Free Immersive Experience at Imperial War Museum – War Games: Real Conflicts | Virtual Worlds | Extreme Entertainment
How is war represented in the virtual world of video games? Imperial War Museum (IWM) have launched a free immersive experience that explore how the barriers of reality and the virtual world is blurred and how video game technology has been used over the decades to depict confits and even shape real wars. Immersive experience, War Games: Real Conflicts | Virtual Worlds | Extreme Entertainment opened on 30th September and showcases immersive installations, never-seen-before objects and a retro gaming zone with playable video games.
Watch video of the exhibition here.
War Games: Real Conflicts | Virtual Worlds | Extreme Entertainment
Photo: Urban Adventurer
If you have ever played war-themed video games, you might have noticed how mind-blowingly real the graphic, the scenarios and even the sounds can be. This is because some modern video games depict thoroughly researched historical events.
In fact, tremendous amount of research, consultations with historians and other experts are taken place behind the scenes when creating and launching a new video game. For example, ‘Six Days in Fallujah’ has been developed based on real testimonies of marines, soldiers and civilians affected by the Second Battle of Fallujah.
Other video games, such as ‘Worms’, on the other hand, grab the more artistic and humorous side of historical events.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Chris Cooper and Ian Kikuchi, Co-curators of War Games, say: “The drama and tragedy of
war has fascinated us for millennia. Paintings, books, plays, films and tv shows have all told gripping stories about conflict. Video games have continued this tradition in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, becoming today’s largest and fastest growing entertainment industry. We hope this exhibition prompts visitors to consider the influence this media might have on our perceptions and understanding of war and conflict.”
Gaming Zone
Photo: Urban Adventurer
War Games exhibition includes a retro gaming arcade with 13 iconic playable games, including ‘Top Gun’, ‘Battlezone’, ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’, or ‘Medal of Honour’.
Never-Seen-Before Objects on Display
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Common gameplay tropes, such as explosive barrels and sniper riffles are on display alongside with items and belongings to real individuals who were involved in wars either as a civilian or soldier.
Case studies, such as ‘Bury Me, My Love’ and ‘This War of Mine’ are also on display to give visitors goosebumps by showcasing the real thrill and tragedy of warfare.
An Xbox 360 controller once used to operate the camera of an unmanned aerial vehicle in Afghanistan and Iraq is also on display.
Practical Info
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Address
Imperial War Museum London (IWM)
Opening Times
30 September 2022 – 28 May 2023
Open daily: 10am – 6pm
24 – 26 December CLOSED
Admission
FREE
Ready for your next adventure? Get closer to dinosaurs like never before, meet life size dinosaurs and find yourself in well-known movie scenes. Jurassic World: The Experience is open till 3rd November 2022.