Eesgooshee
12-20-2010, 08:49 AM
What do Back to the Future, The Terminator, Lost, Doctor Who, Chrono Trigger, and BioShock Infinite all have in common? The plot of each one deals with time travel. At least according to my theory. Hear me out.
http://imgur.com/CxF9i.jpg
Also, they all star Christopher Lloyd.
(Unless stated otherwise, this entire theory is speculation based on my observation of the two trailers released thus far, with no confirmation, denial or acknowledgement from the actual writers or developers of BioShock Infinite.)
Perhaps the strangest phenomenon in the gameplay demo is a shimmering effect that subtly changes certain things. It’s first seen towards the beginning of the video, after the bell crashes into the street in front of Booker DeWitt. A banner that has fallen to the ground shimmers, though I haven’t been able to make out what in particular changes.
http://imgur.com/fMnSY.jpg
The effect is accompanied by a distinct sound effect.
Later on, the effect appears when DeWitt meets Saltonstall, the politician with the mutton chop mustache that appears to be orating to several empty chairs. After DeWitt follows the advice of a nearby sign and arms himself with a rifle, Saltonstall bellows “WHO ARE YOU?” as his eyes glow, and the red-white-and-blue button he wears briefly changes to a hammer and sickle.
http://imgur.com/I2WQ3.jpg
Note the correlation between the shimmer effect and his sudden change in attitude.
The shimmering phenomenon appears last in the scene in which DeWitt enters the bar. At first, the patrons don’t mind his presence, merely cracking a joke or two at his expense. As DeWitt surveys the saloon, a painting with horses and the Statue of Liberty is visible. The camera pans away the right, then back to the left. For the quarter-second or so that the painting is visible again, it can be seen changing. When the camera once again centers, the painting is revealed to now be a portrait of some guy. At this point, a gunshot is heard, the blood-colored “You just got hit by someone to your right” indicator appears, and a shotgun-toting man threateningly declares “We’re closed!” (On a tangential note, I’ve always found that scene to be rather silly. Only in Regenerating Health Videogameland would a direct hit from a shotgun be considered a “warning shot.”)
http://imgur.com/cawv5.jpg
Again, note that the shimmer effect coincides with the surrounding characters becoming hostile.
Of course, the presence of the shimmering phenomenon does not by itself point to the possibility of time travel. But when combined with the many anachronisms in the reveal trailer and gameplay demo, the potential emerges. Consider these facts about the BioShock Infinite timeline that have been revealed by the developers:
1. The game takes place in 1912.
2. The floating city of Columbia ceased communication with America at some point prior to the events of the game.
3. At the time the plot of the game occurs, Elizabeth has been held captive in the city for 15 years (since 1897).
(At the time of writing, it has not been determined whether facts 2 and 3 are related in any way.)
In the reveal trailer, a man is seen on a balcony enjoying the song “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” specifically the version recorded by Billy Murray in 1906. If Columbia broke contact with America in 1897, it would be unlikely that he would own that gramophone record. (Also, if time travel exists, the Bill Murray that recorded the song could very well be the same one that starred as Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters.)
http://imgur.com/oHMtV.jpg
Later, he's going to listen to Dark Side of the Moon.
Of course, that only matters if we assume that the cessation of interaction with the surface and Elizabeth’s captivity are related, and as such is pretty flimsy evidence. But there’s also the appearance of the aforementioned hammer and sickle symbol. Said image was not created until 1917 (5 years after the game takes place), and wasn’t an official symbol until 1922.
Also, the song playing in the bar is an old-timey version of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” a song released by Tears for Fears in 1985, 73 years after the events of the game. Granted, BioShock has never been written by Credible McRealism, and the Tears for Fears song could just be a non-canonical Easter Egg, but the large volume of anachronisms not directly related to genetic engineering does seem strange.
http://imgur.com/kdiK1.jpg
Or maybe covers of Tears for Fears songs are just good luck for video games.
If time travel does exist, the shimmering effect could indicate some sort of change in the world caused in the past by some meddling temporal tourists. It’s like that scene in Frequency where Dennis Quaid blows off the serial killer’s hand with a shotgun, and in the present the hand shrivels and disappears.
http://imgur.com/yeJq6.jpg
Disappearing hands are one of the first signs of non-chronological shenanigans.
The possibility of time travel may also explain some of the other images in the video. Early on, we see a woman sweeping the porch of her shop, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it is engulfed in flames. Our good buddy Saltonstall is introduced as he passionately preaches to literally nobody. They may just be batcrap insane, like the denizens of Rapture, but the developers have gone to great lengths to distance Columbia from the underwater dystopia. Rapture was dark, dilapidated, claustrophobic and full of hostile psychopaths. Columbia is bright, fairly intact, airy and populated by at least some characters that are neutral to the player character. Maybe instead of being delusional, these characters are merely temporally displaced. Maybe that woman’s consciousness is in the past, when her shop was significantly less conflagrant.
http://imgur.com/FkxOf.jpg
Or maybe it's in the future, and she's sweeping away the ashes of her workplace.
When DeWitt encounters Saltonstall, the shimmering effect (along with the glowing eyes and voice amplification) could indicate his consciousness “snapping back” to the present time. Having seen an unfamiliar man with a rifle appear from thin air, Saltonstall freaks out and decides not to take the chance that DeWitt isn’t hostile.
Irrational Games sees the BioShock series as “more than just a specific setting, or a specific set of characters.” While they could just be referring to how BioShock and BioShock Infinite are in the same universe but not directly related (similar to Half-Life and Portal), they keep mentioning the “implications” of these multiple settings.
http://imgur.com/ecuxh.jpg
Will they use time travel to intertwine the stories of Columbia and Rapture?
http://imgur.com/eyt03.jpg
Probably not.
But they could include a nonintrusive connection here or there. (The USA/Communist connection in Saltonstall’s button may reflect Andrew Ryan’s history.)
If you’re still skeptical about the possibility of time travel occurring in BioShock Infinite, consider this excerpt from Saltonstall’s speech in the gameplay demo:
“The needs of our great city of Columbia must come before the desires of any foreigner, whether they be enemy or friend. For I have looked into the future and one path is filled with amity and gold, and the other is fraught with the perils of a hostile and alien world.”
http://imgur.com/CxF9i.jpg
Also, they all star Christopher Lloyd.
(Unless stated otherwise, this entire theory is speculation based on my observation of the two trailers released thus far, with no confirmation, denial or acknowledgement from the actual writers or developers of BioShock Infinite.)
Perhaps the strangest phenomenon in the gameplay demo is a shimmering effect that subtly changes certain things. It’s first seen towards the beginning of the video, after the bell crashes into the street in front of Booker DeWitt. A banner that has fallen to the ground shimmers, though I haven’t been able to make out what in particular changes.
http://imgur.com/fMnSY.jpg
The effect is accompanied by a distinct sound effect.
Later on, the effect appears when DeWitt meets Saltonstall, the politician with the mutton chop mustache that appears to be orating to several empty chairs. After DeWitt follows the advice of a nearby sign and arms himself with a rifle, Saltonstall bellows “WHO ARE YOU?” as his eyes glow, and the red-white-and-blue button he wears briefly changes to a hammer and sickle.
http://imgur.com/I2WQ3.jpg
Note the correlation between the shimmer effect and his sudden change in attitude.
The shimmering phenomenon appears last in the scene in which DeWitt enters the bar. At first, the patrons don’t mind his presence, merely cracking a joke or two at his expense. As DeWitt surveys the saloon, a painting with horses and the Statue of Liberty is visible. The camera pans away the right, then back to the left. For the quarter-second or so that the painting is visible again, it can be seen changing. When the camera once again centers, the painting is revealed to now be a portrait of some guy. At this point, a gunshot is heard, the blood-colored “You just got hit by someone to your right” indicator appears, and a shotgun-toting man threateningly declares “We’re closed!” (On a tangential note, I’ve always found that scene to be rather silly. Only in Regenerating Health Videogameland would a direct hit from a shotgun be considered a “warning shot.”)
http://imgur.com/cawv5.jpg
Again, note that the shimmer effect coincides with the surrounding characters becoming hostile.
Of course, the presence of the shimmering phenomenon does not by itself point to the possibility of time travel. But when combined with the many anachronisms in the reveal trailer and gameplay demo, the potential emerges. Consider these facts about the BioShock Infinite timeline that have been revealed by the developers:
1. The game takes place in 1912.
2. The floating city of Columbia ceased communication with America at some point prior to the events of the game.
3. At the time the plot of the game occurs, Elizabeth has been held captive in the city for 15 years (since 1897).
(At the time of writing, it has not been determined whether facts 2 and 3 are related in any way.)
In the reveal trailer, a man is seen on a balcony enjoying the song “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” specifically the version recorded by Billy Murray in 1906. If Columbia broke contact with America in 1897, it would be unlikely that he would own that gramophone record. (Also, if time travel exists, the Bill Murray that recorded the song could very well be the same one that starred as Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters.)
http://imgur.com/oHMtV.jpg
Later, he's going to listen to Dark Side of the Moon.
Of course, that only matters if we assume that the cessation of interaction with the surface and Elizabeth’s captivity are related, and as such is pretty flimsy evidence. But there’s also the appearance of the aforementioned hammer and sickle symbol. Said image was not created until 1917 (5 years after the game takes place), and wasn’t an official symbol until 1922.
Also, the song playing in the bar is an old-timey version of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” a song released by Tears for Fears in 1985, 73 years after the events of the game. Granted, BioShock has never been written by Credible McRealism, and the Tears for Fears song could just be a non-canonical Easter Egg, but the large volume of anachronisms not directly related to genetic engineering does seem strange.
http://imgur.com/kdiK1.jpg
Or maybe covers of Tears for Fears songs are just good luck for video games.
If time travel does exist, the shimmering effect could indicate some sort of change in the world caused in the past by some meddling temporal tourists. It’s like that scene in Frequency where Dennis Quaid blows off the serial killer’s hand with a shotgun, and in the present the hand shrivels and disappears.
http://imgur.com/yeJq6.jpg
Disappearing hands are one of the first signs of non-chronological shenanigans.
The possibility of time travel may also explain some of the other images in the video. Early on, we see a woman sweeping the porch of her shop, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it is engulfed in flames. Our good buddy Saltonstall is introduced as he passionately preaches to literally nobody. They may just be batcrap insane, like the denizens of Rapture, but the developers have gone to great lengths to distance Columbia from the underwater dystopia. Rapture was dark, dilapidated, claustrophobic and full of hostile psychopaths. Columbia is bright, fairly intact, airy and populated by at least some characters that are neutral to the player character. Maybe instead of being delusional, these characters are merely temporally displaced. Maybe that woman’s consciousness is in the past, when her shop was significantly less conflagrant.
http://imgur.com/FkxOf.jpg
Or maybe it's in the future, and she's sweeping away the ashes of her workplace.
When DeWitt encounters Saltonstall, the shimmering effect (along with the glowing eyes and voice amplification) could indicate his consciousness “snapping back” to the present time. Having seen an unfamiliar man with a rifle appear from thin air, Saltonstall freaks out and decides not to take the chance that DeWitt isn’t hostile.
Irrational Games sees the BioShock series as “more than just a specific setting, or a specific set of characters.” While they could just be referring to how BioShock and BioShock Infinite are in the same universe but not directly related (similar to Half-Life and Portal), they keep mentioning the “implications” of these multiple settings.
http://imgur.com/ecuxh.jpg
Will they use time travel to intertwine the stories of Columbia and Rapture?
http://imgur.com/eyt03.jpg
Probably not.
But they could include a nonintrusive connection here or there. (The USA/Communist connection in Saltonstall’s button may reflect Andrew Ryan’s history.)
If you’re still skeptical about the possibility of time travel occurring in BioShock Infinite, consider this excerpt from Saltonstall’s speech in the gameplay demo:
“The needs of our great city of Columbia must come before the desires of any foreigner, whether they be enemy or friend. For I have looked into the future and one path is filled with amity and gold, and the other is fraught with the perils of a hostile and alien world.”