It’s time for a new history in video games
Welcome to Invisible Walls, a column hell-bent on asking questions about video game design from the gamer’s perspective.
Stay with me here: If an extraterrestrial being landed on earth and attempted to learn about the history of our world based on video games, things could go awry. This outlandish situation illustrates the fact that games made with the intent to share our planet’s rich history – for the vast majority – boil down to battles. Video games are war’s biggest fan.
Video games require some semblance of conflict to remain entertaining, however. From the war-torn battlefields of first-person shooters to the internal fear and pressure found in indie horror games, there’s always a driving force that pushes players forward.
But it’s war between countries or different sides of a coin that are the primary focus in historical games. Shooters have featured World War II and other great (as in large) battles countless times, strategy games help us relive gripping tales of land-grabbing conflict and even games that use history as its tapestry – Assassin’s Creed for example – are all threaded through a story of a war. A story about killing.
Our planet’s past is made up of much more than words of war. Rich, amazing stories are littered through our history books, yet video games have mostly ignored these tales. If you look at the history of art, film, music and books, adaptations about our past beyond the scope of war exist. Video games need to take this plunge.Continue reading It’s time for a new history in video gamesIt’s time for a new history in video games originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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