KOSMOSIS: A COMMUNIST SPACE SHOOTER IS AN ARCADE GAME FROM AN ALTERNATE PRESENT WHERE NON-DEGENERATED SOCIALIST VALUES ARE HEGEMONIC.
THE ORIGINS OF THE SHOOT 'EM UP GENRE ARE STRONGLY INTERTWINED WITH THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. SPACEWAR! THE ALLEGED FIRST COMPUTER GAME WAS BORN AT MIT (THEN ALMOST COMPLETELY FUNDED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE) AND USED A WWII RADAR SCREEN FOR THE VISUAL OUTPUT. NOT SURPRISINGLY IT WAS BASED ON A SPACE-RACE-INSPIRED MILITARY FANTASY. AFTER 40 YEARS OF TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENT, SHOOT 'EM UPS DEVELOPED INTO FIRST AND THIRD PERSON SHOOTERS BUT THEY STILL MAINTAIN MOST OF THE ORIGINAL FEATURES: AIM-AND-DODGE MECHANICS, OBSESSION WITH BULLETS (COMPUTERS, AFTER ALL, WERE BORN AS BALLISTICS CALCULATORS), COMPULSIVE [CAPITALIST] ACCUMULATION OF POWER-UPS, MANICHEAN CONTRAPOSITION AGAINST DE-HUMANIZED OTHERS AND INDIVIDUALISM EMBODIED BY THE FIGURE OF THE ONE-AGAINST-ALL HERO/PLAYER. KOSMOSIS TRIES TO ALTER SOME OF THESE "NATURAL" TRAITS BY PROPOSING A PROCEDURAL INTERPRETATION OF COLLECTIVIST / REVOLUTIONARY STATEMENTS AND CHALLENGING THE PLAYER'S AGENCY. http://www.molleindustria.org/kosmosis/kosmosis.html
