The Model City
Just a short note on the ubiquity of New York by Jim Rossignol over at the (always great) BLDGBLOG:
The parallels and disparities between videogames and movies are endlessly debated, but there's one certainty: they both return, routinely, to the architecture of New York City. The most frequently filmed city in the world is also the most frequently modeled.
The canyons of New York are as useful for game designers as they are for film directors. If the decision is arbitrary, then New York represents a kind of go-to alpha city: the logical choice if you need a city at all. For film directors it's a grand and familiar backdrop, and the same bold geometry is relatively straightforward for game technologies to render. The grid-like topology, an added bonus, is easy for gamers to understand and navigate, too.
It seems New York is not just the alpha city, but some sort of blueprint for any western city, both for films and games.
I wonder whether Tokyo or Hong Kong serves a similar purpose in the east – any research on that out there?
[1]: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/inevitability-of-prophecy-among-models.html[BLDGBLOG]: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/[2]: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/Just a [short note on the ubiquity of New York][1] by [Jim Rossignol][2] over at the (always great) [BLDGBLOG][]:> The parallels and disparities between videogames and movies are endlessly debated, but there's one certainty: they both return, routinely, to the architecture of New York City. The most frequently filmed city in the world is also the most frequently modeled. > The canyons of New York are as useful for game designers as they are for film directors. If the decision is arbitrary, then New York represents a kind of go-to alpha city: the logical choice if you need a city at all. For film directors it's a grand and familiar backdrop, and the same bold geometry is relatively straightforward for game technologies to render. The grid-like topology, an added bonus, is easy for gamers to understand and navigate, too.It seems New York is not just the *alpha city*, but some sort of [blueprint for any western city][1], both for films and games. I wonder whether Tokyo or Hong Kong serves a similar purpose in the east – any research on that out there?- alpha,
- BLDGBLOG,
- Entertainment,
- Entertainment,
- Jim Rossignol,
- Jim Rossignol,
- New York,
- Technology,
- Technology
- xeophin's blog |
| 
| 
| - |
- |
Post new comment