Cyberpunk 2077 and the Architecture of Control: The City as a Playable System of Power
summary
Applies the Glass Box framework to Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, mapping four systems—Lúdico (game mechanics), Semiótico (symbols/assets), Simulado (simulated systems) and Ético (moral/economic rules)—to show how the game’s mechanics implement a control architecture. Gives concrete examples: corporate towers concentrate wealth vertically while poverty fills the streets, the minimap and NPC alerts act like a dictatorial navigation algorithm, prosthetic limbs require subscriptions, and abandoned Pacífica stadiums are repurposed by migrants and gangs, illustrating in-game analogues of urban segregation.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Introduction
- 3:51Lúdica and semiotics
- 7:03Architecture as power
- 12:04Verticality and segregation
- 16:15Heterotopias and exclusion
- 21:29Technology and control
- 25:40Abandoned spaces
- 33:01Real examples and reflection
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