Games and History Are More Linked Than You Would Think
More often than ever we are associating video games with history. The immersive graphics featured in modern games draw in young people to a great extent, and add a real-life factor that I certainly didn’t have growing up with Pokémon Blue on my GameBoy.
In recent games (the Assassin’s Creed series being a good example) we are dipped into an environment set many years ago and experiencing this in pseudo-first hand helps us to understand what life was like back then. Because of this, it’s a convincing argument to say that to learn more about history, children should be encouraged instead of discouraged to play certain video games. The fun element adds leverage to the child’s willingness to engage in the game, so learning from the game’s environment is a logical consequence.
When it comes to games set in the past, the ways in which one has to play and operate are limited – in the strategy classic Rome: Total War, armed forces have to move around only by foot, horse or by sea. In game time, it takes several years for a legionary unit to travel from Rome to the northern steppes of Britannia, for example. This gives a good insight into life in the Classical age.
Returning to the Assassin’s Creed example, while reality is stretched to a slight extent, we experience medieval life in the middle east during the Third Crusade, arguably the major turning point in the development of the western world, still seen today in the ongoing strife with Israel and Palestine. It is a very important period of human history to understand if one is to learn about western religion and how Christianity had such a large impact on European civilisation.
My interest in this long-held theory spurred me on to talk to Sean, a fellow student reading history at university. As a gamer, I asked him how he thinks history not only passes on direct historical facts, but develops relevant skills for the academic study of history:
As a history undergraduate how have games influenced your understanding of history?
Sean: Games can contribute a great deal of perspective to the consideration of history and that has certainly been my experience. Participation can come in a variety of forms, but to some degree or other they all submerge you in their environment and require you to play a role. I also think that the nature of some games can liberate you from the overbearing facts and arguments of textbooks and demonstrate that a specific sequence of events was not necessarily the foregone conclusion it first appeared. Suddenly the gamer is exposed to the possibilities and choices that people in history faced. I suppose it is easy to forget the past was once the present to many people, but games can serve to reinforce this.
Which three games do you feel you have learned about history the most from?
Sean: Rome: Total War – A game that, however realistic, offers insight into what preoccupied the leaders of ancient peoples, factions and empires. Perspective is again the key here; just what had to be considered before any one action was taken. Launching invasions, defending the borders, carrying out assigned tasks, satisfying the people and keeping the treasury well-stocked – all these required balance. In the ancient world especially, given the relative lack of historical source material, it is too easy not to see this bigger picture and instead be too focused on one particular area.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – This game was rather more about the individual, the gamer playing just another participant in a vast and well-populated world. The loosely medieval setting is imbued heavily with myth and fantasy, but that doesn’t diminish the value of the experience. For starters, it is a long and lonely slog through dangerous wilderness if you want to travel between settlements. On top of this, the way in which knowledge and in-game history is passed on, through a more oral tradition, is a fascinating thing to be part of. This is part of a bigger social interaction and communal experience that you just don’t get in a textbook.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – This RPG might seem an odd choice but I found it really exciting that characters in this game would ask you which storyline had played out in its predecessor (KotOR). The character’s views and attitudes changed depending on what backdrop you gave to this current sequence of events. Indeed, the past of the gamer’s character is inextricably linked to that backdrop, to make this even more significant to the gaming experience. Basically, it could prove to be a really positive exploration in counter-factual history.
Do you think it should be integrating into schools, or is it fine as an outside activity?
Sean: I think more and more now that we are leaning towards more ‘interactive’ learning and that is a good thing. Different brains are stimulated by different things, so the more diverse the pool of learning resources the better. I wouldn’t want it to take over though because it isn’t really history, only an insight. Gaming is a good and potentially quite social extra-curricular activity, as long as it isn’t taken to unhealthy lengths.
Sean’s point about counter-factual history (virtual history, i.e. ‘what if’ scenarios) is also worth noting. The Star Wars universe is particularly dense and far-rearching, and reading about it has a lot to offer kids – more than you’d think. The prequel series made sense of a lot of the events in the original movie series and the extended universe content is available in the form of books, comics and especially video games.
Trying to understand the causes and effects of people and events is what the study of history is all about and games will always have this element. The general consensus is that video games are an immature pastime, when in fact they are much deeper. Why is this not always recognised?
