Browsing by Subject "quotes"

In digital games—as in films, television, theater, historical novels etc—history and historical figures are utilized for entertainment, profit and the enhancement of shareholder value in fictional narratives that partially or entirely fictionalize the past. As history is reshaped into an entertainment product and is filtered through the subjective lens of medium, and subjugated by the constraints and framings of said medium, its essence is irrevocably changed to a product to be sold. In the early 90s, it was the digital strategy game Sid Meier's Civilization (MicroProse, 1991) that helped popularize digital historical games, spawning a number of sequels with the sixth main entry being the latest as of 2022. Although each entry is headed by a different developer, a fundamental aspect has remained the same; the player controls a nation-state through a largely anachronistic journey from the early days of human civilization into the modern era (and sometimes beyond) in effort to “build a Civilization that can stand the test of time.” One of the elements added to provide flavor was the addition of quotations from historical and contemporary figures to Civilization IV whenever the player made certain discoveries. In Civilization VI, this had been expanded to 427 quotes which touch on societal developments, technologies, literature, construction of monumental structures, etc. The quotes raise the question: who has been considered fit to be quoted, acting as a link between real world history and the simulated history of the game? This essay will focus on these quotes and seek to analyze them to answer: 1) Whose voice gets heard in Sid Meier's Civilization VI? 2) Does the selection focus mainly on specific privileged groups, such as mainly English-speaking, white and masucline? Are some voices more prominent than others, such as European and North American over Asian, African and South American voices? 3) Are the quotes authentic? Special scrutiny has been given a selection of 100 quotes. It can be determined that although there are efforts to diversify the selection of quoted individuals it is dominated by English-speaking men. And although 70 out of the 100 surveyed quotes are more or less authentic, there is a considerably high number of modified and false quotes lurking within the game. Although this speaks more to the overall quality of popular quotes being referenced in media and in online spaces.