The SNES Game That Predicted The Future

If you are a fan of retro games, you might have heard of War 2410, a turn-based strategy game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that was released in 1995. The game takes place in the year 2410, when four factions are fighting for control of the Earth after a scientific breakthrough in genetic engineering led to the creation of superhuman soldiers. The game features a complex and challenging gameplay, as well as an intriguing story that sets the stage for its sequel, War 3010: The Revolution.

But what you might not know is that War 2410 also made a remarkable prediction about the future of science and technology. In the game’s introduction, it is stated that “in the year 2003, scientists have developed the perfect soldier through genetic engineering”. This statement is surprisingly accurate, as it coincides with the year when the Human Genome Project, a landmark global scientific effort, announced the successful completion of the first sequence of the human genome.

The Human Genome Project was launched in 1990 with the goal of producing a reference sequence of the human genome, which is the complete set of DNA that contains all the information needed to build and maintain a human being. The project involved thousands of researchers from around the world, who used various methods and technologies to decode and analyze the 3 billion base pairs that make up the human genome. The project was expected to take 15 years and cost $3 billion, but it was finished ahead of schedule and under budget in April 20031.

The completion of the Human Genome Project was a major milestone in the history of science and medicine, as it opened up new possibilities for understanding human biology, health and disease. It also paved the way for further research and innovation in fields such as genomics, biotechnology, pharmacology and bioinformatics. Some of the applications and benefits of the Human Genome Project include:

Identifying genes that are associated with common diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease1.
Developing new methods for early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases1.
Sequencing individual genomes for personalized medicine and health care2.
Enhancing our knowledge of human evolution, diversity and ancestry3.
Comparing our genome with those of other organisms to learn more about their biology and ecology1.
It is remarkable that War 2410 was able to predict such a significant scientific achievement eight years before it happened. Perhaps the game’s developers had some insight into the progress and potential of genetic engineering at the time, or maybe it was just a lucky guess. Either way, War 2410 deserves some credit for being one of the few video games that accurately foresaw a major event in the history of science and technology.