War Games?

[superberkut]

This is nothing much at Call of Duty 4, but at games that use actual conflicts and warfare (i.e.: WWII, Vietnam) as their basis. It is a bit of a history lesson for gamers, but would taking sides and politically incorrect words be seen as tolerable? A couple of people I know got very offended by a game which was virtually what I had described, glorifying the aspects of war and using derogatory slang pertaining to a certain side of the conflict represented (of course, the player is on the Allied side; slang is used for the opposite). Personally, I don't think history can be changed very much, and the wording does not really affect the gaming experience at all.

So, any thoughts on these games? They seem to be harsher in lesser-known franchises.

 

[Loon]

They seem to be harsher in lesser-known franchises.

They don't have as much too lose, not as much as a company like EA does for example.

 

[Sage]

I don’t see how this is any different from the people who complain about GTA. You can complain about anything in video games – you can claim that Pokémon is like dogfighting.

The great thing about video games is that they’re not real.

 

[Joey D]

They can be a history lesson if they are done correctly, however like all of written history it comes from the perspective of the author. I see nothing wrong with it as long as they conform to what reportedly happened and not reach for the over the top element. Also if you get offend by X video game then the great thing is you don't have to buy it, play it, or even enjoy it.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, history is written by the victor... And consequently, American-made WWII games are going to have very negative language towards the Germans, Italians and Japanese in every title. Thing is, I can't say its completely without merit in some cases, but I'm still very happy that many of these games are beginning to address the political double-speak of war. If anything COD4 is the first that seems to have done a decent job of doing so.

Either way, these games are never going to come close to what actually happened in the fox holes and trenches of these wars.

===

And to that point:

Do we really think that a game played from the perspective of the Nazis would go over that well? Not today, no.

 

[Sureboss]

If the Italians did one, you'd need an empty washing machine

 

[Zrow]

You can complain about anything in video games – you can claim that Pokémon is like dogfighting.

Wow, it kind of is.

This actually makes Pokemon seem cooler somehow.

 

[nk4e]

I believe that there is a different version of a certain games out there. I heard or read before that they made games were you attack American soldiers while they on their patrol routes. Now if that made into mainstream gaming, it wouldn't get praised by the American People but hated with the sense on the other side saying" but why, you Americans have games against *such and such opposition*. I believe it was a mod but there is a War game that is based on actual events going on. You should hear the online players to see who is offended more.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I think Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame put it best when he pointed out in his review of a Call of Duty game that WWII-themed games have been made for a longer period of time than the actual conflict lasted ...

 

[nk4e]

I think Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame put it best when he pointed out in his review of a Call of Duty game that WWII-themed games have been made for a longer period of time than the actual conflict lasted ...

That guy talks to fast X_X

GTP thread about Yahtzee