Video Games as Public History: Archives, Empathy and Affinity Young, Helen, Hartman, A and Tulloch, R 2021, Video Games as Public History: Archives, Empathy and Affinity, Game Studies: the international journal of computer game research, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 1-15. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Video Games as Public History: Archives, Empathy and Affinity Author(s) Young, Helen orcid.org/0000-0002-1177-9908 Hartman, A Tulloch, R Journal name Game Studies: the international journal of computer game research Volume number 21 Issue number 4 Start page 1 End page 15 Total pages 15 Publisher Game Studies Publication date 2021 ISSN 1604-7982 Keyword(s) affinity space hitsorical empathy public history videogames World War One Summary Videogames are a common way that members of the general public engage with historical material. This article argues that historical videogames can and should be considered as a new and significant form of public history. Public history occurs outside formal learning contexts, involves the general public, is participatory and straddles history and heritage. Gaming embodies these qualities, offering the player a chance to explore the past in immersive and engaging ways, and for substantial periods of time as they play and re-play. Drawing on game studies, public history studies and education theory, this article offers a theoretical framework for understanding games as public history through three key concepts: the interactive archive; historical empathy; and affinity spaces. It takes Ubisoft Montpellier’s Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft, 2014) as an illustrative case study. We explore why it has been highly acclaimed as an example of a ‘good’ historical game by both academic and popular sources, and what can be learned about the public reception of historical material from this. We argue that although Valiant Hearts is unconventional in its representation of war, its play mechanics build on established gaming conventions and, as a result, it is a valuable illustration of the affordances of videogames as public history practice. This article aims to enable public historians to understand the significance and nature of an under-analysed medium, and to offer game scholars tools for understanding the broader context of historical games as public practices of history-making. Field of Research 190202 Computer Gaming and Animation 210307 European History (excl British, Classical Greek and Roman) 1902 Film, Television and Digital Media 2001 Communication and Media Studies Socio Economic Objective 950201 Communication Across Languages and Culture HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30161409 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Arts and Education School of Communication and Creative Arts Related Links Link Description Publisher URL Go to link with your DU access privileges   Connect to Elements publication management system Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Thu, 13 Jan 2022, 09:43:39 EST Thu, 13 Jan 2022, 14:53:36 EST Fri, 14 Jan 2022, 12:33:12 EST Fri, 14 Jan 2022, 14:56:41 EST Wed, 09 Feb 2022, 09:30:04 EST Wed, 09 Feb 2022, 14:59:43 EST Wed, 09 Feb 2022, 15:19:57 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 0 times in TR Web of Science Cited 0 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 66 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Fri, 14 Jan 2022, 12:33:12 EST