history & video games (and why it might matter)...•history is so much more than many think...

PLAYING WITH THE PAST

HISTORY & VIDEO GAMES

(AND WHY IT MIGHT MATTER)

JEREMIAH MCCALL, PH.D.

@GAMINGTHEPAST

GAMINGTHEPAST.NET

JMC.HST@GMAIL.COM

MCCALLJ@COUNTRYDAY.NET

THE IMPORTANCE OF A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE … AND GOOD DISCUSSIONS

•History is so much more than many think

•Historical video games are history

•a lens for thinking about the past

• critical debates about the past and its

relation to the present

•These include efforts to ignore and

erase diversity

search: mccall unexamined game

IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE

• Full disclaimer: video games are

great! Still …

•Meden agan (μηδὲν ἄγαν)

– Temple of Apollo at Delphi

• The Middle Path

– Buddha

• “Everything in moderation,

including moderation”

– Oscar Wilde

BUT FIRST … IMAGINE YOUR AVERAGE U.S. GAMER. THEN IMAGINE HOW MUCH MONEY IS SPENT ON VIDEO GAMES IN THE US YEARLY

WHO

GAMES?

search: esa games 2017

H

O

W

M

U

C

H

?

search: esa games 2017

GAMES & LEARNING

search: games and learning gee/squire/steinkuehler

DOING (HISTORYING)

CINCINNATI

(& OHIO)

HISTORYING

HISTORICAL GAMES: WHAT KIND OF PUBLIC HISTORY? ^

search: mccall games public history

^

search: mccall problem spaces

GamesText

• Interactivity

• Immersion

• Meaningful choices

• Less creator control

over the objective

experience / outcome

History Media

• Precision

• Linearity

• creator control over

the objective

experience /

outcome

GAME DESIGNERS’ HISTORICAL CLAIMS

EXPLICIT

GAMES AS HISTORICAL PROBLEM SPACES

1. AGENT (player character)

with a ROLE and GOALS

within

2. A virtual world (“SPACE”)

containing

3. ELEMENTS that help or limit

player; and so player forms

4. STRATEGIES and makes

DECISIONS to achieve their

goal

search: mccall problem spaces

GAME DESIGNER HISTORYING:CHOICES, POWER, QUANTIFICATION & MORE

“Exploit the economic

opportunities of the United

States … Lead your

Railway Empire to success”

“Rule your nation through the

centuries.”

[B]attle across Europe through

iconic locations in history’s most

monumental war. Experience

classic Call of Duty combat …

and the unforgiving nature of

war.”

HOW CAN THESE HISTORICAL GAMES FOSTER HISTORY-LEARNING EXPERIENCES?

GAMING THE PAST IN HISTORY CLASS

• Digital history and

historying

• Problem spaces, systems,

causal connections

• Thinking about humans

living forward

• Reading and critiquing

Digital “Texts”: The two

sides of what is and what

is not

search: gamingthepast.net

GAME DESIGN AS STUDENT HISTORYING

search: gaming the past twine

HISTORICAL VIDEO GAMES AS HISTORY

^THE PLAYERS AND THE FORUMS

POLITICS OF HISTORICAL VIDEO GAMES

•A flawed question: “When did

games get so political?”

• The political nature of causal

systems and world modeling

• “Historical accuracy” as a

problematic claim

eugen pfister politics video games

A WORKING ACADEMIC

DEFINITION OF POLITICAL:

HAVING TO DO WITH THE

ACCESS, DISTRIBUTION, AND USE

OF POWER

zen design politics nerd media

ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY (2014) COMPANY OF HEROES 2 (2013)REVOLUTIONARY MOBS & SOVIET COMISSARS

CIVILIZATION (1991-2018)

ASSASSIN’S CREED ORIGINS (2017)TOTAL WAR: ROME II (2013) BATTLEFIELD V (2018)REPRESENTATION, DIVERSITY, & AGENCY

KINGDOM COME DELIVERANCE (2018): A HOMOGENEOUS MEDIEVAL WORLD

ASSASSINS CREED ODYSSEY (2018): KASSANDRA AND ALEXIOS

THE IMPORTANCE OF A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE … AND GOOD DISCUSSIONS

•Historical thinking

•Ward off nihilism

•Corroborate

•Talk about it

•Game the Past

mccall unexamined game