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Though I think it's an interesting idea discussing the role of history education in gaming, this piece makes little headway in assessing whether any of the game
by khawkins 12y ago
Though I think it's an interesting idea discussing the role of history education in gaming, this piece makes little headway in assessing whether any of the games mentioned have done it well. I'd like to see a more thoughtful piece which takes a stance on the industry as a whole and whether we should be concerned about whether history is being misrepresented or people are actually learning from these games.
My guess is that, for most mainstream titles, they are doing a poor job educating about history. For example, while I loved Bioshock, including the story, it very much misrepresents Rand's Objectivism. In the same way, I'm sure many developers are calling on only so much as what they remember from high school in order to develop characters and settings which seem familiar to players. As gaming becomes a more dominant medium, we should probably begin calling out games which instill a twisted view of history in the minds of the public.
- mercurial 12y ago> My guess is that, for most mainstream titles, they are doing a poor job educating about history. For example, while I loved Bioshock, including the story, it very much misrepresents Rand's Objectivism. I have neither played Bioshock nor read any of Rand's work, but it can't possibly be more ridiculous than, say, the representation of Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator. Comparatively, and taking into account the need to translate real life elements into abilities and stats, video games haven't done such a bad job compared to Hollywood.
- watwut 12y agoI played Bioshock and never read Rand's work. It never occurred to me that I should learn something about Rands philosophy form Bioshock. Or that I should take Bioshock as accurate representation of Rand's Objectivism or any other philosophical movement for that matter. I do not think the game is pretending it represents it.
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoYeah its like an academic claiming Wizard of Oz is a metaphor for Hollywood in the 50's. The author denied it. Its a game English professors play: lets find a clever parallel between a work of fiction and {whatever}. Pointless but fun.
- Amezarak 12y agoThere's no metaphor or third parties playing the guess-the-inspiration game. Bioshock's creators explicitly refer to Objectivism (or how they interpret it) as one of the primary factors behind the game's story. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/08/20/exclusive-ken-levine-on-the-making-of-bioshock/ http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/08/20/exclusive-ken-lev...
- zokier 12y agoBut using something for inspiration is completely different than representing that something.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- jschwartzi 12y agoActually they are. The story of the game is intended mostly to be the result of an Objectivist society's downfall because its leaders are fallible. http://www.shacknews.com/article/48728/ken-levine-on-bioshock-the http://www.shacknews.com/article/48728/ken-levine-on-bioshoc... Having read some of Rand's work I can say that the idea seems reasonable. It's not really an indictment of Objectivism, but rather an indictment of the absolutism often found in Objectivist works and Objectivists -- the idea that Objectivism is the only philosophy that is worth having and that everything must adhere to Objectivist principles at all times. I think most people would agree that life is a little more complex than Rand would like it to be, which is what Levine was getting at.
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoAgreed. The strongest statement the author makes is "Yet their work demonstrates the potential for video games to provide consumers with history that is both interactive and instructive." So, its only 'potential' so far. Not a reach, and not much of an achievement..