Virtual Reality

Entertainment has come a very long way. Humans have had books for over a thousand years, movies for hundreds of years. Video games for nearly as long. The next great frontier was full, neural-immersion virtual reality.

Perception is Reality

These systems work throug the operator’s neural interface. The system will intercept all signals processing in the brain, isolate muscle control, and inject new sensory experiences. This process allows for all human senses and even false senses to be provided. A user enters a fully fake world, but it will feel and function identically to the real one.

This extensive interference in the brain has enabled people to experience impossible fantasies:

To have power over matter like a god
To feel senses and appendages that aren’t there
To live the life of a hero or adventurer
Wandering space without having to breathe or experiencing what would otherwise be lethal injuries, yet experiencing no real harm
Playing poker with Einstein, Hawking, Tesla, and Davinci

Any story, any concept, and any idea is free game here.

Popular Media

The popular media trends vary from location to location. Each system has its own fads. Humanity has extended so far across the stars that no one piece of media stands a chance of capturing the totality of human interest at once any more. In some systems, the corporatist leaders alter and control popular VR media to shape public opinion, limit uprisings, and control the populace.

In New Athens, the media is still mostly free.

Deliver Us The Red World

An epic historic-recreation, players get to re-enact the first colonization of Mars. The system has several modes available to players, allowing them to move forwards and backwards in time, simulate different outcomes, take on various roles, and shape history as they see fit.

Some players have run scenarios going from stranded on Mars to conquering the solar system. There is a widely believed ‘world record’ of a man named Duarte. He conquered the Sol System after establishing the first major colony on Mars.

Psycho: Going 100%

An experience in which the user is a psychic, they have extensive powers involving creating barriers, levitation, and banishing ghosts and demons. This is a fixed narrative, expecting players to tackle missions one by one, growing their abilities, and somehow beating the bad guys in each phase. It doesn’t simulate so much as give players a fixed-target to work their way through.

Palladins: Eternal Defenders

A group of teens venture into space after being chosen by a mysterious alien force to protect the universe from an evil empire. Much of the universe has been enslaved by this evil emperor and it’s on these new Palladins to free it using a giant mecha, their wits, and pure persistence.

This one can be run in single or multiplayer, with others even allowed to join in as the villains if they so choose. It can create a massive and dynamic atmosphere.

The Doctor

A dramatic experience, players take on the role of a holographic, AI doctor. They’re constantly beset by the limits of their body, the corporate system, and the challenge of raising a family outside their primary working function. The series talks about advancing AI rights, freedom for machines, rebellion against humanity, and the human experience.

Media Comes in Many Forms

The popular stories of the 21st century, the 20th, the 19th, they’re still very much at-work today. Humanity never rose above its most baser instincts and in a lot of ways, the after effects of that mean the same media and stories resonate now. The difference is how people can fully experience them. Media seems split into two mega-genres:

Long Form Content that functions like a simulation, re-living days and months and years of someone’s life in this virtual, simulated realm.
Direct Action Condensed or episodic adventures that are fast, digestible, and don’t simulate a whole world. They’re just bites, the core bites a player craves to break up the monotony in their own lives. A taste of adventure and none of the weighty effects.

BUT.. there’s also the market for Adult Media. Which is the same as it ever was. The difference now is everyone can experience exactly what it’s like to be with nearly any celebrity.