Playing the Past brings together an eclectic group of young scholars to examine the complementary notions of history and nostalgia as they are expressed through video games and in gaming culture. By focusing on specific games (e.g., Ms. Pac-Man and JFK: Reloaded), historical periods and media ecologies, these essays collectively take an in depth look at the related topics of nostalgia for classic gaming, gaming and histories of other media, and representations of real history in video games.