I was so what surprised to discover this morning that yesterday the Imperial War Museum hosted a ‘festival of war video games’.
It was described as:
Bringing together leading designers, podcasters, journalists, musicians and gaming enthusiasts, this unique event will feature live performances, talks and gaming interactives with visitors granted after-hours access to the War Games exhibition and retro game zone.
What concerns me is the message that this sort of event gives to the public. Anyone seeing this would get the impression that video wargames are the only form of wargame out there, when everyone involved in hobby and professional wargames knows that it is a far broader ‘church’ than that. Mind you, I shouldn’t be that surprised as the event was sponsored by World of Tanks.
I know that I am sounding very curmudgeonly and that I am being a right grognard … but it would have been nice if, rather than stage what seems to me to be wholy commercial event, the Imperial War Museum had staged an event and exhibition that covered wargaming in a much wider sense. After all, it is one of the UK’s National Museums and is therefore funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) of the United Kingdom government.
I'm with you on this Bob. I wondered what it was about when I saw Katie Hoyer mention it in a Tweet.
ReplyDeleteNundanket,
DeleteIt makes me feel good to know I’m not alone in thinking the way I do!
All the best,
Bob
Katja not Katie. Blooming spellchecker.
DeleteNundanket,
DeleteAh, the wonders of spellchecker!
I once heard a story about a software house that sent out an unchecked email where the spellchecker had changed the name of the company to 'anus' throughout the text. I understand that it caused quite a stir at the time! I think that expressions like 'Use anus for all your IT work!' didn't go down very well!
Have a fun day!
Bob
This is what one could point to as an example of both sides of dichotomous beliefs: wargaming as something done with tangible objects (miniatures or counters) versus wargaming in a virtual setting.
ReplyDeleteNeither is right, neither is wrong.
From a quantitative perspective, the numbers favour video wargaming or, at least from a perspective that discounts the historical perspective, which is where the cognitive dissonance would hit.
Given that the Imperial War Museum is meant to embody the history of warfare and by extension wargaming. Kids today, huh!? ;-)
Ashley,
DeleteI agree that neither is right or wrong … but I felt that the IWM was creating the impression that video war gaming was the ONLY valid form of wargaming.
I think that my problem with video wargaming stems from the fact that for the second half of my career in education, I taught IT and/or used computers for work. As a result, using a computer et al to play games wasn’t top of my list of things to do.
Grumble over.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeleteWhat constitutes a 'Wargame' these days is varied. I have no interest in video games, computer games- podcasts- card driven 'wargames' - whatever...maybe I'm missing something- though I think along the lines of what is known as 'Traditional Miniature Wargames' and that is about it- if it hasn't got dice and miniature figures involved with the game I'm not at all interested. My grumble is over. Best Wishes. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteWargaming has always been a broad ‘church’ … and I’ve tried quite a number of different different types of wargame, ranging from airsoft LARP to computer-based wargames … but for pure all-encompassing enjoyment, it has to be figure wargaming!
All the best,
Bob
PS. Please feel free to grumble. It make you a grognard like me!
Bob,
DeleteGrognard? I guess I'm just a Grumpy Old Man who likes to have a grizzle now and then. Cheers Mate. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteThat's exactly what a grognard is!
All the best,
Bob
Napoleon's grognards had a liking for onions (or so their marching song 'Chanson de l'Oignon' says [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanson_de_l%27Oignon]), and I find that as I get older that my love of French onion soup increases!
Interesting issue. My son in law loves World of Tanks but would not remotely consider a traditional wargame. I have talked to him about tanks and have managed to convince him that a Tiger is better than a Sherman...at least that has started to make him look a little more deeply into the history of tanks. The best we can hope for is that some of the younger computer wargamers may move to traditional wargaming over time. The IWM is just catering for the younger generation I guess, and you take it where you find it. Regards.
ReplyDeleteTony Adams,
DeleteI suspect that your analysis is pretty well spot on. I just hope that some of the younger computer wargamers will transit over to analogue wargaming.
All the best,
Bob