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Thanks for the comments. "More emphasis on the historical" seems to be the consensus comment on this video. An episode on CK 2 is definitely on the way. Couldn't agree more about Gone Home and historical research. Games like that work like a historical scavenger hunt in a way. Have you seen this post? I think it says a lot about this issue. What would you say to a video on Gone Home? Might be hard to find an historical expert on 1995, but I suppose it could also be a good way to talk about personal memories and oral history.

Hey everyone, I was getting a little frustrated trying to write historical reviews of games because I couldn't show people what I was talking about, so I decided to start a video series. It's called History Respawned, and the first attempt - looking at ACIV - is online now: It's been featured now on RPS and Gamasutra, but I was hoping to get the opinion of the Thumbs community on the video. Do you think there's enough historical content? Is the video too long? What do you make of the format and pacing? Any suggestions on possible games for the series? I'd apprecite any advice or criticism you might have. Thanks in advance, Bob

http://kotaku.com/5957411/im-surprised-by-how-black-assassins-creed-liberation-feels Haven't played this game. Not sure what the pregame disclaimer looks like. Does Ubisoft succeed here? Can they ever make a game that makes everyone happy? In a similar vein, does anyone think a game based on Harriet Tubman could be a success? Or do all history games need to involve blood and guts? http://www.joystiq.c...in-video-games/

The guards do attack after a certain amount of time. This was a big problem in the first Assassin's Creed game - one of the many reasons that game isn't nearly as fun as the subsequent releases in the series. I think incorporating religion into a historical video game sounds very interesting, but I wonder if a commercial product could get away with that without insulting anyone. Assassin's Creed has generally been pretty good about respecting people and cultures.

I think you're right about this. I would lean toward "recreate a historical moment" because having to play with "an appropriate historical mindset" is usually not fun. When you're playing a game, you don't want to repeat history, you want to make your own.

I think most video games do a poor job of presenting history, but I would argue they do a better job of presenting history than either books or films - or they at least have the potential to do so. When you have historical context in a novel, for instance, it usually comes through this jarring bit of dialogue where one of the characters explains to another what's going on in a paragraph or two. With films, most of the context comes through a quick few paragraphs at the beginning of the movie or through the same dialogue device you see in books. Though most history video games are about murdering dudes, first and foremost, they can provide a large amount of context through visuals or through in-game encyclopedias. On top of that, some games, like Oregon Trail, actually have you acting out historical events or realities. I think that sort of hands on activity with history, outside of a museum or primary source work, is rare. I was on the fence about Crusader Kings. Your description makes it a must play. That's good to know about Damascus. I think the game that has done the best job of recreating a city, as ThunderPeel mentioned, was LA Noire. Really incredible work.

Haha, I must have missed that part of Japanese history.

Hey everyone, New to Idle Thumbs and to the forums. Enjoying both so far.

Hi everyone, On one of the recent Idle Thumbs Podcasts, the crew briefly discussed Oregon Trail, which got me thinking about the use of history in video games more generally. I wrote this essay on the topic for a history website associated with my university. I'm new to Idle Forums, but I've heard from a friend that they are filled with intelligent folks that are into video games. I'd love to have everyone's thoughts on the essay or just on the use of history in video games. Do you ever play a game primarily because it deals with a certain historical topic or time period? Do you ever feel like you learned something from a historical game? Do you think the gaming industry is capable of producing historical content that is just as compelling as a historical novel or period film? What are your favorite historical games?