written by Tom Fleming
updated 21.10.2020
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written by Tom Fleming
updated 21.10.2020
Have you ever watched a TV advert for a new computer game and struggled to tell the difference between the gameplay graphics and real life?
If your answer is yes, then you could well be onto something. Thanks to recent mind-bending developments in software modelling and in-game design, the digital worlds of today’s games have become so detailed, realistic and vast that an exciting new trend has emerged: digital tourism.
More and more gamers are choosing to go off the beaten track, becoming fully immersed in their virtual worlds. From the dense overgrown jungle and epic temples of Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the vast open expanses of Metro Exodus’s former Russian Federation to the otherworldly, volatile planet of Anthem and the futuristic, war-torn Halo 5: Guardians, digital tourism caters for all types of travellers.
Tyrant Mine, Anthem
Reality as we know it happens in a flash – and a big part of what makes an experience seem “real” is how we feel, experience and remember it. Thanks to technological constraints, video games have not been able to get close to replicating a “real” experience. Until now. Virtual reality and other ground-breaking technologies are driving force behind this change. Now that gamers are starting to experience similar feelings in the virtual world to ones they undergo in the “real” world, who’s to say what’s real and what isn’t?
There’s also the social factor. Okay, so you don’t meet the people you are gaming with face-to-face, but you can talk to gamers from all over the globe whilst exploring a faraway new world together. Technology has come a long way since the days of dial-up modems and painfully slow internet connections.
But digital tourism is not all about convenience and cost. Due to the variety of games and the vastness of the worlds within, digital tourism provides gamers with a unique chance to have a truly bespoke travel experience. Imagine being able to travel the world – and in some cases entirely new planets – without having to leave your own living room. That’s what digital tourism is all about and why it’s so popular. With so many worlds to choose from, digital tourism offers the user more choice than the real world does, where fantasies run really, really wild.
In fact, in-game photography is becoming something of an art form: there are dedicated Instagram accounts and even gallery exhibitions documenting some of the world’s finest in-game snaps. Duncan Harris, who goes by the name Dead End Thrills, is one of the best-known in-game photographers around. He has been “photographing” game scenes for more than ten years, from epic abstract vistas to up-close-and-personal portraits.
Of course, this trend in particular begs the question, are these in-game screen grabs actually photographs? Not in the traditional sense of the word, as they are essentially capturing images of the work done by the game’s developers and designers. However, traditions, words and technologies are all changing, and there is a strong case that they do constitute art. After all, in-game photographers have the same motivation as real-world photographers: to document a moment in time, capture striking images of landmarks and to preserve memories. In-game photography is another example of how technology is changing the way we perceive and experience the world.
Noctus, Halo 5: Guardians
written by Tom Fleming
updated 21.10.2020
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