Comments on: Welcome to the new game city, real but not actual http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-the-new-game-city/ Welcome to Space and Culture - the international journal and weblog dedicated to social spaces of all kinds. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:07:05 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Greg J. Smith http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-the-new-game-city/comment-page-1/#comment-960 Greg J. Smith Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:05:38 +0000 http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-liberty-city/#comment-960 This is a pretty great summary of some of the better writing out there on GTA4. I <a href="http://serialconsign.com/node/217/" rel="nofollow">weighed in</a> on a few facets of the game recently and appreciated these references. Thanks Anne! :) This is a pretty great summary of some of the better writing out there on GTA4. I weighed in on a few facets of the game recently and appreciated these references. Thanks Anne! :)

]]> By: Rob http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-the-new-game-city/comment-page-1/#comment-931 Rob Sun, 25 May 2008 02:22:40 +0000 http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-liberty-city/#comment-931 So if I teach "urban studies" should I set the course in the world of this game? Maybe the game should be the required text? Or perhaps we could do half the classes in the game and the remainder discussions of the urban space of the game? So if I teach “urban studies” should I set the course in the world of this game? Maybe the game should be the required text? Or perhaps we could do half the classes in the game and the remainder discussions of the urban space of the game?

]]> By: Anne http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-the-new-game-city/comment-page-1/#comment-888 Anne Sun, 11 May 2008 13:49:19 +0000 http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-liberty-city/#comment-888 Bobby - I was most taken by how the developers characterised everyday life primarily as a space of consumption, but your comments about scale are quite interesting, especially in terms of representational (game) space and experiential (play) space... Bobby – I was most taken by how the developers characterised everyday life primarily as a space of consumption, but your comments about scale are quite interesting, especially in terms of representational (game) space and experiential (play) space…

]]> By: Alex Baran http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-the-new-game-city/comment-page-1/#comment-861 Alex Baran Fri, 09 May 2008 16:24:33 +0000 http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-liberty-city/#comment-861 that's nothing compared to Forza Motorsport 2 that’s nothing compared to Forza Motorsport 2

]]> By: Bobby Bokista http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-the-new-game-city/comment-page-1/#comment-856 Bobby Bokista Fri, 09 May 2008 05:03:55 +0000 http://www.spaceandculture.org/2008/05/08/welcome-to-liberty-city/#comment-856 You know, these quotes are interesting to me as someone who is playing Grand Theft Auto IV because I find myself disagreeing with the sentiment that the real main character is the city itself. It was more true with Vice City and San Andreas, but the city of GTAIV is so big and highly detailed that its hard to really nail down that defining characteristic. Instead, it becomes about the relationships of people within the city and how that effects the players movement in the environment. I've found it more difficult to explore the city and as I progress through the missions (and therefore narrative) of the game, most of it just blows by me at 70mph as I move onto the next event or chase down a drug dealer. The high detail and sheer mass of the city also means there are less iconic spaces. In some sense this is nice because its a surprise when an event takes place in a building you've never payed attention to. However, on the other hand, I haven't felt an attachment to any one place in the game. Its use of space is much more reminiscent of GTA:III, which also took place in Liberty City. It leads me to wonder if there's something about this kind of city-space that lends itself to a specific use or if it's a result of the processing power of the current generation of game technology. Regardless of taste, though, Liberty City is an interesting place to study and reveals a lot about modern conceptions of urban space and the simulation of a real city fictionalized for a game. You know, these quotes are interesting to me as someone who is playing Grand Theft Auto IV because I find myself disagreeing with the sentiment that the real main character is the city itself. It was more true with Vice City and San Andreas, but the city of GTAIV is so big and highly detailed that its hard to really nail down that defining characteristic. Instead, it becomes about the relationships of people within the city and how that effects the players movement in the environment. I’ve found it more difficult to explore the city and as I progress through the missions (and therefore narrative) of the game, most of it just blows by me at 70mph as I move onto the next event or chase down a drug dealer.

The high detail and sheer mass of the city also means there are less iconic spaces. In some sense this is nice because its a surprise when an event takes place in a building you’ve never payed attention to. However, on the other hand, I haven’t felt an attachment to any one place in the game. Its use of space is much more reminiscent of GTA:III, which also took place in Liberty City. It leads me to wonder if there’s something about this kind of city-space that lends itself to a specific use or if it’s a result of the processing power of the current generation of game technology.

Regardless of taste, though, Liberty City is an interesting place to study and reveals a lot about modern conceptions of urban space and the simulation of a real city fictionalized for a game.

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