The first "Computer" X-Files Episode, "Ghost in the Machine" was written in 1993, in that year, we had Dos 6.22 and Windows 3.11. Apple had maybe LC- II's. The fastest PC's were 486-DX2-133 MHz and the fastest Apple Motorola CPUs were about 120 MHz if that much. So that story was written well before the explosion in consumer computer development, the story was not too far from the bounds of what was possible that year. Could those PCs pass the Turing Test? That's the stretch the writers ask of us in all of these eps.
Kill Switch was written in 1998, and by that time we had a huge breakthrough in computing – Faster Machines and Laptops, CD Burners. So, that story was not too far a stretch either, and it was the first written by "Cyberpunk" William Gibson. It was just a damn good story, with a good resolution
The Year "First Person Shooter" was, er, Shot, was 2000, the year of the first person shooters. And so, the story was appropriate for the year in which this episode was made. At least Story-wise.
Because I was a Gamer that year, and this was the time of Quake and maybe even Quake II, and I used to spend quite a lot of time playing other kids around the world: So I kind of see, what Gibson was getting at. It was simply, the State of the Art of Film that year, and especially with TV Budgeting, did not allow the producers to re-create what Gibson had in his mind.
Think of the movie "Doom" where Karl Urban goes on his rampage – I think Gibson was thinking in those terms - So it just didn't translate well into an episodic TV Show. Using simple sets, they could have recreated some of the rooms from Doom I and II even, and had the characters interact in that gamespace.
It was just, at the TIME, everybody had a PC system with either Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000 which had come out in 1999. I still use Windows 2000 by the way, it's a rock solid OS for running pure code programs, if you do not need to drive all kinds of graphic devices.
And this is what I think Gibson was trying to convey in this "Sequel" to Kill Switch. The AI had gotten a taste of faster puters and better graphics cards, More onboard memory, larger hard drives - I bought my first 1 GB Hard drive in maybe 1998. I thought that was a lot back then, boy was I fooled.
But this is the point of this episode - The AI has adapted, it has learned. And it wants to interact with people now, so it uses an image acquired from Jade Blue Afterglow. I don't think the AI is maliciously killing these people, it is just following the programming of a 'First person Shooter' game, it's all it understands. That, and Winning.
First it beats the head tester for FPS, then, it beats the Japanese guy, using a sword. Then it kicks Mulder's arse, but stops short of killing him, I guess the AI thought Mulder was cute or something. But then it come face to face with something it does not expect: SKULLY.
And Skully teaches the AI a thing or two about Threatening "her Man" - She basically spanks the AI. Which was why I think, when turned back on, the AI took Skully's image-Out of Respect.
And I think I see Gibson's point to this story, the AI is just playing a game, or so it thinks. Does not understand that the Humans it "shuts off" cannot be turned back on. But I think it finally learns about that by the end of the episode.
This is why I believe this "First Person Shooter" was a Highly Under- Appreciated and UnderRated X-Files Ep. And the Third "Computer Of The Week" 'Sode. It was simply written at a time of Staleness on our Computer OS's - Windows 98 and ME were about as exciting as plates of Tripe. We had CD Burners and even some DVD burners, but they were still over a hundred bucks a pop. So, good fast systems still cost over a grand to make, compared to today, I can make one for about 300 bucks if I use a used hard drive.
It was that - Stagnacity? Stagnancy? That reflected back upon this episode. The Episode was made as well as could be made for e television Show on a limited Budget. And the story could have been developed a bit more to show the Humanizing of the AI, but I think there was a conflict between Gibson's Story and Script and Chris Carter's good intentions to make this an "X Files Sode" - Before, Kill Switch worked within The X Files Mythos and MOTW arcs, this story was kind of out of place IN the X-Files, and Carter's revisions did not help the episode any.
I Kind of wish Gibson's original story had been left intact.
But it is what it is, and I like it, despite what the Critics said about it when it was first broadcast.
I watched this ep with my roommate the year it was first shown, and we both related to it, I never saw anything bad about the ep.
Kill Switch was written in 1998, and by that time we had a huge breakthrough in computing – Faster Machines and Laptops, CD Burners. So, that story was not too far a stretch either, and it was the first written by "Cyberpunk" William Gibson. It was just a damn good story, with a good resolution
The Year "First Person Shooter" was, er, Shot, was 2000, the year of the first person shooters. And so, the story was appropriate for the year in which this episode was made. At least Story-wise.
Because I was a Gamer that year, and this was the time of Quake and maybe even Quake II, and I used to spend quite a lot of time playing other kids around the world: So I kind of see, what Gibson was getting at. It was simply, the State of the Art of Film that year, and especially with TV Budgeting, did not allow the producers to re-create what Gibson had in his mind.
Think of the movie "Doom" where Karl Urban goes on his rampage – I think Gibson was thinking in those terms - So it just didn't translate well into an episodic TV Show. Using simple sets, they could have recreated some of the rooms from Doom I and II even, and had the characters interact in that gamespace.
It was just, at the TIME, everybody had a PC system with either Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000 which had come out in 1999. I still use Windows 2000 by the way, it's a rock solid OS for running pure code programs, if you do not need to drive all kinds of graphic devices.
And this is what I think Gibson was trying to convey in this "Sequel" to Kill Switch. The AI had gotten a taste of faster puters and better graphics cards, More onboard memory, larger hard drives - I bought my first 1 GB Hard drive in maybe 1998. I thought that was a lot back then, boy was I fooled.
But this is the point of this episode - The AI has adapted, it has learned. And it wants to interact with people now, so it uses an image acquired from Jade Blue Afterglow. I don't think the AI is maliciously killing these people, it is just following the programming of a 'First person Shooter' game, it's all it understands. That, and Winning.
First it beats the head tester for FPS, then, it beats the Japanese guy, using a sword. Then it kicks Mulder's arse, but stops short of killing him, I guess the AI thought Mulder was cute or something. But then it come face to face with something it does not expect: SKULLY.
And Skully teaches the AI a thing or two about Threatening "her Man" - She basically spanks the AI. Which was why I think, when turned back on, the AI took Skully's image-Out of Respect.
And I think I see Gibson's point to this story, the AI is just playing a game, or so it thinks. Does not understand that the Humans it "shuts off" cannot be turned back on. But I think it finally learns about that by the end of the episode.
This is why I believe this "First Person Shooter" was a Highly Under- Appreciated and UnderRated X-Files Ep. And the Third "Computer Of The Week" 'Sode. It was simply written at a time of Staleness on our Computer OS's - Windows 98 and ME were about as exciting as plates of Tripe. We had CD Burners and even some DVD burners, but they were still over a hundred bucks a pop. So, good fast systems still cost over a grand to make, compared to today, I can make one for about 300 bucks if I use a used hard drive.
It was that - Stagnacity? Stagnancy? That reflected back upon this episode. The Episode was made as well as could be made for e television Show on a limited Budget. And the story could have been developed a bit more to show the Humanizing of the AI, but I think there was a conflict between Gibson's Story and Script and Chris Carter's good intentions to make this an "X Files Sode" - Before, Kill Switch worked within The X Files Mythos and MOTW arcs, this story was kind of out of place IN the X-Files, and Carter's revisions did not help the episode any.
I Kind of wish Gibson's original story had been left intact.
But it is what it is, and I like it, despite what the Critics said about it when it was first broadcast.
I watched this ep with my roommate the year it was first shown, and we both related to it, I never saw anything bad about the ep.