I had the chance to attend an event called War Games Live, at the Imperial War Museum, hosted by Elle Osili-Wood. This event focused on the use of video games to teach about the public about conflict. Guest speakers included George Rowe, senior producer at Aardman. Richard Cutland, British Army veteran and head of military relations at Wargaming, the developer behind World of Tanks. Ryan Baker, design director at Rebellion Games, the developers of Sniper Elite 5 and John Romero, co founder of id software, and driving force behind games such as Doom and Wolfenstein 3D.
“Gaming and conflict are go intrinsically hand in hand, from the use of games to teach, down to the military’s use of AI and VR experience for training.”
Elle Osili-Wood on the link between gaming and conflict
“I have a passion for history, I love history. This for me was a chance to keep history alive.” Richard Cutland, on his reason for entering the games industry after thirty years of service in the British Army.
“It’s amazing what realism can do, it lets you live out almost life like experiences that you wouldn’t be able to do through other mediums.”
Ryan Baker on realism in gaming
“What we wanted to do was create a very personal story as during our research, that is what we encountered a lot of. We found many personal stories from those who just wanted to get home, it wasn’t all about shooting the enemy. It was important to tell the human story.”
George Rowe, on his team’s vision behind 11-11: Memories Retold
“Surprisingly, we had veterans from the Vietnam war messaging us to say that our game helped get rid of flashbacks they were having because they were able to confront an enemy head, where most of the time it was suspenseful and terrifying.”
John Romero on positive feedback towards Wolfenstein 3D, 1992
“Having these games is so important because you can see almost exactly what these situations would be like, where you would have to be mad to want to experience the real thing.”
Richard Cutland, on the importance of games as a medium for conflict awareness
After the event, I had the luxury to view the war games exhibit as part of the group of attendees. I played war games, spanning a number of decades, witnessing the change in detail, graphics and technological power but the fact that the stories of war remain at the heart of these games is a testament to the mediums importance.