Title:
Representations of the city in video games

dc.contributor.advisor Pearce, Celia
dc.contributor.author Schweizer, Bobby en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Do, Ellen Yi-Luen
dc.contributor.committeeMember Knoespel, Kenneth
dc.contributor.committeeMember Nitsche, Michael
dc.contributor.department Literature, Communication, and Culture en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2009-06-08T19:33:11Z
dc.date.available 2009-06-08T19:33:11Z
dc.date.issued 2009-04-08 en_US
dc.description.abstract This research strives to characterize the means by which video game players experience and understand the space of the game city during the course of play. Three-dimensional video game cities are neither static environments nor stationary views; rather, they are experienced through movement, action, and play. Our experiences of new places are not developed at a glance. Instead, they are cultivated through use over time. This work utilizes games that take place in constructed versions of New York City as a case study. By focusing on the ways players navigate spaces, we can understand how they construct spatial awareness and how this space is transformed into a meaningful place of play. In order to come to this understanding, this study asks a series of questions: How are these spaces arranged? How does the player move through the space and how does the game teach spatial navigation? What actions are performed in the space and how is gameplay adapted for the city environment? And how do of narrative environments contribute to a player's identification with the space? These questions are examined within a framework of urban, cultural, and game studies. I examine techniques that are employed by video game city designers to help players navigate space and make it meaningful. Additionally, this research poses areas for future expansion and experimentation with game cities. en_US
dc.description.degree M.S. en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/28251
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.subject Urban playgrounds en_US
dc.subject Video games en_US
dc.subject Virtual cities en_US
dc.subject Narrative architecture en_US
dc.subject Psychogeography en_US
dc.subject Production of space en_US
dc.subject Elements of space en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Video games
dc.subject.lcsh Imaginary places
dc.subject.lcsh Cities and towns in mass media
dc.subject.lcsh Spatial behavior
dc.subject.lcsh Shared virtual environments
dc.title Representations of the city in video games en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Thesis
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.corporatename School of Literature, Media, and Communication
local.contributor.corporatename Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 43c73fdb-8114-4ef3-a162-dfddd66e3da5
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication b1049ff1-5166-442c-9e14-ad804b064e38
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