Examining Perspective in Historical Games

“Perspective” is a commonly used term in video game discourse, however its application to historical games encompasses multiple different interpretations – namely technical, historical and authorial – each with their own subtle influences upon how history may be explored and interpreted within the video game medium. In particular, the effects of contrasting authorial perspectives upon attendant technical or historical perspectives and issues of historical interpretation within video games has been underacknowledged, to the potential detriment of understanding historical video games within the wider context of the gaming medium. This thesis will explore perspective in historical video games within a widereaching discussion of historical representation within gaming, exploring issues of historical iconography, simplified narrative interpretations of historical actors as “heroes” or “villains”, the emphasis of historical conflict scenarios to suit gameplay interactions, incidents of political controversy surrounding the representation of marginalised demographic communities within historical contexts, and interactions between video games and the popular concept of “historical accuracy”. By examining these interactions between contrasting technical, historical and authorial perspectives, this thesis aims to illustrate fundamental limitations of the video game medium as a historical format, to facilitate greater understanding of the relationships between video games and historical subjects and identify opportunities for utilising video games as a means of historical interaction. Consequently, the capacity of video games to engage with historical phenomena should be reinterpreted to accommodate these inherent limitations of games as an historical medium. An alternative authorial perspective of historical games offered by this thesis is a comparison between historical games and historical re-enactment, illustrated by practical comparisons between the experiences of engaging with history via these two media. By drawing these comparisons, more nuanced examination of historical games can be undertaken within a wider context of participatory historical media, alongside existing comparisons to entertainment media such as film and television.