From Red Redemption to Oregon’s Trails

The Western in Video Games

Authors

  • Thomas J Bulger Ramapo College of New Jersey

Keywords:

video games, Western, American West, interactive digital media

Abstract

From Albert Bierstadt’s canvasses to John Ford’s movies, the Western has used various art forms to convey an epic tale of civilizations interacting. The eternal tale of the west has forever been in a cycle of resurrection into new art forms. Interactive digital media, commonly known as video games, is the newest art form in this cycle. This paper creates the first comprehensive historiography for the newest art form in modern society. Creating this essay as a historiography helps to cement their legitimacy while also illuminating the drastic change these western video games have had from their pixilated origins. Video games are following a similar road that other mediums have used, starting with a romanticized version of the west inevitably moving towards revisionist tale.

Faculty Mentor: Carter Jones Meyer, Ph.D, Professor and Convener of History

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Published

2018-06-14

Issue

Section

Arts