Can We Programme Utopia? The Influence of the Digital Neoliberal Discourse on Utopian Videogames

This article has a dual purpose. The first is to establish the relationship between videogames and utopia in the neoliberal era and clarify the origins of this compromise in the theoretical dimension of game studies. The second is to examine the ways in which there has been an application of the utopian genre throughout videogame history (the style of procedural rhetoric and the subgenre of walking simulator) and the way in which the material dimension of the medium ideologically updates the classical forms of that genre, be it through activation or deactivation. The article concludes with an evaluation of the degree in which the neoliberal discourse interferes with the understanding of utopia on behalf of the medium and with its imaginary capabilities to allow for an effective change in social reality

Making sense of genre : The logic of videogame genre organization

Despite the importance that the dimension of genre holds in media studies, its very definition in the field of videogames is still a matter without consensus. This study intends to outline the logic that lies within the constitution of videoludic genres, understanding them as formal devices configured as per the different thought functions stated by Piaget's cognitive psychology theory. This project will propose a formalist approach from a cybersemiotic perspective. It seeks to establish a cardinal set of relations to understand the compatibilities and incompatibilities traceable in the syntactic functional order of the different videogame genres. Furthermore, a corpus of 43 genres is used to prove the solidity of this theoretical approach, oriented to establish foundations for a praxis of the human-machine ludic relation in fields such as game design and media studies, with the performative character of function as a guiding principle

Simulating knowledge : saturation in ludonarrativefictional worlds

Este artículo se propone emplear la teoría de mundos ficcionales para entender la condición estructural de los mundos revelados y no revelados en el videojuego. Para ello se acudirá a los índices de saturación intensional, o grados de conocimiento y comprensión del universo representado alcanzable por un jugador ideal, que pueden observarse en seis títulos delimitados como objetos de análisis. Estos índices, basados en los tipos de textura que ofrece cada ejemplo, determinan las formas en que las distintas combinaciones articulan el alcance heurístico del jugador en las modalidades epistémica y deóntica. Con ello este artículo pretende encontrar una perspectiva estructural de la naturaleza narrativa de las simulaciones de mundos interactivos, estableciendo así bases a partir de las cuales formular apreciaciones de las intensidades particularesThis article intends to apply the fictional worlds theory to the understanding of the structural conditions of revealed and not revealed worlds in videogames. In order to do so, we will work with to intensional saturation indexes, or degrees of knowledge and comprehension of the universe reachable by an ideal player, as seen in the six games chosen as objects of analysis. These indexes, based on the texture types offered by each example, determine the ways in which the different combinations articulate the heuristic scope of the player in the epistemic and deontic modalities. By means of it, this article intends to find a structural perspective of the narrative's nature of interactive world simulations, establishing basis from which to outline the assessments of the particular intensities

Sistematización de un nuevo paradigma ontológico del videojuego: el formativismo

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Simulando el saber: La saturación en los mundos de ficción ludonarrativos

This article intends to apply the fictional worlds theory to the understanding of the structural conditions of revealed and not revealed worlds in videogames. In order to do so, we will work with to intensional saturation indexes, or degrees of knowledge and comprehension of the universe reachable by an ideal player, as seen in the six games chosen as objects of analysis. These indexes, based on the texture types offered by each example, determine the ways in which the different combinations articulate the heuristic scope of the player in the epistemic and deontic modalities. By means of it, this article intends to find a structural perspective of the narrative's nature of interactive world simulations, establishing basis from which to outline the assessments of the particular intensities.Este artículo se propone emplear la teoría de mundos ficcionales para entender la condición estructural de los mundos revelados y no revelados en el videojuego. Para ello se acudirá a los índices de saturación intensional, o grados de conocimiento y comprensión del universo representado alcanzable por un jugador ideal, que pueden observarse en seis títulos delimitados como objetos de análisis. Estos índices, basados en los tipos de textura que ofrece cada ejemplo, determinan las formas en que las distintas combinaciones articulan el alcance heurístico del jugador en las modalidades epistémica y deóntica. Con ello este artículo pretende encontrar una perspectiva estructural de la naturaleza narrativa de las simulaciones de mundos interactivos, estableciendo así bases a partir de las cuales formular apreciaciones de las intensidades particulares