It was only a matter of time before mankind's bloodlust and, more importantly, his love for money led to a program like this: a reality TV competition where absolutely no rules stand in the way of the contestants' pursuit of the grand prize. By no rules, we mean the most horrific of acts are permissible, including rape and murder. Such an idea has been explored in books and movies -- as in the "Hunger Games," and the new HBO show "Westworld" touched on man's intrigue to be a player in such a lawless world. Of course, now real lives are at stake...
Now nothing like this is close to happening in America, as far as we know. The show in question, which has been titled "Game2: Winter" and planned for July 2017, will be set in Siberia. The idea, conceived by 35-year-old Russian millionaire Yevgeny Pyatkovsky, is to drop 30 contestants -- 15 of each sex -- into the brutal Siberian wild for a total of nine months, where they will fight to survive extreme conditions such as temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius. The grand prize will be £1.3 million, or over 1.6 million USD, which will presumably be split among the contestants who are still alive after nine months.
The players will be given knives before the show, presumably for hunting purposes, but the rules of the game explicitly state: "Everything is allowed. Fighting, alcohol, murder, rape, smoking, anything." "We will refuse any claim of participants even if they were to be killed or raped," says Pyatkovsky. "We will have nothing to do with this. This will be spelt out in a document to be signed by the participant before the start of the show."
To be eligible for the contest, one must be over 18, and furthermore, one must pay $164,000 just to participate. For some reason, Pyatkovsky thinks that the game will attract the rich and adventurous (definitely reminiscent of "Westworld").
The show will be streamed online 24/7. Participants will be armed with portable cameras, and there will be over 2,000 cameras throughout the 2,225 acres of land being used for the show.
There is a means of removing oneself from the game. Players will be able to push an emergency button of sorts, though to do so means automatic disqualification. Keep in mind that it will take at least half an hour for the respondents to reach the site, which is only accessible via helicopter.
The one thing that perhaps mitigates the potential savagery of "Game2: Winter" is that the contestants will still technically be under Russian criminal law. They will reportedly be warned that police have the authority to come and seize them from the competition should there be "proof of criminality."
In other words, if a murder is caught on camera, then the killer will presumably be tracked down by police. But in such severe conditions, the faraway presence of police does not necessarily rule out the possibility of heinous crimes being committed in the icy forest. This also begs a couple more questions: Will the police be constantly monitoring the show? And will everything be caught on camera?
As mentioned, "Game2: Winter" is set to hit the Internet next summer. Will any of you be tuning in?
[via The Sun]