Project under the direction of Carl Therrien with the co-researchers: Laureline Chiapello (NAD Center), Jonathan Lessard (Concordia University), Simon Dor (UQAT), Gabrielle Trépanier Jobin (UQAM)

Until recently, telling the history of video games meant telling a “history of winners”, focusing on a few “big names”, a few “big games”. This project is rooted in a common effort by video game historians to better represent the diversity of video game histories in order to better navigate the currents of its evolution as a medium. It is based on the HACS (Historical Analytic Comparative System, developed within LUDOV) and on a corpus of 1,000 games chosen by an international selection committee.

After several years of review and analysis, we offer you a glimpse into the evolution of major trends in gameplay and advertising. What unites the adventure games of the 1980s with the VR games of the 2020s? When did the promotion of video games become centered on a heteronormative fantasy of power? Our game viewers invite you to step back in time and discover the games of the past in the light of our latest analysis tools.

Projet financed through the Insight grant (SHRC): “Towards a visualization-assisted international history of videogame culture” (2020-2025) and the New Researcher Grant (FRQSC): “Beyond technological and industrial considerations: for a cultural history of the video game experience” (2013-2017).

HACS Game Viewers

Through our game viewers, explore our corpus of games either by focusing on specific genres or design elements, and discover the marketing strategies that made them known.

Now, You’re playing with History

Game Viewer – Evolution of Advertising

Game Viewer – Evolution of Gameplay

International corpus selection committee

William Audureau (journalist), Milia Barrière (artist), Alexis Blanchet (Université Paris 3), Joleen Blom (Turku University), Antoine Clerc-Renaud (journalist), Charlotte Courtois (Université de Montréal), Mehdi Derfoufi (Université Paris 8), Cécile Fléchon (journalist and publishing coordinator), Kazufumi Fukuda (Ritsumeikan University), Rachael Hutchinson (University of Delaware), Anthony Jauneaud (studio Actezéro), Maize Longboat (Unity), Anne Ladyem McDivitt (Stanford University), Martin Roth (Ritsumeikan University), Wendi Sierra (Texas Christian University), Carl Therrien (Université de Montréal)

Team

International Associates

Alexis Blanchet (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle), Kazufumi Fukuda (Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto),  Greta Hoffmann (Karlsruhe University of Applied Science), Mikael Jakobsson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge), Gabriela Birnfeld Kurtz (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul), Tomasz Majkowski (Jagellon University, Krakow), Souvik Mukherjee (Center for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta, Calcutta), Farzad Parsayi (Monash University, Melbourne), Jaakko Suominen (Turku University), Jaroslav Svelch (Charles University, Prague), Alex Wade (Birmingham University), Lars de Wildt (KU Leuven)

   Evolution of advertising

   Evolution of gameplay

   Retro-play Virtual Exhibit

Therrien, Carl. « Inspecting Video Game History. Misinformation Echo Chambers, Techno-industrial Glorification, and the Distortion Cycle » (conférencier invité, “best paper award”). Colloque national de l’Association canadienne d’études vidéoludiques (CGSA/ACÉV), Brock University, St-Catharines, 27-28 mai 2014

Therrien, Carl. « The Hunt for the First-Person Shooter. Video Game Historiography through the Lens of a Critical Etymology ». 2ème colloque annuel de la série Games and Literary Theory, Université d’Amsterdam, 20-21 novembre 2014.

Goggin, Joyce, et Carl Therrien. « Constructing Bodies: Welcome to the Dollhouse », Colloque From ‘Traditional’ Games to Digital Games, Nancy, 26-28 novembre 2014.

Roux-Girard, Guillaume et Carl Therrien. « Tracing the Evolution of Gameplay ». Pressing Restart: Discussions on Video Game Preservation, New York University Game Center, 28 Septembre 2013.

Therrien, Carl. « From the Deceptively Simple to the Pleasurably Complex. The Rise of the Cooperative Address in Video Game Design ». Colloque international Histoire des jeux, Grande bibliothèque de Montréal, 21-23 juin 2013.

Therrien, Carl. « Living in the Edge, or the Mapping Situation. The illusion of Symbiosis and the Six Types of Mapping in Video Game Interface Design », Colloque national de l’Association canadienne d’études vidéoludiques (CGSA/ACÉV), University of Victoria, 4-5 juin 2013.