Who put all these banjos in my sci-fi game?
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2024
- Why have the recent crop of science fiction video games all sounded so... rustic? Do they have more in common than just a country-fried soundtrack?
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#OuterWilds #HardspaceShipbreakers 
Игры
what I expected: a goofy funny video about games
what I got: class consciousness
fuck yeah
"So what radicalized you?"
"Banjos."
@@IanMcCollumsor-tame Fr
Polygon is great at sneaking that into their stuff. Real vegetables and desert kinda thing
@@Nerd1090 More like lead in paint.
Space is futuristic...banjos are eternal
woo
*deletes space and replaces it with the one true frontier, BANJO*
Amen
oh to be a professor of science fiction studies that sounds cool as hell
@Csősz Máté is it worth getting a PhD in a niche field I wonder. Yes it will be as cool as hell learning but what about employment?
@@hahasimp
In my opinion, it's a sad world when people think twice about bettering themselves and pursuing something they will genuinely enjoy because they're worried about money.
@@MrCrumb-lx2on well money gives access to food and shelter, and the opportunity to start learning about things you love in the first place.
@@hahasimp
Sorry, I don't really understand what you mean. Are you trying to say that food, shelter, happiness - things absolutely fundamental to everyone - being behind a paywall is not a sad fact of reality?
DBC Getz damn bro got me thinking
The worker exploitation part, specifically the idea of only allowing workers to spend their "money" at the place where they work, reminds me of being employed by Walmart. Every employee gets a special card that gives them a 10% discount on everything but grocery purchases (yes, that's right-- the discount doesn't apply to, y'know, food) and we'd get a 50% discount on one item once per year, and a 25% discount on one whole transaction, usually around Christmas.
This seems on the surface like an awesome deal for people who work at Walmart, but the obvious benefit to the company is that it helps to ensure that their workers spend the bulk of their paychecks buying things from the same company they work for.
Yeah, that's why employee discounts are a thing. When I worked fast-food, we had limited locker space, and a short lunch. We also had a 50% discount any day we worked. Most people ordered for lunch.
@Minty Hippo Meanwhile, the Walmart is driving other companies out of business, and bottoming out the market, assuring that there's few other places to work, and even if you didn't get that "discount", you couldn't afford to shop anyplace else.
@@Kaotiqua I work at a grocery store, so not only do I get the oh so very generous 10% discount so the company gets my money back, we are also told by management that our wages are low *because* we shop at Walmart, as opposed to spending them at the store, like the wages we earn allow us to shop anywhere else (I mean, thanks bosses, that the food I can typically afford from your pretty basic supermarket is on the verge of spoiling and definitely past its prime for 50%. Have to squeeze out profits from every last drop and make employees the gutter for your greed.)
They only do that because paying you in gift cards is illegal.
And paying you in gift cards is only illegal because of violent, riotous strikes that happened like a hundred years ago, which the corporations tried to stop by hiring cops to go beat up the workers and slit their throats. Come to think of it, that's also the reason we have weekends, and eight hour work days. So yeah, corporations literally slit their own workers' throats before they let you go home at 5, take weekends off, and get paid in actual money.
Whole foods does the same thing, but the funny thing is I still couldnt afford to shop for food or other goods there even with the discount ._.
i’m a banjo player who also happens to enjoy cyperpunk and they fit together much better than people think
@kevin willems This Machine Kills fascists... But written on a cyborg arm-prosthesis.
you should try to combine the two. i bet you could get a lot of traction from something like that if you wanted to.
You ever read "Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille?" It's a novel from 2003 that may fit your interests.
a Clayton video feels like when you find one chill person at a party where you don't know a lot of the people, and then just hanging out in the kitchen talking.
i really love how all of polygon's quote-unquote serious videos never miss a chance to educate beyond the world of gaming
That’s what makes this channel so unique - their videos use gaming as an anchor point to talk about all sorts of important topics
i really worry that this trend might be born out of a collective understanding that the highest thing to which we can aspire is an escapable poverty
Damn.
That capitalist realism do be hittin different.
you could say that but there is always the argument that capitalism allows the strogest willed and hardest working to do so. I think this is part of why we have settled on capitalism, it truly does allow some of the harder working and more driven individuals to thrive, but starting from a place of lower status can legitimately inhibit others from ever making it to where they want to be. At any rate i cant exactly think of a system that works better in practice. :(
LoveMeSomeCake the strongest willed and hardest working are literally always found at the bottom of the capitalist hierarchy, so that argument’s a moot point. Capitalism provides the opportunity to work less if you succeed, something measured largely by luck (right place, time, inherited money, connections/networking) which in itself is based around capitalism’s history of colonialism and minority exploitation
You don’t have to personally think of a better system to recognize that the current one’s f*cked
@@user-yl2so8db5t i disagree, ive seen countless cases of people using intellect aka the facade that is willpower and understanding the need to apply yourself to the maximum (hard work) and have made something better for themselves. That being said the history of it does fuck some ppl over but that is how history has always been and something we have never been able to combat. In many countries to this day you are already viewed as lesser if your predecessors were shamed. At least in America you aren't judged by everyone based on your predecessors, only by some. At the end of the day you cant force ideology on someone and there will never be a day where everyone agrees. I think that our current American system is what best defends these individual ideologies, even if they are wrong by many moral standards. You are allowed to believe whatever you want, say whatever you want, and love or hate whoever you want. As long as you dont hurt someone based on that belief they arent at fault for having thoughts.
@@weebaker Being strong willed and hard working does not help, that is purely a myth. Being able to survive under capitalism is entirely based on luck.
mr clayton give us the forbidden space banjo knowledge
i was extremely positively surprised by how deeply this video explores this topic
I’m glad to know that devs are considering class consciousness and the roots of the scifi genre. That’s very cool.
Roots of sci-fi: blackness
@@janbonne Roots of a lot of American culture, honestly.
I really appreciate how unafraid Polygon is to discuss capitalism and worker exploitation
the fact that so many of the other sources of videogame journalism _ARE_ afraid to discuss capitalism and worker exploitation *at all* suggests something truly ominous
It's cause they're unionized. They *are* afraid, but they're more afraid of the union.
Unionize your workplace, kids. It means that your boss will fear you more than their profits.
It's incredibly relevant with regards to the recent attention towards the exploitative and abusive nature of the gaming industry
@@kabobawsome Interesting to note Journalism has unions... the gaming industry does not.
*cough* maybe they should pay their employees of colour the same as their white counterparts *cough cough*
This professor sounds just like Jenna, for a second I really thought Clayton was about to quote Jenna as an expert
Thatiana Moraes you DARE to imply that Jenna ISN’T an expert in the art of the banjo? For shame!
@@Mark_Goddin I imply no such thing, good sir. In fact I was so willing to believe she was THE only expert in banjo as a art form in the 24th century (and the centuries that follow) that I spent at least a minute expecting to see good ol' Jenna telling us about the secret banjo society that awaits for the future.
Thatiana Moraes understandable. Carry on with your beliefs. I shall join you in the hope that, if enough people believe hard enough, it shall become Truth.
I THOUGHT THE SAME THING HFDGSFDG
Wow! Oh, man. This is such a good video. Going from banjos to the industrial revolution and the history of worker's rights in Appalachia back to banjos and the ever-present African influences on music...I mean, honestly, I wish it was longer. Can Polygon greenlight like a 45-minute video about this?
Yes please! What an incredible journey, but would be exponentially better with more time!
I would love to watch a more in-depth video about this too! Really fascinating.
Yes yes yes!!! If you're looking for a little more on the music tip, check out Blues People by Amiri Baraka.
I like how this immediately becomes : Who put all this capitalist critique in my sci-fi game?
also really interesting to hear about the origins of the banjo!
*looks at cyberpunk* uhhhhhh
@@Hawwwlucha but not Cyberpunk 2077. That thing has no interest in critiquing anything.
@@EinDose NOPE
@@EinDose Shadowrun does though
Thank you, Polygon, for sharing these insights!
My great grandfather worked in the nitrate mines of Chile where workers, as shown in the video, lived on site at the mines with their families, but were paid a tiny wage in special currency so could never leave. The miners decided to march to the city to protest, walking from the surrounding desert all the way to Iquique, gathering at the Santa Maria school. Here, the army was sent to end their protest (police and military have historically been somewhat interchangeable in Chile, one guess as to why).
In one of Chile's most infamous and tragic events, the military opened fire on the protestors, killing 2,000-4,000 miners for little more than asking for a dignified living wage. My great grandfather survived by playing dead and escaping the mass grave in the desert outside the city where they dumped the corpses. That US American miners faced the same kind of exploitation broke my heart. Chile has been on the brink of civil war since late 2019 for all worker (and women's) rights this time, and only the method of oppression has been changed to maim rather than kill. I can see the USA is facing similar fallout.
My love for all those working hard to create a better future for themselves and their families.
@Jope Lamp , are you trying to be funny? Cuz you are failing. How the hell is rampant abusive capitalism "socialist"?
i have to believe there was some incredibly influential musical artist who was just incredible at the banjo, like the beatles but in space and with a banjo, hence all the space banjos
you are thinking of sufjan stevens
wow thanks for giving me my next DnD scifi bard character
@@biddyfox It totally makes sense that he would be from space
orpheus288 i don't think enjoy your rabbit could have been created by an earthling.
The next bluegrass revival is going to be big
It was Patrick, the fiend
Not them again...
This really is an excellent video. So many channels try to do deep dives on game lore or game development, but this video proves that we need more historical and cultural analyses of the games we play.
The banjo. Blue collar work. Science fiction. All of these concepts are walking their own tightrope-esque spectrums and stereotypes.
To give such a succinct and valuable history lesson about all 3 topics and how they intersect in 15 minutes is truly marvelous.
banjos are everywhere in space to pay respect to that one banjo playing frog. all of society depends on that image.
Paulito8000 all hail CrazyFrog
Clayton's videos are so insightful and well-researched and I always learn something I never expected to! This is extremely cool.
Clayton asking the real questions here
I'm a musicologist by degree training and this video makes me so so happy. Thanks for talking about video game music seriously and taking the cultural implications of it as the most important aspect
Hey musicology gang!
"blue-collar work and exploitation go hand in hand" i couldn't agree more
When I heard the third banjo example I went “is that the altogether??”
MY FAVOURITE BAND (I love BDG and all he creates)
This comment led me to go look up TheAltogether and hear some music by BDG and friends and now I am forever in your debt.
Mark Goddin you’re welcome dude!!
Nearly all of Polygon's video content is excellent, but Clayton's videos always feature heavily on the journalism end, and so I take so much more from them. And the deadpan humor is A++.
humor???
He feels like the most journalist games journalist around.
i was not expecting to hear a working-class supporting stance in a video about banjos in space video games, but i'm so glad it happened
I love Polygon because when I saw the title of this video I thought "oh I know the answer to that question! But they'll probably go into depth about it in a cool way" and then sure enough, the thing I thought was the answer to the title question was answered in the first minute of the video and then they went ALL THE WAY deep. Clayton, bravo, and bravo to the consultants in this video; this is such a great example of what really exploring tone and aesthetics can do for our understanding of both genre and history.
I love Outer Wilds and it's soundtrack, I'm so glad yall talked about this game :)
I'm constantly playing the OST with many of the songs in my playlists haha
Yeah, it's absolutely amazing. The OST made it an even better experience.
@@dathkakashi1034 Made the game feel so much more immersive to me somehow, even considering how different the game is to the reality we know :) Yeah, brilliant soundtrack
Brilliant game. I love how they integrated the music with the gameplay
I love putting the soundtrack on in the background, just chilling before unexpectedly being blasted into existential glory when "let there be light" comes on
Before I completely lost interest in the game (amazing game, but I am not the kind of guy to go through a fresh experience again if you know what I mean) I would sometimes fly my ship so far that if I brought up the audio thing and looked at the system, all the instruments would play at the same time at all times. Loved that game so much, wish I could play it blind again
appreciate you clayton
I love Clayton’s deeply researched videos that he clearly pours so much love and time into. And I get to learn something about banjos and sci-fi along the way!
There are obviously banjos in space because they are the superior instrument :/
you... bastard
I thought your name was Banjo C. for a minute 😔
duh
The year is 20XX. The only music that sells is banjo music. Playing other kinds of instrument are lost arts. But the resistance remembers.
uhkingdom I can only dream
Loving this look at how sci-fi and western/blue collar work intersect.
"Why are there banjos in space?"
*OOOOH WELL I GREW UP ON MY PLANET FARMIN' SPACE WORMS*
I like having rustic elements in Sci-Fi since it gives a sense of people holding on to relics, customs, and heirlooms from the past and from their family's origins on Earth before the world got all Sci-Fi on us.
You can be a space engineer on board a UNSC Corvette, live on a massive space station like the Citadel, or live in a massive city filled with LEDs and mile high skyscrapers, but you still remember the tales you family told you about your ancestor living on a farm in the country side.
How they lived in a cozy little home made of wood, played music with acoustic instruments instead of synthesizers, and warmed themselves with a fireplace.
You'll never be able to experience all the same things, but your banjo or your authentic wooden furniture help to keep that history alive.
I love that I get to watch Brian having constant mental breakdowns and highly educational media analysis on the same channel.
what i expected: a neat, probably kinda silly video
what i got: a new found love for the banjo and even more hatred for capitalism
I was expecting some mention of "The Journey of the Sorcerer". It's a quintessential scifi banjo song from the Hitchhiker's Guide radio show.
same, its what i immediately thought of. that little ditty burned the banjo into my mind forever as something beautiful, mysterious, sad, and silly
I assumed that to be the reason for all of this SciFi Banjo honestly... it's absence is almost conspicuous. Like scoring your music with cannons and not even mentioning the 1812 Overture.
It's by The Eagles, no less!
This was my immediate thought as well. It's an extremely iconic part of pretty much every adaption of one of the most important Sci-Fi creations of all time. It seems like a pretty major omission.
things i didn't expect to learn today but glad i did: the intersection of country music and aesthetics with futurism and science fiction.
i wrote my undergraduate thesis about the history of country music so i was, like, vibrating during this entire video.
If you haven't played Outer Wilds before, I highly recommend it! Such a charming world, and a really fun exploration game
I’ll go maybe a bit further and say it was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had.
It has some really impressive ideas too, and the execution on stuff like gravity physics and some of the unique biomes is amazing.
That game blew me away. Went right up to my top 3 of all time. I've tried to sell my friends on it but so far nobody has loved it as much as me. The clunky ship mechanics bounce a lot of people off. Also it's so hard to explain what makes it so good without spoiling that experience. I really wish I could play it again for the first time.
I don't know too much about it, but I really want to play it from what I've heard-especially after hearing it uses a Majora's-Mask-like time loop. I'm always surprised that more games haven't used that over the years; it's such a great way to make a video-game world feel alive. I hope it comes out on Switch sometime, but there's no sign.
Hecc yeah! If you’re a person who plays solo/adventure games (not that important I guess), than it will be your best game ever
Professor of Science Fiction studies is a thing! Once again I realize just how much my middle school guidance consular failed me. Just like with Cheese master and Comic book historian.
For anyone looking for the name of the song that plays at the end, it's Ethereal Dream by Edward Hogston!
Thank you so much! I've been scrolling for a minute.
great video, I love how this channel uses video games and, to a lesser extent, movies to modern issues and politics in a very easy to understand way. keep up the great work
This is still all very American/West centric.
Americana aesthetic is great and works really well with the "loneliness" of space.
But if you don't vicariously consume foreign media, it won't evoke the same feeling if you don't live there.
On the other hand, as an Indian, I'm in awe of Homeworld Desert of Kharak's soundtrack. SciFi orchestral with... North Indian "Hindustani" music. It goes so well together.
And then hear something like Hindu chants in Beyond Good and Evil 2 (look them up on RUclips).
I really want more World music experimentations with Sci Fi. Bit tired of the same style of music.
yea i feel like there's this very simple explanation that the different aesthetics being discussed are representative of the tastes of white american game designers. i've definitely noticed a consistent americana-as-game-art vibe from a number of games i enjoyed (Night in the Woods, Kentucky Route Zero, etc.), but i'm starting to get a little tired of it.
Literally just writing the same comment.
I love the music of Talvin SIngh and consider his OK album to be a sort of Indian Futurist music. It always makes me think of Sci-Fi.
Video games often are heavily Americanised, and I would like to see more games draw on cultures not so heavily tied to it, but Night in the Woods and Kentucky Route Zero couldn't help but use Americana since they are set in Appalachia
I see an Outer Wilds thumbnail, I click
6:36 clayton is woke
"oh fun a video about music in video games-! oh hey where did all this bread come from?"
Yes! Music analysis videos from polygon are my favorite, and Clayton did an amazing job talking about the banjo and its contexts!
I hope we get more Space Westerns. I miss Firefly.
The Mandalorian is another good space western. Masked gunslinger travels from place to place, righting wrongs. Not as quotable as firefly, though
@@shotgunshells2 well to be quotable you need a bit more dialogue than the Mandalorian gives us.
Not that I'm hating on the Mandalorian; it's one of my favorite recent shows. And it has some good one liners. I have spoken.
If you haven't played The Outer Wilds, please please go and play it. It is one of the few perfect games
Truly, thank you for mentioning Outer Wilds. _Such_ an amazing game.
An actual, thoughtful, in-depth exploration of the history of the banjo as an instrument and how it's used today?? I'm overjoyed to see this video (and the banjolin that snuck in at 13:52 :D)
Clayton, you did a really great job on this one. It sprawls further and further with each interview, and I'm glad to know about a few more games that seem right up my alley.
This was a really great video! I appreciate taking the effort to say Appalachia the way most of us insist on it, even if those in the PA will feel a little left out.
For real, when I heard it pronounced the way it should be, that warmed my heart. I really appreciated that he did that.
I am back, yet again, to rewatch and absorb this video essay. It's ridiculously good
Thanks for coming back!
This was awesome. Here is hope for a major sci-fi game that lets you fight the Pinkerton
that would be fun
I can't believe I didn't know about the origins of the banjo until now. Thank you for this, and for such a cool class-conscious analysis of these games!
This is so insightful and interesting. I never thought about how much sci-fi and labor were tied together.
9:27 THANK YOU! I'm from GA, and you would not BELIEVE the amount of stereotypes about us southerners that exist here.
Guessing inb4 watching the video: The reason the Banjo keeps showing up is because space is a frontier that reminds people of the Wild West and pioneers.
close but no cigar
Dr. Yaszek taught my Senior Seminar at Georgia Tech in the Spring of 08 or Fall 07: "Science Fiction and Environmentalism." There were 15 of us at most, and it was a great experience. We read some Kim Stanley Robinson novels centered on climate change, watched films, etc. I particularly remember a Terry Bisson story called "Bears Discover Fire." Later in the semester, we all took turns to lead a day of class where we presented works of environmental science fiction.
I discussed how Thoreau's 'Walden' inspired and influenced the novel 'Walden 2' by behavioral scientist B.F. Skinner--a really weird book about micro-economy as much as efficient organization of an isolated community.
I don't know what the degree is now that the school has been renamed, but it used to be Science, Technology, and Culture. Glad she's still there.
Radicalized by a video essay about banjos in video games
I’m so happy he pronounced “Appalachia” right
Fantastic video! I think there's something similar to this happening in some novels in the fantasy genre. Geralt in the witcher series drives home the fact that he's "just here to do my job, not pick a side". There seems to be much more emphasis lately on the every man worker than the classic chosen one trope.
It’s because it’s a banjojo reference
You did it
Omg yes
This really is way more in depth, interesting and well written than any other game Chanel could even pretend to be. I would not find this anywhere else. Thank you guys for making grown up shit lol
this went to new and interesting places and I learned some things about banjos! nice work
Clayton's underrated. his videos are always so informative and engaging. like this video touched upon so many topics for only being ~15 minutes, but still managed to not be wicked dense. very interesting and did a great job of showing the tip of the ice berg on the historical context. you love to see some class consciousness too
Clayton, this video is fantastic! Would love to see more videos about labor history and video games.
As a musicologist, this is such a fun video. Love that you got interviews with such great experts. Their passion and enthusiasm for their craft and education comes through so well. Thanks for helping to point out the bridges composers and game developers are building by building a bridge of your own through this video. I’ll be sharing this video with my students!
This continues to be one of the best video essays I've seen.
I don't ever comment on RUclips videos, but this was one of the most surprisingly insightful videos I have watched in recent memory. It's so interesting seeing how video games, the origins of science fiction, and the spread of a musical instrument through the Jim Crow era all tie together.
Wagon Train in Space was how Star Trek was originally described, so it makes sense that a lot of space stories emulate Westerns.
Awesome interviews! It’d be interesting to have a game based on auto factories that uses Motown style music, instead of always borrowing southern aesthetics to read as blue collar.
Ooo Motown sci-fi would be so cool
God I love Clayton's analysis videos so much
Polygon, please continue to make these video essays on game desgin elements. They really are a refreshing beacon of hope in games journalism that really are reflective of the journalists and their passions for games. It becomes a great tool for discussion in conversation for those who want to argue why games can be art.
id like to thank Clayton yet again for introducing me to the game of the.. ever, Outer Wilds.
clayton i LOVE your videos they're so fascinating... I love seeing all the experts you bring in and these deep dives, especially into music!!
The writing impressed and touched me so much here. I usually re-watch videos often but I should've done so sooner with this one, thanks
I keep coming back to this video. It was made with so much heart. Such obvious love for the subject, backed by solid research and strong analysis- that's why I love Polygon. 💙
god I love polygon videos. they're the analysis that is necessary for videogames to be elevated to an art form in the public consciousness
The best Polygon videos are the ones that feel like the popular front to a thoroughly-researched academic paper.
this channel's whole video catalog is a fucking gold mine... one where workers are treated as people, not as disposable mobs.
This video was absolutely wonderful. Informative, fun, friendly. Exactly what I expected and more. I think this video has just become my favorite. I would watch over an hour of this for sure
This was such a cool video and a cool concept to explore! The thesis you reached by the end was really powerful, thank you so much for all the amazing work that clearly went into this
The banjo is a good instrument. You can’t change my mind
I love clayton's videos because they always leave me with good games to play
Outer Wilds is one of my all time favourite games and that banjo song makes me feel so nostalgic of the game.
This is such a good video with awesome Jacob Geller vibes: a super thorough, historical look at something told in a gentle way despite its intense and interconnected subject. Thank you, Clayton!
Clayton never fails to deliver thoughtful videos. Thanks.
This video was made for me, this is the perfect crossroad of all of my interests. Class consciousness, science fiction, video games, and country/folk music. It’s so beautiful
I loved this video! I always wondered about this connection and I love the amount of research and history that was brought to the situation. Thank you!
Man. Clayton, your videos are so calming and thoughtful and informative. I really appreciate your artistic voice, man.
Well that was beautiful. I have no witty retort or rejoinder. It just made me smile.
this might be the polygon video that’s impressed me the most so far- great research, intelligent commentary, all super interesting!! well done!!
This is super interesting! I absolutely love these vids about topics with input from real experts and seeing themes across games.
Thank you for including the bit about the peekskill riots. I grew up less and thirty minutes away from there and had never heard about them - I knew pete and toshi seeger lived near by, but we never learn about the the black spots on our local history.
I always love these educative videos, amazing work Clayton!!
As a fan of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy since I was a child, banjos have always felt like a natural fit for sci-fi to me.