War in the Art of Videogames

Artist Jacob Schuman has made an online exhibition that is compromised of six games that explore a different take on the aspects of war. What the artist tries to convey is the not act or the skill required to win, but the motivation behind conflict and war. One of the games on display is “Conker: Live & Reloaded”, which uses fantasy to paint a real picture of the tragedies of war by recreating the invasion of Normandy, as seen in the movie “Saving Private Ryan”. Another game called the “Peacemaker Game” allows its players to play the news, solve puzzles, and figure out a way to bring peace and diplomacy in the ever ongoing Middle East crisis. There is no room for violence and a player fails in the game when tension and bloodshed is still present. A Successful player however can win the noble peace prize. Another game, the online multiplayer “America’s Army” is played by artist Joseph DeLappe who plays under the screen name, “dead in iraq”. During the game DeLappe catalogues the names of all real U.S soldiers who have died since the conflict started.

I thought this was interesting, especially the peace maker game, because we live in a technological driven society. While videogames are a big part of most American’s lives. Video games that depict war are and have been one of the most captivating in terms of realism of actual war situations. It seems like violence is driven so much in our culture that we are immune to it, and it almost seems normal. Instead of having games that promote peace, we have games that not necessarily promote violence, but ignore peace as a solution for conflict.