Just as films have timelessly utilized history as the base to many plots, so to is the gaming world tapping this resource. Whether they are consciously aware of it or not, those who play such gaming consoles as Xbox 360 or PS3 are often playing a game that has some historical background. A popular first-person-shooter, Call of Duty has commonly been based on the events of the Second World War. As a member of a fictional platoon, the user partakes in historical battles, using the same weapons and gear and wearing the same fatigues as those donned by the men who fought in the war.
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As the player, you are, for the most part, Altair, a member of the short-lived Assassin (Hashshashin) sect of the Shiite Muslims. The Assassin’s formed in c.1090 with the intent of eliminating political-religious figures of the Sunni sect who, as the Assassin’s felt, had usurped power. As a member of this sect you are charged with the task of eliminating nine historical figures, one of which includes Robert de Sablé, Grand Master of the Templar Knights. The nine targets are based on prominent figures of the Holy Land during the Third Crusade (c. 1191). Richard the Lionheart has just recaptured Acre and is fighting the forces of Saladin to gain entry into the heart of the Holy Land and to Jerusalem. Your task is to restore peace to the Muslim world and assassinate those who have seized power and are exploiting the people and land.
Now, literary license has been exercised to link these men’s deaths to the Assassins within the plot. However, player’s of the game will not be focused, for the most part, on these kinds of details and, giving the users of the game a little credit, will most likely be able to deduce for themselves the fiction in the plot. This is fine. Odds are those playing the game will forget the plot and the historical suggestions it made very soon after they have finished the game. However, it’s the vivid backdrop and the constant bombardment of scenery and fantastic images that will leave their mark on the users memory.
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Whether the user is cognitive of the historical accuracy or not is irrelevant. In most instances, a game or movie like this leaves the participant with a sense of knowledge of the past. After using a game that has a historical element, the user often bases their understanding of a particular aspect of history on the experience they had with it. Therefore, with Assassin’s Creed the user has unwittingly digested a piece of accurate historical information through merely acting within the game. After playing Assassin's Creed, the user will most likely think that what they just experienced is quite possibly how, for example, Jerusalem looked 800 years ago. With Assassin’s Creed, the experience will be fairly accurate.
This is the world of the public historian. Sometimes we must bring the history to the audience rather than have them seek out the history. Through mediums in digital history, we can bring history to an audience that demands the transference through entertaining means. In the case of Assassin’s Creed and other historically based video games, the audience is indirect, but there nonetheless. If the audience is going to assume that they’re experience is with legitimate history then let’s strive to make sure it is.
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GEEK TRIVIA. Which Video Game First Inspired Widespread Controversy? Grand Theft Auto. Mortal Kombat. Death Race. gaming HQ
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