In the year 1983, the Cold War was still in the minds of American
citizens and tensions between the two superpowers, the United
States and the Soviet Union, were elevated. Brewing since 1945, the fear of Communist invasion, espionage and the threat of nuclear Armageddon made for many great stories from Hollywood. Cobbled together with domestic paranoia, I, Robot combines both and propels the amalgamation into video game culture.
In the game, the player controls an unhappy Interface Service Robot, designated as number 1984. It becomes self-aware despite being under complete surveillance and revolts against the propaganda machine of the all-controlling Big Brother and his ever-watchful Evil Eye through 126 levels.
To clear a level, the player must avoid flying objects such as bombs, birds and flying sharks moving from the background to the foreground, and eliminate the shield protecting the Evil Eye with an equipped laser. To do so, the player must bravely enter the “Red Zone,” in reference to the Red Army of the Communist Party, and maneuver over the red tiled polygon blocks converting them to blue. To traverse all the surfaces, Interface Robot #1984 must jump across platforms, an action strictly prohibited by Big Brother. If the Evil Eye spies the robot jumping, he is immediately executed so all such action must be enacted while the Evil Eye is closed. Upon completing the task, Interface Robot #1984 destroys the Evil Eye perched upon the pyramid.
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Michael Thomasson is one of the most widely respected videogame historians in the field today. He currently teaches college level videogame history, design, and graphics courses. For television, Michael conducted research for MTV's videogame related program Video MODS. In print, he authored Downright Bizarre Games, and has contributed to nearly a dozen gaming texts. Michael’s historical columns have been distributed in newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has written business plans for several vendors and managed a dozen game-related retail stores spanning three decades. Michael consults for multiple video game and computer museums and has worked on nearly a hundred game titles on Atari, Coleco, Sega and other console platforms. In 2014, The Guinness Book of World Records declared that Thomasson had “The Largest Videogame Collection” in the world. His businesses sponsor gaming tradeshows and expos across the US and Canada. Visit www.GoodDealGames.com.
