Asian Histories and Heritages in Video Games by Kang, Yowei; Yang, Kenneth C. C.; Mochocki, Michał;

Short description:

This book explores the representations of national Asian histories in digital games. Situated at the intersection of regional game studies and historical game studies, this book offers chapters on histories and heritages of Japan, China, Iran, Iraq, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Turkey, and Russia.

Long description:

This book explores the representations of national Asian histories in digital games. Situated at the intersection of regional game studies and historical game studies, this book offers chapters on histories and heritages of Japan, China, Iran, Iraq, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Turkey, and Russia.

The volume looks beyond the diversity of the local histories depicted in games, and the audience reception of these histories, to show a diversity of approaches which can be used in examining historical games– from postcolonialism to identity politics to heritage studies. It demonstrates various methodological approaches to historical/regional game studies: case studies of nationally produced historical games that deal with local history, studies of media reception of history/heritage-themed games, text-mining methods studying attitudes expressed by players of such games, and educational perspectives on games in teaching cultural heritage. Through the lens of videogames, the authors explore how nations struggle with the legacies of war, colonialism and religious strife that have been a part of nation-building - but also how victimized cultures can survive, resist, and sometimes prevail.

Appealing primarily to scholars in the fields of game studies, heritage studies, postcolonial criticism, and media studies, this book will be particularly useful for the subfields of historical game studies and postcolonial game studies.

Table of Contents:

1. An Introduction to Asian Histories and Heritages in Video Game Studies

2. Reflections and Expressions of Turkish Politics in Legends of Istanbul: Tulip Warriors and Istanbul Doomsday Games

3. The Implicit Ideology of Russian Historical Video Games: The Case of Blitzkrieg 2

4. (De)colonial Difficulties in Japanese Games: Collective Memory & (Post)colonialism in Atelier Ryza

5. From Simulation to Repurposing: Evolving Historical Designs in Chinese Digital Games

6. “This whole war is on you”: Historical and Military Framing of Iraq in House of Ashes

7. The Temporal Closure of Iran: Coverage of a Historical Video Game about the Iranian Revolution in U.S. Media Outlets

8. Constructing Taiwanese Identity through Historical Digital Games and Gameplay

9. When Playing Squid Game Matches the Real-Life Experiences of Contemporary South Korean Culture and Society: An Intersected Hyper-Reality Perspective

10. Mobile Game Esports as an Indonesian National Identity

11. Imagining the Immigration Past through an AR Game in Singapore

12. Digital Game-Based Learning on Historical and Cultural Heritage in China: A Systematic Review