Behind the lens
Hours slipping by enraptured by the latest gaming release. The triumphant crowing of kids huddled around consoles as they vanquish foes. We’re never too old to enjoy playing video games and often our experiences are something passed on through, or shared with, others.
As such the familiar sound of a freshly booted-up PlayStation, the comfort of replaying a game, or stepping into the world again years later through an anticipated sequel all tap into the communal bonds and nostalgia that video games both create and influence due their interactions with time. The recent Covid-19 pandemic also highlighted how gaming can provide both comfort and community in times of isolation by tapping into this effect.
On Friday 12 May 2023, the University orchestrated and hosted delegates for our international academic conference: Video Games: Time and Nostalgia. The one-day symposium covered a variety of topics and games, both modern and retro. It focused on how we understand time in video games, through design, narrative and gameplay, and how our engagements with them evoke nostalgia.
We spoke to Dr Aditya Deshbandhu, Lecturer in Communications – Digital Media Sociology at the University, and the conference’s co-organiser to find out more about the event and this emerging field. He specialises in video games research and experiences of play; his research looks at what people do to their video games and explores how gaming as an everyday activity shapes lives. As well as speaking to Dr Debra Ramsay, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Exeter and one of the event’s two keynote speakers who spoke on: ‘Dream a little Dream of War’: Nostalgia & Reverence in Battlefield 1.
“...games are an intrinsic and significant part of our current social and cultural world.”
Aditya was inspired to arrange the conference to highlight how Exeter, especially the Department of Communication, Drama, and Film, has initiated meaningful conversations regarding video games, immersive media, and focuses on ideas like engagement with transmedia and interactive storytelling. The global appeal of the understanding of time and nostalgia also made for interesting dimensions for attendees to explore.
Time is instrumental to not just how games are played but also how game worlds are conceived. How the experience remains both fun and challenging is the key to understanding for both players and game makers. The understanding of game time across genres and game types is also essential, because as an idea it also offers new understanding in the context of mastery of games, especially for professional players and esports athletes.
Aditya adds: “There are a lot of developments happening in the gaming industry, and time lies at the heart of it. With regards to nostalgia, it is important to understand how people remember the games they play and what interpretations they make of them. Nostalgia is a key aspect of video game experiences and explains how franchises have succeeded. The more we explore this, the more we can learn to develop more relatable narratives.”
As with other forms of media, like film and television, nostalgia manifests in games about past wars, particularly those set in the World Wars; especially in single-player modes. These are often characterised by the same kinds of desaturated visuals that have featured in war representations since Saving Private Ryan’s release in 1998. Suggesting not only nostalgia for the conflicts, but also for the mediated representations of them.
In her speech, Debra spoke about how one of the interesting aspects about nostalgia within video games for her, is that the history of this concept is intertwined with war. She muses that: “In a sense we have now come full circle, since nostalgia was recognised as a condition in 1688, in that we now see evidence of nostalgia for war. Battlefield 1 (set in World War I) offered a good starting point to explore how nostalgia manifests.
“This is a game that although set in the past, is haunted by the present and future. That slipperiness of past, present, and future is a key feature of nostalgia, and games enable an experience of that slipperiness that other media perhaps don’t, largely because of the element of play. The element of play in games forces us to confront the fact that war has dimensions that are appealing – as nostalgia for war makes clear – and that perhaps those appeals are part of what perpetuates warfare.”
“Nostalgia is a key aspect of video game experiences and explains how franchises have succeeded. The more we explore this, the more we can learn to develop more relatable narratives.”
Whilst nostalgia plays a part in video games, they don’t aim to stay stuck in the past; this area of study looks set to grow. Examining games as social and cultural artefacts has been a key idea for the last six years in contemporary research. And like other forms of art and culture, games do more than simply reflect culture; they also construct and refract aspects of our society and culture.
Aditya loves the complexity and duality this area of study presents: “They don’t work the way conventional literature does. There is a conflict between how games are made and how they are played and that is essential to our understanding of the medium. We (the games community) aren’t bothered by questions of canon and accuracy as much as we allow for forks, spin-offs, and mods. The interactivity and immersion are key to understand the magic in games and thus these cannot merely be examined as textual or audio-visual artifacts.”
Debra adds that: “It is vital that we undertake the kind of analysis and interrogation of games that this conference showcased because games are an intrinsic and significant part of our current social and cultural world.”
The ideas presented at the conference also played a role in informing a forthcoming collection of academic books on videogames, to be published by Routledge: Games and Contemporary Culture. The series is edited by the University’s Dr Alex Taylor, Dr Neil Ewen, Dr Aditya Deshbandhu and their collaborator Dr Shannon Lawlor. The first volume will be released in Spring 2024.
