Editorials

It’s all academic, isn’t it?

April 9, 2010, Author: Bryony Stewart-Seume

I have a degree in History and Archaeology, and I play quite a lot of video games. I am due to finish an MA this year, but if I fail to complete it my gaming habits will be high on my ‘to blame’ list (of course, the real reason will be my chronic procrastination, but I have too much self-denial to be able to fully admit to that). This year at college I have been following a course about the ways in which the past is viewed in the present; how it can be manipulated, presented… all that sort of stuff. It has been an immensely interesting course, not least as the syllabus was delivered to us in early October.

Now gamers, you will know why this time was so special… no? October saw the release of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. One of the scheduled seminars was to focus on the presentation of ‘archaeology’ in popular culture. The readings/viewings recommended for this session were all televsion/film based. Being mildly obsessive and greatly excited about Uncharted 2, my first thought was “what about video games?” Within ten minutes of commencing the course, I had an essay title, and a vague idea of where it was going. (If only I could do this for all the courses I am taking, I might have a hope in hell for completion).

When I touted this idea to my lecturer I was informed that I couldn’t write solely on video games, as they are not seen as having the same academic clout as films. This was not wholly unexpected, although I find it somewhat depressing. In an ideal world I would have pitted Nathan Drake against Lara Croft, and examined why; certainly at the moment, the Uncharted series is being received more favourably than the Tomb Raider games. As it is, I have been  case studying Uncharted 2 and National Treasure; so rather than Nathan Drake vs Lara Croft, it has been Nathan Drake vs Benjamin Gates (National Treasure). As an aside, this comparison works quite well as there are many similarities between the two stories.

Anyway, the point of this article is not to tell you about my education, but to lament the fact that it appears that games are still not given the place in the world that I believe they deserve. I hold nothing against my tutor for saying what she did; she is absolutely right, she was stating a fact, not her opinion (that and she has yet to mark my essay; got to keep on her good side). My problem with the issue is that, particularly now that games are getting more and more cinematic in style, with stories that could have been lifted straight from a Hollywood scriptwriter, surely they have the same worth as films? Film Studies is a widely taken course, so is not the next logical step to offer ones in Game Studies?

A search on FindAMasters.com pretty much cemented my fears. I used ‘games’ as a search term, and what was returned was five pages of results. On the surface this turn out is not too bad, but dig a little deeper, and it becomes apparent that many are not video game specific, and those that are focus on the programming and development side of gaming. These are vital skills to be taught of course, but I believe it is time that we started viewing the study of games under the umbrella of arts and humanities, much as the way that media studies, film studies and dare I even go as far as to say literature is.

I had a discussion with a gentleman on Twitter (the font of all useful information, these days) whose belief was that the games industry is not mature enough for this yet. While it may be true that the industry is relatively young, in comparison to books, paintings and even films, it owes it to itself to stand up for itself. Games have a pretty poor image in front of the rest of the world, and maybe now is the time for the industry to stand up and shout out what it can do, and what it can offer.

Hmm. What can it offer to the academic world? I could, should I really want to, do a PhD on the influence of 3rd century Manichaeism on Japanese video games. As daft as this sounds, it is logical. Manichaeism is a Persian Gnostic religion, based on the writings of the prophet Mani. Essentially (without turning this into a theology lesson) the religion taught of an elaborate cosmology that was based on the idea of a world of light/good and a world of darkness/evil, which are in a perpetual struggle for dominance. During the first section of the month, when the world is dominated by the darkness, light is collected and fills the moon, bringing light to the world. Then light disappears from the moon and the cycle continues. Manichaeism, while it originated in Persia, spread east in its later years. If you care about this stuff… well, this is why we have Wikipedia, but if this is not a Zelda game (or a JRPG) in the making, I don’t know what is.

It would be unwise to entirely ignore video games in serious academic studies;  although the media may continue to wish to believe that games are merely time wasters for predominantly socially inept male teenagers, we all know games are enjoyed by a wide section of our society. As a gamer I find it insulting that my favourite pastime is brushed aside in such a careless manner. Video games have the potential to be studied under many umbrellas; art history, history, social history, gender studies, sociology to name a few. While trying to write a paper on the use and depiction of the past through the medium of games I found it very difficult to find any journal articles or books that could give me direction beyond a few pieces viewing Lara Croft as a cultural icon, which was not my angle. However, had I chosen film as my primary medium, I would have been swamped by past works on Indiana Jones, among others. Why this differentiation?

A game is a primary source; discussions and responses about a game are secondary sources. The problem is larger than that of the subject not getting the attention that it deserves at the moment. While I understand the limitations, issues and difficulties in storing and preserving items for the future; as an historian in the 21st century I can only begin to tell you just how frustrating it is when decisions about whether or not something was deemed valuable enough to be preserved for future generations turn out to be ultimately wrong. In the vast majority of cases, for example, the lopping off of genitalia of classical statues, the decision was not made with future generations in mind. This is why I believe more effort should be made to record and safeguard our games heritage. This may sound remarkably frivolous but knowing how frustrating it is to piece together social history from the scraps that have been left behind, I feel for the archaeologists and historians of the future. Games, whether the media in its broadest sense like it or not, are a large part of our society. Ignoring them now will not only pose severe problems for the historians of the future, but will also contribute to the loss of a wealth of knowledge about a widespread social activity.

Of course, putting a positive spin on all this, should anyone wish to fund me; I am open to PhD offers… Dr Bryony of Video Games? Yes, please!

Tagged Academia, Benjamin Gates, Lara Croft, Nathan Drake, Video Games