history & video games (and why it might matter)...•history is so much more than many think...
TRANSCRIPT
PLAYING WITH THE PAST
HISTORY & VIDEO GAMES
(AND WHY IT MIGHT MATTER)
JEREMIAH MCCALL, PH.D.
@GAMINGTHEPAST
GAMINGTHEPAST.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