Wednesday, 18 November 2009
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Historical/Educational Content in Games
For more on this topic, check out this post on educational games.
Many popular games have historical events or situations in them. While the storylines are changed for fun and suspense, the names and locations are usually still there. There are hundreds of games that involve World Wars 1 and 2, as well as Vietnam, the Korean War, and recent operations in the Middle East. Games like Age of Empires give players an opportunity to learn about different times and cultures in a strategy setting. Other games are educational in subject but offer many hours of play time and cult followings, like Oregon Trail (and my favorite, Amazon Trail).
Other games just have historical characters in them that are put into fantastical situations or around original protagonists.
Oui! I may be able to use magic and I have a purple frog mascot, but I'm still Jeanne D'Arc.My favorite game of this type is Jeanne D'Arc, an RPG for the PSP. While the game does feature Jeanne D'Arc and her quest to crown the Dauphin and save France while people want to kill her, it also involves lion and dog people and magic. Some representations are not as out there as that. For example, the new Assassin's Creed game has Leonardo da Vinci as an aide to the assassin Ezio, but these characters may interest players enough to go learn more about who they really were.
Do you like playing games that have some historical basis? Have you ever become more interested in a subject because of a game you enjoyed?
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- From: chani
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Comments (19)
Nope... Even though I enjoy those games, I have never really been interested enough to find out who they REALLY are. Yeah, I know it's a bit sad but I'm lazy. :)
Never cared too much about the history in games, but I used to know the histories of all the races in the Starcraft universe, and the entire back story of the Warcraft games. Almost memorized it all. Even unit info in SC. And Oregon Trail was the shiznit!
Hahaha yeah I love history so I love games like that :) But, I find myself more into fantasy type settings.. Like a different world set in medieval times with magic! Like Chrono Trigger, Legend of Zelda, and Golden Sun!
Earthbound. I do recall this famous RPG has Stonehenge. I got more interested in history/locations after playing it.
Don't forget the good ol' Dynasty Warriors (china history woot)
jeanne'd'arc was quite the experience but i regret selling it (along with all my psp stuff) for quick cash. historical games with a twist were always interesting to me as well as games having some real world history in it.
My knowledge of medieval weaponry (Glaive, Claymore, etc) was greatly increased through my WoW playing back in the day.
Stopped playing, but retained the information. ;D
- John
@ChOcOChObO@xanga - lol except it's confusing because you don't know who REALLY won some of the battles since you can change history so easily in that game hahaha
- John
@ChOcOChObO@xanga - DUDE! Dynasty Warriors! That game literally got me to read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, all ~3000 pages or so of it. I can definitely say it's what got me into my Chinese major today :P
Anyway, to the original topic, holy crap. Age of Empires was / is my shit. I know that AOEII had a history section in the game, where you could actually read about the various civilizations... and I actually used to read it!
Then again, I love history. So I'm not sure if these games really sparked my interest in it, or just complimented it haha.
@The_Aftershock_3650@xanga - yeah, just like wreck havok with one of the Neutral characters Lui Buu?(the guy with the cockroach antennas) and kill off all three main leaders.
@Naga_Petang@xanga - I did not konw AOEII had that part. I will reinstall ASAP!
There were other games such as Mario is Missing for the SNES. You had to "search" for clues by reading important historical events/places/items. The game basically tested your memory for it (when did Michaelangelo paint the yadda yadda). Darkest of Days, I believe is a FPS that puts you in historical battles. Read the reviews on it and heard it was a mediocre game.
Usually I found educational games a bit boring. Then again, those games were back in the Apple era (Oregon Trail, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego).
Anyone recall "Terranigma" for the SNES? It was pretty badass weaving their own lore of how the world was created and having it progress through time. I never finished it, but I do recall the main character meeting and helping the Wright Brothers fly the first plane or whatever. I feel like picking it up again now :3
@ChOcOChObO@xanga - I recall Mario's Time Machine as well, which included Joan of Arc (sorry, I'm going to be an ugly American), and had fun playing it. My only problem is that I don't remember what I learned then...sigh. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing my marbles...and I haven't even reached 25 yet!
If it's respectful of the history, yes. AoE, for instance, was respectful. If it's not, or revises it for trite cliches, then I generally don't. Assassin's Creed is one such game. I'm generally already interested in history, so games haven't ever gotten me into it. :p
Oregon Trail was epic.
Oregon trail. That game was never about winning.
It was about naming one of the characters after me and hoping he was the last one to die.
@DREY_FU@xanga - Yeah, that or naming your party after favorite characters to see if they survive or die in order... or maybe that's just me... idk...
@PiyoPiyo123@xanga - Haha, yesss. I guess it's kidn of sad that all my oregon trail fun was based around the fact that I knew everyone in the part would die eventually.
I'm a sad, sad excuse for a gamer. Can't keep my people alive.
i just beat the oregon trail a couple weeks ago, my whole family died hahaha i LOVE games based on history, i have one that's about Roman civilization, i used to be obbsessed.
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