Our next theme is focused in and around ‘technology’ and historical games. We define historical games broadly, and we encourage contributions that consider technology in all its guises. We’re interested in a wide-range of technology-inspired contributions, whether these are reflections on technology represented in games, narrative techniques, game progression, aesthetic choices, user-generated content tools or the use of gaming tech to augment historical exhibitions in GLAMs (Galleries, Libraries, Archive and Museums), Tourism, Entertainment or other industry sectors. If there are specific elements in a game world that make the ‘history’ more or less believable, then please consider this theme open for you to point these out!
Technology in games can be explored through different lenses, from the use of technology to help deliver the historical narrative in Assassin’s Creed (such as the idea of ancestral or genetic memory delivered through the Animus virtual reality machine and Helix software), to explorations of the game design benefits and drawbacks of technology trees in RTS games like Civilization or Europa Universalis, through to the ways that the technology-inspired aesthetics of the 1920s drive the atmosphere in Bioshock, or those of the 1950s are melded with the present day via personal assistants, wearables, and military technology in the Fallout universe. If you want to write about the steampunk visions of Dishonored, Sunless Sea or 80 Days, then this is your theme! Technology provides an interesting space for different types of design to integrate and propagate with both established and alternate history concepts.
Technology around historical games is naturally broad, and we welcome contributions that consider how new technology has been integrated into the gaming experience. This might include Ubisoft’s approach to the development, inclusion and abandonment of companion apps (for example, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag and Unity) or the post-apocalyptic version of Paris portrayed in Eagle Flight. We would also welcome reflections on experiences developed for and with GLAMs, such as Modigliani VR: The Ochre Atelier, developed for the Tate Modern Exhibition in 2017. Perspectives on and from cultural heritage organisations are warmly encouraged.
We hope that your insights can help answer questions around what impact technology within or around a game has on a player. Do technology-inspired inclusions or interventions in games distort the historical world for players? And how do new technologies help or hinder our understanding of history in virtual worlds? We take a broad view of both “historical game” and what “technology” can be and welcome contributions that consider these from an artistic, creative, design, education, entertainment, development or technology viewpoint.
Contributions to the Technology theme
Technology is an open theme, and we intend it to build on the posts and discussions raised in the Development theme. As with that theme, we hope that the call will encourage broader discussion on the ongoing intricacies and challenges of how historical games engage with technology, to consider whether game-making or interactive media creation more broadly (for example, this could include Interactive Documentary, Docu-games, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, or Mixed Reality applications) are affected by Platforms, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Large Language Models, Blockchain or User-Generated Content Tools. We would love the network to explore how different projects such as Transkribus or Synthetic Pasts will potentially contribute to the historical games space.
HGN provides a space to explore the conjunction of history and games, and we are seeking contributions to the theme from anyone interested in discussing ‘Technology’ in this area. We are open to a range of formats and approaches: blog posts, book reviews, literature reviews and state-of-the-field posts, game criticism and reviews, event reviews, game analyses or post-mortems, podcast recordings, video essays, or any other type of creative contribution you might be interested in sharing. As a guide, we might expect written pieces to be in the region of 1,000-1,500 words, and video essays or audio recordings of around 5-10 minutes. However, if you have more to say, get in touch!
The Technology theme is initially open for contributions until Friday 15 November 2024, and we will post content received during the period September to November. All material will be treated in line with our copyright statement (you can find this on our About page: TL;DR – it’s free, open access, and you can repost your work wherever you like).
Submission and editorial process
Please submit contributions via the email linked at the bottom of the page, and any queries or questions through the same route. Contributions will be assigned for editorial review to at least one member of the HGN editorial team, and we will supply feedback and suggestions for amendment, as appropriate, for any submissions received. Please note that we reserve the right to reject contributions which are unsuitable for the site, and to request and/or require specific editorial changes before publication to meet any legal, funding or support requirements or obligations.
We commit to respond to all submissions within two weeks, and to fix a publication date for accepted content at the earliest possible point. HGN is an open access, public-facing project intended to connect people, and we neither charge nor pay a fee for editorial support and publication on our site.
Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash