As I have chosen to study history for the past four years in school I have acquired a good general knowledge on the last two thousand years of human history. While I’ve a learnt a wide array of topics in school, I have to pay huge credit to video games for expanding and enhancing my degree of understanding on world history.
Films are often credited with educating the general public. Films like Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart” , Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” and Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” invited the general public to research the actual events of the films through the quality and intrigue of the directors story telling and atmosphere. I think , particularly these three, have done a tremendous job in educating generations through the medium of film.
But what about video games?
Video games have got a lot of bad press in countries like Australia, and particular the United States, where right-wing politicians constantly try to link video games with the country’s problem with gun violence. I would argue that video games are the best teacher – immersing you in a world that no longer exists. The time spent in the era a video game depicts vastly outnumbers the amount of time spent engrossed in a film. Furthermore actually controlling the protagonist makes the experience more personal.
In my experience, many games have been effective in widening my understanding of culture and conflict. To start with, the Assassins creed franchise basically places the player as ‘Forest Gump’ in an area of history where the player comes into contact with the era most prominent figures and most famous scenarios. It is through this format of story telling that I, and many millions of players, have gained a basic understanding of periods like the American war of independence , the Italian Renaissance and the Crusades and implores the gamer to find out more. The class and detail of this franchise has educated millions on important events in world history.
Another game series that is steeped in real world history is the Metal Gear Solid franchise, particularly Metal Gear Solid Three, MGS Peace Walker and now the Phantom Pain. The tale of Jack (Naked Snake/Big Boss) is set during the Cold War and centres largely around the themes of nuclear war and deterrence. MGS 3 gave an insight into the brutal realities of working as a covert operative of the USSR and the USA- thus causing Snake to abandon the US. While MGS 3 was more about atmosphere Peace Walker was an encyclopaedia of Cold War history. If you listen to all the ,completely optional, cassette tapes you gain an insight on the life and work of Che Guevara , Nuclear Deterrence theory, the moon landing, the Manhattan project, the guerrilla campaigns of Central America as well as a host of other topics. The charm of two of the main characters from the story discussing these topics made it so much more interesting than a radio program or a Wikipedia article. I learnt a lot in good detail from this game and it greatly helped in my exams on the Cold War period.
These are just two examples I have gone into detail but there are many more education games like Call of Duty (WOW, BOs, BO2,) , Red Dead Redemption, Brothers in Arms and hundreds of others. For me Video games were the best at giving me a personal connection to history and causing me to follow a course on world history at school. For people who don’t like reading, Video games are the best form of education in my opinion, if you embrace the right ones.
What do you think? Agree? What video games have educated you the most ?
