A Philosophy of Star Citizen

“What is a game?” (Nguyen, 2017, p. 1) (pdf)

I first heard about Star Citizen a number of years before the pandemic. I always thought that it was a cool concept and unlike any game I had heard of or played. I should inform the viewer however that I am not truly a gamer. What I mean by this statement, is that you, as my audience should take my claim: “unlike any game I have heard of or played” with a grain of salt. I do not have much experience. In fact, though other members of my family, namely from a previous generation (and namely exactly one) were quite early adopters of “gaming culture”, my most immediate family members were quite sceptical of anything having to do with the nature of play and make-believe. Video games, comic books, Dungeons and dragons, etc.

Regardless of all that however, here we are. Where are we you might ask? In a simulated environment that some call a scam and others call the most ambitious project to date. Is Star Citizen a scam or a game? I personally hope that it isn’t either. What do you call a virtual environment with numerous mini games inside of it? Do games contain games? What is a game and are there normative criteria defining what counts as a game? How many nested goals should a game contain? Eve Online, another simulated environment replete with mini games could contain an answer for us. While some may be caught up in buying and selling, trading and manufacturing, others could very well get lost in the enumerable systems containing thousands of potential victims to their genocidal ideations.

Games are a kind of artifact in this sense, at least they might be and that’s what we are here to figure out. What better place to start than in the UAE universe, more specifically, the Stanton system. Each week (Ambitious, I know. But a guy can dream can’t he?) I will upload a reading to the associated “course” website. These will be various readings on game theory, design, literary theory, cultural studies, etc, all having to do with video games. At least that is how we will apply these readings. Star Citizen will be the context.

On the left of this page is a list of links. Look for one that sounds interesting to you, click on it and give it a pick. You could also continue with this one which is merely some notes on readings in the philosophy of play genre. This is otherwise known, or is a grounding for the philosophy of videogames literature. Except I will spend most of the time talking about Star Citizen which is either a scam, a simulator, or the best most ambitious videogame to date. My kids hate it but they can’t look away when I play it. I consider this a win.

Many of the material here are incomplete ramblings. Hopefully they are complete enough to transmit some kind of meaning regardless of how opaque. The intent is to be able to communicate something that motivates conversation. Oh yeah, and you can leave comments below each. Just please don’t cuss me out because my kids may be reading over my shoulder.

“What are we doing when we play a game?” (Nguyen, 2017, p. 1) (pdf)