Do Videogames Simulate? Virtuality and Imitation in the Philosophy of Simulation

Abstract

Simulation. The concept of simulation has been contested in academia since its proliferation in the 1960s. This is hardly the case in videogame research, the subject of which is commonly discussed as a simulation or something that simulates with little analytical consideration of the term’s other scientific roles. Comparison. The article compares the simulation of videogame research to the ways in which other scientific sectors utilize the term. Problematic science communication. It turns out that videogame research has found an eccentric use for simulation with none or little relation to the term’s scientific (knowledge-driven) and etymological (imitational) predecessors. This becomes a problem in cross-scientific communication. Intentional philosophy. In order to overcome the problem, the article encourages scholars to adopt an intentional philosophy of simulation according to which videogames and their components may be structured as computerized simulators or simulations if functional evidence for a reference system exists. For those cases that lack functional evidence, the article (re)proposes the conceptual framework of virtuality.