Welcome to my blog, where I will try to tell where the roots of the Battle Royale genre come from. After all, in a couple of years, many game adaptations of this genre have been released, like PUBG, Fortnite or Apex… AND IN GENERAL! There are so many of them in our time that you will hesitate to count them. But after the autumn and winter depression (although it’s not depression, but I’m a lazy ass), I wondered: “Where does “Battle royale” come from??"And today I will try to tell you about the results of my modest research on this question.
The history of the origin of this genre takes place in the novel “Battle royale”, which was released on April 22, 1999. The author of this book is a Japanese writer and part-time journalist Koshun Takami.
Konshun Takami was born in 1969 in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, near Osaka. Graduated from the Faculty of Literature at Osaka University. From 1991 to 1996, he worked as a columnist for the Shikoku Shimbun news company, writing reports on various topics, from politics and economics to police chronicles. After Takami left the company, he wrote for the Battle Royale literary competition. Takami failed to win the competition; in one of the final rounds the book was eliminated for controversial content. As a result, the novel was published only in 1999, immediately becoming a bestseller. The novel was adapted into a film of the same name. There is also a manga called "Battle royale".
Plot
Under the heading “Plot” https://turboninocasino.uk/bonus/ I will not tell you what was in the book. I will briefly tell you why this “game” arose and about its rules.
At the beginning of the new millennium, the state collapsed, and in its place arose the People’s Republic. About 15% percent became unemployed – approximately 10 million. More than eight hundred thousand schoolchildren left educational institutions. After which the Republic, “for security purposes,” developed a special combat program. Each year, fifty junior high school classes are selected, the children are taken to a desert island (or any other limited landmass) and forced to fight each other until one winner remains.
Rules of the game:
1. All participants in the battle start in turn from one point. Each participant is assigned a number (boys and girls are numbered separately), a special collar is attached to his neck (it contains explosives, a microphone, and a transmitter to determine the participant’s location).
2. Each participant randomly selects a bag in which the game accessories are stored (melee or firearms, body armor, navigator, poison, etc.). d.), a map of the game venue and provisions (a bottle of water and a bun). A pencil is also provided.
3. The territory of the game is conventionally divided into sectors, which is reflected on the maps of the participants.
4. Within every 6 hours (starting at twelve), the instructor announces (over a loudspeaker and using repeaters) the names of the dead, as well as a list of restricted areas within a limited area. Inside the restricted zone, starting from the time indicated in the broadcasts, the central computer (of the instructor) sends a signal to detonate the collars of the participants located in these zones.
5. Of all the participants, only one should remain at the end of the game. Within every 24 hours, at least one participant must drop out (that is, die); otherwise everyone can die at once. 3 days are allotted for the game.
If a participant wins the games, he is awarded a lifelong state pension and a commemorative photograph autographed by the Great Dictator.
Everything would be fine, but all the selected participants in the game are taken to the island not against their will, but without their knowledge. And the worst thing is that they are not transporting some inveterate criminals, but ordinary schoolchildren. Teenagers who were soon to enter adulthood and start a family. But they are deprived of this opportunity. But they could bring more benefit to the Republic than just dying on the island.
Spiritual heir
The next person to pick up this idea was Suzanne Collins. She wrote the Mockingjay (Katniss Everdeen) Hunger Games novel trilogy. And it is worth noting that Suzanne Collins managed to reveal the essence of these cruel games in more detail than Takami. Tell them their true purpose.
Suzanne Collins reveals the reasons that prompted her to write the novel. Firstly, she mentions the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, according to which, for past transgressions, the Athenians periodically sent seven young men and seven young women to Crete, who were thrown into the labyrinth, doomed to be devoured by a monster. The second reason Collins cites was the military career of her father, an Air Force veteran, military specialist and historian, with whom she traveled to the sites of famous battles. Collins also references gladiator fights in ancient Rome. In her view, creating a compelling competition requires three key elements: an all-powerful and ruthless government; people forced to fight to the death; and finally, it should serve as a source of mass entertainment.
At the same time, Susan cites an incident that served as a catalyst: sitting in front of the TV and switching channels with the remote control, she suddenly jumped from an entertaining reality show to a report on the real military events of the war in Iraq.
The action takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which an unknown global catastrophe has occurred. The dystopian state of Panem has formed in North America. The capital of Panem is the Capitol. The Capitol is home to the cream of society. The rest of Panem is in turn divided into twelve districts (originally thirteen). Each district supplies the Capitol with resources mined there. All residents of the districts are actually slaves of the Capitol.
74 years before the events described in the novel, dissatisfied with this state of affairs, all thirteen districts rebelled, which was brutally suppressed, after which the thirteenth district was officially destroyed. History says that the entire people of Panem almost disappeared into oblivion. And so that such an event would not arise again, it was decided that twelve districts should at the harvest elect one boy and girl from 12 to 18 years old, who should fight in the arena until only one tribute remained. The older the tribute, the more tickets, which increase the chance of becoming a participant in the tournament.
The further a district is from the Capitol (this can be determined by its number), the poorer it is. Each potential tribute in poor districts can take advantage of the opportunity to receive an annual food ration for the whole family for additional tickets.
To become a participant in the games, you can volunteer, as a result of which the lot is not taken into account, and a volunteer is taken to the games.
The rules are similar to those in Takami’s novel. But the main difference is that the participants in the battle are not limited in time. Although they try to adjust them from time to time.
And here I want to note that the selection takes place not among the citizens of the Capitol, but among the cabal. This means that the death of participants at the games will bring less harm to the state than in the books of Koshun Takami. We can say that in the universe of Suzanne Collins, games work on the principle of gladiator fights.
The formation of a genre in video games
The most famous adaptations from the first games in my memory are mods for "Arma II", "Minecraft" and "DayZ". But as you can see, these were not full-fledged games, but additions to existing digital entertainment.
Wow, I remember how my friend forced me to play a couple of matches in Minecraft. But then I considered this mode quite stupid, and therefore my acquaintance with “Battle royale” was short.
And if in the early 2000s “Battle Royale” lit a spark, then in 2017 there was a hydrogen bomb explosion under the name “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds”. And from that moment on, the “Battle royale” genre began its golden age. Who could, hastily began to reforge their games into a popular genre.
Someone went further and began to improve and add something new to the mechanics of their games (Fortnite, Apex). Someone stays true to their canons (PUBG). Someone realized their mistakes and decided to correct them (Call of Duty: Warzone). And someone just started going crazy (Cuisine Royale).
Results
The “Battle Royale” genre appeared as a modest addition to popular games, and in the middle of the past decade it made a splash in the gaming entertainment market.
This is how my short excursion into this genre turned out. And with this I say goodbye to you. Don’t get sick.