[Commlist] New Book: Ideology and the Virtual City: Videogames, Power Fantasies and Neoliberalism

Just to let you know about my new book, Ideology and the Virtual City, 
which is due for release in a few weeks’ time from Zero Books. I hope it 
will be of interest. It explores a number of videogames set in modern 
urban environments, looking at how they reflect and criticise consumer 
capitalist societies through a combination of narrative, structure and 
modes of interaction.

The book is available for pre-order now in the US and UK (an ebook is 
also available): 
https://www.amazon.com/Ideology-Virtual-City-Videogames-Neoliberalism/dp/1789041643/https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ideology-Virtual-City-Videogames-Neoliberalism/dp/1789041643/ 
<https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ideology-Virtual-City-Videogames-Neoliberalism/dp/1789041643/ 

> https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/ideology-virtual-city <https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/ideology-virtual-city>

If you’d like to review it, I would be happy to send a PDF copy in 
advance, or ask the publisher to forward a hard copy. Please contact me 
at (j.bailes /at/ ucl.ac.uk). I would also appreciate it if you could share 
this announcement on any appropriate networks.

Here's the full press release:

Ideology and the Virtual City: Videogames, Power Fantasies and 
Neoliberalism by Jon Bailes. Publication date: 27th September 2019 (UK), 
1st October 2019 (US). Published by Zero Books.

ISBN: 978-1-78904-164-4 (Paperback) £9.99 $14.95 EISBN: 
978-1-78904-165-1 (e-book) £7.99 $11.96

*Ideology and the Virtual City* is an exploration of modern society and 
the critical value of popular culture. It combines a prescient social 
theory that describes how ‘neoliberal’ ideology in today’s societies 
dominates our economic, political and cultural ideals, with an 
entertaining exploration of narratives, characters and play structures 
in some of today’s most interesting videogames. Through this analysis, 
the book takes readers into a range of simulated urban environments that 
symbolise the hidden antagonisms of social life and create outlandish 
resolutions through their power fantasies. In doing so, it shows how 
interactive entertainment can help us better understand the different 
ways people relate to the modern ‘common sense’ neoliberal background, 
both in terms of absorbing its assumptions, and questioning them.

*Endorsements:*

“Videogames are gradually recognized as a new cultural form which 
reaches far beyond mere entertainment: they enact new forms of 
subjectivity and temporality. However, this fascination with the new 
form should not render us blind for the fact that, in their content, 
even at its most magic, videogames are firmly rooted in our neoliberal 
capitalism and faithfully mirror its antinomies. This is where Bailes’s 
book enters. Through a detailed analysis of selected games, from Grand 
Theft Auto to Persona, he demonstrates how they reproduce the key 
dimensions of a modern megalopolis: the City as Playground, as 
Battleground, as Wasteland, as Prison… Ideology and the Virtual City is 
not only insanely readable; in its combination of vivid descriptions 
with theoretical stringency, it provides an unsurpassable introduction 
into the deadlocks of our real life. In short, an instant classic for 
everyone who wants to understand not just games but our reality itself.” 
--- Slavoj Žižek

“Videogames are the battle ground on which the culture wars are fought, 
and the space of gaming is shaping the political present and future, 
whether we like it or not. In this insightful and politically vital 
intervention, Jon Bailes reads the contemporary city through its 
representation in videogames and considers how city space itself is 
transformed by games. Bailes shows how the city and the virtual world 
can hardly be separated, making a case for a critical-theoretical 
engagement with games which makes their politics, importance and 
limitations visible. A timely and important book on a topic so easily 
and so often misunderstood, setting the terms for future discussions of 
gaming.” --- Alfie Bown

*Jon Bailes* is a researcher and author who writes extensively about 
ideology, neoliberalism and popular culture. He has a PhD in European 
Studies from University college London, has published numerous journal 
articles, and co-runs stateofnatureblog.com. He is also a freelance 
videogame critic, writing reviews and commentaries for The Guardian, 
Edge, Kotaku UK, Unwinnable, Wireframe and others.


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