Postmodernism in videogames

Video games can be considered to be postmodern in themselves, unlike the older media where we were able to distinguish between postmodern text and others. This could be due to how video games erode the distinction between reality and simulation and the experience of living a second life increases this erosion such as with games like Grand Theft Auto VI.

There are two concepts to help us identify games as postmodern, these include flow and immersion. Immersion defines how gamers are dissolved into the gaming world where the flow is the concept of mission becoming harder but with greater achievements or rewards.

 This creates a sense of creativity and happiness in the simulation resulting in a consumer being in a state of hyperrality. Grand Theft Auto VI is a perfect franchise that explains postmodernism in video games with unstopping demand and distribution after its first launch.

This creates a hyper-real experience by introducing us to Niko Belic living in Liberty City however there is a huge debate on to which extent the game could be real for example in terms of violence, sex, and crime. Most of the game discussions are based on how to impact the consumer and if could this be harmful to society? The theorist explains this by exploring how playing the game is different from reading magazines or watching a film. However, we still can't be informed regarding what's going on in someone's head when they perform certain actions in the video games like hurting civilians. So it's, not the game that is postmodern hence it's the playing experience that should be considered postmodern according to theorists.