The gunning man

Abstract

This paper examines the links and influences between the videogames of Eugene Jarvis and sf. Using Edwards’ “closed world” theoretical framework, this paper establishes the link between the cinematic and textual sf of the 1980s which queried and critiqued the position of the human in relation to new cybernetic technologies and Eugene Jarvis’s videogames, many of which are viewed as some of the most influential in the history of the medium. It is found that themes common to 1980s sf of improbable odds, hostile environments, and media and consumer saturation also run through Jarvis’s titles. The net result is the “gunning man,” a character borne of Cold War, closed-world discourses who fights to defend the vestiges of humanity in a world of out-of-control technology.