From Nowhere: Utopian and Dystopian Visions of our - Chris J. Young

80. Utopia: The Creation of a Nation. Mattel Electronics, 1981.
Apart from sharing the same title as More’s Utopia, Utopia: The Creation of a Nation is considered
the first strategy-based ‘God’ or simulation game for a video game console. Created by Mattel
Electronics for the intellivision console, the game allows players to control their own island to
develop farms for crops, boats for fishing, and to build factories, houses, hospitals, schools,
and forts. As players’ populations grow, they need to keep their citizenry happy by maintaining
a balance between the provision of social welfare and the accumulation of wealth through the
exploitation of natural resources. Although players do not attack each other directly, they try to
keep their opponents unhappy by funding rebel groups to attack key buildings and infrastructure.
Random acts of nature, such as heavy rainfall that could wreak havoc on an island’s resources,
help players to maintain their own Utopia in this strategy-based game. Nevertheless, it is a tricky
business that can result in the rise or fall of the fictional nation.
From a private collection
81. Deus Ex. Eidos Interactive, 2000.
Deus Ex may be very roughly translated as ‘from God.’ in this near-future dystopia, a pandemic
sweeps the globe, with the antidote in the hands of a select few. The protagonist, J.C. Denton, a
new nanotech-powered United Nations antiterrorist recruit, becomes suspicious of events as they
transpire. Where did the plague come from, and who benefits from distributing the cure? Deus Ex
is a video game that assembles many of the most notorious conspiracy fictions of the last thousand
years including Men in Black, illuminati, Templars, alien landings, and gene-splicing experiments
alongside the rise of cybernetics and the emergence of artificial intelligence. it is the player behind
J.C. Denton, who decides the development of the storyline. Through every decision, new narratives
emerge, and the choices made determine the terrifying future.
From a private collection
88 Boundless Utopia