Originally published at: Can you guess which cities these videos were shot in? | Boing Boing
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At least GeoGuessr gets an “inspired by”, anyway…
Edit: That was bitter sounding, sorry. The video aspect will be interesting I bet.
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I like this. I’m often looking at stock photos and trying to guess the city/location.
Did fairly well the first time through on US cites. Got the general areas pretty close - although I’m surprised at how utterly generic the Washington DC/Baltimore downtown areas are (outside of the obvious landmarks).
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I did pretty well on US cities. Got several within a mile, but license plates and “Omaha” on the side of a building helps. Nailed Provincetown purely on pride flags and lobster shacks. Mixed up Seattle and Portland a ton.
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It classed me as wrong when it was thirteen miles from Orlando. I feel that’s a bit strict!
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Many European cities are too easy, for an European at least. Numberplates and the languages on signs give away too much. Unique names like local bars and restaurants are also easy to google.
…and then there was the Arc the Triomphe, followed by the freaking Eiffel tower 
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I like to do this with movies and TV shows, usually based on a visible business in the background that hasn’t been greeked, combined with a visible street sign. Most of the time, the answer is Vancouver. 
I bet there isn’t a single US city, future utopia, or alien planet that has not at some point been represented by Vancouver.
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I got a big blast of nostalgia and instantly recognized that odd yellow building in downtown Anchorage across from the Hilton, a place I haven’t lived since 1981.
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Well that’s cheating in my book.
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The Canadian one is very limited. I got most of them, usually within a few blocks, because they are pretty much all Western Canada. Well, and Green Park in London is in there for some reason, even with a big sign saying “Green Park.” Which is actually in London, UK. Which you get right if you locate it in London, UK. Even though its supposed to be Canadian. Oh well.
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If you do the monument game there are some shots riding up the CN tower in Toronto
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Show me the rule book 
Having spent very little time in my life traveling - brief stints in the US, SE Asia, and Britain - I found this an absolutely compelling forensic exercise, especially with regard to cultural colonisation. I’m looking at my response to the world game. For Instance, after a while, the predominance of English language and Brit/Euro/US branding in signage was so incredibly pervasive in all of the old cities… kinda a sad indictment to see this virus plastered on both humble and great architecture.
It’s pretty neat. I’ve been a Geoguessr subscriber for years now, and I have to say that as far as the game aspect, it’s frustrating. When the camera passes a sign pointed away I keep reaching to turn around and look at it. Not being able to turn around and go where I want is tough to get used to.
I played Russia 10 times and 7 out of 10 I got around a mile off, and then the other three were way, way off. There just isn’t enough information that I could see in some of them. I suspect they are even avoiding signs, as paranoid as it sounds. Anytime it seemed I was going to be able to read one, they turned the camera quickly.
I don’t think it is something I could play as a game. I expected to play 5 and get some sort of overall score but I guess it doesn’t do that. I found the videos super interesting though. I would be more interested in just watching than playing.
If you go up a level to the homepage they have virtual walking tours that just play videos without the guessing game
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Ok, I admit I just like watching the videos of people out and about, drinking and eating and being social. Damn this pandemic.
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Florida and California coastal towns look a lot alike!
As do Portland and Seattle, apparently, or my brain has just mashed them together (I’ve never visited either).
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I found myself walking down a boardwalk beside a beach with potted palmettos everywhere and everyone wearing big heavy winter clothes. Finally figured out it was Sochi.
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In a similar vein to Geoguessr is the Window swap site.
Get a random window from across the world and guess where it is. No points though.
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