Digital Gaming

Gaming may have been heavily stigmatized, in recent years it has become widely accepted past time throughout the nation, and the world. Due to this rise in gaming has been noticed by many, and as a result many companies, educators, and groups have utilized gaming as a way to spread and encourage knowledge and consumption. Gaming can be a great way to get varying audiences involved and interested in history and other areas of the humanities, and this may be attractive to institutions as a way to better connect to them. Although gaming may seem temping to institutions, I think that they would be better suited as collaborators with gaming companies rather than to develop their own gaming platforms. For instance the game Assassins Creed has become vastly popular, with more than three sequels over the last few years, and has sparked historical interest among its audiences. As popular as it is, this video game can lead younger audiences (and even older audiences) to belief in a skewed and inaccurate historical narrative. To remedy this situation, I think it would be fantastic if institutions and gaming companies, like the one that created Assassins Creed, could create a united force to produce fun and historically accurate games.

For this assignment I chose to review the game Oregon Trail, which was a hit in the 1990s and has recently become free to play on the internet. The premise of the game reflects its title, you the player must successfully follow the Oregon Trail of the 19th century. As you and your family travel to the west, there are periodical stops at important and historical and natural landmarks, military forts, and towns. At each stop you can speak to fellow travelers and traders who give you survival tips, and information about the surroundings. Although this game provides some context to the Oregon Trail of the past, I found myself more concerned with hunting for game to make sure that everyone survived, and that my oxen weren't being worked too hard than actually absorbing facts from other areas of the game. Facts, and place names just blurred together. One thing that does stick with you from this game is the hardships faced by those who traveled the trail. Members of your caravan may come under attack from bandits, fall ill from dysentery, become injured, or starve. All of these factors could be difficult to come back from in the game, and in the reality of the 19th century travelers.

Although this was a older game (originally created over twenty years ago), it does reflect well on how gaming could be used to teach. There may not have been many long winded facts, and sometimes the facts that were presented were ignored because of the players need to win, the experience of what it was like to be on the real Oregon Trail did last with the player.