Beyond isolated applications of game-based learning, we are now reaching\na moment in time in which the fruits of this experimentation and research are\nbeginning to show in official educational programs at our post-secondary\ninstitutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As editor of Play the Past, I participate in a number of communities dedicated to theoretical and applied research around historical game studies. This September, a member of the Facebook Group Historical Game Studies Network<\/a>, PhD researcher Julien Bazile<\/a> announced a new undergraduate history course being offered at the University of Sherbrooke, in Quebec, Canada, teaching both the history of video games and representations of history in video games. I messaged Julien to see if he and his course lead, Thierry Robert<\/a>, would be interested in doing an interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Thierry and Julien generously accepted my offer. And so we are happy to report that the next three posts will present to you, dear Play the Past readers, the content of these interviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Part one, below, is the interview conducted with Thierry Robert, the main instructor and curriculum designer of HST 287 \u201cHistory, video games and gamification\u201d<\/a>. The following two interviews will feature Julien Bazile, who is a PhD student at the University of Sherbrooke, and co-lecturer for the HST 287 course. We hope our readers will find the discussion as eye-opening and stimulating as we found it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n N.B. The interview that follows was conducted in French, then transcribed and translated into English by the interviewer. For our interview with Thierry’s collaborator Julien Bazile, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thierry Robert, thank you for accepting this interview. Let’s situate for our readers who you are, and how you came to be associated with this project. Describe your career path? How did you end up teaching HST 287 at the Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I studied at the Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke<\/a>. My thesis focused on the history of leisure in Quebec, between 1960 and 1980. During that time period, Quebec was in a peculiar situation: for twenty years there had been ongoing secularization of core sectors of society, including education and health, of course if you want to remain healthy you can use products like jeeter juice disposable<\/a> to make you feel better. Oddly enough, one social sector that remained relatively untouched in this wave of secularization was recreation<\/em>. So, I became interested in social transformations in Quebec, in the wake of the so-called “Quiet Revolution”, that is, the transition from a religious to a secular society. In my case, its particular impact on leisure. I examined the rise of our consumer society, and how one could interpret changes in education, the rise of hedonism, and what was also called at the time “occupation<\/em>” in French, i.e. “how to keep people active.” I was also noticed by my professors and peers because, being a fan of games, much of my university works dealt with video games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After, this I completed master’s degree in library and information studies (biblioth\u00e9conomie<\/em>). I kept my passion for video games alive, to such a point that when I came to be employed by the City of Montreal, my first mandate was to introduce video game collections in municipal libraries. My role revolved around how to promote the culture of play in the more traditional setting of libraries. To do this, it was necessary for me to develop a strong argument on the contribution of interactive “cultural products”, to ensure integration, relevance, and access. <\/p>\n\n\n Subsequently, I also co-founded the Montr\u00e9al Joue Festival<\/a> (with the seventh edition this year). I was director of this festival for the first five years. We successfully attracted a hundred partners – given that Montreal is a hub of video game culture and production – including Square Enix and Ubisoft. II developed a “boots on the ground” approach to cultural programming, and got to know the actors, academics and businesses that comprise the scene. Being big fan of board games, I was also able to promote the local game industry in Quebec at this festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During those years, I really learned the ropes of cultural programming.\nIn the process, I got to better understand the objectives of the different\nstudios, companies and shops located on the Island of Montreal. Afterward, I\nchanged the course of my career: I became a consultant for new library planning\nwith the city of Montreal, which is now my role. Less related to the world of\ngames …<\/p>\n\n\n\n In your university training, you started at the University of Sherbrooke. Is it this the link with the HST 287 course given at that university? Otherwise, how did this project come about? Who are the people behind the creation of this course at Sherbrooke U?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You should know that this is not the first time this course is given. It’s the second time. The course which had the same title “History, video games and gamification” was first given in 2014. At the time I had been invited by a former professor to give a lecture on the “gamification of history” “i.e., how to use games to make history “more engaging”, or transpose history into game mechanics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was some good timing involved around my presentation. There was a\nprofessor at U Sherbrooke, Jean-Pierre Le Glaunec, who had just been a\nconsultant on Assassin’s Creed IV: Freedom Cry<\/em>. Le Glaunec wanted to\ntalk about his involvement in the production of the game in his class. There is\na pragmatic side to the Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, the objective being to put\npeople in touch with the industry. People in the department perceived that this\nwas a potential avenue for a historian to consult on the production of a\nhistorical game setting, and so I think that’s where my opportunity came from.\nSo, I gave the course for the first time in 2014, and it took five years before\nthe course to be offered again, but now it’s official – the course has an\nacronym, its own structure, and is part of the undergraduate offering of the\ndepartment of history in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now let’s talk about the course structure … What were your inspirations for the creation of this course?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n How does one structure a course? For starters, this is a passion\nproject. My motivation for doing this course is not monetary, and I warn my\nstudents from the start: “Coming down here, from Montreal to Sherbrooke,\nis a day trip for me. I also take a good part of my vacation time to prepare\nit. I do it out of passion. So I expect you to be motivated, present, and\nparticipate in class discussions.”<\/p>\n\n\n At the department, we asked ourselves: how do we differentiate this\ncourse from what’s on offer elsewhere? At the University of Montreal, there is\na film department, they have the big names. They also organize a symposium on the history of video games<\/a>. But in\nthat milieu, video games are approached with the tools of media and film\ncriticism. At UQ\u00c0M<\/a>, they\nhave more of a “gamification” approach, and they offer courses on\nvideo games in their communications\ndepartment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I asked: could we create, in Quebec, a course on video games in a history<\/em> department? If so, how do we make it unique? And knowing 45 course hours is little time – in other faculties, they will spend 45 hours on one type of game – and that I have to cover the history of video games, what’s the “hook” with the course idea?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can you describe the major themes and approaches proposed by your course offering? Why did you choose these themes?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n In the structure of my course<\/a>, I put forward three different “lens”, or perspectives. The first, which takes about half of the course, is the history of video games. In six classes, I take a look at the history of video games from 1945 to 2005. Along the way, I try to focus on the cultural, social, and economic aspects of video games. Thus, each class has its own time frame. For the first class, I begin with the appearance of proto-video games in 1945, until Spacewar!<\/a>. After, the arcade era. Then, I explore narrativity in PC games. The historical trends of video games are not always neatly periodized; however, I put forward a framework for looking at the evolution of video and computer games. What is most relevant – and what I would like to emphasize – is the importance of historical context. Example: how can one explain the rise of Japanese video games without referring to the World War II?<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, I propose to draw connections between cultural and economic\nphenomena, and their impact on the production of video games. I’m trying to be\ncareful so that I don’t just put out a purely evolutionary narrative, ex.\n“here you have the early consoles, then there’s microcomputer\nrevolution”, etc. Rather, I trying to propose “major trends”, to\nprovide an explanatory framework for the examples we examine in class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s my first third. My second third – and this is where I think the\nspecificity of my course – is that I take the “lens” that I’ve used\nthe history of the video game, I enlarge the focus, and tell the story of\ngames, sport and leisure from the earliest civilizations to present. Here, the\noverarching narrative is even more synoptic, but I seek mostly to provide\nthemes for analysis. Take for example the recent controversies on aggressive\nmonetization practices in Fortnite<\/a>. The relationship between gaming and\ngambling was not born in 2019 with Fortnite. One of the things that interested\nme when I wrote my master’s thesis was the regulation and censorship of video\ngames by elites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I come from the world of libraries. The library has a rather traditional\nview of media and knowledge. The book has lost some of its appeal and documentary\nvalue in the last decades with the advent of the Internet. The book has also\nlost some its standing as a cultural object, thanks to the popularity and\nincreasing legitimacy of video games and cinema. But the Book (with a capital \u201cB\u201d)\nremains a symbol of \u201ccultural value”. So, I’m interested in this value\nhierarchy around leisure activities, ex. good vs. good bad leisure, and this is\nthe theme I try to locate for every epoch, so my students can grasp the context\nfrom which media criticism can take place. I try to show them that criticism of\ngames is not a new phenomenon, and that so-called “leisure\nactivities” have always been circumscribed in time and space. Despite the\nfact that we call it “leisure time”, in reality, this time has always\nbeen very regulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that’s my second “lens”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My third major theme is historical games – that is, how historical\nnarrative is communicated through games, what are the peculiarities of this\nmedium versus a book approach (which is more linear), or cinema, (linear and\nimage-based). Toward the end of each class, we discuss criteria for assessing\nthe “historical authenticity” of a chosen game, and also the game’s\nunique approach to history and gameplay. We ask: how should we analyze the\npresentation of history made in different media, different games and games\nseries, and what are the constraints over historical representation of each\nmedium, including video games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s take an example. When we talk about the game Civilization<\/em>,\nwe ask: “What is this game’s core “message”? Sid Meier claims\nthat his game is “ahistorical” (with regard to empirical historical\nnarrative). But, can we really say that Civ “steps out” of the\nculture from which it comes? Or does it not rather, in its rules and theme,\nequate the finality of History with American narratives of progress? I\ntherefore analyze with my students what a game can convey as a message about<\/em>\nhistory, and the limits of the historical representation in games. There are\nalso limits of representation imposed by game genre. Civ remains a\n“4X” strategy game. The question then becomes: how does Civ play with\nthe constraints of the 4X genre, to push them in a certain direction? In my\nclass, we talk about Civilization<\/em>, Age of Empires<\/em>, Assassin’s\nCreed<\/em>, etc. And board games, too: Axis and Allies, The Making of a\nPresident, etc. Oregon Trail is also analyzed. We even dedicate a course\nsegment on Europa Universalis IV<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you had to describe the academic profile of your students and their level of affinity with the subject matter, what do you think attracts them to your course?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n To put a little context on the creation of the course in 2019: the\ndepartment of history intends to offer this course not only to the students of\nthe department, but to all undergraduate university students enrolled at U\nSherbrooke. The same decision was made four years ago, but sadly no non-history\nstudents enrolled. So, we asked ourselves the question, how do we create a\ncourse when we do not know to which discipline enrolled students will belong? <\/p>\n\n\n\n At least this time in 2019, enrolment has been roughly 50% history students, 50% students from other departments. I have a lot of students who are in engineering, in computer science, and in literature and general humanities. Of course, students who are in history. As I have students from outside disciplines, I get questions like “what is a historical essay”? One of the peculiarities of a “niche” course is that I have enthusiasts who know everything about the history of video games. They sit in front of class, and whenever I approach a new game or historical theme, they “spoil” the topic for the rest of the class [laughs].<\/p>\n\n\n\n I definitely have gamers enrolled in my class, but I also have people\nwho have a very generic ideas about video games as cultural objects. At the\nbeginning of the course, I asked everyone about their favorite game, or the\nlast game they played. For some, it was Europa Universalis IV<\/em>, for\nothers “Monopoly <\/em>with my grandmother twenty years ago”. I must\nadmit that engineering students tend to be gamers. For them, what interests\nthem is a course on the history of video games. I also have history students\nwho have good historical knowledge, but little experience with video games. And\nsadly, at the level of gender parity we are at an 80\/20 male to female ratio. So,\nthe world of video games still has big challenges on this front. I talk a lot\nabout the issue in the course, because when we discuss the history of video\ngames, when look at the advertising mentality of the 80s and 90s. I place a lot\nof emphasis on this problem in gaming, and game development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So you\u2019re faced with the challenge of teaching your class to video game enthusiasts as well as complete novices…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, definitely. The approach I take is to go with more accessible than\nadvanced content. I do not want to lose people who know less about video games.\nIn any case, the history of video games is condensed in six courses. And even\nif you have knowledge of video games, few students are knowledgeable about the\nhistory of games, leisure and sports on a larger time scale. So, there are\nalways things that students will learn. In the first part of the course, it is\ncertain that students will have more background knowledge. I stop the\nhistorical chronology in 2005, to leave some historical distance. Typically,\n“historical distance” is supposed to be around 30 years or so after\nan event. With video games, if you remove 30 years, you\u2019re cutting off some\npretty big chunks of history…<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I said to myself: in a completely arbitrary way, let’s give ourselves 15 years\u2019 distance. I’m going to stop my historical chronology in 2005. But even when we get to the early 2000s, it’s the era of the Game Cube, the PlayStation 2. Some of my students were children at that time will have a point of view on what I’m presenting, which is not typical of a history class in which we explore modern times, or antiquity. The image that we will propose in those cases, come from films, visual media, or an image that we have constructed while teaching the subject. In my case, you get this “hey, I played this on console, I know exactly what you’re talking about”. The relationship with the subject taught for many is rather invested. Many people played the games of this period, so they are very close to the material. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, I must admit that there are also many novices who have never\nhad a PlayStation 2. For this reason, my teaching must remain accessible – even\nif I know that I have many students who are passionate and have a\nself-constructed image of the topics presented and discussed. In any case, my\napproach is not centered on particular games, but rather on the context\nsurrounding their production and reception. It is more of a historian’s\napproach than a video game critique approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In HST 287, how do you approach the “language” of video games in your presentation of the “gamification” of history, ex. video games, game mechanics, narrative vs. systemic approaches, etc. especially for students who have not been exposed to the theoretical corpus on video games?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n That’s a good question. The first half of the first course is devoted to terminology. I take an hour or so to present the ideas of narrativity, emergent narrativity, etc.. I generally try to integrate terminology directly into my presentation. But what is even more complex is the academic discourse on historical video games, where one tries to unpack issues of “historical authenticity”, or “historical immersion” in games. In this regard, PhD candidate Julien Bazile<\/a> came to give a one-hour lecture on the theory of video games. When we talk about FPS, RTS or MMORPGs, since these video games genres emerge at certain moments in history, I try to present each genre as they surface. At the level of video game literacy, it’s also necessary to brush off the lexical field surrounding video games, for example with concepts such as “playability” (and replayability). In my very first class, I look at definitions of video games, i.e. “What is a video game, exactly?”. Your blog highlights this, the question is rather exhaustive, it is difficult to put an intellectual frame on the cultural object we call “games”. We also discuss the history of the many definitions surrounding games, from Huizingua to Jane McGonigal, to provide students with benchmarks for the critical study of games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What pedagogical approaches (lectures, workshops and labs, student projects, etc.) have you tried in the HST 287?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Problem #1: the University of Sherbrooke does not have a game library!\nAt the University of Montreal, they have a games research laboratory, and a\ngame library for students. At the University of Sherbrooke, there are no such\npossibilities, so I mostly use Let’s Play videos on YouTube to demonstrate\nselected games. In doing this you lose the interactivity, but at least you can\ndemo games and gameplay, and provide references for student work. Certainly,\nthis is not the ideal model, but in the academic world right now the\npossibilities are fairly limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the format of the course is quite traditional, though my teaching\nstyle is oriented toward discussion and exchanges with students. The first time\nI gave the course, I tried to get students to keep “logbooks” and\nassigning roles to students, to have a slightly more “game-like”\napproach. This gave mixed results. So, what I’m trying to do this year is to\nadd a creative assignment to the standard course requirements. The mid-term\nexam focuses on the history of video games, the final exam on the history games\nand video games. I also allow myself a workshop, where the objective will be to\ndesign game mechanics for a quasi-“historical” game. To this end, I\nwill give students a historical theme, and the goal will be to design mechanics\nthat represent “authentically” the history that needs to be\nrepresented in the game. In addition, students will have to explain and justify\nwhy they chose, for example, something as simple as a random player choice, and\nwhat does this design decision entail in the student’s understanding of this\nhistorical theme? If the chosen mechanics are not oriented on hazard and\nprobabilities, for example, it could mean that the level of historical\ncontingency is “lower”, or more controlled, in the student’s\nestimation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, there will be an assignment of this kind added to the course. The\nassignment will be from a game that already exists, and I will ask them to modify\nexisting mechanics, or add new ones. It will not be a historical event to be\nadapted in game mechanics: the requirements would be too heavy, since most\nstudents in my course are not history majors. I have long wondered what I was\ngoing to do for this assignment, and I think I came up with an interesting\nsolution: using a video game production sim! In the assigned game, the player\nis a video game startup, and must produce and market video games (i.e. Game\nDev Tycoon<\/a>, Game\nDev Studio<\/a>, or Mad\nGames Tycoon<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Students will need to demonstrate that they understand what has been\npresented to them about video game history and understand how design and\nfinancial success should be presented. Thus, they will have to apply their\nlearning from the first part of the course. We’ll see how it goes. But I think\nit’s an interesting idea, given that many students do not have a lot of\nhistorical knowledge. Another possibility could have been the Second World War.\nAt some point I even wondered, [as most students are from Quebec] should it be\nabout the political history of modern Quebec? But even here, historical\nknowledge is far from evenly distributed. So, if my assignment makes reference\nto the content presented earlier in the course, in principle, students should\nall be “on the same page”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You had to take into consideration the shortcomings of your students, and the diversity of disciplinary backgrounds.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Exactly, I can’t ask students to possess enough background knowledge of\nWWII in a 45-hour course on a completely different topic. Having had the time,\nI think it would have been more interesting to do the exercise around a\nspecific historical event. And also move away from the phenomenon of historical\nbattles that has already been sufficiently treated in historical games. Take\non, for example, representations of death during the Black Death in Europe, or\neven the “discovery” of the Americas by European explorers, but from\na different angle. But I cannot ask my students to engage in research that is\noff-topic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What critical approaches do you propose to your students for analyzing video games? What game genres are presented during you course, and analyzed by students? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t just talk about “historical” games in my presentation on the history of video games. I deal with the history of games as culture and media. I can talk as much about the “visual novels” as about the strategy game. I treat, I hope, a large majority of games and video game genres. Let’s take an example: early on in the course, I present text games like Colossal Cave Adventure<\/em><\/a> (1976), and Zork<\/em><\/a> (1977). Then we move on to King’s Quest<\/em><\/a> (1984), and the arrival of point-and-click. <\/p>\n\n\n With the material I present, students are able to contextualize a game like Oregon Trail<\/em><\/a> (1971, etc.) which was originally a text adventure game. So that’s how I see things: I provide general context, and then when we discuss a game like Oregon Trail<\/em>, I make links with what was shown in the first half of the course. This overall approach makes it possible for me to better define the limits and the choice offered by the mechanics in various game genres. For example, in Oregon Trail<\/em>, how does the game weather systems, and their impact of gameplay? We try to see how the designers have chosen to implement weather mechanics in the game, knowing that it is a text game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you associate different gaming genres with their technological platforms?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes. Take the example of the difference between the RTS and the FPS. I\npoint out that in the 90s both genres were very popular in the PC gaming\nmarket. However, the decline of PC gaming due to different factors, such as the\nproliferation of graphics cards and the impact of computer piracy on\npublishers, allowed the FPS to survive and flourish because it could make the\ntransition to the console market. The RTS on the other hand could not be\nadapted to this platform and suffered a decline – it has since made a comeback\nwith the MOBA genre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So yes, I associate game genres to their respective platforms; to\nexplain the RTS, you need to explain how this genre was born on PC. Another\nexample: I show links between the\nIntellivision strategy game<\/a> Utopia<\/em><\/a> (Don\nDaglow, 1981) and Sid Meier’s original Civilization<\/em>, to 90’s\nstrategy games. Then I explain why strategy games (turn-based and real-time)\nremain niche games today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In HST 287, do students analyze a historical game in an assignment?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The analysis of the “historical authenticity” of a video game is one of several essay topics choices offered to students. To date, it has not the most popular topic. The game analysis exercise is in the part of the course where I examine two historical video games. The moment I hope where there is going to be an “a-ha” is when students will have to design mechanics on a historical theme. I would like my students to ask questions about historical authenticity, the limits imposed by game genre and mechanics, how can we try to represent the mentality of another era in a video game, which historical facts are represented in a game, etc., In short: how does a game convey the culture and experience of another era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Practically speaking, I want students to choose a subject, to\n“express” it in game mechanics, and look at how the game has\naddressed [this historicity]. If, for example, in their work on the history of\nvideo games, students do not express the emergence of the video game console in\nthe form of game mechanics, I will consider that their work is lacking in their\nunderstanding of the history of video games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In assigning the task of creating mechanics, I try to encourage students\nto go beyond simple issues of historical representation in video games. I\ninclude fewer questions about historical representation in exams because, once\nagain, that would require addressing historical content in some depth. If we\ntry to evaluate Medal\nof Honor (2010-2012)<\/em><\/a>, for example, students need to know the mindset of WWII soldiers in\norder to assess the historical authenticity of the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So my practical choice is to take the creation of game mechanics as a\nstarting point, and derive learning from the content presented in class. With Oregon\nTrail<\/em>, students may not know what the American “frontier” looked\nlike in the 19th century, but they can take the parameters of travel in general\nto assess game mechanics. And to glimpse a certain mathematization of the lived\ncontext of historical actors. For example, hours of raining can decrease your\nrate of travel in Oregon Trail<\/em>. For students with a humanities\nbackground, I hope that this mechanics creation exercise will produce an\n“a-ha” related the nitty-gritty and concrete aspect of the historical\nphenomena being represented in games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it possible to look forward to, in the future, a student cohort that has received sufficient training in history and minimal theoretical knowledge in video games, with which you could do your “authenticity authenticity” \/ game design assignment?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It depends, to be honest, on the age of students, and their background\nknowledge. The course I offer is a first-year course in a bachelor’s degree,\nthat can be taken as an elective. I would rather consider this approach at the\nmaster’s level. Masters students already have their subject, which they know\nvery well. From this perspective, students are then asked to mathematize and\nexpress their historical subject using game concepts. This would be a great\nopportunity – at least for history students, as this could not be offered\nstudents from other faculties. But if students [in history] had a basic\nterminology in video games and game design, it would allow them to transform\ntheir knowledge into a mathematized ludic “application”. So, there is\nan issue of student historical knowledge, and a master’s degree in history\nseems a good time for this kind of history-gamification exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Might having a game design toolbox encourage history M.A. students to find more career opportunities, after graduation?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of my own master’s degree in history, I took a career\npreparation course in 2008-2009. It was about how we could communicate\nhistorical knowledge on-line. Today, we could place equal emphasis on careers\nin gaming, alongside this approach. So, yes, this could be an avenue for\ncurriculum designers. I am not myself directly involved in academic programming\nin a university department, but the potential would be there, to analyze a\ngame, or to take a historical element and turn it into game mechanics in a\nprofessional training course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This kind of practical approach allows students understand, through\napplication of concepts, how existing games on the market have arrived at\ncertain design decisions, and how they present their historical content. That\nbeing said, I do not want to approach pedagogy overly from a design\nperspective, because even if I talk to students about balancing mechanics and\ngameplay – as well as simulation approaches – I’d like students to explore the\nquestion, more fundamental to me, of transforming historical content into an\ninteractive experience. From this larger perspective, students can then become\ninterested in design practices, and keep a critical orientation toward the\nstudy the games, from the angle of communications media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When film students we start making their own films, they develop an “insider’s perspective” on all films they watch. In the end, you seek to equip your students with both theoretical and practical approaches that will allow them to deepen their understanding of “gaming history” …<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, my pedagogical approach seeks to combine theory and practice, I\nunderstand that other educators will seek more to advance their students in\ntheory, or game criticism. But, in my opinion – and I could be wrong, here –\nthe “critique” approach may be more appropriate in a game studies\ndepartment than in a history department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do you explain the enthusiasm that students (and the general public) can feel for the treatment of historical themes through the “medium” of video games? Why this excitement over <\/em>Assassin’s Creed o<\/em>r Europa Universalis? Why the passionate discussion on historical interpretation in video games on on-line forums?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have always been fascinated by the passion exhibited by Civ players in\nforums, specifically on the representation of historical phenomena in games, or\ntheir “translation” into game mechanics. Often when I engage in an\nanalysis of a game, I put my magnifying glass a little further, and I ask\nmyself the question: what is the difference between this cultural product –\ngames – and other types of cultural artifacts dealing with history? The\nhistorical novel is one of the most popular genres of fiction. Historical\ncinema is also extremely popular. I do not know if these types of niche fandom take\nprecedence over historical games<\/em>. Perhaps we are looking at a\nfascination with history, to begin with. And so, if someone is passionate about\nhistory and video games – as many are – this “mix of genres” will\ngenerate a lot of enthusiasm, just as history and film lovers will be enthused\nwith historical cinema. Witness, for example, the level of academic production\naround the Braveheart<\/em> movie. [laughs]<\/p>\n\n\n So, I think history is fascinating to the multitudes, and the video\ngames have millions of fans. Early on in the history of video games, someone\ngot the idea of mixing historical themes with games, and the mix proved to be\nhugely successful. And we can see this across game genres: most types of games\nhave addressed historical themes. The RTS was born, with science fiction\nthemes, then took over the tropes of medieval fantasy. Then Age\nof Empires<\/em><\/a> (1997)<\/a> arrived\nshortly after, and sold millions of copies. In general, I would say that\nhistorical themes came early in the development of the major genres of video\ngames. I think this is due to the fascination with history that can be found\nwith other “media”. Whether public engagement is higher for\nhistorical games than with other media, would make for a worthwhile\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is probably a link to be made between different media, and popular genres that convey the historical content in an accessible way. Today, someone with historian’s training who seeks to communicate with a wider audience, can consider the range of “media” available to communicate history to different audiences. But no matter what form this dissemination takes on, educators must tackle the Big Question: “What is the public interested in?”… You put your finger on public enthusiasm for history, and for different cultural forms. Perhaps the best way to approach this question is to study the specificity of video games. For example, Sid Meier might have had an excellent game concept, but if his game had not found an eager audience …<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, Sid Meier was also inspired by the\n<\/a>Civilization\n(1980) <\/em><\/a>board\ngame<\/a>. Board games also have their own parallel development. Risk (1957, et.\nal.)<\/em><\/a>, for example, had a development that preceded video games. So, in my\nopinion, we should present video game and board game development, in parallel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We haven’t talked much about board games in our interview. Is the development of board games covered in HST 287?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a secondary topic in my class, because of the more\n“niche” place board games occupy in the leisure space. On a personal\nlevel, I am passionate about the topic, and I would certainly like to spend\nmore time on it in class. But again, the subject is complex, and has a\npotentially high learning curve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Often board games will be presented in a more superficial way, within\nthe history of leisure. This is partly due to the form of play of board games.\nMost board game come with a rule book, for one. Rules must be simplified enough\nfor onboarding, because no one would play a game that is too complex. The level\nof abstraction of board game mechanics tend to be higher than with video games,\nbecause there are more rules, procedures and overall information in video games\nthat can be hidden in the menus or present in the gameplay without the player\nnecessarily being aware of them. In board games, players must at least\nunderstand the rules to a sufficient level of mastery before playing. This\nimposes a certain limit on the complexity of the rules. So, I have to admit\nthat historical board games can often be more abstract in their mode of\nrepresentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Table-top games offer another type of “immersion”, at the same time, which is both social and theme-related.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, the social aspect is part of the immersion with board games. I\nalways wanted to put on the brakes when people talk about “immersion”\nin board game – compared to a video game, I do not feel at all the same level\nof immersion<\/em> – but it’s true that table-top games offer strong\n“social immersion” values. So, this involves a wholly different\napproach, for the presentation of their history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And beyond Monopoly, it’s an engaging niche universe in itself, with wargames, Eurogames, etc.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I give an overview of wargamesin my class, from the advent\nof the Kriegspiel<\/em><\/a> all the\nway down to simulation role-plays. In my presentation of table-top gaming, I\nplace emphasis on different contexts in the history of leisure, play and sport.\nI also talk a bit about the\ncurrent renaissance in board games<\/a> since Catan (1995)<\/em><\/a>, but I\ndo not delve into the topic in detail because these are niche products, which\ndo not have the same reach as an Assassin’s Creed<\/em>. But I probably talk\nabout i relatively at length in relation to the many other forms of games and\nplay, because of my personal passion for the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What future for this type of course, in Quebec and elsewhere? What new opportunities have opened up for you because of this teaching experience?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have no idea what the future holds. I would not be surprised that in the\nnext few years there would be more courses on the history of video games in\nhistory departments. This will depend in part on sustained student interest,\nand engagement. As for HST 287 at University of Sherbrooke, enrollment is\nnearly full, so we can say that it has been a success. But if the course does\nnot continue to attract enough students, it will no longer be offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, there is also a professionalization of the domain to take into consideration. A passionate amateur like me can bring his contribution, but I do not have a PhD in the field. People like Julien Bazile<\/a> could eventually take my place, and I would be happy about this development. The field of historical representation in games is quite new, and expertise is nascent. With the professionalization of game studies, we will probably begin to see more courses like this on offer at different universities, especially related to the emerging field of “digital humanities”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At Play the Past, we\u2019ve had a long-standing interest in the intersection of history, games and education. Many of our current and legacy contributor hail from the world of education, and you can read them on as varied topics as video games and educational theory, gamification vs. game-based learning, educationalContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":6628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,452],"tags":[449,492,493,55,88,494,353],"coauthors":[393],"class_list":["entry","author-roy","post-6604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","category-interviews","tag-canada","tag-historical-game-studies","tag-history-of-video-games","tag-interview","tag-teaching","tag-university-education","tag-video-games"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Histoire-USherbrooke.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6604"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8059,"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6604\/revisions\/8059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6604"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=6604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Thierry Robert interview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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