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Postmodernism in video games 'Sims'
- 1. Postmodernism in videogames ‘Sims’ franchise By George Beckley
- 2. What is ‘Sims’? •The genre of the game is both a sandbox and simulation game as in the game you are allowed to roam around the city with your character. ‘Sims’ is short for simulation this is when aspects of real life are transferred into the virtual reality of the game e.g. walking your dog. • The Sims franchise started in the year 2000 with the publisher of EA (Electronic Arts) by February 2005 over 16million copies of the game had been sold worldwide. In March 2015 11.24 million copies for PC making it one of the best selling PC games in history. The sequels include Sims2, Sims3 and Sims4 with numerous expansion packs for all the games. ‘Sims’ won ‘game of the year award’ from GameSpot in 2000.
- 3. Postmodernism in the‘Sims’ • Blurring of Boundaries between fiction and reality. • Simulacrum and Hyper reality • Parody and Pastiche • Intersexuality • Self - reflexivity
- 4. Blurring of Boundaries •This is a concept put forward by the theorist Jean Baudrillard. • The in game currency in Sims is simoleons. This is like real money currency but it is fake. There are also cheat codes that can be used in game to instantly get more money. This is like real life however there are no cheat codes to get more money. This can be seen as a blurring of boundaries between fiction and reality.
- 5. Simulacra and hyperreality • As this is a role playing game there are many different characters you can be. You can create your Sim and then control their actions of what they eat, what they say, where they go and what they do. So it is possible to create a character completely different from yourself. This is both hyper reality and simulacra as Baudrillard argued that ‘Simulacrum is not a copy of the real, but becomes the truth in its own right.’
- 6. Instantaneity • Definition- thequality of being instant or immediate. • When creating or building your house there is no waiting time for the house to build, it just suddenly appears after all the changes the player has made. There is also a feature to speed up gameplay so that time is fast forwarded while the Sim character is at work whilst the player is then able to spend the money from the sim being at work.
- 7. Intertextuality • Whilst theaim of the simulation game is to be as real as possible there are going to be some references to other media texts. There are TV programmes and references to Shakespeare like using Romeo and Juliet as a reference as the Sims tries to create its own world.
- 8. Self- reflexivity • TheSims characters can also play ‘Sims’ on their computer in the virtual world. This is self reflective as the Sims is being referenced in the Sims game. The characters of the Sims will stare into the camera looking at you if they need something e.g. toilet, food etc. This again represents self reflexivity as the Sims know they are being controlled. But this is also self reflective of the player as it is a projection of the player in the game.