Big Brother (lost build of cancelled PC game based on "Nineteen Eighty-Four" novel; 1998): Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 17:49, 28 July 2021

Bigbrother.png

A screenshot from the game.

Status: Lost

Big Brother was a video game developed for the PC by American company Media X some time in the late 1990s. Based on George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, not much is known about the game outside of the December 1998 issue of Next Generation Magazine.[1]

Plot and Gameplay

The game's premise is based on George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, though the plot is "slightly different from that of 1984, with a corrupt regime that’s crumbling even more than in the book". Players are tasked with rescuing their fiancee from the Thought Police through 12 levels, each one apparently "5 hours" long, cut down from an original count of 60 levels.[2]

The published information in Next Generation Magazine describes Big Brother as an adventure game that uses a modern interface, real-time graphics, advanced facial animations, and environmental puzzles to deliver a fresh experience in the fatigued adventure genre of the late 1990s.

Availability

Next Generation Magazine seems to be the last time Big Brother or Media X was ever mentioned. The release date was scheduled for the first quarter of 1999. However, the appears to have been cancelled. As late as 24 September 1999, the game was in its final stages of production, according to the companies financial reports.[3] According to Media X's Quarterly/Transition Report on 15 November 1999, the company spent $240,160 in investing activities primarily due to "the increase in deferred software development costs for 'Big Brother' and purchases of fixed assets."[4] This would be the last time Big Brother would be mentioned in their reports. At the end of 1999, an audit was done on Media X.[5]

References