Playing Utopia

Published by transcript Verlag 2019

Playing Utopia

Futures in Digital Games

Edited by: Benjamin Beil , Gundolf S. Freyermuth and Hanns Christian Schmidt
Funded by: TH Köln-University of Technology, Arts, and Sciences

Volume 10 in the series Bild und Bit

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839450505

Overview
Contents

About this book

Media narratives inform our ideas of the future - and Games are currently making a significant contribution to this medial reservoir. On the one hand, games demonstrate a particular propensity for fantastic and futuristic scenarios. On the other hand, they often serve as an experimental field for the latest media technologies. However, while dystopias are part of the standard gaming repertoire, games feature utopias much less frequently. Why?
This anthology examines playful utopias from two perspectives. It investigates utopias in digital games as well as utopias of the digital game; that is, the role of ludic elements in scenarios of the future, as they are, for example, often found in the field of gamification as »promises of a better world«.

Author information

Benjamin Beil (PhD) is Professor of Media Studies & Digital Culture at the Department of Media Culture & Theatre at the University of Cologne.
Gundolf S. Freyermuth (Prof. Dr.) is a professor of media and game studies and a founding director of the Cologne Game Lab at TH Köln. He also teaches Comparative Media Studies at the ifs international film school Cologne. His research interests include digital games, audiovisuality, transmediality, and network culture.
Hanns Christian Schmidt (PhD) works as a research assistant at the Department of Media Culture & Theater at the University of Cologne and within the project »Literacy of Play / Literacy of Games« at the Cologne Game Lab.

Reviews

Besprochen in:
https://bethechangenorthpenn.blogspot.com, 15.11.2022

Supplementary Materials

Leseprobe

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	1
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	5
Preface and Acknowledgements Benjamin Beil, Gundolf S. Freyermuth and Hanns Christian Schmidt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
Utopian Futures. A Brief History of Their Conception and Representation in Modern Media—From Literature to Digital Games Gundolf S. Freyermuth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
Utopias in Digital Games
Tinkering with Political Utopias and Dystopias in DEMOCRACY 3. An Educational Perspective André Czauderna Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
The Concept of Utopia in Digital Games Gerald Farca Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
“Everything is true; nothing is permitted”. Utopia, Religion and Conspiracy in ASSASSIN’S CREED Lars de Wildt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
Beyond the Holonovel. The Holographic Interactive Digital Entertainment Utopia of STAR TREK Tonguc Ibrahim Sezen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Utopias of Digital Games
Feminist Interventions for Better Futures of Digital Games Alison Harvey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Ludopian Visions. On the Speculative Potential of Games in Times of Algorithmic Work and Play Anne Dippel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Playful Utopias. Sandboxes for the Future Hartmut Koenitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
Building Utopia, Brick by Brick? Selling Subversiveness in LEGO DIMENSIONS Hanns Christian Schmidt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
We have won this battle ;) Modding and Swapping as a Utopian Video Game Practice Thomas Hawranke Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
The Utopia of Getting Over It Benjamin Beil Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	315
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: transcript Verlag
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 332
Keywords: Utopia; Future; Playfulness; Media; Popular Culture; Computer Games; Media Aesthetics; Digital Media; Media Studies

eBook

Published: November 27, 2019
ISBN: 9783839450505