00:00:02:03 - 00:00:03:07 How often do you 00:00:03:07 - 00:00:06:07 think about the Roman Empire? 00:00:06:08 - 00:00:09:27 Well, today I have a different question that particularly interests me. 00:00:09:27 - 00:00:12:27 But by no means is it a new topic of debate. 00:00:13:02 - 00:00:15:20 My name is Leah, and I will be taking you through a discussion on 00:00:15:20 - 00:00:19:09 the impact of video games as a medium for classical reception. 00:00:20:09 - 00:00:23:09 My question is on our reception of antiquity. 00:00:23:22 - 00:00:25:05 I'm sure many of you have heard of 00:00:25:05 - 00:00:28:20 or played games from Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series. 00:00:29:09 - 00:00:32:05 I want to look at in particular Assassin's Creed Origins, 00:00:32:05 - 00:00:36:08 which is set in Ptolemaic Egypt in 49 to 44 BCE. 00:00:36:25 - 00:00:39:11 This open world action and role playing game 00:00:39:11 - 00:00:43:07 transports us to ancient Egypt and allows us to walk 00:00:43:07 - 00:00:46:10 the streets of Alexandria as though we might have really been there. 00:00:47:04 - 00:00:50:22 These games are marketed for the supposed historical accuracy. 00:00:51:03 - 00:00:53:24 “History is our playground” proclaims Ubisoft. 00:00:54:24 - 00:00:56:17 Games like Assassin's Creed 00:00:56:17 - 00:01:01:06 are set in a historical time period which drives the narrative of the games. 00:01:01:17 - 00:01:04:18 The Assassins Creed series developers use extensive research 00:01:04:18 - 00:01:07:18 to present convincing depictions of the past. 00:01:07:27 - 00:01:11:10 Now, it's not just about big, grand historical narratives, but 00:01:11:19 - 00:01:15:16 you are immersed in the daily life of the time period, 00:01:15:21 - 00:01:20:07 and you watch people run their errands, have conversations 00:01:20:07 - 00:01:22:23 in their native languages about everyday issues. 00:01:22:23 - 00:01:25:24 You walk the streets and you climb the buildings. 00:01:26:11 - 00:01:30:12 So I'd say it's safe to classify them as historical games. 00:01:30:12 - 00:01:33:13 Despite the large amount of fiction and myth in them. 00:01:33:13 - 00:01:35:27 But just putting that aside for a second. 00:01:35:27 - 00:01:39:07 According to Ubisoft, yeah, huge amounts of research 00:01:39:07 - 00:01:44:10 are put into making these games look and, interestingly, feel authentic. 00:01:45:25 - 00:01:46:26 And due to the 00:01:46:26 - 00:01:50:24 influence that video games set in these historical context can have 00:01:51:01 - 00:01:54:01 on players perceptions of the histories they depict. 00:01:54:02 - 00:01:58:05 I think they are important to to understand the phenomenon and to study it. 00:01:58:22 - 00:02:02:21 Complicating historical depictions in video games is this blending 00:02:02:21 - 00:02:07:21 of historical representation with audiences expectations to produce 00:02:07:21 - 00:02:12:23 this experience that feels factual, but it's also immersive and fun. 00:02:13:15 - 00:02:16:15 So getting to my my question for you today. 00:02:16:27 - 00:02:19:17 Do video games like these 00:02:19:17 - 00:02:22:13 owe us historical accuracy 00:02:22:13 - 00:02:25:04 now and even beginning to get an answer to this question, 00:02:25:04 - 00:02:28:04 we need to unpack a few concepts. 00:02:28:05 - 00:02:31:05 Earlier I said classical reception. 00:02:31:12 - 00:02:33:11 What are the classics? 00:02:33:11 - 00:02:35:07 Imagine me doing eight quotations right now. 00:02:35:07 - 00:02:39:21 What gives power to to the classics now, as someone who is I'm not a classicist. 00:02:40:04 - 00:02:45:00 There's certainly an air of elitism around classics. 00:02:45:00 - 00:02:48:00 And I'm in the same boat as you my dear listener. 00:02:48:06 - 00:02:51:08 But I'm going to try my best to unpack this. 00:02:51:08 - 00:02:54:13 So in a nutshell, the classics is referring to 00:02:54:28 - 00:02:59:22 the scholarly study of ancient Greece and Roman antiquity generally, and 00:03:00:05 - 00:03:03:25 and all their works that their philosophy, their art, that sort of thing. 00:03:04:18 - 00:03:06:29 So then reception is how 00:03:06:29 - 00:03:10:04 we interpret those cultures and understand them today. 00:03:10:13 - 00:03:13:02 It's a dialog with the past. 00:03:13:02 - 00:03:14:23 That's what you make of it. 00:03:14:23 - 00:03:19:05 And, classical reception studies has expanded its horizons 00:03:19:05 - 00:03:22:20 and includes portrayals of the past 00:03:22:23 - 00:03:26:02 in the media, in movies and TV shows. 00:03:26:02 - 00:03:30:07 And or I would then argue it should include and does include video games. 00:03:30:07 - 00:03:34:23 but there's still a limited number of scholars writing on historical video 00:03:34:23 - 00:03:39:18 games, and the potential is an area of study for, classical reception. 00:03:40:21 - 00:03:43:16 So the past does not 00:03:43:16 - 00:03:46:26 have power only because of the things that that happened 00:03:46:27 - 00:03:50:17 or thought to have happened, but it's its relation to today 00:03:50:17 - 00:03:55:20 and how we use it to generate anything from political ideologies to moral values. 00:03:55:20 - 00:04:00:09 So when a Triple-A title video game is set during a famous 00:04:00:09 - 00:04:04:09 and important historical period and represents an entire culture 00:04:04:19 - 00:04:07:13 while balancing commercial interests, 00:04:07:13 - 00:04:10:02 it's important we remain critical 00:04:10:02 - 00:04:13:02 in what is being placed before us and think about why. 00:04:13:25 - 00:04:17:06 I'm sure you can think of how movies like Gladiator or 300 00:04:17:06 - 00:04:20:22 has impacted your perception and opinion of those historical events. 00:04:21:08 - 00:04:24:23 Perhaps you've seen people call back to the good old days 00:04:24:23 - 00:04:28:25 of the Roman Empire, where the culture is glamorized 00:04:28:25 - 00:04:35:17 and compared to today's supposedly lacking qualities of modernity. 00:04:37:01 - 00:04:38:06 So moving on, 00:04:38:06 - 00:04:41:06 one issue in recreating the past, 00:04:41:07 - 00:04:44:11 is making the mistake of being anachronistic. 00:04:44:22 - 00:04:46:02 this is such a great word. 00:04:46:02 - 00:04:52:00 Basically, it means superimposing today's values or meanings onto the past, 00:04:52:10 - 00:04:56:00 like trying to jam the wrong parts of a jigsaw puzzle together. 00:04:56:29 - 00:04:59:29 an example would be using, the word lesbian. 00:04:59:29 - 00:05:03:21 it's a modern word, a modern concept to describe 00:05:03:21 - 00:05:06:23 same sex relationships in antiquity. 00:05:07:06 - 00:05:09:03 the word didn't exist back then. 00:05:09:03 - 00:05:10:01 They wouldn't have used that word 00:05:10:01 - 00:05:14:02 or thought of LGBTQ relationships the way that we do today. 00:05:14:22 - 00:05:17:21 So let's hold on to that idea of anachronisms. 00:05:17:21 - 00:05:22:04 when we start to think about how video games made by modern creators 00:05:22:12 - 00:05:26:06 are reconceptualising past for modern day entertainment. 00:05:28:03 - 00:05:30:04 Okay, so why does any of this matter? 00:05:30:04 - 00:05:34:15 Well, what's at stake here is our reception of the past. 00:05:34:15 - 00:05:35:08 How we understand 00:05:35:08 - 00:05:38:16 the past for some people, video games, maybe the most in-depth look 00:05:39:00 - 00:05:42:00 at any historical period that they've ever come across. 00:05:42:05 - 00:05:45:19 And the nature of video games being both entertaining and immersing 00:05:45:19 - 00:05:49:12 could mean that those games leave a lasting impression 00:05:49:24 - 00:05:53:06 and understanding and perception of a certain culture and time. 00:05:53:06 - 00:05:57:01 I mean, where do you think video games would be good, like educational tool 00:05:57:01 - 00:05:57:19 or not? 00:05:57:19 - 00:06:01:15 Kids are already taking lessons away from the Assassin's Creed series, 00:06:02:01 - 00:06:05:01 for example. So yeah, I read this study. 00:06:05:04 - 00:06:08:19 by Lisa Go in 2019, which took, they took 00:06:08:19 - 00:06:11:19 like a handful of teenagers, in America 00:06:11:20 - 00:06:15:11 and asked them how certain, Assassin's Creed games 00:06:15:11 - 00:06:18:11 that they had played, impacted their perception 00:06:18:16 - 00:06:21:16 of those events compared to what they had learned in school. 00:06:22:00 - 00:06:24:16 they, they empathized with, with a lot of those, 00:06:24:16 - 00:06:27:16 historical characters and learned 00:06:27:24 - 00:06:31:03 a more nuanced perspective of history. 00:06:32:21 - 00:06:33:07 But many of 00:06:33:07 - 00:06:38:17 them failed to think critically about whether the information was accurate 00:06:38:17 - 00:06:40:04 or whether Ubisoft would have had other 00:06:40:04 - 00:06:44:17 considerations outside of accuracy when developing, these games. 00:06:44:17 - 00:06:47:23 I mean, I know for myself, my first time playing Assassin's 00:06:47:23 - 00:06:50:27 Creed two as a teenager, which I highly recommend, by the way, 00:06:52:03 - 00:06:55:14 was my first real look I had at 15th century Italy. 00:06:55:14 - 00:07:00:12 So the Renaissance, obviously the people at the time did not know, that we would, 00:07:01:00 - 00:07:05:00 call that time period the Renaissance, but it was sort of in full swing, 00:07:05:00 - 00:07:08:00 at least in the, you know, the, the high echelons of society. 00:07:08:22 - 00:07:13:24 And I sort of I fell in love with what I was seeing and feeling, 00:07:13:24 - 00:07:19:03 all the beautiful buildings and the art pieces, the fashion and philosophy, the 00:07:19:03 - 00:07:23:01 the immersive atmosphere that Ubisoft had created. 00:07:23:23 - 00:07:26:14 Well, it inspired me to learn more. 00:07:26:14 - 00:07:28:11 I got to in a sense, 00:07:28:11 - 00:07:31:27 it felt like I was living history in a way that a scholar had read about 00:07:31:27 - 00:07:36:23 the Renaissance wouldn't really have experienced. 00:07:37:10 - 00:07:40:18 You know, I think this is the value of historical video games. 00:07:40:18 - 00:07:44:00 You know, play is a tool for learning to even for adults. 00:07:45:10 - 00:07:46:22 So while I know 00:07:46:22 - 00:07:50:11 that what I was experiencing was inherently a subjective reconstruction 00:07:50:24 - 00:07:54:03 of 15th century Florence and Venice, 00:07:54:16 - 00:07:57:11 and one that was certainly not completely faithful either, given 00:07:57:11 - 00:08:02:26 the many fictitious events, the storyline itself, factual inaccuracies it informed 00:08:02:26 - 00:08:07:06 essentially how I received and related to this place in space and time. 00:08:07:07 - 00:08:08:28 It was it was it was like a time machine. 00:08:08:28 - 00:08:10:29 I'd been transported. 00:08:10:29 - 00:08:15:14 Also because in that game, Ubisoft had taken the time to write these, 00:08:15:14 - 00:08:19:13 the small kind of encyclopedia on all the buildings and the historical, 00:08:19:16 - 00:08:22:04 people that you come across in the game. 00:08:22:04 - 00:08:25:04 And I would read these, and it made me appreciate 00:08:25:06 - 00:08:29:04 how we would preserve and transmit the past, and also just for education 00:08:29:04 - 00:08:32:06 and accuracy sake, especially in entertainment. 00:08:32:21 - 00:08:34:04 I felt like it was important 00:08:34:04 - 00:08:37:04 that video games sit in the past faithfully as possible. 00:08:37:04 - 00:08:41:01 Balance those concerns between historical accuracy and entertainment. 00:08:42:10 - 00:08:44:23 Now, video games are not always going to spark 00:08:44:23 - 00:08:48:13 an interest in history and a yearning to learn more like it did for me. 00:08:48:13 - 00:08:52:10 So its impact is going to be more influential for those who take what 00:08:52:10 - 00:08:55:26 is presented before them at face value, and then don't do any further research. 00:08:56:18 - 00:09:00:20 So now let's kind of look at some examples, have some critical discussion. 00:09:00:22 - 00:09:04:13 I want to look at, Assassin's Creed Origins in particular. 00:09:04:13 - 00:09:07:13 I want to look at Cleopatra, the seventh powerful avatar. 00:09:07:18 - 00:09:09:22 I sure hope I pronounce that correctly. 00:09:09:22 - 00:09:13:08 Last fare of Egypt from the Ptolemaic dynasty. 00:09:13:19 - 00:09:16:14 And, with, the Ptolemy dynasty 00:09:16:14 - 00:09:22:09 ruled Egypt between, the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE 00:09:22:15 - 00:09:27:10 and its annexation by Rome in 30 BCE. 00:09:28:07 - 00:09:30:24 We all have some knowledge 00:09:30:24 - 00:09:33:27 or picture in mind when we think of Cleopatra. 00:09:34:07 - 00:09:36:26 Maybe you think about her portrayal in movies. 00:09:36:26 - 00:09:40:22 You might think of like Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 movie 00:09:40:27 - 00:09:44:20 Cleopatra, or, in various TV shows. 00:09:44:20 - 00:09:47:18 Maybe you learned a bit about, just at school. 00:09:48:27 - 00:09:51:10 Cleopatra seems to be one of those famous 00:09:51:10 - 00:09:54:16 historical figures that everyone has a different reconstruction of, 00:09:55:01 - 00:09:58:01 in a, in our minds, a rather superficial one, perhaps, 00:09:58:09 - 00:10:01:26 and it's probably been informed by propaganda. 00:10:02:19 - 00:10:06:00 So with that in mind, how does Assassin's Creed 00:10:06:00 - 00:10:09:00 Origins reconstruct Cleopatra? 00:10:09:09 - 00:10:12:27 Well, there's a fantastic chapter by the historian Jane Draycott 00:10:12:27 - 00:10:16:19 in a book called Women in Classical Video Games. 00:10:16:19 - 00:10:18:19 And it looks at this exact question. 00:10:18:19 - 00:10:22:14 So I'm going to be referring to some of the information she gives us 00:10:22:25 - 00:10:27:08 about what ancient sources tell us, what they don't, about her. 00:10:27:19 - 00:10:32:08 And looking at, Jane's comparison to, 00:10:32:24 - 00:10:35:28 Cleopatra in the games. 00:10:36:08 - 00:10:39:08 And I'm also going to look at my own experiences. So, 00:10:39:21 - 00:10:42:22 in the game, Cleopatra is, like, in her early 20s. 00:10:43:00 - 00:10:46:06 And during this time, she holds onto power rather tumultuous. 00:10:46:06 - 00:10:47:21 And she's in she's out. 00:10:47:21 - 00:10:50:15 And even though it's an interesting period of her life 00:10:50:15 - 00:10:55:10 between the Civil war with her brother, Ptolemy the 13th, 00:10:55:20 - 00:10:59:13 her alliance with Julius Caesar, the birth of, their son Caesarion. 00:10:59:26 - 00:11:03:14 But there isn't really a lot of written accounts about her during this time. 00:11:03:14 - 00:11:08:21 I mean, Caesar barely mentions Cleopatra in his own writings about his activities 00:11:08:28 - 00:11:10:16 during this period. 00:11:10:16 - 00:11:13:26 we don't have any written accounts from the Egyptian perspective 00:11:13:27 - 00:11:17:27 either, so we sort of have to look to, the material culture 00:11:17:27 - 00:11:18:25 that's left 00:11:18:25 - 00:11:21:06 like some of the building projects that she had and whatnot 00:11:21:06 - 00:11:22:10 for some answers. 00:11:23:24 - 00:11:26:18 This essentially gives Ubisoft 00:11:26:18 - 00:11:31:07 some license for some drama and, artistic, creation. 00:11:31:07 - 00:11:32:22 So what do they do with it? 00:11:32:22 - 00:11:33:28 Who is she in the game? 00:11:33:28 - 00:11:36:01 What does she what does she look like? 00:11:36:01 - 00:11:39:16 So Cleopatra in the game is, she's quite sexualized. 00:11:39:23 - 00:11:41:29 Her clothing is, revealing and 00:11:41:29 - 00:11:44:16 her first line in the game just oozes promiscuity. 00:11:44:16 - 00:11:48:13 She offers herself to anyone on the condition that they agree 00:11:48:13 - 00:11:49:19 to be killed in the morning. 00:11:49:19 - 00:11:53:10 Like this is quite an impactful first impression, 00:11:53:18 - 00:11:54:29 and first impressions are important. 00:11:54:29 - 00:11:57:29 So it's interesting that Ubisoft sort of 00:11:58:06 - 00:12:01:06 took a page right out of Roman propaganda here. 00:12:01:06 - 00:12:04:22 It feels like her portrayal, right in that first scene, is exactly 00:12:04:22 - 00:12:07:28 what we may have come to expect. 00:12:09:05 - 00:12:10:08 Based on all her 00:12:10:08 - 00:12:13:08 other portrayals and other kinds of Western media. 00:12:13:11 - 00:12:17:23 Anyway, in the game, she's dressed much more in an Egyptian style 00:12:17:23 - 00:12:20:23 than a Greco-Roman, style in the game. 00:12:20:27 - 00:12:26:26 and it takes a lot of influence, from 19th century portrayals and some racist 00:12:26:26 - 00:12:31:12 and sexist ideas about the exotic East and likely influence from, 00:12:31:15 - 00:12:35:07 as I said, like all the portrayals in the media, Jane Draycott tells us. 00:12:36:08 - 00:12:38:11 Hopefully you can actually see 00:12:38:11 - 00:12:42:24 some game footage and see what she actually looks like in the game. 00:12:42:24 - 00:12:45:25 But if I have failed to do that, just give it a quick 00:12:45:25 - 00:12:48:25 Google and, you'll see what I mean. 00:12:49:17 - 00:12:52:17 So is this how she would have really dressed? 00:12:53:15 - 00:12:53:29 Probably not. 00:12:53:29 - 00:12:57:27 But there are no physical descriptions. 00:12:58:04 - 00:13:01:11 like, there's no physical, descriptions 00:13:01:11 - 00:13:04:11 of Cleopatra that have survived from antiquity, at least. 00:13:04:25 - 00:13:08:04 Caesar doesn't describe her physical appearance and his writings. 00:13:08:27 - 00:13:12:13 and Cicero, who's a Roman scholar, among other things, comments only 00:13:12:13 - 00:13:16:18 on what he perceived as her arrogance, which I find quite amusing. 00:13:17:00 - 00:13:20:10 Plutarch, a Greek philosopher and author, 00:13:20:10 - 00:13:23:18 focuses on her intelligence and charisma, stating 00:13:23:18 - 00:13:27:12 her beauty was not in her physical appearance, but her personality. 00:13:28:16 - 00:13:29:22 Later sources like the 00:13:29:22 - 00:13:33:17 historian Daya Cassius simply refers her as is beautiful, 00:13:34:01 - 00:13:36:27 and we see a lot of modern entertainment media. 00:13:36:27 - 00:13:38:22 So, like Elizabeth Taylor's portrayal 00:13:38:22 - 00:13:40:21 that I mentioned earlier, sort of taking on that trope 00:13:40:21 - 00:13:43:21 and just that's, her main, her main thing. 00:13:43:21 - 00:13:47:10 She's beautiful, I guess, because that's easy. 00:13:47:24 - 00:13:52:05 Except for the coins that she issued that bare her face in her name. 00:13:52:20 - 00:13:56:11 No surviving portraits have been confirmed to actually be of her. 00:13:56:23 - 00:13:59:22 And all those depictions are in different styles. 00:14:00:01 - 00:14:04:09 So considering that Greco-Roman literary sources frequently describe 00:14:04:09 - 00:14:08:28 Cleopatra as Egyptian, it's also surprising that contemporary portrayals 00:14:08:28 - 00:14:10:13 would sort of take that 00:14:10:13 - 00:14:13:13 in stride and take that as an authority in how she would have looked. 00:14:13:21 - 00:14:17:21 So ultimately, her portrayal leans into Roman propaganda, 00:14:17:23 - 00:14:19:25 which was disseminated by Octavian, 00:14:19:25 - 00:14:23:07 who is light of the first emperor of Rome, and he calls himself Augustus. 00:14:23:23 - 00:14:27:03 And he did this so he could retroactively legitimize 00:14:27:03 - 00:14:31:06 his sort of civil war with Mark Antony in, in the fight 00:14:31:06 - 00:14:35:19 for power, to take control of Rome after Caesar dies. 00:14:36:25 - 00:14:39:05 And Cleopatra, as this 00:14:39:05 - 00:14:42:24 foreign female monarch, is something 00:14:43:02 - 00:14:46:18 the Romans did not like, that they couldn't reconcile that 00:14:46:18 - 00:14:50:04 with that, with their moralities, with their values. 00:14:50:23 - 00:14:53:05 But we will never really know what she was like. 00:14:53:05 - 00:14:57:14 because many of her positive qualities were suppressed in this propaganda, 00:14:57:14 - 00:15:01:16 as Draycott argues, and as many would agree, it has remained to this day. 00:15:02:28 - 00:15:06:25 There are definitely some positive aspects to Ubisoft's portrayal of Cleopatra. 00:15:06:26 - 00:15:10:11 You know, she comes across as quite intelligent and educated. 00:15:10:11 - 00:15:13:18 She's this powerful personality and she commands a room 00:15:14:06 - 00:15:16:13 and she's this accomplished political animal. 00:15:16:13 - 00:15:19:21 She's, but she's ultimately kind of portrayed as a, 00:15:20:07 - 00:15:24:19 a bit one dimensional, like kind of just like the cliche, like femme fatale. 00:15:25:17 - 00:15:29:21 She's there in the game for the for the wow factor, in the sense 00:15:29:21 - 00:15:34:15 that we all know who Cleopatra is in this abstract, superficial sense. 00:15:35:03 - 00:15:39:01 And she's more there for entertainment, kind of like an amusement. 00:15:39:22 - 00:15:42:24 And after playing the game, I felt like I knew 00:15:43:02 - 00:15:47:04 I guess a little bit better, but it still, it felt superficial. 00:15:47:24 - 00:15:52:04 It felt like just another portrayal of her that was not 00:15:52:28 - 00:15:55:21 any different from any of those, other than some of those more positive 00:15:55:21 - 00:15:57:19 aspects about her being intelligent, 00:15:57:19 - 00:16:00:09 but she's ultimately still mysterious to me as she is to us all 00:16:00:09 - 00:16:00:21 I guess. 00:16:01:24 - 00:16:03:17 So, given this game's goal 00:16:03:17 - 00:16:07:29 sales, Ubisoft isn't exactly trying to reeducate everyone on Cleopatra. 00:16:07:29 - 00:16:09:26 That wasn't the point. 00:16:09:26 - 00:16:11:23 So Jane Draycott 00:16:11:23 - 00:16:15:17 asks us in her chapters, should we expect it to? 00:16:16:09 - 00:16:19:22 So this is the gist of why I'm sitting here and talking to myself. 00:16:19:22 - 00:16:22:07 Do these games actually owe us 00:16:22:07 - 00:16:25:05 some of the value that is not just entertainment. 00:16:25:05 - 00:16:25:12 I mean, 00:16:25:12 - 00:16:28:21 I like to think that one of the reasons why the Assassin's Creed series has done 00:16:28:21 - 00:16:33:03 so well is because of the fascination of many of us have with the past. 00:16:33:03 - 00:16:35:19 Playing these games was like a time machine, 00:16:35:19 - 00:16:38:20 and the Assassin's Creed series is always itself on its back 00:16:38:20 - 00:16:41:20 for its involvement with historians to make these games 00:16:42:01 - 00:16:45:01 faithful to the past, at least factually speaking. 00:16:45:01 - 00:16:50:02 So why go to all the trouble, all this effort, all this research, 00:16:50:21 - 00:16:53:16 all this collaboration, and then resort to a lot of these 00:16:53:16 - 00:16:56:20 same old cliches regarding Cleopatra? 00:16:57:10 - 00:17:01:27 Well, perhaps because audiences expect certain things from that character. 00:17:01:27 - 00:17:05:14 And I sort of suggest that this might be the case earlier this, 00:17:05:14 - 00:17:11:12 this issue of authenticity and immersion, rather than accuracy. 00:17:11:12 - 00:17:13:24 So let's look at that quickly. 00:17:13:24 - 00:17:19:22 So both terms, authenticity and accuracy in this context shouldn't be confused, 00:17:19:24 - 00:17:24:22 tells us historian Christian Rowling in the analysis of historical video games, 00:17:25:06 - 00:17:28:05 authenticity is a subjective value. 00:17:28:05 - 00:17:32:21 What is perceived by players as authentic is more of a consequence 00:17:32:21 - 00:17:37:07 of the preconceptions and assumptions, rather than actual historical knowledge. 00:17:38:25 - 00:17:42:08 So then there's this dichotomy, almost. 00:17:42:08 - 00:17:45:08 But between authenticity and accuracy, 00:17:45:09 - 00:17:48:22 these aspects have to be balanced against each other. 00:17:48:22 - 00:17:50:20 And at the end of the day, the game has to be fun. 00:17:50:20 - 00:17:54:26 I mean, too much realism is just going to produce like a life simulation 00:17:54:26 - 00:17:58:13 instead of a world to sort of play and create in something that 00:17:59:21 - 00:18:02:08 we want to be in. 00:18:02:08 - 00:18:04:22 So video games like Assassin's Creed will blend these ideas 00:18:04:22 - 00:18:07:00 together, a balance of audience expectation 00:18:07:00 - 00:18:10:22 that feels factual and immersive with accurate representations 00:18:10:22 - 00:18:13:05 as far as the context of the game allows. 00:18:13:05 - 00:18:16:05 But let's not forget, too, that developers are fallible. 00:18:16:13 - 00:18:19:10 The assumptions made by video game developers, whether they know it or not, 00:18:19:10 - 00:18:23:02 are going to play a significant role in how history is produced and the games that 00:18:23:02 - 00:18:23:19 they craft. 00:18:24:20 - 00:18:24:29 You know, 00:18:24:29 - 00:18:27:28 Adam Chapman, who's written so much on this topic, 00:18:28:03 - 00:18:33:02 says we can think of their roles as developer historians. 00:18:33:20 - 00:18:35:11 Their choice of medium, 00:18:35:11 - 00:18:40:01 video games, may be different to conventional text forms used in academia, 00:18:40:01 - 00:18:44:20 but at its core that their processes and their problems are sort of similar. 00:18:45:15 - 00:18:50:17 So for a literal answer to the question 00:18:50:27 - 00:18:54:19 yes or no, do video games owe us historical accuracy? 00:18:55:08 - 00:18:57:01 My opinion is not very satisfying. 00:18:57:01 - 00:18:57:17 It's both. 00:18:57:17 - 00:19:00:21 It's yes and no, or rather, 00:19:01:20 - 00:19:02:16 I'm going to qualify that a bit. 00:19:02:16 - 00:19:08:01 Historical games should perhaps disclaim the inaccuracies when they have decided 00:19:08:01 - 00:19:11:00 that other considerations are going to be more important, 00:19:11:08 - 00:19:14:08 you know, so a good example, 00:19:14:08 - 00:19:17:08 is in Assassin's Creed Origins, where 00:19:17:17 - 00:19:19:27 Ubisoft decided that in one of the discovery tours, 00:19:19:27 - 00:19:21:28 which is like an educational version of the game, 00:19:21:28 - 00:19:25:18 they get rid of all the violence and the narrative and just allow you to explore, 00:19:26:08 - 00:19:29:16 ancient Egypt, for example. 00:19:31:09 - 00:19:32:27 They depicted both, 00:19:32:27 - 00:19:36:06 young girls and boys, attending classes, 00:19:37:05 - 00:19:39:27 because they felt it was more important 00:19:39:27 - 00:19:45:14 to have inclusive gameplay than perpetuate historical sexism 00:19:45:14 - 00:19:48:13 for the purposes of like, just being accurate. 00:19:49:04 - 00:19:52:09 I thought this is one of those good choices. 00:19:52:14 - 00:19:53:28 This was a fantastic choice. 00:19:53:28 - 00:19:57:25 I think where there are other considerations 00:19:57:25 - 00:20:00:25 beyond just sort of commercial interests that are more important. 00:20:02:01 - 00:20:05:15 So, yeah, I think we all agree that there are clear times 00:20:05:15 - 00:20:07:19 when gameplay of commercial interests are going to take over, 00:20:07:19 - 00:20:11:00 especially if the point of the game is largely entertainment. 00:20:12:06 - 00:20:15:23 But it is important to consider when historical accuracy 00:20:16:10 - 00:20:19:10 should be at the forefront of a developer's mind, 00:20:19:14 - 00:20:23:02 especially if video game players expect that from games 00:20:23:02 - 00:20:26:02 like Assassin's Creed and take it almost as an authority. 00:20:26:14 - 00:20:27:23 You know? 00:20:27:23 - 00:20:32:20 But the hardest part is the fact that true accuracy, it's an impossibility. 00:20:32:20 - 00:20:35:13 Every recreation of the past in a video game is mere 00:20:36:21 - 00:20:38:03 simulation. 00:20:38:03 - 00:20:40:28 Hundreds of decisions and depictions of the past that are 00:20:40:28 - 00:20:44:26 irrevocably tainted by its developers opinions and biases. 00:20:44:26 - 00:20:46:20 Again, whether they know it or not. 00:20:46:20 - 00:20:50:19 And that is all reception of history, really. 00:20:50:23 - 00:20:53:24 You know, as the saying goes, history is written by the winners. 00:20:54:18 - 00:20:59:12 I think that then the important takeaway is that video games are a fantastic way 00:20:59:12 - 00:21:03:13 of living the past in a way that scholarly study doesn't quite provide. 00:21:03:13 - 00:21:07:04 I'm definitely not tracking scholarly study here, but there's a certain quality 00:21:07:04 - 00:21:10:04 that an experience has over reading about something. 00:21:11:18 - 00:21:14:01 A question isn't just for epistemology. 00:21:14:01 - 00:21:18:22 What's right is whether experiences provide some value over and above 00:21:18:22 - 00:21:22:08 other kinds of knowledge can I read all about how to ride a bike 00:21:22:11 - 00:21:24:19 and know just as much as someone who's actually written a bike? 00:21:24:19 - 00:21:27:28 Would I learn something more if I physically rode the bike. 00:21:28:14 - 00:21:29:22 All right, that's enough philosophy. 00:21:29:22 - 00:21:32:22 But getting back to it, you understand what I'm sort of getting at here? 00:21:33:13 - 00:21:35:10 Historical video games are a part 00:21:36:14 - 00:21:37:23 of public history. 00:21:37:23 - 00:21:38:15 It's accessible. 00:21:38:15 - 00:21:43:14 We all partake when we make and play these games and discuss them on Reddit. 00:21:43:27 - 00:21:45:24 We should take them a little more seriously 00:21:45:24 - 00:21:49:25 in academic research, I think studying parts of the 00:21:49:28 - 00:21:53:25 of the whole through conventional text forms is never going to give 00:21:54:14 - 00:21:58:13 the experience of visiting the Library of Alexandria, 00:21:58:13 - 00:22:02:22 which obviously burnt down in a fire, and walking through its 00:22:02:22 - 00:22:06:08 its rooms and watching everyone study and debate and learn. 00:22:06:08 - 00:22:11:00 We don't get that chance today to visit that that building as it was. 00:22:11:12 - 00:22:14:11 This is what is so attractive about these kinds of games 00:22:14:11 - 00:22:18:06 to people like me who want to know where we've come from and want to connect 00:22:18:23 - 00:22:22:00 with the people of the past and empathize with their struggles 00:22:22:00 - 00:22:25:07 and their triumphs, and their boring daily lives. 00:22:26:13 - 00:22:27:13 This is important. 00:22:27:13 - 00:22:31:08 You know, we are doing history just by playing these games 00:22:31:08 - 00:22:35:18 and putting ourselves in the shoes of these people. 00:22:37:04 - 00:22:39:05 So yeah, we are doing history just by playing. 00:22:39:05 - 00:22:41:18 The historian Jeremiah McCaul tells us. 00:22:41:18 - 00:22:44:09 I think he's right on the money. 00:22:44:09 - 00:22:46:10 So it's worthy of study, right? 00:22:46:10 - 00:22:50:01 The scholarly community can start trying to answer 00:22:50:01 - 00:22:53:10 this question of how players are experiencing the past 00:22:53:25 - 00:22:57:22 through the public history medium of video games, but by talking 00:22:57:22 - 00:22:59:29 by doing studies with developers and players, 00:22:59:29 - 00:23:02:29 I mean, Ubisoft is sort of already doing this a little bit 00:23:02:29 - 00:23:06:09 the get actively see the contributions and have dialogs 00:23:06:09 - 00:23:09:09 with historians and archeologists for the creation of the games. 00:23:09:26 - 00:23:12:11 And like I said, like games like Assassin's Creed 00:23:12:11 - 00:23:15:18 are likely the main encounters many people, including kids, 00:23:15:18 - 00:23:19:07 are going to have with certain, times in history. 00:23:19:07 - 00:23:22:11 That's why it's important to understand all the problematic ways 00:23:22:11 - 00:23:26:02 these games are designed, and how people are receiving the past, 00:23:26:02 - 00:23:28:22 because we don't quite have a systematic way of 00:23:29:26 - 00:23:32:06 researching this just yet. 00:23:32:06 - 00:23:34:15 But I'm not saying do not play these games. 00:23:34:15 - 00:23:37:06 Don't let this stop you. Go out there and play these games. 00:23:37:06 - 00:23:40:23 Relive the past, but ask yourself to think critically 00:23:41:01 - 00:23:43:23 about why the movie you're watching, the game you're playing, the gallery 00:23:43:23 - 00:23:47:09 exhibit you're standing in front of has presented the past and why it has 00:23:47:25 - 00:23:50:25 what might have gone into, why they've created it, the way they have, 00:23:50:25 - 00:23:54:10 and how it compares with your understanding of the past. 00:23:54:19 - 00:23:57:19 You're going to, you know, do you take what you're given at face value? 00:23:57:28 - 00:24:00:27 What are the curators or designers or developers trying to say? 00:24:01:10 - 00:24:06:10 Are you open to persuasion to contradict your uncomfortable information? 00:24:06:20 - 00:24:08:20 Are anachronisms being used here? 00:24:08:20 - 00:24:11:11 How does it make you feel about your connection to the past? 00:24:11:11 - 00:24:15:05 Why is it even important to know our past? 00:24:16:15 - 00:24:17:14 Thank you for listening.