War Games – examining the conflict between video games and war
GameCentral visits the Imperial War Museum exhibit that shows the changing way that war and the military has been portrayed by video games.
The Imperial War Museum in London offers many physical reminders of the duality of war, with a towering 15-inch naval gun, whose 2000lb shells have a range of 16 miles, sat right next to a Tibetan Peace Garden. While exhibitions usually centre around real-life stories of historical conflicts, the museum is currently exploring why war makes such compelling video game entertainment and how the thrill of a perfect head shot might be able to educate us about the tragedy of warfare.
Running between September 30 and May 28, the War Games exhibition explores the relationship between video games and conflict. It showcases unique installations, never-before-displayed objects, and commentary from industry experts to try and give a nuanced view of the issue. It will be the first time that a major museum has engaged with video games in this way, as it features a series of titles which, over the last 40 years, have reflected events from the First World War to the present.
War Games curator Ian Kikuchi told GameCentral: ‘I’m most proud of the variety of games on display. From today’s blockbuster titles like Sniper Elite and Call Of Duty, to intimate indie games like Bury Me, My Love, and compelling anti-war games like This War Of Mine, IWM’s War Games exhibition showcases the sheer diversity of war stories being told through video games, with titles spanning more than 40 years of gaming history, alongside unique artefacts from IWM’s historical collections.’
The first room of the exhibition explores how before video games, tabletop gaming allowed players to explore the rules of conflict, from chess to
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