Paper for final project
Professor Micha Cárdenas
BISIA 383 B
Dec. 14, 2015
Shifting Machine in Beyond ME
While Cárdenas’s “shifting” is “the ability to modulate visibility,” Shifting Machine is a fictional tool which enables people to shift person to another person, their mindset, and their location by just clicking it (The Shift[1]). The game Beyond ME shows example stories of the change caused by Shifting Machine.
Story 1 – On That Day: The main character of this story is Christine, a Korean woman. One day, her friend, Haruka confesses her that she was a transwoman. Christine wonders how she should respond to Haruka’s coming out. Players can choose to say “Thank you for telling me” or to try Shifting Machine. The ending for these two options is the same, but if players choose to try Shifting Machine, they get to experience Haruka’s feelings by shifting characters, which will make them understand Haruka or feel empathy with her.
Story 2 – Daily Life: The main character of this story is Haruka, a Japanese transwoman, who has negative mindset. In this story, players can shift character’s mindset. They will see how same day can be different by shifting mindset. When the character is pessimistic, time goes slower, the view is darker, and the town looks more blurry because she does not want to face people. When she is optimistic, on the other hand, time goes faster, the view is brighter because she is excited to see her friend and enjoying her weekend. She also enjoys the Christmas lights in the town while she does not even notice when she is pessimistic (including Story 1).
Story 3 – Tokyo vs Seattle: This is my true story, not a fiction. Although how they feel about the location depends on individuals, according to my own experience, environment has a significant role on one’s life. This story shows players the possible changes of shifting their environment.
Each story has alternative choices, shift or no shift. Except for Story 1, unless you choose to try Shifting Machine, nothing changes. This is one of the key points of Beyond ME. This lets players realize that if they want the better life or world, they must change themselves.
Another key point is that this game lets people experience someone else’s feelings or at least shows other people’s life especially which are likely to be neglected or unwelcomed by majority of people as Mainichi[2] and Depression Quest[3] show.
Although shifting to alternative is not easy in real life, and it does not always guarantee the better change, Shifting Machine shows another world to people. Cárdenas says, “Learning from science fiction in digital media, one can see into the moment of shifting, which offers multiple possible futures” (Code Poetry Library, Conclusion[4]). I hope that Beyond ME also can be the media which helps people to think of another possibility or world, and to shift themselves to the better world.
[1] Cárdenas, Micha. "Shifting Futures: Digital Trans Of Color Praxis". Scalar.usc.edu. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
[2] Mattie Brice,. "Mainichi". N.p., 2012. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
[3] Depressionquest.com,. "Depression Quest: An Interactive (Non)Fiction About Living With Depression". N.p., 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
[4] Cárdenas, Micha. "Shifting Futures: Digital Trans Of Color Praxis". Scalar.usc.edu. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.