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6.
PROGRAMMING THE CITY
The gamer, removed
from the act of gaming, may find herself wandering the streets
of a downtown core, negotiating an ideal root through a complex
grid of streets. Skyscrapers all around prevent her from viewing
the best possible route head on, and she is forced to imagine
a disembodied view of this cityspace; to organize the interlocking
of avenues logically. It is in this complex makeup of steel and
concrete that industry lurks. Games are developed in the city.
The programmer and designer may stare into their computer screens
and cut themselves off from their office space, but their position
remains high above the metropolis. A glance out the window would
reveal the dominance their position commands; their empowering
view over the confusing network. From this vantage point, Grand
Theft Auto III, Resident Evil, Manhunt,
and countless other dystopian notions of the city have been conceived.
The confines of the city cause designers to re-imagine the world
around them fantastically and grotesquely, and thus worlds of
dread and havoc are commonplace in video games. From the
bedroom programmer though, we are presented with a more light-hearted
and positive view of the world. Independent gamemakers working
outside of the suffocation of industry, tend to be in tune with
the hope posed by digital media; they align themselves with a
utopian vision of the virtual and its ability to give pause for
reflection. When not stifled by the demands of big business, the
world through the eyes of the video game can be hopeful. It is
not the media itself, but rather the conditions which influence
its production that make its content seem so trivial.
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