View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Middlesex University Research Repository Videogames: the new GIS? Ifan D H Shepherd Middlesex University, The Burroughs, London, NW4 4BT, United Kingdom Email:
[email protected] Iestyn D Bleasdale-Shepherd Valve Corporation, Seattle, USA Abstract Videogames and GIS have more in common than might be expected. Indeed, it is suggested that videogame technology may not only be considered as a kind of GIS, but that in several important respects its world modelling capabilities out- perform those of most GIS. This chapter examines some of the key differences between videogames and GIS, explores a number of perhaps-surprising similarities between their technologies, and considers which ideas might profitably be borrowed from videogames to improve GIS functionality and usability. Keywords: Videogames, computer games, geographical information systems, virtual geographical environments, virtual environments, virtual worlds, spatial data visualization, user interaction. “Comparisons are odious.” (Gilbert of Hay, 1456) I. INTRODUCTION The positioning of one technology or medium relative to others is a common academic pastime. For example, numerous studies have compared GIS with other spatial and non-spatial digital technologies, including: remote sensing [1; 2], mapping [3; 2], databases [4], and CAD [4; 5]. For their part, videogames have been compared and contrasted with novels, drama, comics and film [6]. Until comparatively recently, however, the subject matter and technologies of most videogames have not been similar enough to warrant detailed comparison with GIS. However, this is no longer the case. Not only do many games present vibrant and realistic worlds on screen (Figure 1), but the spatiality of games is increasingly recognised as being a key property of these distinctive digital environments [7; 8].