Replaying Today’s Wars? A Study of the Conceptualization of Post-1989 Conflict in Digital “War” Games

Pieter Van den Heede; Kees Ribbens; Jeroen Jansz

doi:10.1007/s10767-017-9267-5

Replaying Today’s Wars? A Study of the Conceptualization of Post-1989 Conflict in Digital “War” Games

Pieter Van den Heede^*
, Kees Ribbens
, Jeroen Jansz

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

32 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Commercial “war” games in a post-1989 setting are popular among a large audience. They offer players an enjoyable gameplay experience, while also referring to contemporary “war” scenarios. As such, they have been studied in several ways, e.g., concerning the “realistic” nature of how they depict warfare. However, little is still known about the way in which the notion of “war” is conceptualized in these games. To fill this gap, this article offers a systematic analysis of the narrative content of 15 popular “war” games set after 1989, as well as their promotional descriptions, as these provide insight into how publishers respond to the interests of players. This is done based on the conceptual framework of conflict/war offered by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	229-250
Number of pages	22
Journal	International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society
Volume	31
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-017-9267-5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-017-9267-5
Publication status	Published - 6 Sept 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Games with a single player Bcampaign^ game mode are italicized aDue to a dispute between Valve and EA, and the launch of EA’s own platform Origin in 2011, the games Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter are no longer available on Steam (Kuchera 2011). Therefore, an analysis was made of the descriptions for the games as found on Origin. The game Battlefield 2 is no longer available on both Steam and Origin bThe games from the America’s Army series released prior to America’s Army 3 are no longer available on Steam. As these games are not sold on other digital distribution platforms, a description could not be included in the corpus Funding The research reported here has received funding from the Erasmus University Rotterdam under the Research Excellence Initiative programme, "War! Popular Culture and European Heritage of Major Armed Conflicts". The authors would like to thank prof. Maria Grever, prof. Stijn Reijnders, prof. Francisca de Jong, dr. Susan Hogervorst, Siri Driessen and Laurie Slegtenhorst for their valuable feedback.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, The Author(s).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Research programs

ESHCC HIS
ESHCC M&C

Access to Document

REPUB_101877.pdfFinal published version, 1.08 MB

http://hdl.handle.net/1765/101877

Cite this

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title = "Replaying Today{\textquoteright}s Wars? A Study of the Conceptualization of Post-1989 Conflict in Digital “War” Games",

abstract = "Commercial “war” games in a post-1989 setting are popular among a large audience. They offer players an enjoyable gameplay experience, while also referring to contemporary “war” scenarios. As such, they have been studied in several ways, e.g., concerning the “realistic” nature of how they depict warfare. However, little is still known about the way in which the notion of “war” is conceptualized in these games. To fill this gap, this article offers a systematic analysis of the narrative content of 15 popular “war” games set after 1989, as well as their promotional descriptions, as these provide insight into how publishers respond to the interests of players. This is done based on the conceptual framework of conflict/war offered by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP).",

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note = "Funding Information: Games with a single player Bcampaign\textasciicircum{} game mode are italicized aDue to a dispute between Valve and EA, and the launch of EA{\textquoteright}s own platform Origin in 2011, the games Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter are no longer available on Steam (Kuchera 2011). Therefore, an analysis was made of the descriptions for the games as found on Origin. The game Battlefield 2 is no longer available on both Steam and Origin bThe games from the America{\textquoteright}s Army series released prior to America{\textquoteright}s Army 3 are no longer available on Steam. As these games are not sold on other digital distribution platforms, a description could not be included in the corpus Funding The research reported here has received funding from the Erasmus University Rotterdam under the Research Excellence Initiative programme, {"}War! Popular Culture and European Heritage of Major Armed Conflicts{"}. The authors would like to thank prof. Maria Grever, prof. Stijn Reijnders, prof. Francisca de Jong, dr. Susan Hogervorst, Siri Driessen and Laurie Slegtenhorst for their valuable feedback. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017, The Author(s).",

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N1 - Funding Information: Games with a single player Bcampaign^ game mode are italicized aDue to a dispute between Valve and EA, and the launch of EA’s own platform Origin in 2011, the games Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter are no longer available on Steam (Kuchera 2011). Therefore, an analysis was made of the descriptions for the games as found on Origin. The game Battlefield 2 is no longer available on both Steam and Origin bThe games from the America’s Army series released prior to America’s Army 3 are no longer available on Steam. As these games are not sold on other digital distribution platforms, a description could not be included in the corpus Funding The research reported here has received funding from the Erasmus University Rotterdam under the Research Excellence Initiative programme, "War! Popular Culture and European Heritage of Major Armed Conflicts". The authors would like to thank prof. Maria Grever, prof. Stijn Reijnders, prof. Francisca de Jong, dr. Susan Hogervorst, Siri Driessen and Laurie Slegtenhorst for their valuable feedback. Publisher Copyright: © 2017, The Author(s).

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N2 - Commercial “war” games in a post-1989 setting are popular among a large audience. They offer players an enjoyable gameplay experience, while also referring to contemporary “war” scenarios. As such, they have been studied in several ways, e.g., concerning the “realistic” nature of how they depict warfare. However, little is still known about the way in which the notion of “war” is conceptualized in these games. To fill this gap, this article offers a systematic analysis of the narrative content of 15 popular “war” games set after 1989, as well as their promotional descriptions, as these provide insight into how publishers respond to the interests of players. This is done based on the conceptual framework of conflict/war offered by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP).

AB - Commercial “war” games in a post-1989 setting are popular among a large audience. They offer players an enjoyable gameplay experience, while also referring to contemporary “war” scenarios. As such, they have been studied in several ways, e.g., concerning the “realistic” nature of how they depict warfare. However, little is still known about the way in which the notion of “war” is conceptualized in these games. To fill this gap, this article offers a systematic analysis of the narrative content of 15 popular “war” games set after 1989, as well as their promotional descriptions, as these provide insight into how publishers respond to the interests of players. This is done based on the conceptual framework of conflict/war offered by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP).

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Replaying Today’s Wars? A Study of the Conceptualization of Post-1989 Conflict in Digital “War” Games

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Research programs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Let’s play: War on Terror

Breach & Clear Met Muis en Toetsenbord: Een Reflectie op Gefilterde Weergaven van Oorlogsvoering via Gaming

Cite this

Replaying Today’s Wars? A Study of the Conceptualization of Post-1989 Conflict in Digital “War” Games

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Research programs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Research output

Let’s play: War on Terror

Activities

Breach & Clear Met Muis en Toetsenbord: Een Reflectie op Gefilterde Weergaven van Oorlogsvoering via Gaming

Cite this