THE INTERACTIVE ABSURD: Digging for absurdism in video games
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- Опубликовано: 13 июн 2024
- You might say that I use a few video games to explore philosophical absurdism, but really I’m using philosophical absurdism to explore a few video games. Please don’t mistake me for someone with deep thoughts.
My Tumblr: / mackerelphones
My Twitter: / mackerelphones
0:00:00 Content warning and beginning
0:00:23 Please, Don’t Touch Anything
0:07:26 Introducing Theatre of the Absurd
0:16:02 Introducing Interactive Absurd
0:24:20 Missile Command, Pac-Man, Tetris
0:32:48 Jet Set Willy
0:45:57 Zhenia Zankov
0:55:19 The Stanley Parable
1:15:21 Flower, Sun, and Rain
1:25:44 Rooftop Cop
1:40:29 Presentable Liberty
1:54:44 Yume Nikki
2:06:14 Your Amazing T-Gotchi!
2:14:54 DK; Papers, Please; Continue?9876543210
2:26:32 Happy World and Camus
2:40:07 Baby’s First Existentialism
2:50:53 Sisyphus
2:52:33 Franklin and Puzankov
3:08:55 Ending
Due to character limits and RUclips not letting me put them in the comment section, I have resorted to posting my citations/references on my website: mackerelphones.com/2021/12/29... 
Игры
![THE SILVER CASE: Killing the Past with Kusabi Tetsugoro [redux]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mQjOvz6qjDY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Anicent Cheese Can Go Up to Lap 11? [Ancient Cheese Lap 10]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EamYP5K-yiM/mqdefault.jpg)
EDIT: I apologize for mispronouncing Davey Wreden's name. This mistake irritates like an eyelash on the sclera
EDIT: Ah, great. A few hours after this went live, some outfit gave me a copyright claim for seventeen seconds of innocuous background music in a clip from Continue?9876543210. If you see any advertisements, know that this is the reason why.
EDIT: Oh no. I spent two months gong over this thing, and I just wanted it out already, but there is an editing mistake at 1:52:50. It's not supposed to cut to the Resistance letter. 😭 But forget it. I won't spend hours and hours re-rendering the video for that.
This was supposed to be out in the summer. Suffice to say that various circumstances combined over and over again to delay the completion of this video (including making other videos). Even now, I worry there is some egregious error that I missed. But at a certain point, I just have to release the thing already and be free of its burden.
Lest anyone mistake me for someone brighter and more patient than I am, let me say that, in preparing for the video, I did not read all of Esslin’s Theatre of the Absurd. I read the entire introduction and portions of the sections on Beckett and Adamov. I did read the entire “The Myth of Sisyphus,” except for the appendix about Kafka. I also read Rhinoceros and Waiting for Godot and watched The Bald Soprano and the Beckett on Film version of Endgame. I read Puzankov’s entire “Absurd Games” paper. That and Wikipedia’s list of Theatre of the Absurd was my research.
Also, in the Rooftop Cop segment, I mention “my original upload of Killing the Past with Kusabi Tetsugoro.” I wish to be clear that the one live at the time this video was posted is that original upload. One of my next projects is tightening that one up a bit and uploading a slightly improved version.
I already know what sections of the video will later make me find the whole thing deeply embarrassing: “Happy World and Camus” and “Baby’s First Existentialism.” They are fine but irrelevant to the rest of the video. Go ahead and skip them, if you want, for you will lose nothing. I ended up appending them because, after spending so many hours working on the rest of the video, I must have gotten fed up with this overall “absurd living” idea that I find unconvincing. Depending on how many people see this video, it might, I figured, be some viewers’ only exposure to the ideas of existentialism, and so I thought I would prefer not to spread something I disagree with without some kind of caveats attached. I am considering whether I might adapt the video script into an actually focused essay on my website, removing these ludicrous and childish tangents. When or if I do, I will put a link here.
Three and a half hours of staring into the absurd abyss with one of my favorite small content creators? Oh boy oh boy!
I am glad you were not only still alive and on RUclips, but that you have also provided me with a 3 hour video to enjoy. Keep up the great work, Mack.
56:17 I mispronounced Davey Wreden's name! Nooooo!! Forget the existentialist stuff--THIS is the true cause for despair
Mackerel Phones Magnum Opus
Fantastic stuff, and flew by very quickly considering the length and density of it all, thanks to the charming editing and commentary. Ended up feeling like a very satisfying video to watch around the close of the year and right before the next one started for me, and also compelled me to finally get around to experiencing "Waiting For Godot" myself, opting for the same conveniently available version you included plenty of excerpts from on here. And (not so surprisingly) it's wonderful, and very much up my alley, so thank you for the encouragement in that direction, along with everything else this video had to offer.
I was overdue to watch Godot, too. I still remember the first time I ever heard of it: as a kid back in the late nineties, I was joking with my friends that Dragon Ball Z...with most of its conflicts just amounting to waiting for the protagonist to show up and fix things while everyone else floundered uselessly in the meantime...should just be called "Waiting For Goku" instead,. My mom overheard the conversation and thought I was making a SHOCKINGLY clever pun/reference for a twelve-year-old, until she asked where I heard of "Godot" and I was just like...the who now???
Waiting for Godot is surprisingly entertaining imo. Given its reputation, I expected lots of bleak philosophizing instead of weird comedy
Babe new mackerel phones dropped
I'm actually really glad you included the part about happy world and the fact you disagree because it's important to put out there for those willing to watch that far in, people might actually want to commit suicide in this late stage capitalist world, it's important to recognize the alturnatives and that hope is possible and it is in the challenge of trying to make a better world that anyone can find meaning, even if you believe it impossible at least giving it a try can be liberating, the universe CAN potentially be better. At least that helps me a little
I don't have a whole lot to say, but I wanna add a comment to make the algorithm happier for ya. I really appreciate and agree with how you seem to treat what could commonly be considered "low art" with a level of artistic and philosophical scrutiny that might normally get reserved for "high art." Perhaps Pac-Man and Tetris are worthy of study as much as "Waiting for Godot" or "The Stranger" - some might call it absurd, but that is par for the course. ;) Anyway, you made another good thing.
Pac-Man isn't as profound as Waiting for Godot, but there's something there I tell you
That video was amazing and it makes me think, though the prospect of death still makes me despair. I have to work on that. Sorry if my comment isn't interesting, I just don't know what else to say and am commenting primarily for the algorithm! Your channel is severely underrated
Don't worry, it makes me despair too. Just feel kind of weird claiming that means life is despair
@@mackerelphones Oh for sure I wouldn't say that means life is despair either
Next to the Pac-Man World video, this is my new favorite video essay. This is absolutely masterful and concise. Beautiful use of words and points, and very relaxing. Thank you for uploading these amazing videos, you really make my day and give me a lot to ponder.
(also, trans rights)
Every time I see a video of yours in my sub feed I think "no, there's no way I'll get anything out of three hours of this" and yet I always do
D'aww 😊
@@mackerelphones hey, it's true
wow ty
Where is your "man after man" video?
Same place it's always been ruclips.net/video/c44kM8125WU/видео.html
What is 2:50:55 from?
El Dorado Denki
@@mackerelphones thank you, also, your video inadvertently gave me the will to live, like actually?
I can't understate how like, damn, that really happened
So thanks!
@@shavingrabbid Oh, um. Wow. Good. You're welcome
How the hell does this video only have like 476 views?
If you like it, perhaps you could tweet it out or share it with someone you know? Then there might be a few more 👉👈