- East and West Entangled (17th-21st Centuries)
- Edited by Rolando Minuti, Giovanni Tarantino
Digital Shogun and Electronic Imperialism: Japanese History through the Lens of Historical Videogames
- Aldo Giuseppe Scarselli
- © 2023 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0242-8.15
This chapter looks at how Japanese history is represented in videogames. The focus is on the difference between historical videogames produced in the Western world and those produced in Japan. I am going to highlight how videogames are often influenced by Orientalism and Eurocentrism and how this is quite evident for Western products set in historical Japan. After that, my focus will be on how Japanese game developers re-imagine their history, moving away from concepts of historical authenticity towards a freer and more elastic representation of the past.
- Keywords:
- Historical videogames; History of Japan; Samurai; Cultural Representations,
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- Age of Empires (Ensemble Studios, Microsoft 1997)
- Age of Empires II: the Age of Kings (Ensemble Studios, Microsoft 1999)
- Age of Empires III: Age of Discoveries (Ensemble Studios, Microsoft 2005)
- Age of Empires III: the Asian Dynasties (Ensemble Studios, Microsoft 2007)
- Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, Activison 2008)
- Civilization (MicroProse 1991)
- Civilization II (MicroProse 1996)
- Civilization III (Firaxis Games, Infogrames 2001)
- Civilization IV (Firaxis Games, 2K Games 2005)
- Civilization V (Firaxis Games, 2K Games 2010)
- Civilization VI (Firaxis Games, 2K Games 2016)
- Dynasty Warrior series (Omega Force, Koei 1997-2018)
- Genpei Tōma Den (Namco 1986)
- Hakuōki: Shinsengumi Kitan (Idea Factory 2008)
- Hearts of Iron series (Paradox 2002-2016)
- Kessen (Koei 2000)
- Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault (EA games 2004)
- Nioh (Team Ninja, Koei- Sony 2017)
- Nobunaga’s Ambition (Koei 1983)
- Onimusha Series (Capcom 2001-2006)
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms series (Koei 1985-2017)
- Sengoku Basara (Capcom 2005)
- Shogun: Total War (The Creative Assembly, Electronic Arts 2000)
- Total War: Shogun 2 (The Creative Assembly, Sega 2011)
- Valkyria Chronicles (Sega 2008)
- Way of the Samurai series (Acquire, Spike 2002-2012)
Chapter Information
Chapter Title
Digital Shogun and Electronic Imperialism: Japanese History through the Lens of Historical Videogames
Authors
Aldo Giuseppe Scarselli
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0242-8.15
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2023
Copyright Information
© 2023 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
East and West Entangled (17th-21st Centuries)
Editors
Rolando Minuti, Giovanni Tarantino
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
228
Publication Year
2023
Copyright Information
© 2023 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0242-8
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0241-1
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0242-8
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-0243-5
Series Title
Connessioni. Studies in Transcultural History
Series ISSN
2975-0393
Series E-ISSN
2975-0261