Panic!

Panic! (known as SWITCH (スイッチ, Suitchi) in Japan) is a puzzle point and click video game developed by Sega and Office I and published by Sega in Japan and Data East USA in North America for the Sega CD, in collaboration with the Theatrical Group WAHAHA Hompo. It was released on April 23, 1993 in Japan, localized to North America in 1994, and later released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on August 8, 2002. The game involves pressing numerous buttons in order to transverse a young boy, called Slap, or his dog, called Stick, through a complex labyrinth. It is one of the few Sega CD games that supports the Sega Mega Mouse.

Story

During the intro, the game explains that a virus has infected the world's computer systems. Slap and his dog Stick (who has been sucked into his TV) must carry an antidote to the central computer to fix it. To this end, Slap and Stick must traverse a grid of levels, pushing buttons to advance.

Gameplay

Each level is presented as a new area with a mechanical device, and a set of buttons to press. Each button causes an animation and/or teleports Slap to another room. Sometimes the buttons are booby-trapped and cause the destruction of a variety of monuments. The grid also features a few game overs on the grid, marked by flashing skulls on the map. The buttons themselves have no indication on what they do when pressed. It is possible to backtrack into previous levels, and buttons once pressed are not marked, unless they were booby-trapped.

Panic

Panic is a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reaction. Panic may occur singularly in individuals or manifest suddenly in large groups as mass panic (closely related to herd behavior).

Etymology

The word derives from antiquity and is a tribute to the ancient God, Pan. One of the many gods in the mythology of ancient Greece: Pan was the god of shepherds and of woods and pastures. The Greeks believed that he often wandered peacefully through the woods, playing a pipe, but when accidentally awakened from his noontime nap he could give a great shout that would cause flocks to stampede. From this aspect of Pan's nature Greek authors derived the word panikon, “sudden fear,” the ultimate source of the English word: "panic".

Effects

Panic (novel)

Panic is a 2005 thriller by Jeff Abbott about an unsuspecting young documentary film maker, Evan, whose life is turned upside down when he realizes that his parents have been working as spies throughout their lives. One morning his mother phones him and asks him to come to her urgently, but when he arrives at her home she has just been murdered and he barely manages to escape with his life. Evan is suspected of having received from his mother a copy of a list of members and clients of a secret organisation called "The Deeps" and the chase is on. Evan must struggle through his mother's death and meets C.I.A. agents, cold-hearted killers, and double-crossers, and friends - trying to find his father, get his revenge on the people who murdered his mother, and uncover all the secrets about the lie he believed was his life. He also tries to save a lovely girl named Carrie whom he has recently met and fallen in love with, but doesn't know whose side she is on, "The Deeps" or the C.I.A.

Cujo

Cujo is a 1981 psychological horror novel by Stephen King about a rabid dog. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982, and was made into a film in 1983.

Background

Cujo's name was based on the nom de guerre of Willie Wolfe, one of the men responsible for orchestrating Patty Hearst's kidnapping and indoctrination into the Symbionese Liberation Army. Stephen King discusses Cujo in On Writing, referring to it as a novel he "barely remembers writing at all". The book was written during a period when King was drinking heavily. Somewhat wistfully, King goes on to say that he likes the book and that he wishes he could remember enjoying the good parts as he put them down on the page.

Plot

The story takes place in the setting of numerous King works; the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. Revolving around two local families, the narrative is interspersed with vignettes from the seemingly mundane lives of various other residents. There are no chapter headings but breaks in between passages to indicate when the narration switches to a different point of view.

Amon Tobin

Amon Adonai Santos de Araújo Tobin (born February 7, 1972), known as Amon Tobin, is a Brazilian musician, composer and producer of electronic music. He is described as a virtuoso sound designer and is considered to be one of the most influential electronic music artists in the world. He is noted for his unusual methodology in sound design and music production. He has released seven major studio albums under the London-based Ninja Tune record label.

In 2007 he released Foley Room, an album based entirely on the manipulation of field recordings. His latest album, 2011's ISAM, included "female" vocals made from his own processed voice. His music has been used in numerous major motion pictures including The Italian Job and 21. Tobin has created songs for several independent films, including the 2006 Hungarian film Taxidermia, and had his music used in other independent films such as the 2002 Cannes Palme d'Or nominated Divine Intervention. A selection of his tracks were featured in commercial bumps on Toonami and in the 2005 anime IGPX, and he produced the musical scores to critically acclaimed video games Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory by Ubisoft in 2005, and Sucker Punch's Infamous in 2009.