There’s an interesting post over at Terra Nova about the historical accuracy of video games. It’s true that most of the video games out today that depict war or other historical sequences are quite far from the actual truth. In a comment on that post I said the following:
“I think one of the problems with games about war is that sometimes the more historically accurate a game is, the less “fun” it is to play. Gamers like killing Nazis or running Rambo-style through the jungle. They don’t want to go on a patrol for several hours without encountering an enemy or see one of the many innumerable atrocities of war. War is horrible. If a game company were to develop a game that would accurately portray what it was like to first uncover the concentration camps in Europe, would it sell? Would the vast majority of people play it?
There are some (relatively) historically accurate games that found a balance between fun and education. One of my favorites is the Age of Empires series. I learned a lot from playing that game, and it was extremely fun too. I think if more games capitalize on this sort of balance they’ll get the history buffs and the gamers too. Win-win for everyone.
There can be a game that accurately portrays history while minimizing the more mundane aspects of it. We must also remember that playing a game needs to be fun. If it’s exactly like the real world, why wouldn’t we go outside and engage the real thing?”
What do you think? Can you think of any other games that are very historically accurate while still remaining fun to play?
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