Know your History! The Cold War in Video Games and its function

• Published in: Tiempo Devorado Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 11 - 32
• Main Author: Pfister, Eugen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 05-05-2022
• ISSN: 2565-2915; 2385-5452
• DOI: 10.5565/rev/tdevorado.166

The conflict, which expanded geographically, sociopolitically, and culturally in all directions and on all levels, not only dominated international relations but could also be felt in everyday life. As a “war of cultures,” it permeated the narratives and aesthetics of movies, comics, popular music, literature, and also digital games. It is however not possible to speak of a homogeneous field of Cold War Games. The Cold War is in these games sometimes only a superficial flourish. Sometimes it serves as the motivation for conflict, sometimes it is used as a historical or fictional setting. What unites most games is the following: They serve first and foremost a dichotomous world view: a world with only two opponents. The emphasis is necessary because it reduces a highly complex global conflict into what actually becomes a binary system through the game: West or East. Neutral states are not mentioned here, nor are other alliances. Such a simple worldview can, of course, be perceived as a relief in an increasingly complex globalized world. In a way, the Cold War becomes here a myth, as described by Roland Barthes, insofar as we do not question it, it seems natural.