Reading Response

Shanken talks about simulacra on page 43, which are "understood as second-order simulations, or simulations of simulations, wherein that which is being simulated is presented and received not as a simulation but as an original.  While this description is a little difficult to fully wrap the brain around, I found a great example of my own to help elaborate.  HER interactive has been producing real-life, but fictional, simulation games for over 17 years.  My family owns all of these games, and I have played a couple myself.  The first one I ever played was called "Danger on Deception Island", and one of the reasons I found myself so excited to play it was because it was designed to take place on the Puget Sound, following the events surrounding the appearance of a unique killer whale.  Since 9-year-old James was living on the West Coast at the time, it was exciting to play a simulation game based around where I lived, and I played it all the way through.  They are still coming out with more, and having played them periodically, I have to say they are still pretty spectacular simulation games.  The real-life simulations in those games, along with amazing artwork and voice acting, are what I am guessing has kept these games so popular.