Episode 127 - The Player of Games by Iain Banks
Long before Ready Player One, there was a book about an intergalactic game of chance and luck called The Player of Games, by Iain M. Banks, published in 1988. It was the second Culture novel, which is a vast AI interface that plug people into a better reality, or does it?
We’ll break down the book, see if it holds up, and talk about its relevance in today’s world which has VR gaming as the new frontier.
We were joined by Matt Sinclair, Co-Founder of Inscape Studios for a look into this vision of the far future. This episode was originally recorded on June 1st, 2021, but never before released. Enjoy!
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Simulation Nation is a Worldcast transmitting from the Earth iE2 dimension. Hosted by Johnny Android and his cyberpunk bot Hiro, they interview leading VR professionals, review VR games and movies, and host otherworldly events— all live from the metaverse.
Their mission is to save our dimension from the dystopic fate that befell theirs, and embedded within their episodes are the keys to our survival. They suggest you subscribe to all of their channels as though your existence depended on it—
