Playing Utopia – Futures in Digital Games

Benjamin Beil (Prof. Dr. phil.) is Professor for Media Studies & Digital Culture at the Department of Media Culture & Theatre at the University of Cologne.Gundolf S. Freyermuth (Prof. Dr. phil.) is Professor of Media and Game Studies and founding co-director at the Cologne Game Lab of TH Koeln-University of Technology, Arts and Sciences, as well as Professor of Comparative Media Studies at the ifs international film school of Cologne.Hanns Christian Schmidt is a professor for Game Design at Macromedia University for Applied Sciences (Cologne) and a research assistant at the Institute of Media Culture and Theater at the University of Cologne.

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

• Preface and Acknowledgements; Utopian Futures. A Brief History of Their Conception and Representation in Modern Media: From Literature to Digital Games; Utopias in Digital Games; Tinkering with Political Utopias and Dystopias in DEMOCRACY 3. An Educational Perspective; The Concept of Utopia in Digital Games; "Everything is true; nothing is permitted". Utopia, Religion and Conspiracy in ASSASSIN'S CREED; Beyond the Holonovel. The Holographic Interactive Digital Entertainment Utopia of STAR TREK; Utopias of Digital Games; Feminist Interventions for Better Futures of Digital Games; Ludopian Visions. On the Speculative Potential of Games in Times of Algorithmic Work and Play; Playful Utopias. Sandboxes for the Future; Building Utopia, Brick by Brick? Selling Subversiveness in LEGO DIMENSIONS; We have won this battle: Modding and Swapping as a Utopian Video Game Practice; The Utopia of Getting Over It; Contributors.