Can anything be learned from historical video games?

Globe and Mail argues that, so long as you aren't looking for a precise play-by-play recap of actual events, games with an historical slant can be educational. From the story:

"...I mean, what sort of education is taking place in a game like Civilization Revolution, which lets me have Abraham Lincoln build the Great Wall of China?

But now I have new ammunition, thanks to an interesting feature posted this week on game blog Kotaku in which Author Luke Plunkett interviews historian Dr. Cliff Williamson from Bath Spa University and Kieren Brigden, a developer with Creative Assembly, makers of the Total War games.

The piece suggests that, while few games can claim a high degree of narrative authenticity, there are a number that provide "an understanding of the dynamics of history; of the forces that have shaped, and will continue to shape, human society.

To wit, in Civilization Revolution I come to understand that the Great Wall, a magnificent feat of human engineering, acted as a remarkably effective defence against nations of a certain military sophistication. The ruler under whose reign it was constructed is irrelevant to this fact...."