War Games

Philip Hammond is Professor of Media and Communications at London South Bank University, UK. His previous publications include Media, War and Postmodernity (2007) and Screens of Terror (2011). Holger Pötzsch is Associate Professor in Media and Documentation Studies at UiT - The Arctic University of Norway. He publishes widely in such journals as Games & Culture, Game Studies, and New Media and Society.

The volume is separated into three interrelated thematic sections: 'Militarism and the Gaming Subject' addresses players' situatedness within military-themed games; 'Playing War, History, and Memory' looks at the role of games in influencing military history and cultural memory; and 'Wargames/Peacegames' focuses on how conceptual frameworks are embedded in military-themed games. Though the volume addresses both analog and digital games, it focuses on events in Europe and European games. This is a boon not a limitation in that it adds depth, richness, and specificity to the study of both games and the cultural/historical perspectives addressed. The game This War of Mine, which is based on the living conditions and atrocities civilians endured during the Siege of Sarajevo, is treated in more than one essay … Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

• Notes on Contributors AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Studying War and Games Philip Hammond (London South Bank University, UK) and Holger Pötzsch (UiT – The Arctic University of Norway)I: Militarism and the Gaming Subject1. Reality Check: Videogames as Propaganda for Inauthentic War Philip Hammond (London South Bank University, UK)2. Playing in the End Times: Wargames, Resilience and the Art of Failure Kevin McSorley (University of Portsmouth, UK)3. The Political Economy of Wargames: The Production of History and Memory in Military Video GamesEmil Lundedal Hammar (UiT – The Arctic University of Norway) and Jamie Woodcock (University of Oxford, UK)4. Understanding War Game Experiences: Applying Multiple Player Perspectives to Game AnalysisKristine Jørgensen (University of Bergen, Norway) II: Playing War, History, and Memory5. Playing the Historical Fantastic: Zombies, Mecha-Nazis and Making Meaning about the Past Through MetaphorAdam Chapman (University of Gothenburg, Sweden)6. Machine(s) of Narrative Security: Mnemonic Hegemony and Polish Games about Violent ConflictsPiotr Sterczewski (Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland)7. National Memories and the First World War: The Many Sides of Battlefield 1Chris Kempshall (the Imperial War Museum, UK)8. Let's Play War: Cultural Memory, Celebrities and Appropriations of the Past Stephanie de Smale (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)III: Wargames/Peacegames9. The Wargame Legacy: How Wargames Shaped the Roleplaying Experience from Tabletop to Digital GamesDimitra Nikolaidou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece)10. Critical War Game Development: Lessons Learned from Attentat 1942Vít Šisler (Charles University, Czech Republic) 11. Simulating War Dynamics: A Case Study of the Game-based Learning Exercise Mission Z: One Last ChanceJoakim Arnøy (Narvik War and Peace Centre, Norway)12. Positioning Players as Political Subjects: Forms of Estrangement and the Presentation of War in This War of Mine and Spec Ops: The LineHolger Pötzsch (UiT – The Arctic University of Norway)Afterword: War/Game Matthew Thomas Payne (University of Notre Dame, USA)Index