Digital Lives - War in Games
January 27 2016
How is war portrayed in computer games, and why is the topic so widespread? Games like Battlefield and This War of Mine give completely different portrayals of war. The one is intended to offer entertainment and action, while the other allows the player, in a role as a civilian victim, to experience some of war’s worst suffering and dilemmas.
Can games say something about how we relate to modern and historic warfare, and to the position of war in society? The Fritt Ord Foundation, Spillpikene and Pressfire invite the public to a special themed evening that examines war in games with a critical, but unbiased eye.
Welcome to the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 27 January. The event is part of the project Digital Lives, which seeks to promote debate on gaming as a phenomenon, culture and social criticism.
From 4.30 p.m.:
We invite the public to an open house, where it will be possible to play This War of Mine and Battlefield, among other games. Refreshments will be served.
6.00 p.m.:
Participate in an open discussion with:
- Wojciech Setlak, developer from 11bitstudios, the studio behind “This War of Mine”
- Kristine Ask, assistant professor at NTNU, gaming researcher and blogger for Spillpikene.no
- Holger Pötzsch, associate professor at the University of Tromsø and head of the research project Wargame
- Kristoffer Egeberg, journalist, veteran and winner of the 2014 SKUP prize
The moderator is Martin Bergesen. The discussion will take place in English. Free of charge and open to everyone.
Registration on Facebook.
The project Digital Lives was established by the Freedom of Expression Foundation in collaboration with Spillpikene and PressFire. Visit our website and take part in the competition on digitaleliv.no
Read more about the project here.
The hashtag for the event and the competition is #digitaleliv
Update: Footage from the debate has now been uploaded to the Fritt Ord Youtube Channel.