The eighth HGN panel event took place on 25 October and discussed the theme of “Memory” in games. We were delighted to welcome Dr Kate Marrison (University of Sussex, United Kingdom), Casilda de Zulueta (freelancer technical artist and animator, indie developer and animation teacher based in Germany) and Ian Kikuchi (Historian and Curator at the Imperial War Museum) as panellists. Hosted by Dr Hanne Wagner (Edinburgh Napier University), the panel discussed the theme and use of Memory in historical games.
In case you missed it or would like to watch it again, you can find the video of the event below.
In our call for contributions we invited contributors to think about the role of memory in, of and around historical games. We included questions such as: What can games do with memory, as a mechanic, plot device or narrative frame? How do our own gaming experiences nurture nostalgia for platforms, systems, franchises, characters and environments? How do games use, engage and intersect with the wider memory industry? Can games be an effective container for commemoration and remembrance activities? How does the global game industry navigate the markets where national memory and remembrance practices differ widely based on varying interpretations of history? What are the tensions that exist between games as entertainment and games as experiences when dealing with differing accounts of the past? What is forgotten in the production and development of games that deal with the past and/or public memories?
The panel got through some of these, with more questions from the online participants. The discussion certainly proved that there are many areas of discussion on both the concept of memory in games and memories of games!
This was the final event of our eighth theme and as always we are very grateful to the many people who contributed to the theme over the past few months. You can check out the full articles and posts from the contributors here.
We will shortly be moving on to our next theme, Player Practices. A full Call for Contributions will go out shortly but if this is something you would like to contribute to please get in touch.
As usual, the contributions will lead us to our theme event, which we currently expect to take place in early 2024.