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Kevin Lynch visits Bartertown

Renown urban planner recently visited Bartertown and in a massive holiday shopping mall extravaganza, asked residents to analyze their city.

The Architecture of Video Games

Really I just wanted a link to this video on my blog. When I think about the new Wii and the new Zelda... I sorta wet my pants.

But seriously, video games have come a long way, but even with the original Legend of Zelda, the architecture, settings, and spatial design are crucial to the game play.


The newest Zelda game, Twilight Princess, is no different. The game designers have created a lush, imaginative 3-D world, and typical for zelda games, the characters are dwarfed by their surroundings.

Grand Theft Auto had similar emphasis on settings, and one mini game featured in GTA: San Andreas, has you running around the GTA version of San Francisco, photographing the notable architecture.

What's my point?
I love SimCity because it's a simulation game that marries several things I love... urban design, social criticism, architecture, etc etc. But the only problem I have with it is it's flatness. Even the latest incarnation, SimCity 4, there are beautifully rendered images with depth and shadows. But it still lacks the viseral qualities of GTA/Zelda.

There are parts of GTA that are seedy and dangerous, while there are locations that are breathtaking. Zelda is similar... light and shadow, spatial proportions... all contribute to making a space feel safe or not. I guess this stems back to our earlier conversations about dark alleyways, farms and romantic locations. I just always feel like my simcity is pure AI rather than a rich complex place for people to live.

Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves

In a landmark election, Maxwell Ng has come from behind to be re-elected Mayor of Bartertown in one of the narrowest margins in history.

This morning, Steve Gates, Independent Candidate for Mayor filed a legal injunction to prevent his personal Servo, known to the public as Isaac the Robot, from becoming the next Mayor of Bartertown. Many have speculated that Gates used his vast coffers and industrial leverage to tip the ruling quickly into his favor. This controversial court ruling disqualified Isaac from the race, leaving Mayor Ng with a slim majority of the vote.

Ironically, Gates did not post even numbers with Mayor Ng. In fact, Mayor Ng narrowly surpassed write-in candidate "Mickey Mouse."

In Mayor Ng's acceptance speech, he promised a position for both his opponents in his administration. Gates will serve as Minister of the Interior and Isaac will be tapped for the newly created Minister of Robots. "Today's election and the events of the last few weeks have taught me so much about what Bartertown is capable of. I need to draw from the resources available to me. Together, you and I can blaze a new path for a bigger and better Bartertown."

Isaac's strong early showing in the polls are being attributed to the vast number of Servos casting ballots in the pre-dawn shift. The site of thousands of Servos performing their civic duty prompted thousands of more Bartertown residents to cast similar votes for what seemed to be the "logical choice."

Gates Disqualifies Isaac from Race

Earlier today Steve Gates filed legal action with the Bartertown Superior Court to disqualify Isaac the Robot from the Mayoral race. In a landmark lunchtime decision, 5 of the 9 Justices ruled that a Robot cannot serve as Mayor of Bartertown and disqualified Isaac on the grounds of that a Robot defies the traditional definition of a Mayor.

From the ruling as drafted by Nitt Ronney, "Like me, the great majority of Bartertownians wish both to preserve the traditional definition of Mayor and to oppose bias and intolerance directed towards Robots and Servos. The Mayorship is not an evolving paradigm," said Ronney, "but is a fundamental and universal position that bears a real and substantial impact to the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare of all of the people of Bartertown."

When asked to comment about the recent ruling, Isaac stated simply, "I only wish to protect future residents of this town from disaster."

Mayor Ng's office released this brief response to the ruling, "We are shocked at the obvious racism and discrimination that was purchased today. If Isaac did indeed win the race, Mayor Ng would have fully supported him and his administration."