The Teachings of Fiction: What Games Have Taught Me
When I'm not hiring prostitutes, jacking cars or ruthlessly gunning down helpless civilians due to a feckless overexposure to violent video games, I like to kick back, relax, and play some video games.
But amidst these barbarian broadcasts urging all players to repeatedly stab everyone they meet in the face or heart, video games transmit an altogether different message, saturating the minds of gamers with the most potent and dangerous weaponry known to man; knowledge.
Throughout my life I'm perpetually enlightened by a medium considered by many to be corrosive to the mind. There are studies relating gaming to the improvement of cognitive abilities, hand-eye co-ordination, logic, memory and multi-tasking. But in addition to these less tangible attributes, video games spray out facts like an edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica thrown in a petrol powered wood-chipper.
The earliest single fact I remember absorbing from a video game penetrated my mind at age 8. Descending in a lift, embroiled in codec communications with Naomi Hunter, Solid Snake was on his merry way to save the world from the threat of nuclear armageddon. This particular conversation revealed much in regards to narrative, however the fact itself was largely irrelevant. It was simply a comment, 20 words or less, and it taught me this:
The country today known as the Republic of Zimbabwe, was previously the Republic of Rhodesia.
Did you know that? Did you know that when you were 8? No, you didn't. Nor did anyone else in my class. Not even Mrs. Brown. It's one of many things I have Metal Gear Solid to thank for.
Since then I've assimilated information on every topic from foreign language, and historical warfare to mythological characters and car transmission.
Despite for the most part melting my brain into a fetid soup of hate and confusion, Assassin's Creed has imparted me with knowledge of Italian history.
Assassin's Creed 2 informed me of the Bonfire of the Vanities, and while it wouldn't be my chosen specialist Mastermind subject, I am aware of the basics. Caused in part by followers of Girolamo Savonarola, objects that could potentially lead one to sin were publicly burned. The most infamous of such fires took place in Florence in 1497. Art, clothing, literature and musical instruments were all ignited for the good of the people. Thank God for the intangible, invulnerable, incombustible blog post eh?
AC has also educated me on Italian architecture, Roman baths and Rodrigo Borgia. Ubisoft didn't have to include the vast amounts of historical information that they did. But in doing so they added an extra layer of detail to an already marvellous game, educating millions in the process.
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