Alea Iacta IV -- Women and Representation in Ancient History Themed Video Games

Join Us for another of our Alea Iacta conversations about ancient history and its representations in video games and popular culture. This conversation was recorded April 25th 2023 and features Dr. Jane Draycott of the University of Glasgow and Dr. Kate Cook St. Andrews University in a discussion of their work and their edited volume, "Women in Classical Video Games." from Bloomsbury Press, 2022.

Dr Kishonna Gray--Gaming By Another Name: Black Experiences in Digital Spaces

Dr. Kishonna Gray, is the author of “Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming” and Associate Professor of writing, rhetoric, and digital Studies at the University of Kentucky. She previously served as the MLK Scholar and Visiting Professor at MIT. Her work is grounded in critical race theory and feminist approaches to knowledge production. She interrogates the impact that technology has on culture and how Black users, in particular, influence the creation of technological products and the dissemination of digital artifacts. Her current research interrogates the possibilities and potentials of what that technology can afford Black communities who are traditionally excluded from public spaces, including digital ones.

Talking NES and History: Capcom Gun.Smoke 1988 US release

Talking NES and History: Capcom Gun.Smoke 1988 US release

This is our third video and written analysis that looks specifically at video games that feature historical themes. While we firmly believe that all video games are historical and can be read as historical sources, in this series we focus specifically on the narratives of history-based games and where those narratives fit within the culture that created them. We’re starting this series looking at games developed for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and we’re working through the games in chronological order over the next few weeks. If there is a game you think we missed, please comment and let us know. Below the video is a companion blog post to go along with the conversation in the video.

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Talking NES and History: Capcom 1942 — War as Entertainment and Erasure?

Talking NES and History: Capcom 1942 — War as Entertainment and Erasure?

This is our second video and written analysis that looks specifically at video games that feature historical themes. While we firmly believe that all video games are historical and can be read as historical sources, in this series we focus specifically on the narratives of history based games and where those narratives fit within the culture that created them. We’re starting this series looking at games developed for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and we’re working through the games in chronological order over the next few weeks. If there is a game you think we missed, please comment and let us know. As with our first video, it is admittedly a bit rough and we have some technical aspects to work out, but we’re happy with the conversation and are looking forward to improving our process. Below the video is a companion blog post to go along with the conversation in the video.

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Talking NES and History: Capcom Commando 1986 — A war lost becomes one America can win

Talking NES and History: Capcom Commando 1986 —                                                                     A war lost becomes one America can win

We’re embarking on a new project this summer looking at video games that specifically feature historical themes. While we firmly believe that all video games are historical and can be read as historical sources, in this series we focus specifically on the narratives of history based games and where those narratives fit within the culture that created them. We’re starting this series looking at games developed for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and we’re working through the games in chronological order over the next few weeks. If there is a game you think we missed, please comment and let us know. The video below is our first attempt, what we’re calling a draft project. It is admittedly a bit rough and we have some technical aspects to work out but we’re happy with the conversation and are looking forward to improving our process. Below the video is a companion blog post to go along with the conversation in the video.

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