![]() ![]() Yet this striving for realism does not mean that the games are realistic. But, as he added, “We’ll leave the politics to the Department of Defense”. Mark Long, of Novalogic, spoke about realistic elements of a game in a 2002 interview with IGN (Butts, 2002) about Delta Force: Task Force Dagger: “The levels are based on real operations” and “It’s been very challenging to get the details of uniforms, equipment, weapons and tactics right”. Games do strive for realism in some sense. Special Forces do operate in this mode in the real world, but they do not represent the majority of combatants. This is what Machine and van Leeuween referred to as the “special operation discourse”. At best, most games will focus on individuals or small groups operating outside of a normal military command and control environment. And the role of the player is often atypical for real world combatants. The kill counts in a single-player game will typically be in the hundreds, if not the thousands. Player characters can take much more damage, and keep functioning when wounded, far beyond what is possible in the real world. In most cases, even when the events of the game are based on facts, the game mechanics ensure an experience that is less than faithful. ![]() Apart from the obvious lack of real injuries and deaths amongst their players, these games are not attempting to be faithfully realistic representations of real combat. If it was good enough for Shakespeare to make entertainment out of England’s (then) recent wars, why shouldn’t videogames? And use it they do, from America’s Army to the games in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series and a host of lesser known titles, the wars of today have leapt into our homes, our keyboards, and game controllers, promising us direct, if vicarious and virtual, involvement in the action.īut what do these games tell us about the conflicts from which they draw inspiration? It is hard to argue that they are demonstrating reality. It would be a surprise if videogames did not make use of these events and settings. It should be no surprise, then, that depictions of current conflicts can be found in videogames. The use of cutting-edge media in the representation, even glorification, of war and conflict is almost as old as civilisation itself. Or just as possibly a description of the carving of Rameses II at the siege of the Dapur, which can still be seen at his mortuary temple, the Ramesseum. A description of a scene from the latest first person shooter (FPS)? Perhaps. Defeated enemies surround the hero, the mound of dead bodies evidence of the savagery of the fight.
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