Now, for a deeper analysis of this deleted segment! Well, it won’t be that deep, after all I only have a few seconds of behind-the-scenes material, but the look at the set of the scene is really revealing.
(Again, all the links towards the deleted material can be found here: https://americangodstalk.tumblr.com/post/618207026487738368/here-are-screenshots-i-took-of-this-video )
Clearly, the theme of this set is “video games”. “Fat Technical Boy” is supposed to sit on this chair, inside a grey cubic structure that looks strongly like a television set… Or the CEO’s computer in “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, the one on which he composes a new Bach… or his Game Boy… But I will come back to this detail later.
Fat Tech Boy’s seat is surrounded by game consoles and all sorts of bottles, snacks and candy. Behind him a huge screen is playing a video game in real life (again, reinforcing the “Game Boy” parallel).
Now, a closer look at said video games reveal a distinct 1980s and 1990s vibe. The game that plays behind the chair? It is Space Invaders, considered to be one of the most influential video games of history, released in 1978. The consoles near the chair? NES (Nintendo Entertainment System, released in the USA in 1985), Super NES (released in the USA in 1991), Playstation One (released in 1995)… And I can tell you, I checked at the screenshots, I cleared the pictures and also asked the opinion of true kids of the 80s Xp Now, I am not sure of this one, but I think there are Atari consoles also present.
On the top of the pile to the right of the picture, it seems to me that there is an Atari 2600 playing stick (the console being released in the USA in 1977), and at the feet of the chair, there is something that looks strongly like an Atari 5200 (released in 1982). But I am not sure, they are a bit too blurry… I’ll need to get a higher quality version of this video.
And my conclusion? I strongly, strongly believe this previous Tech Boy was supposed to be named “Game Boy”. I don’t have any real proof here, just a very strong theory. Hear me out: the previous incarnations of Technical Boy, according to an interview done with Neil Gaiman, are all named after the main invention that allowed them to exist. Telegraph Boy, then Telephone Boy, then Television Boy. This incarnation seems to fight right between Television Boy and our current Technical Boy. He is obviously an incarnation of the god of technology centered around video games, and it ties very well with the flashbacks to the CEO’s past in “The Greatest Story Ever Told” - he started playing video games, and then moved on to computers.
In fact the revelation came to me while watching these flashbacks. After Pong, what game is the young Mr. Xie playing? A Game Boy. The camera doesn’t hide at all the name of the console, and this is where it struck me. Game Boy. Wouldn’t that be an hilarious and clever pun? Of course he may also have been “Video Game Boy”, again, I have absolutely no proof of it - I sent asks to Neil Gaiman about this deleted sequence, to know if he recalled anything, but I don’t know if he will ever answer me (being answered by Neil Gaiman is a once in a lifetime chance, especially on Tumblr).
But from now on, I will unofficially call this “Fat Tech Boy” “Game Boy”.