Russian
Today, November 12th, is finally launching a book that we have awaited since 2018. “Virtual Cities” by game urbanist Konstantinos Dimopoulos offers an atlas and exploration of Video Game Cities.
This beautifully illustrated unofficial guide allows to explore 45 spectacularly imagined virtual cities, from Arkham City to Whiterun.
Inspired by the atlases of old, and fueled by a deep love and appreciation for the fascinating cities of video gaming, Virtual Cities is the first book of its kind. It is a richly illustrated atlas and exploration of video game cities. An attempt to understand, re-imagine, and present the most important civic spaces of gaming. A celebration of the creativity, ingenuity and imagination poured into gaming’s virtual cities, and also an invitation to appreciate them, dwell in them, and let their flows embrace you.
Read our exclusive interview with Konstantinos Dimopoulos to learn more about the behind the scenes of the creation of Virtual Cities atlas.
Konstantinos Dimopoulos
Game Urbanist & Designer
MSc on urban and regional planning
PhD in urban planning and geography
at the NTUA School of Architecture and Rural & Surveying Engineering
In Virtual Cities I wanted to recreate that feeling of longing for strange lands that old atlas tended to conjure, albeit for the digital cityscapes of video gaming. I also wanted to flesh out the fractured spaces of game cities and re-imagine them in their entirety, while writing a book that could appeal both to professionals and a wider audience. The help of artist Maria Kallikaki and my wife Vivi Papanastasiou, an engineer with a mastery of GIS, was crucial in helping the atlas provide readers with a unified image of 45 exotic, mostly imaginary places.
Virtual Cities: An Atlas & Exploration of Video Game Cities is an ambitious illustrated atlas that is the first detailed attempt to document and present the rich history of game cities. Virtual Cities offers a combination of original maps, ink drawings, detailed descriptions from in-world perspectives, as well as insightful commentary and analysis.
Virtual Cities is a book meant for lovers of imaginary cartography and worlds, artists, game professionals, world builders, and, above all, everyone who is fascinated by the digital urban spaces crafted for video games.
Virtual Cities covers 45 game cities spanning almost 40 years of digital history. Entries include Half-Life 2’s City 17, Yakuza’s Kamurocho, Fallout’s New Vegas, Silent Hill, Anor Londo from Dark Souls, and even pioneering classics such as the 8-bit Antescher and the 16-bit Lizard Breath.
The book is 256 pages long, it’s pretty large at 216 x 286 x 28mm, and is a hardback.
The European/ Worldwide hardback edition of Virtual Cities will be published on the 12th of November by Unbound, and the US hardback edition on the 11th of November by Countryman Press.
It will be available to buy on Amazon, the Book Depository, and Waterstone
