Gadget ~Past as Future~ is born anew
Originally published in 1997, Gadget ~Past as Future~ has stamped an inimitable hallmark in the history of interactive CD-Rom as one of the most profoundly influential works of digital art whose inscrutability has mystified video game critics, still unable to attain a fitting label with which to categorize it. Consisting of a renovated version of the original 1993 release, entitled Invention, Travel & Adventure, this rare masterpiece by Haruhiko Shono bears witness to a pioneering cycle of history when advancements in technology have succeeded in inviting established artists from various fields into dabbling with the stirring new prospect of interactivity; but also a phase of particular meaning to video game studies and criticism, then treading their very first steps into a wider understanding of that once trendy term. Though often paired with adventure game experiences, given the few remote similarities, it can never be said that Gadget is truly a video game, more than it is a prodigious journey into digital film, contemporary music and photography.
With today’s release, under the quaint title of iGadget, Shono expects to pass on this same dispute to a newer audience, undoubtedly more attracted to such portable formats. Keeping in mind the distinction between devices, this formerly low-res design with black & white QuickTime film clips finds itself in accordance to HD quality standards, with some of the CGI footage having been rendered once again for a higher quality display. Albeit the minimal changes, this version is bound to offer the same vintage computer graphic appeal it retained throughout the decades, as well as its engrossing and perplexing narrative set in an alternative universe whose true parallels with ours are perhaps too alarming to consider - let alone enunciate.
Additional information: iTunes description page for iGadget | Haruhiko Shono Profile and Interview @ CoreGamers | Resonances of Gadget, an interview with Koji Ueno
11 months ago