Background

The Fallout universe is a pseudo-historical RPG littered with relics of our reality, cultural conflict and a grim look at what could be a not so distant future. Stuck in a cultural limbo in the time period of the 1950's, with a mindset of paranoia that echoes the cold war, it offers an alternate timeline after world war 2, a country torn apart by conflict not only alongside neighbouring nations, but internally as well. This game does not take place in the 50's, but is a reimagining of the world similar to a "what if" scenario where 50's technology came into fruition so flying cars, robots that look like boxes, food in pill form etc. The timeline between our world and their world splits after World War II, except they had rapidly advanced their technology as in our world.


Amongst a host of other events that scatter the timeline perhaps one of the most important events was the energy crisis that caused the Resource War which unsurprisingly brings to light a global interest in reality; the acquisition of resources, renewable energy and the global plight of capital.


People of distinction who feature in-game have had a profound effect on our world as well, such as Nikola Tesla, the physicist who revolutionized how we utilize electricity, Howard Hughes aka Mr House, an industrialist, aviator, philanthropist, hotelier, engineer and an incredibly successful business magnate. Most of the characters in-game are all viable representatives for their real counterparts, not only adding to the game's complex structure, but offers the player some form of education whilst enjoying it.


Objects play an incredibly huge part to the games success, being able to construct weapons, helpful inventory items and in one game mode depend entirely on your wits and survival know-how. The integration of commodity items takes a playful turn, as their functions are regressed  instead of performing their tasks normally they would be incorporated into either an aggressive implement or an item that will benefit you rather than complete some form of mundane or pointless task.


So essentially the best way to approach this essay would be to divide all the key areas of study into easy to digest chapters that will lead into one another to avoid distraction from the main question.

Notes

Ok So I started shooting emails back and forth between me and Richard. This is what we had to say...


Right, well if you can throw yourself back a year to what my proposal was...

Joking, the title was "to what extent are transgressive next-gen computer games real?"

So this would be comparing timelines in both the real world and the virtual plane to see if there are any connections in social, cultural or military values. Investigating and analysing  the social hierarchy, politics and subsequent relationships relevant to each games timeline and 'timeline' respectively, looking at the connections between the real and virtual.

Also the technology, adaptation of mankind to new surroundings, as well as studying the interaction and relationship between player/character, how emotive responses to situations in-game have effects on the player as a person.

Some theory I will be using will be Ludology, Hyperreality, Virtuality, Ideology and Immersion.

But I was thinking that maybe toning the essay down a tad to make my workload more manageable as a whole, maybe something like comparing certain games to art, questioning the aesthetic of virtual simulation as well as giving games the philosophical platform they deserve. 

I have included some images from the game the original proposal was written for to give you an idea about what it is I am writing about.

I also found a site with all the in-game poster designs that will give you a much better idea, http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Fallout:_New_Vegas_posters

Thanks Rich,

Tom

I like the topic, but not the title- computer games are obviously not real. Baudrillard would probably call them first or second order simulations. The more interesting question, revolving around the concept of hyperreality, would ask whether computer game worlds are informed by, or inform, reality. Put another way, does the simulation create it's own reality.

This should make a good dissertation. Get some introductory guides toBaudrillard. You'll also need to fill in a proposal form, which you can get from Yasmine

Richard




So first things first, read an introduction to Baudrillard! 

First Impressions

Following on from my last essay on Baudrillard, hyperreality and Philip K Dick, I have a rough idea of what I want to do my essay on. Last year, my proposal was accepted, 

'to what extent are next-generation computer games real?'

Richard Miles' feedback outlined some more key sources to read concerning the impact of new technologies, the impact of said technologies based on textual experiences and to look at the emerging discipline of Game Studies, which will be vital as a methodological approach to my dissertation.

He mentioned that looking at a some case studies based on close readings of seminal computer games would help my essay from being too general.

So as a start, looking at some case studies concerning games, as well as starting some of the key texts highlighted by Richard.

I need to narrow down my essay title as well, but we will see as I go on what sort of things I will be studying in greater detail. At the moment possible titles are: 'Is the Fallout universe different from present day?' ' In the Fallout universe, how has the American dream survived for so long?' or 'To what extent does Fallout coincide with our reality?'

Obviously I will make sure I have a much more focussed title in a few weeks hopefully!