Realistic and fantastical 'post-apocalyptic' scenarios are popular video game genres. I recognize a powerful visual influence in these games, and photograph differently after thousands of hours spent immersed in them over the past fifteen years.
The game experience goes far beyond passive media-watching, as the player is thrust into imaginary life-and-death struggles. Reality as we know it is recast in destroyed and depopulated cityscapes, in which the player must confront formidable enemies, search for escape, find and improvise weapons, and forage for sustenance. And admire the scenery.
It isn't difficult to imagine the aftermath of an apocalypse, and how survivors might behave; there's a steady drip of real examples on the nightly news.
Post-apocalyptic game design has evolved into a remarkably sophisticated, yet unheralded art form that is arguably a simulacrum of where we may be headed – and for many, a present reality.
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