of the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa. To save Princess Toadstool, Mario conquers the eight worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom by going to the castle in each to defeat a minion of King Koopa. To reach each castle, Mario battles through three sub-worlds by defeating King Koopa’s henchmen. If Mario successfully fights his way through the castle and defeats the minion, he frees a Mushroom Retainer”

1989-1995

In Super Mario Land an alien named Tatanga appears, hypnotizes the inhabitants of an area called Sarasaland, and kidnaps its ruler, Princess Daisy. Mario then sets out to rescue her from Tatanga, traveling through the four geographical areas of Sarasaland and defeating Tatanga’s minions along the way. He finally corners Tatanga in the skies of the Chai kingdom, bringing down Tatanga’s alien warship and rescuing Daisy

In Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, whose events take place immediately after the original Super Mario Land, Mario’s evil counterpart Wario has put an evil spell over Mario Land while Mario was away in Sarasaland, renaming the area Wario Land. The inhabitants are now brainwashed into thinking that Wario is their master and Mario is their enemy. Wario’s motive behind this sudden attack was to take control over Mario’s castle in order to have one of his own.

1996-2002
Many of the castle’s paintings are portals to other worlds, in which Bowser’s minions guard the stars. Mario explores the castle and these other worlds to recover the stars. He gains access to more painting portals as he recovers more stars, and he traverses three obstacle courses that lead him to battles with Bowser.

In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario, Toadsworth, and Princess Peach take a vacation to Isle Delfino, a tropical island. A person resembling Mario, known as “Shadow Mario”, vandalizes and pollutes the entire island using a magic paintbrush. The vandalism has also caused the Shine Sprites to flee from the island’s main city, Delfino Plaza, and blanket the island in darkness. Blamed for the mess, Mario is arrested by the island authorities and ordered to clean up Isle Delfino.

“Mario went to 2.5D in New Super Mario Bros. While Mario and Peach take a walk together through the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser Jr. kidnaps Peach and flees. Mario gives chase, venturing through eight worlds. Mario eventually catches up, defeating both Bowser and Bowser Jr. and rescuing Peach. In Super Mario Galaxy, Mario is invited by Princess Peach to the centennial Star Festival in the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon arrival, Bowser invades the kingdom and rips Peach’s castle from its foundations and lifts it into outer space. After failing to prevent the princess from being kidnapped, Mario meets star-like creatures called Lumas and their companion, Rosalina. Rosalina tells Mario that Bowser has stolen the Power Stars, the source of power for Rosalina’s mobile observatory, and has taken Peach to the center of the universe. Mario then travels to various galaxies to reclaim the Power Stars to restore power to the observatory and reclaim Princess Peach.”

“In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, another 2.5D game, Mario, Luigi, and two Toads are attending Princess Peach’s birthday party when Bowser Jr. and the other seven Koopalings ambush the princess and kidnap her. Mario, Luigi, and the two Toads chase after them across eight worlds, defeating each Koopaling as they progress. The quartet eventually confronts Bowser, defeating him and reclaiming the princess. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser, who has transformed himself into a giant using the Power Stars, attacks the Mushroom Kingdom and abducts Peach, taking her to the center of the universe. With the help of the Lumas, Mario pilots Starship Mario, a mobile planet in the shape of his head, in order to travel to various galaxies and gather the Power Stars, used to fuel the ship. After multiple battles against both Bowser and Bowser Jr., Mario eventually arrives at Bowser’s lair at the center of the universe, where he defeats him and rescues the princess. In 2012, Mario returned in New Super Mario Bros. 2 where he collects one million coins that are scattered across the Mushroom Kingdom in addition to saving Princess Peach from the evil clutches of Bowser and the Koopalings. Mario returns once more to defeat Bowser and his minions in New Super Mario Bros. U.”

Mario and Luigi Partners in Time 2009

“Although the sequel to Superstar Saga, the game’s plot is unrelated to that of its predecessor and has a much darker tone, with an emphasis on the time-traveling theme, which involves the protagonists traveling between the past and present of the Mushroom Kingdom. The adventure follows Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi as they search for Princess Peach, who has been abducted by an alien species known as the Shroobs”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_%26_Luigi:_Partners_in_Time

2006–present
The Princess is repeatedly taken to the center of the universe where Koopa establishes a new base and Mario starts talking to stars