Video games as a form of aesthetic memory

Abstract

This paper examines the historical video game as a form of aesthetic memory. Through the study of recent and well-known different titles set in the past, such as Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games, 2017) and Battlefield V (DICE, 2018) the concept of “aesthetic memory” is defined and illustrated. Said concept is understood as the reproduction of defining, popular images of a historical moment. They are images selected by different social groups, unrelated to the historian’s job, whose function is to consolidate the historical credibility of the product and which are considered as canonical and representative of a particular moment.