Playing the Past (eBook)

History and Nostalgia in Video Games

Zach Whalen, Laurie N. Taylor (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: PDF

2008
296 Seiten
Vanderbilt University Press (Verlag)
978-0-8265-9246-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Playing the Past brings together a group of interdisciplinary scholars to examine the complementary notions of history and nostalgia as they are expressed through video games and in gaming culture. The scope of these related concepts moves from the personal to the cultural, and essays in this collection address video game nostalgia as both an individual and societal phenomenon, connecting the fond memories many of us have of classic gaming to contemporary representations of historical periods and events in video games. From Ms. Pac-Man and Space Invaders to Call of Duty and JFK: Reloaded, the games many of us have played since childhood inform how we see the world today, and the games we make and play today help us communicate ideas about real world history. By focusing on specific games, historical periods and media ecologies, these essays collectively take an in depth look at the related topics of nostalgia for classic gaming, gaming and histories of other media, and representations of real history in video games.

Inhalt

Contents1. Playing the Past, an Introduction Laurie N. Taylor and Zach Whalen 2. Why Old School is 'Cool': A Brief Analysis of Classic Video Game Nostalgia Sean Fenty 3. Homesick for Silent Hill: Fans' Negotiation of Textual Identity in Responses to Silent Hill 4: The Room Natasha Whiteman 4. Playing the Deja-New: 'Plug it in and Play TV Games' and the Cultural Politics of Classic Gaming Matthew Thomas Payne 5. Hacks, Mods, Easter Eggs, and Fossils: Intentionality and Digitalism in the Video Game Wm. Ruffin Bailey 6. Screw the Grue: Mediality, Metalepsis, Recapture Terry Harpold 7. Unlimited Minutes: Playing Games in the Palm of Your Hand Sheila C. Murphy 8. Visions and Revisions of the Hollywood Golden Age and America in the Thirties and Forties: Prince of Persia and Crimson Skies Andrew E. Jankowich 9. Toward a New Sound for Games Thomas E. Gersic 10. Remembrance of Things Fast: Understanding Nostalgia and Affect in the Battlestar Galactica Digital Game Anna Reading and Colin Harvey 11. Just Less Than 'Total War:' Simulating World War II as Ludic Nostalgia James Campbell 12. Performing the (Virtual) Past: Online Character Interpretation as Living History at Old Sturbridge Village Scott Magelssen 13. 'Documentary' Games: Putting the Player in the Path of History Tracy Fullerton 14. Of Puppets, Automatons, and Avatars: Automating the Reader-Player in Electronic Literature and Computer Games Robert P. Fletcher

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 17.10.2008
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
• Themenwelt: Informatik ► Weitere Themen ► Computerspiele
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik
• Schlagworte: Media Studies • Social History
• ISBN-10: 0-8265-9246-5 / 0826592465
• ISBN-13: 978-0-8265-9246-0 / 9780826592460