Slashdot Mirror
Games Used To Teach History
Next Generation is reporting on the use of games in educational situations. From the article: "Age of Empires III deals with the conquest and colonization of the Americas; fertile ground for imaginative students. Taking on the role of a European power - desperate to grab land and resources - helps students understand the motivation and planning behind invasion. It also paves the way for learning about its consequences. That, at least, is the theory."
The reality, of course, is that students learn how to fend of an archer rush, but not much else.
Playing the Forgotten Hope mod for Battlefield 1942 got me interested in WW2. This is how I learned how the allies totally pwned the n00b germans despite their brillant defenses and 1337 hax0ring at both Omaha and Gold beach. The allies best tactic?... bunny hopping.
Don't blame me, I voted for Cthulhu.
Well considering that history is very violent and that there is a lot adult content within it can we still give these games to children with the new violent video game laws? I mean we don't want to teach children to resort to violence like was done many times in history.
All I ever needed to know about North American colonial history, I learned from Day of the Tenticle.
Which, come to think of it, explains a few things.
Yes, just about everything I know about the historic Terran-Zerg-Protoss conflict on Aiur comes from playing Starcraft. And that time the soviets tried to seize america using mind control? It's all portrayed accurately in Red Alert 2. Thank goodness for historical gaming.