1UP’s Scott Sharkey conducted a survey of all game releases since 1980, and stumbled upon a interesting fact: over the last 29 years, 183 titles based on WWII have appeared. In comparison, other 20th century American conflicts were represented in a total of 40 games.But what’s the fixation with the Second World War? Sharkey sets out to answer this question, and although he makes some obvious points his argument is illuminating in other parts (WWII was the last American conflict which the U.S. clearly won against an unambiguously evil enemy).(I’d add that WWII being the first conflict to produce so much video footage played a role. For a generation of film-makers, and subsequently game-makers, WWII was the first visual reference point for war.)You can find Sharkey’s full editorial here, and it’s certainly worth a read!

Here are more great articles about World War 2 Games

• Comment on All These World War 2 Games by Gavin Robinson - You need to read this post. And this one.

• The Saboteur: Redefining The WW2 Video Game - Turn Based Strategy World War 2 Games: Games like Squad Leader, still one of my favorites, Allied General and Panzer General, the World War 2 Turn based game was still mainly influenced by the rich locales and technology of World War 2. …

• Wow, There Really ARE A Lot Of WWII Games | Kotaku Australia - World War 2 games are based in a few locations, are based within a gap of a few years and always involve the same countries, and always has the same story and ending, being the allies win. Didn’t see THAT coming! …