Ancient Greece and Rome in Videogames: Representation, Play, Transmedia

Description

This volume presents an original framework for the study of video games that use visual materials and narrative conventions from ancient Greece and Rome. It focuses on the culturally rich continuum of ancient Greek and Roman games, treating them not just as representations, but as functional interactive products that require the player to interpret, communicate with and alter them. Tracking the movement of such concepts across different media, the study builds an interconnected picture of antiquity in video games within a wider transmedial environment. Ancient Greece and Rome in Videogames presents a wide array of games from several different genres, ranging from the blood-spilling violence of god-killing and gladiatorial combat to meticulous strategizing over virtual Roman Empires and often bizarre adventures in pseudo-ancient places. Readers encounter instances in which players become intimately engaged with the “epic mode” of spectacle in God of War, moments of negotiation with colonised lands in Rome: Total War and Imperium Romanum, and multi-layered narratives rich with ancient traditions in games such as Eleusis and Salammbo. The case study approach draws on close analysis of outstanding examples of the genre to uncover how both representation and gameplay function in such “ancient games”. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents I llustrations Acknowledgements An Introduction to Key Concepts (Or, Always Read the Manual) What is a videogame? Classical reception theory Transmedia and popular culture Going forward 1 (The Tutorial Level) How Might We Study Ancient-World Videogames? Approaching videogames History in videogames, videogames as history The gameplay process Genre frameworks A transmedial world of “popular antiquity” 2 Finding a New Epic in Action-Adventure Videogames Epic games and epic films God of War Miniature epics Interactive Roman epic Conclusions 3 Ideas of “Rome” in Ancient Strategy Games Making empires in the strategy game framework Formulating a “Roman language” Imperium Romanum Constructing “Rome” with non-Romans? Other indie futures for managerial Rome Reconfiguring classics and genre in Age of Mythology Conclusions 4 First-Person Antiquity Contemporaneity and Experimentality Embodiment and perspective Ancient Carthage as apocalyptic nightmare- scape Fear, drugs and spirituality in Eleusis Embodying “Sappho” and “Helen” in the visual novel Conclusions Not Game Over A Conclusion Next Steps (Or, the Inevitable Sequel) Notes Bibliography Index