War Game: A Panoptical Narrative of Terror
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Abstract
 In modern thought, (if not in fact) Nothing is that doesn’t act, So that is reckoned wisdom which Describes the scratch but not the itch. [1]  And hence is born a new form of war narrative namely war games_ a genre that heightens the action but not the motif, refutes historically of an event and politicizes the general consciousness, triggers hatred for the ‘other’ where this ‘other’ is a complete stranger for the player’s consciousness and finally a medium that not just challenges one’s sense of reality but also replaces it with desired panoptical tautology. This research article focuses on the complexity of war video games and studies them as a new and subtle visual medium of war narrative. It also proposes that a medium that infiltrates the most potent group of society (youth), that palters the sense of reality, that defines war in new terms needs much more critical scrutiny than it presently receives. For this purpose, three of the most famous and latest war games (Delta Force, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor) are analysed in pithy detail. Where most of the criticism on video games is based on their form or structure, this article attempts at exposing the significance and complex inter-relatedness of content and form. It is strongly implied here that the medium of video games cannot be thoroughly understood unless their criticism involves an objective analysis of the content and form. i. Marshall Mcluhan, Understanding Media: The Extension of Man (London: Routledge, 2001) 10.
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Refereed Articles (Humanities)
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