What is Hauntology?
Hauntology is the past inside the present.
Hauntology is a philosophical concept referring to the return or persistence of elements from the past, as in the manner of a ghost.
I found that some games appear to have a hauntological presence. Video games such as Mafia III, which is set in 1960's New Orleans, is so accurate to what New Orleans would've been like during that time, it makes you feel as though you have gone back in time. Or that the past has been brought inside the present.
Here are some images from the game Mafia III.
Here are some images of New Orleans during the 1960's.
As you can see, the images from the game compared to the actual images from New Orleans are incredibly similar. It's as though the game company brought the past back into the present.
You are gaming with ghosts.
Another game that has a hauntological presence is Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2. The game is set in the American Midwest during the late 1800's , to create they game, they used the paintings of Albert Bierdstadt.
The language used in the game, as well as the clothing, houses, music and foods takes you back to the past and makes you feel nostalgic about the time, even though you never experienced the time.
The catalogue all gamer can access in any General Store in the game.
Many other games have a huge hauntological presence, the entire Assassin's Creed franchise - each game is set in the past, whether it's Ancient Egypt, Victorian England, or the Italian Renaissance, each one brings the past into the present day - as well as this, the player switches between the past and the presence, as researchers/historians are trying to find historical or mythical artefacts. So, you are in fact playing as ghosts when you go back into the past.
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