Are you aware of the politics at play in games?

[stringsamurai]

In today's world so many games use events happening in our time as the background to seriously gripping action. E.g Splinter Cell, Call of Duty 4, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon series and America's Army True Soldiers. I think violence in games is inevitable as it is thrilling and engaging as well as cathartic. Obviously it needs to be monitored. But I dont think anyone will ban violence in games. I think the real issue is how people's idea of the world is sculpted. I mean what if all the Americans' here looked at the titles from a foreigners point of view? when a game says 'Defend US soil from a cross-border attack, taking the fight to all-new locations -- from Juarez, Mexico to El Paso, Texas' this could give the gamer the impression that America is under attack from everyone, when the opposite could be said if one looks at Iraq.

I would like to know what your thoughts are, I also propose that there be a new section dealing with these issues specifically. They could be headed - Politically Biased Games or simply Political Views in Games.
What do you guys think?

p.s Halo 3 rocks!

[Hannah]

In today's world so many games use events happening in our time as the background to seriously gripping action. E.g Splinter Cell, Call of Duty 4, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon series and America's Army True Soldiers. I think violence in games is inevitable as it is thrilling and engaging as well as cathartic. Obviously it needs to be monitored. But I dont think anyone will ban violence in games. I think the real issue is how people's idea of the world is sculpted. I mean what if all the Americans' here looked at the titles from a foreigners point of view? when a game says 'Defend US soil from a cross-border attack, taking the fight to all-new locations -- from Juarez, Mexico to El Paso, Texas' this could give the gamer the impression that America is under attack from everyone, when the opposite could be said if one looks at Iraq.

I would like to know what your thoughts are, I also propose that there be a new section dealing with these issues specifically. They could be headed - Politically Biased Games or simply Political Views in Games.
What do you guys think?

p.s Halo 3 rocks!

We already have a "Serious Games, Games for Health, Political Games" section... and people rarely post there.

[Thefremen]

I started a thread on Serious Sam in there. It was pretty funny for a while.

[BlackIce, British Commie]

We already have a "Serious Games, Games for Health, Political Games" section... and people rarely post there.

That's because we don't have a population..

[stringsamurai]

well i guess, that makes this site seem a little pathetic.

[kurisu7885]

Now now, let's give this a chance to kick off eh?

And I will say there is one game I can think of where political play is most evident.

I speak of course of Deus Ex. I mean, it was a kick in that game just listening to the political discussions JC got into with some of the characters

[stringsamurai]

I have not played the game, what kinds of conversations?

[Pelor]

Greetings and Salutations.

That is quite a mouthful (or handful... I don't know the appropriate term for typed words). You have a lot on your mind. You should seriously think about chilling out a bit, perhaps with some drugs or, better yet, by adopting a problem-free philosophy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejEVczA8PLU). You'll live longer (or shorter... I don't remember which one).

-Office of Initiations.

[Twin-Skies]

In today's world so many games use events happening in our time as the background to seriously gripping action. E.g Splinter Cell, Call of Duty 4, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon series and America's Army True Soldiers. I think violence in games is inevitable as it is thrilling and engaging as well as cathartic. Obviously it needs to be monitored. But I dont think anyone will ban violence in games. I think the real issue is how people's idea of the world is sculpted. I mean what if all the Americans' here looked at the titles from a foreigners point of view? when a game says 'Defend US soil from a cross-border attack, taking the fight to all-new locations -- from Juarez, Mexico to El Paso, Texas' this could give the gamer the impression that America is under attack from everyone, when the opposite could be said if one looks at Iraq.

I would like to know what your thoughts are, I also propose that there be a new section dealing with these issues specifically. They could be headed - Politically Biased Games or simply Political Views in Games.
What do you guys think?

p.s Halo 3 rocks!

Given that I'm coming from a country that's formerly a US colony, I love the idea. A game portraying our side of the Philippine-American War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine-American_War) (US historians insist it's a mere "insurrection") is just about right.

And no - Halo 3 bows before the awesomness that is CoD4, IMHO

[Thefremen]

well i guess, that makes this site seem a little pathetic.

GB2 IGN.10chr limit lol

[Hannah]

well i guess, that makes this site seem a little pathetic.

Not really. We have plenty of threads about games and politics, we just don't think there's much to say on the topic of politics in games. Pretty much all you can do is go over the "zomg they're feeding stereotypes" or "zomg they're making people violent" angles again and again, and we've seen it all before. On the few occasions when a blatantly political game shows up -- eg. one of those white supremacist games, or one of the various peace-making games -- it's usually discussed on the front page, and there's not much for us to add here.

[Thefremen]

Not really. We have plenty of threads about games and politics, we just don't think there's much to say on the topic of politics in games. Pretty much all you can do is go over the "zomg they're feeding stereotypes" or "zomg they're making people violent" angles again and again, and we've seen it all before. On the few occasions when a blatantly political game shows up -- eg. one of those white supremacist games, or one of the various peace-making games -- it's usually discussed on the front page, and there's not much for us to add here.

Exactly. It's like how every once in a great while alt.fan.dune has a post that isn't strictly directly related to Dune.

[Tollwutig]

Moved to Suggestions Forum as this isn't an introduction.

[IonD.]

This may not be exactly what you have in mind, but I would certainly welcome more political views in games, and more games that dealt with the subjects of politics and cultures in a more mature manner than most games seem to deal with them nowadays.

Two beautiful examples of politics and their consequences at play in games can be seen in the games "Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together" and "Final Fantasy Tactics". I would definitely encourage everyone with an interest in Tactical RPG's to seek out these games, even if you have to play them on an emulator. :D

Anyone else care to share their examples here?