TECH: Eerie predictions in modern media

It’s a hotly-debated theoretical question – if you could know the future, would you want to?

Could you handle the responsibility of changing fate?

Whether by accident, divine intervention or eerie Illuminati-style information, the future has been laid out through games, movies, books and television.

You won’t believe what media has foreseen:

Reality television

In the 90s, arcade game Smash TV placed the protagonist in a life-or-death, live-broadcast reality show. Thanks to the Kardashians, that kind of carnage is now available 24-7.

Farming simulators

In a late-90s episode of The Simpsons, children become obsessed with virtual farming game. Almost two decades on, can I hear someone say FarmVille?

Russia-Georgia conflict

Considered the modern-day Nostradaums, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon (also the series name) portrayed war between Russia, Georgia and the Baltic States. He even got the year spot on…

The death of Gary Coleman

Although Fallout’s idea of apocalyptic nuclear war is yet to pass, a radio Morse code message in the third instalment denotes the precise time of Coleman’s passing, plus his iconic catchphrase ‘Whatchyou talking about?’ and the message ‘you’ll be missed’.

Super Bowl winners

This space is shared by Madden NFL games, predicting winners nine out of 12 times, and Quantum Leap. In one episode, the Pittsburgh Steelers are ‘trailing by three’ in the ‘96 Super Bowl, mirroring the events of the actual match four minutes before the end.

Kim Jong-Il’s death

The game Homefront estimated within a few weeks the demise of the North Korean leader, the rise of Kim Jong-Un and the 2013 nuclear tests. To date, no other predictions have come true.

The 9/11 attacks

Enforcing the Illuminati aspect of the Deus Ex series, is the absence of the Twin Towers from the game code. So developers Eidos wrote in a back story claiming the towers were destroyed by terrorists – a year before the real attacks occurred.