The History Respawned Podcast

Episode 108: The Hajj Trail with Tyler Kynn 05.06.2024 44min

Bob talks with Dr. Tyler Kynn about his project The Hajj Trail. Topics include game development as a historian, games in the history classroom, games about non-western history, and history games as scholarship.

Episode 107: Assassin's Creed Mirage Codex and the History of Baghdad with Dr. Glaire Anderson 22.12.2023 42min

In the 10th Anniversary Episode of History Respawned, Bob talks with Dr. Glaire Anderson about working with Ubisoft on Assassin's Creed Mirage's Codex and its History of Baghdad feature. Topics include historians using game development tools, teaching game developers medieval history, and de-centering northern Europe in medieval history. *Audio from a video episode published on November 20, 2023: https://youtu.be/20_iGzzzcio?feature=shared

Episode 106: Atari 50 01.09.2023 44min

Bob talks with Jon-Paul Dyson from The Strong National Museum of Play about Atari 50. Topics include the history of Atari, game preservation, and what's new at the Strong Museum in 2023. For more on The Strong, visit: https://www.museumofplay.org/ Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned *Audio from a video episode published on August 28, 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQcWNRwuN2U

Episode 105: The Saboteur 31.07.2023 32min

Bob talks with Pieter Van den Heede about The Saboteur (2009). Topics include the Second World War, Second World War memory in North America and Europe, Occupation and Resistance, Collaboration, NPCs in Open World Games, and new trends in Second World War video games. Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned

Episode 104: History Games at Not E3 2023 16.06.2023 1val 19min

Bob and John discuss the history game news coming out of the NOT E3 season, including announcements from Ubisoft, Xbox, and PlayStation. Topics include Assassin's Creed Mirage, Assassin's Creed Nexus, Assassin's Creed Codename Jade, Clockwork Revolution, the Gilded Age in games, Lamplighter's League, Fable, Metal Gear Solid 3, The Pirate Queen, Ecumene Aztec, Last Train Home, Sand, Civilization VII, Diablo 4, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Episode 103: 2022 History Game Awards 01.01.2023 1val 39min

Bob, John, and some special guests discuss the best history games of 2022. Topics include Weird West, The Case of the Golden Idol, NBA 2k23, Cult of the Lamb, Horizon Forbidden West, Card Shark, Victoria 3, Train to Sachsenhausen, Atari 50, Crusader Kings 3, The Legend of Tianding, Valiant Hearts Coming Home, Hades II, Contraband, Mask of the Rose, NORCO, Vampire Survivors, Elden Ring, Stray, and Pentiment. 00:47 – John Gets a Steam Deck for “Academic Purposes” 03:14 – Games Under Consideration 04:40 – Game of the Year Categories 05:34 – Shout Out Games 18:41 – History Game for People Who Don’t Like History 31:54 – Best History Game Character 41:45 – The History Topic We Learned the Most About 49:36 – Best Game for the History Classroom 01:04:04 – Best Old History Game 01:11:33 – Most Anticipated History Game of 2023 01:16:36 – Non-history Game of 2022 01:26:54 – The Best History Game of 2022

Episode 102: Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall on Slave Revolt on Screen 30.12.2022 37min

Bob talks with Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall about her new book, Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games. Topics include the historiography of the Haitian Revolution, collecting sources for a book about films and games, Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry, comparing historical games and historical films, and the games of Muriel Tramis. University of Mississippi Press site for Alyssa's book: https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Slave-Revolt-on-Screen

Episode 101: Kate Cook and Jane Draycott on Women in Classical Video Games 21.11.2022 51min

Bob talks with Kate Cook and Jane Draycott about their new edited collection, Women in Classical Video Games (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/women-in-classical-video-games-9781350241930/). Topics include the popularity of classical video games, their appearance in the classroom, the relationship between classical games and classical films, and "historical accuracy" and women's history. Games discussed include God of War, Total War, and Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

Episode 100: Ubisoft Forward and Esther Wright on Rockstar Games 23.09.2022 1val 22min

Bob talks about the history game news from Ubisoft Forward, and then (19:15) chats with Esther Wright about her new book, Rockstar Games and American History: Promotional Materials and the Construction of Authenticity (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110716610/html). Bob and Esther also talk a bit about the recent leak of Grand Theft Auto 6. Bonnie and Clyde, anyone? Episode topics include Skull and Bones, Valiant Hearts, Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Assassin's Creed Codename Jade, Assassin's Creed Codename Red, Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe, Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2, LA Noire, and GTA 6.

Episode 99: History Games at Gamescom and Civs 101: The Inca 29.08.2022 1val 22min

Bob and John discuss recent game news, including games announced during Gamescom, upcoming history games releases, and what games they’ve been playing recently. Topics include The Great War: Western Front, Wyrdsong, Pentiment, Age of Empires IV, Tortuga, Under the Waves, Where the Winds Meet, Company of Heroes 3, Victoria 3, Skull and Bones, Mask of the Rose, Nightingale, Papers Please, Control, Returnal, Ghost of Tsushima, Fortnite, and Borderlands 3. This episode ends (45:13) with a rebroadcast of Civs 101: The Inca. Bob talks with Dr. Christopher Heaney about the Inca Civ. Topics include Pachacuti, Machu Picchu, the Inca relationship with land, Andean contributions to environmental history, and Inca cosmology.

Episode 98: Ubisoft News, Assassin's Creed Lesson Plans, and Civs 101: Germany 06.07.2022 1val 8min

Bob and John talk through recent updates from Ubisoft, including new game modes for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, rumors of Skull & Bones, and Discovery Tour Lesson Plans. This episode ends (28:12) with a rebroadcast of Civs 101: Germany, in which Bob talks with Dr. Jeremy Best about the German Civ. Topics include the long and complicated history of Germany in Sid Meier’s Civilization, Frederick Barbarossa as a leader for the German Civ, and the influence of wargaming on the depiction of Germany in historical games.

Episode 97: Hall of Fame, New Games, and a Fool and his Money 06.06.2022 1val 32min

Bob and John run through history game news as well as a list of upcoming history game releases. They wrap up by talking about what they've been playing recently, and Bob's questionable gaming purchases. Topics include Civilization in the Hall of Fame, Assassin's Creed Valhalla more popular than ever, Call of Duty blames WWII, Card Shark, Isonzo, Victoria 3, Steel Rising, Company of Heroes 3, War Hospital, Plague Tale Requiem, Inkulinati, Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Dune Spice Worlds, Medal of Honor Above and Beyond, and the Steam Deck. *Bob mistakenly refers to the short Medal of Honor documentary "Colette" as "Celeste" throughout this episode. He was recently playing the award winning indie game Celeste on Steam Deck. Apologies!

Episode 96: Peter Hirschmann on Medal of Honor Above and Beyond 19.05.2022 50min

Bob talks with Peter Hirschmann from Respawn Entertainment about Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Topics include the history of the Medal of Honor series, bringing the series to VR, Above and Beyond's Gallery, winning an Oscar, and why WWII games are still so popular. Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned Music is Symphony 40 in G minor by texasradiofish (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0)license.dig.ccmixter.org/files/texasr…iofish/49560 Ft: W. A. Mozart, Big Bonobo Combo

Episode 95: Leyla and Soren Johnson on Old World 05.03.2022 36min

Bob talks with Leyla and Soren Johnson of Mohawk Games about Old World, History Respawned’s History Game of the Year for 2021. Topics include the response to Old World, the historical research that went into the game, Old World’s Order System, how Old World fits into the historical 4X genre, and future plans for the game. Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned Music is Symphony 40 in G minor by texasradiofish (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0)license.dig.ccmixter.org/files/texasr…iofish/49560 Ft: W. A. Mozart, Big Bonobo Combo

Episode 94: Forging a new Oregon Trail 05.02.2022 25min

Bob talks with historians Dr. Margaret Huettl and Dr. Katie Phillips about their experience working on the latest version of The Oregon Trail from Gameloft. Topics include how they got involved in the project, what their experience was like working with game developers, how they incorporated indigenous history and culture, and how The Oregon Trail remains an important historical touchstone. Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned Music is Symphony 40 in G minor by texasradiofish (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0)license.dig.ccmixter.org/files/texasr…iofish/49560 Ft: W. A. Mozart, Big Bonobo Combo

Episode 93: 2021 History Game Awards 31.12.2021 1val 32min

Bob and Esports Champion John Harney discuss the best history games of 2021. Topics include Stronghold Warlords, Lake, Humankind, Hell Let Loose, Blackhaven, Jupiter Hell, Loop Hero, Overboard, The Forgotten City, Valheim, Armored Commander 2, Age of Empires IV, Old World, Deathloop, Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour: Viking Age, Wildermyth, Svoboda 1945, New World, March Through Time, Trek to Yomi, Horizon Forbidden West, Yes Your Grace, Resident Evil Village, and Halo Infinite. John's Championship Story - 1:00 Games Under Consideration and Categories - 7:27 Shout Out Games - 10:30 Best Stocking Stuffer Games - 15:00 History Game for People Who Don't Like History - 21:00 "Dad" Friendly History Game - 28:00 Best History Game Character - 33:30 History Topic We Learned the Most About - 39:45 Best Game for the History Classroom - 44:20 Worst History Game - 51:30 Most Anticipated History Game of 2022 - 57:00 2021's history game of 2022 - 1:02:00 2020's history game of 2021 - 1:06:00 History Game of 2021 - 1:11:30 Non-history Game of 2021 - 1:21:30 Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned Music is Symphony 40 in G minor by texasradiofish (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0)license.dig.ccmixter.org/files/texasr…iofish/49560 Ft: W. A. Mozart, Big Bonobo Combo

Episode 92: Maxime Durand on Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour: Viking Age 19.10.2021 32min

Bob talks with Maxime Durand, the World Design Director of Discovery Tour for Ubisoft, about Discovery Tour: Viking Age. Topics include the history of Discovery Tour, reaching an academic audience with games, working with scholars for Viking Age, game play changes to Discovery Tour, and Viking Age characters. Support History Respawned on Patreon at www.patreon.com/historyrespawned

Episode 91: New World, MLK in Fortnite, and upcoming history games 14.10.2021 1val 24min

Bob and John discuss what they've been playing and what they are looking forward to in the fall. Topics include Amazon's New World, MLK in Fortnite, Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour Viking Age, Age of Empires 4, Call of Duty Vanguard, Diablo 2, Deathloop, Back 4 Blood, Press Reset, and Masters of Doom.

Episode 90: Blackhaven 27.08.2021 38min

Bob talks with historian and game designer James Coltrain about his new game Blackhaven. Topics include presenting history through games, the importance of historical memory and challenging official histories, the influence of environmental storytelling, and future projects from Historiated Games. Play Blackhaven for free on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1668610/Blackhaven/ Historiated Games: https://www.historiated.com/ Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned

Episode 89: Civs 101: Scotland 05.08.2021 36min

Bob talks with Dr. Michelle Brock about the Scottish Civ. Topics include Scotland in the popular imagination, the "Braveheart Effect," Outlander, Robert the Bruce and Scottish independence, golf courses, Scotland and the slave trade, the Covenanter Movement, and Flower of Scotland. *For our talk of slavery, I completely forgot about the Triangular Trade Policy Card. Apologies! We talk about this more in other episodes of Civs 101, however. This episode features audio pulled from a video episode. Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned