House of Flowers: An Analysis of the Image of Yugoslavia in Video Games

Abstract

This article examines the image of Yugoslavia in contemporary video games. I researched games of various genres (action games, strategy games, military simulators, etc.) that were released on various gaming platforms (PC, Sony PlayStation, etc.) between 1990 and the present day. I researched such aspects as visualization, information, plot components, and popularity among players. I consider and provide definitions of the terms used to designate various elements of video games and their meaning for the perception of the image of the country. I paid special attention to the characters associated with the Yugoslav region. Two of them – the inventor Nikola Tesla and the main character of the comics of the same name, Largo Winch – owing to their potential significance for the image of Yugoslavia, were considered in detail. The article is accompanied by four illustrations showing important moments of the visualization of personalities and the structure of game moments. As a result of this research, I draw some conclusions about the main plots associated with the image of Yugoslavia that prevails in modern video games. Firstly, there is the obvious peripherality of Yugoslav plots and their generally negative connotation. In most of the video games reviewed, the settings involved the criminal world, the Yugoslav war of the 1990s, or the problem of international terrorism. Secondly, the portrayal of Yugoslav characters is not very homogeneous and it is therefore impossible to talk about their exclusively positive or negative character. Thirdly, in general, Yugoslavia is mostly unplayable: only a very limited set of strategy games and a very small set of action games allow you to control the country, its troops, or characters of Yugoslavian origin.