Cahiers du Jeu Video 01 - La Guerre ( Pix N Love Edition )

Is war a game? Who are the heroes? Who are the enemies? Who are the resisters.... and the terrorists? Why are wargames so popular? Medal of Honor, Call of Duty: history or propaganda? Are Japanese games pacifist? Do Arab games offer a different perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Have American hackers collaborated with the army?

From Spacewar à Call of Duty 4war is omnipresent in video games, it is perhaps their very essence.Beat'em all, shoot'em up, first person shooters, all these genres suggest conflict. This first issue investigates the way in which wargames have repercussions on game culture.em>game culture, the evolution over time of the mercenary figure and the different facets of the enemy. It also explores first-person shooters based on the Second World War, Japanese pacifist games and Middle Eastern trials dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To grasp the aesthetic, historical and ideological evolution of war games and understand why they bring together players and creators from different cultures just as much as they divide them.

But the issue does not shy away from questioning its subject: isn't the real war between player and machine? Finally, are video games more militaristic than their predecessors, social games?

This fascinating odyssey concludes with an interview with Ed Halter, American critic of the Village Voice and author of an outstanding book on the subject;This fascinating odyssey concludes with an interview with Ed Halter, American critic for the Village Voice and author of an outstanding book on the subject, who gives us a clear insight into the role of American hackers in the development of war games. The strange alliance forged between them, the Manhattan Project and Hollywood is not unconnected with the war that still grips Europe.eacute;chire Iraq forty years later…