TY - JOUR
T1 - "you don't play, you volunteer"
T2 - Narrative public memory construction in medal of honor: Rising sun
AU - Hess, Aaron
PY - 2007/10
Y1 - 2007/10
N2 - Narrative and ludological analysis suggests that Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor: Rising Sun constructs a narrative of World War II that selectively retells history and constructs an Orientalist representation of the Japanese Empire. The gaming environment exists as an interactive museum that immerses gamers into history so that they experience warfare in their homes. Combining newsreels, fictional letters from home, and interviews with veterans of the "Good War," Medal of Honor: Rising Sun retells a history that omits details of Japanese internment or atomic weapons. The intertwined themes of personal revenge for the loss of a family member and historical revenge for the attack on Pearl Harbor guide gamers through an "educational" experience of the war. Finally, its failure to simulate violence means that Medal of Honor: Rising Sun invites a critical blindness to commemorating war.
AB - Narrative and ludological analysis suggests that Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor: Rising Sun constructs a narrative of World War II that selectively retells history and constructs an Orientalist representation of the Japanese Empire. The gaming environment exists as an interactive museum that immerses gamers into history so that they experience warfare in their homes. Combining newsreels, fictional letters from home, and interviews with veterans of the "Good War," Medal of Honor: Rising Sun retells a history that omits details of Japanese internment or atomic weapons. The intertwined themes of personal revenge for the loss of a family member and historical revenge for the attack on Pearl Harbor guide gamers through an "educational" experience of the war. Finally, its failure to simulate violence means that Medal of Honor: Rising Sun invites a critical blindness to commemorating war.
KW - Ludology
KW - Public Memory
KW - Video Games
KW - World War II
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=36949027685&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=36949027685&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/07393180701567729
DO - 10.1080/07393180701567729
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:36949027685
SN - 1529-5036
VL - 24
SP - 339
EP - 356
JO - Critical Studies in Media Communication
JF - Critical Studies in Media Communication
IS - 4
ER -