Ready Player One is the upcoming Steven Spielberg movie based on the fabulous Ernest Cline novel. It’s about Wade Watts, a high school student who is trying to escape his lackluster life and win a fabulous prize—total control of the videogame he adores. It's akin to winning total control of World of Warcraft, only the lootz would be real gold.

And now we’re finally getting a glimpse of the world Wade, aka Parzival, is trying to avoid.

As we learn in the book, Earth is suffering a global energy crisis, and without enough resources, most people live in poverty. Wade lives with 14 other people in his aunt’s double-wide trailer; his aunt keeps his food vouchers, so he has to fix computers or go hungry. But he gets the laundry room to himself.

In these four photos, we get a glimpse of just how run-down the future is … which makes a look at the ads in the picture all the more enticing. No wonder Wade and his friends spent all of their time in a virtual world. The real one kinda sucks.

If you haven't read Cline's novel, you should get on that immediately. It was a flashback-inducing delight.

Via AintItCool.