A short while ago at the time of writing, my good pal Rob Caporetto (who works on the excellent “Beyond the Scanlines” series over on YouTube) posted a review of Atari’s latest “Recharged” remake of one of its old classics, Lunar Lander Beyond. And it got me thinking.
Specifically, the thing that got me thinking was Rob’s comments on how the whole thing felt like it was acknowledging the corporate-heavy hellscape that is life in 2024, but it didn’t really do anything with it. It just felt dour and cynical about the whole thing, with no attempt to either satirise the shitness or provide a real sense of “hope” lying somewhere beyond, and that left the narrative aspect of Lunar Lander Beyond feeling like something of a drag to him.
I’ve been aware of this overall trend in media for a while, and it’s honestly fairly exhausting. But thankfully, bleak outlooks for the present and/or future aren’t the only things that popular entertainment has to offer… you just have to know where to look. So let’s ponder that a bit today.
Continue reading The growing importance of media with a positive vibe