Heritage places as the settings for virtual playgrounds: perceived realism in videogames, as a tool for the re-localisation of physical places

Abstract

It is argued that approaching video gaming as a (techno)cultural practice can enrich the understanding of the cultural heritage represented in video games, as well as their value, since games have become an important source of shared symbol systems amongst far-flung and heterogeneous audiences. The perceived realism of the environments (re)created in video games is a key concept for examining them and the consequences particular to this medium, namely, their capacity for the re-localisation of heritages places. In this paper, a qualitative and explorative study is undertaken through ethnographic research which draws on data from interviews. Photo elicitation has been used to assess the perceived realism of heritage places in video games, and the impact this has on players’ perceptions and attitudes towards those places, in order to understand how this might effect social spacialities. A number of challenges are highlighted, particularly the importance for depictions of heritage places to be clearly recognisable, and to ensure an integrated future for the socioeconomic life of heritage places through the new realities which are defining society.