''Year Zero'' is an
alternate reality game
An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions.
The form is defined by inten ...
(ARG) by American studio 42 Entertainment based on the
Nine Inch Nails concept album of the same name.
Although the album was released on April 16, 2007, in Europe, and the following day worldwide,
the game had been underway since roughly February 12, 2007, and was expected to continue for approximately eighteen months.
The game was created by
42 Entertainment
42 Entertainment is an American company based in Burbank which specializes in creating and producing alternate reality games (ARGs). The company was founded in 2003 as an independently owned, creative content and interactive agency under the nam ...
, the same group responsible for the ''
Halo 2
''Halo 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. ''Halo 2'' is the second installment in the ''Halo'' franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed '' ...
'' promotional alternative reality game ''
I Love Bees
''I Love Bees'' (also known as ''ilovebees'' or ''ILB'' for short) was an alternate reality game (ARG) that served as both a real-world experience and viral marketing campaign for the release of developer Bungie's 2004 video game ''Halo 2''. Th ...
''.
Frontman
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...
called the game "a new entertainment form".
In response to criticism regarding the promotion of the album, Reznor stated:
Premise
Reznor said that ''Year Zero'' is a
concept album,
"could be about the end of the world", and marked a "shift in direction" in that it "doesn't sound like ''
With Teeth
''With Teeth'' (stylized as '' ITH_TEETH') is the fourth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on May 3, 2005. The album was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Tren ...
''."
The 2006 tour merchandise designs featured overt references to the
United States military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...
, which "reflects future directions."
In an interview with
Gigwise.com, Reznor stated that the concept behind ''Year Zero'' was partially inspired by his feelings toward the
Bush administration. He further explained,
I really wanted to focus on something that was at the forefront of my consciousness which is, as an American, I'm appalled by the behavior of our government, the direction that it has taken and the direction that it's taken everyone else in the world and its arrogance... I decided to write an essay about where the world might be if we continue down the path that we're on with a neo-con-esque government doing whatever it pleases...
To this end, the storyline of ''Year Zero'' borrows heavily from such well-known
dystopian fiction as
George Orwell's ''
Nineteen Eighty-Four
''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and fina ...
'' (government surveillance),
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxle ...
's ''
Brave New World
''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hiera ...
'' (use of drugs to subdue the populace),
Ray Bradbury's ''
Fahrenheit 451
''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, ''Fahrenheit 451'' presents an American society where books have been personified and outlawed and "firemen" burn any that ar ...
'' (large-scale censorship and uniformism), and
Yevgeny Zamyatin's ''
We'' (synthesis of church and state). Specific plot elements bear a resemblance to the
Philip K. Dick short story ''
Faith of Our Fathers'', including hallucinogens in the water supply, an oppressive, heavily militaristic state, aggressive government monitoring of the populace, and a venerated entity which manifests in many forms. In keeping with the
dystopian theme, Year Zero takes place in 2022, the same year as the 1973 film ''
Soylent Green
''Soylent Green'' is a 1973 American ecological dystopian thriller film directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Edward G. Robinson in his final film role. It is loosely based on the 1966 science fict ...
''.
Plot
The story takes place in the United States in the year 2022,
which has been termed "Year 0" by the US government, being the year that America was reborn. The U.S. had suffered several major terrorist attacks, including attacks on
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
and
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. In response, the government granted itself emergency powers and seized absolute control on the country. The U.S. government is now a
Christian fundamentalist
Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and ...
theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs.
Etymology
The word theocracy originates fr ...
, maintaining control of the populace through institutions like the Bureau of Morality and the First Evangelical Church of Plano, and locked into near constant war abroad against their aggressors, with the implied ulterior motive to expand their spheres of influence. Americans must get licenses to marry, bear children, etc. Subversive activities can result in these licenses being revoked. Dissenters regularly disappear from their homes in the night, and are detained in federal detainment centers and sanitariums, if not executed.
The government corporation Cedocore distributes the drug Parepin through the water supply, under the guise of it being an "immune booster" to prevent future
bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...
attacks. However, Parepin is actually a
psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior. ...
, engineered to reduce aggression, affect memory retention, and instill great
credulity Credulity is a person's willingness or ability to believe that a statement is true, especially on minimal or uncertain evidence. Credulity is not necessarily a belief in something that may be false: the subject of the belief may even be correct, but ...
toward authority. As a result, most Americans who drink the water become apathetic and carefree; in addition, side effects such as
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...
-like behavior, muscle twitches,
anorgasmia are implied to have effective treatment only in urban and developed areas, discouraging people moving to rural and remote areas with untreated water. There are several underground rebel groups, mainly operating online, most notably Art is Resistance and Solutions Backwards Initiative. The First Evangelical Church of Plano is a fundamentalist Protestant Christian church which is favored, and implied to be funded, by the neo-conservative government.
Amidst all of this are increasing sightings of what is labeled "The Presence", which manifests as a pair of massive ghostly hands and arms extending down from the sky into the ground. Despite early attributions of The Presence to drug-induced mass hysteria, it soon becomes clear that it is a physical phenomenon capable of being recorded on video and film, although grainy and unfocused. Theories vary on the real cause of the appearances, but the prevailing opinion appears to be that the hands represent God or some other equivalent supernatural force. The sightings become more and more frequent, and those who are "touched" by the hand begin to report their experiences, mostly of a feeling of terror and clarity. On February 10, 2022, a government official named Doug is in his office tracking The Presence, while missing the birth of his daughter in Denver. He begins writing a letter to his then-unborn child, describing the state of the world and his family. Doug continually references The Presence, as more and more sightings are suddenly reported all around the planet at once. He says goodbye to his child, as the letter ends with a frantic, broken message that the Presence is above the Capitol Building and "the stars are going out like candles". It cuts off suddenly, implying reports that sightings of the phenomenon are rapidly being reported from all over the world. The sequence ends with a broken message announcing the appearance of The Presence over the United States Capitol Building. The message cuts off suddenly, implying the end of the world.
Meanwhile, the Solutions Backwards Initiative - a group of students, professors, and computer experts - devise a successful means with which to send information back through time using
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...
in order to prevent the dystopian future (and eventual apocalypse) they live in from ever occurring. The websites and music of the Year Zero alternate reality game are implied to be part of the information packets sent back through the wormholes, activated only moments after Doug's message.
Media attention
The concept behind the ''Year Zero'' alternate reality game, as well as avid fan participation in the game, has caught the attention of the media numerous times; ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'' and ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' have cited fan site The NIN Hotline, forum Echoing the Sound, fan club The Spiral, an
NinWikias sources for new discoveries.
Unrealized television project
In March 2007 ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
Radio'' reported that Reznor was "in talks" for a potential film adaptation of the concept album.
He had earlier noted ''Year Zero'' as "part of a bigger picture of a number of things I'm working on. Essentially, I wrote the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist."
Reznor has commented that he is currently more interested in a television project than a film project. He has stated that he has a producer and has met with writers. On August 10, 2007, Reznor announced that they would soon be taking the concept to television networks in an attempt to secure a deal. "We're about to pitch it to the network, so we're a couple of weeks away from meeting all of the main people, and we'll see what happens."
Progress stalled, reportedly because of the
2007–2008 Writer's Guild strike, though Reznor said the project was "still churning along" as of April 2008. He clarified in November 2012 that the project was "currently in a holding state" as he and Rob Sheridan had been unable to "find the right match with a writer".
In 2017, during an interview promoting new Nine Inch Nails EP ''
Add Violence'', Reznor said that he had put together a "
world bible" to assist with a potential adaptation by
HBO and
BBC America
BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary seri ...
, but said: "They got so far as hiring a writer for it, but then it fell to shit because we never had the right writer. I should have just done it
yself"
Critical reception
Many reviewers of the ''Year Zero'' album also commented on the accompanying game.
Ann Powers
Ann K. Powers (born February 4, 1964) is an American writer and pop music critic. She is a music critic for NPR and a contributor at the ''Los Angeles Times'', where she was previously chief pop critic. She has also served as pop critic at ''The ...
of ''
The Los Angeles Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' praised the album and game concept as "a total marriage of the pop and gamer aesthetics that unlocks the rusty cages of the music industry and solves some key problems facing rock music as its cultural dominance dissolves into dust."
In 2008, 42 Entertainment won two
Webby Awards
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...
for their work on the ''Year Zero'' game, under the categories of "Integrated Campaigns" and "Other Advertising: Branded Content".
42 Entertainment was also awarded three medals in
The One Show
''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...
's entertainment award ceremony, including a gold medal in the "online gaming" category, a silver in the "music" category, and a merit award in the "online branded entertainment" category.
Notes
References
*
*
External links
Official ''Year Zero'' pageat NIN.com
''Year Zero'' Case Studyat 42 Entertainment's website
''Year Zero'' Researchat the unofficial NIN Wiki
{{Nine Inch Nails
2007 video games
Nine Inch Nails
Year Zero (game)
Alternate reality games
Promotional alternate reality games
Tie-in alternate reality games
Dystopian video games
Video games about time travel
Terrorism in fiction
Video games developed in the United States
Video games set in 2022
Drugs in popular culture
Works about censorship
Fiction set in 2022