Assassin's Creed III Rap Gives the British a Beat (Down)

[trollnystan]

I couldn't finish the video to be honest. The video itself was mildly amusing, but the rap itself... UGH. Dreadful. Like @VeryOddGamer I was expecting Gav's song which I LOVE. LOVE.
[sub][sup][sub][sup]Not in a creepy, I-want-to-marry-those-lyrics-and-have-its-alliterative-babies kind of way. Honest. I swear. Cough.[/sup][/sub][/sup][/sub]

 

[Risingblade]

It's like the Canadians made this game just to have the Brits ***** at us.

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

even if the story DOES turn out to pander to Americans, it won't actually be the fault of Americans, since we didn't write it. It'll be Canada's fault.

If that makes sense.

'Scuse the snip, but...

Unless there's any U-571 style BS-ery, surely it's history... Therefore nothing for anyone currently living to have that strong a reaction to.

I'd expect there to have been more of an upset over the possibility of the earlier games in the series being viewed as anti-Catholic. Also, am I the only person in the world who DOESN'T want a WW2-era AC game?

 

[Kae]

800,000 views in one day? I... just... yeah. I'm gonna go sulk in the corner and feel jealous now, lol.

This just means one thing, you need to make a really silly video if you want them mad views!

Or that's what I guess, well I don't know much about AC3 but what is it about it that's so rappable?

 

[trollnystan]

Also, am I the only person in the world who DOESN'T want a WW2-era AC game?

*raises hand* I don't! If they "have to" use an early 20th century war I'd personally prefer WW1, although few opportunities for parkour in the trenches. There's also the Cold War; that could be an interesting backdrop, but might be to close to present.

Sorry, I'm babbling aren't I? Time for bed now anyway!

 

[JonnWood]

So it's not "America Good, British Bad". But even if it was, it wouldn't matter, because the developers aren't actually American. So we can't be blamed for whatever the Canadians come up with.

Wouldn't matter? I'd say it would! Missing out on the chance to have a decent, more complex story in favour of "FUCK YEAH 'MURRICA" to increase U.S. sales? I'd consider myself robbed of an interesting story, like AC 1 where there was good and evil on both sides, and the game would be robbed of it's potential.

Trust me, I have no issue with killing virtual Brits, after all it's only a game, I just want a more interesting story. And hopefully an informative one. Over in Blighty we don't learn about the revolutionary war, at least not below GCSE level, so this game interests me greatly. I liked history in school but preferred other things so didn't take it further. If memory serves the French fought on the side of the revolutionaries so hopefully I get to dish out some punishment to those cheese eating surrender monkeys!

Oh don't get me wrong. I'd like a more complex, less "MURRICA"-oriented story as well. When I said it wouldn't matter, I meant that even if the story DOES turn out to pander to Americans, it won't actually be the fault of Americans, since we didn't write it. It'll be Canada's fault.

If that makes sense.

It's Ubisoft's fault if it turns out to be a pandering shitfest, that doesn't stop us resenting the fact yet another entertainment product has shat all over historical events in order to pander to the developed world's least educated demographic. Remember U-571? You'd think a country that has such a hardon for their military would have some objection to willfully appropriating the achievements of their allies, but it took the kind of tabloid rabble-rousing usually reserved for accused paedophiles over here to even get the film studio to add a wee tiny disclaimer at the end of the film's credits(which about four people in the whole of America actually waited to see I'll bet) that essentially admitted the whole film was bullshit and it was all the Brits.

And before anyone tries to call partisan at me; I get just as fucking annoyed when Yanks try to write France out of their history, or when they conveniently forget to mention the dubious origins of their space programme, or the treatment both the UK and Canada get whenever the War of 1812 comes up, not to mention all the bullshit rewriting of history that certain political elements in my own country try.

The game has both British and American foes and allies, and the central premise of the entire franchise is that there's a secret history that diverges from established historical fact.

I find it interesting that you say American males 18-34 are "the world's least educated demographic", which is ironic, considering the series is generally much more educational than most AAA titles, to the point of having an in-game equivalent of Wikipedia in case the player wants to learn more stuff. There's also that hilarious speech by Caterina, who basically swears at some guards for a solid minute, which was apparently accurately produced from historical records. Needless to say, NSFW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUuJovHV9-4

There's an upcoming DLC that lets you assassinate evil George Washington. Yep, that's certainly pandering to the Yanks. Not to mention all the demographics that are objectively much worse educated that the usual target audience of AC and most video games, hyperbole notwithstanding.

Captcha is the oddly appropriate "urban myth".

 

[Nickolai77]

As part of my Games Tech course at Uni we get access to the Game Developer's Conference online vault. There was an american guy who has worked in the industry for a veery long time and he didn't come across as holding a high opinion of American gamer's or indeed American culture. He did an hour talk on how European's should be making games for americans or rather making games Americans will want. To boil it down to it's bare essentials, he basically said that the American audience is mostly self-involved, suffers from short-attention spans and are historically ignorant/uninterested if it doesn't regard America.
My worry is that Ubisoft, being a French company, may have taken this on board and passed this down to Ubisoft Montreal and crippled the game in favour of the American audience.

Based purely around the marketing of ACIII i fear this is exactly what's happened. Whilst i don't think the US gaming market is any bigger than Europe's, gaming dev's and publishers know that Europeans will happily play American oriented games, and are less certain if if the reverse is true so it's better to make games that pander to the American audience rather than the European one.

I really hope this game isn't purely about battering tyrannical Brit's in the name of FUCK YEAH AMERICAN FREEDUM! What i really liked about the first assassins creed game was it's historical impartiality- you would kill both Europeans and Arabs and i got a sense that it wasn't a game that took sides. I felt things kind of changed with Revelations however, which led you into a lot of Byzantine-bashing which i felt was a bit unfair since they did just have their city taken away from them. Even if the Byzantine's did side with the Templars, i felt that the whole game was a bit historically one-sided. Hence I worry that there's a trend in the Assassins Creed writing style away from historical impartiality to good guys v bad guys, which is the worst kind of history.

The American Revolution is a fascinating and complex piece of history at a time when Britain and France were slugging it out to be the worlds number one superpower. It's a conflict that divided the American colonists, a war which shaped the course of warfare, and is coloured by the then radical Enlightenment ideals which today shape Western politics. It deserves a better treatment than what what the marketing of this game implies.

 

[rdaleric]

I'm British, and I don't find the game offensive in the slightest. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if it is pretty accurate, with a bit of Templar/Assassin conspiracy added to the background of historical events. Also as much as I don't like it, the whole "go America" thing sells in America, so the trailers are of course going to be edited the way they are (in the main, I have seen a few with both sides getting the ol' extend-o-knife treatment

 

[jamesworkshop]

i'm not convinced, how exactly do people expect a story set in America, during a war America was in, fought by Americans that was successful, to not be nominally pro american(i.e them winning historically), without doing something ahistorical like having them lose.

I can't think of anyone in Britain today that actually thinks it wasn't right that america did win anyway, where are the legions of King George III fans? who thinks the Colonists should not enjoy the "Rights of Englishmen"? who still feels emotionally invested in a constitutional struggle that ended 200 years ago?

 

[MiracleOfSound]

My family hails from ireland and we view the irish-americans the same way. Especially when they get agitated that I point out oliver cromwell was hopelessly outnumbered when he took his army to ireland (who instigated the whole thing by raising the army to invade england and re-instate the catholic king) and won anyway because he was a better general.

I

That's probably because England's colonization of Ireland wasn't made any less cunty by being better generals...

 

[GonzoGamer]

The rap itself was mediocre but the video was hilarious. Something about the 'mad serial killer' face while chopping up carrots.

I was thinking the same thing. Washington's lyrics were pretty clever but the rest wasn't that "dope."
Do the hip-hoppers still use "dope?" Wait, don't answer that.
They should've gotten Dan Bull to do the rap.
The video itself had me laughing.

 

[Joos]

Worst rap in history (slight hyperbole) and auto tune. DIE!

 

[Baresark]

Thought you played as a Native American in Assassins Creed III... funny that he sides with the group that nearly wipe them from the face of the planet. Realism is realistic in how real it is.

But seriously guys, yeah... we get it. You like to fixate on being considered less important than beating France(Yes, that is why America beat the British Empire.), personally I would focus my efforts on my own achievements but whatever.

Actually, the developers are based in Montreal, Quebec. Which is in Canada, not the United States. And the official language is French. Just something to think about.

PS: Also, as a product of the American education system, I can say that what they teach us (after the "believing in Santa Claus" years, anyway) is that we would've been totally boned without the French. Just something else to think about.

PPS: Aaand you can't really claim that Connor is supposed to represent American(That is, colonial American) achievement, as he's half British and half Native American. AND the developers claim that he has enemies and allies on both sides of the war. (Meaning American Templars and British Assassins) So it's not "America Good, British Bad". But even if it was, it wouldn't matter, because the developers aren't actually American. So we can't be blamed for whatever the Canadians come up with.

Yeah, see, the devs have been claiming that pretty much since the announcement, but we've yet to see any actual fucking evidence of it, while we have seen lots of pictures of Connor hatcheting redcoats in the face while the American flag waves patriotically in the background, and gameplay demos where Connor hatchets some more redcoats in the face, and lets not forget the gameplay demos of redcoats acting like Mafia thugs until Connor Saves The Day(tm) by hatcheting them in the face. I've still not seen any Yank soliders getting all rapey with the natives until Connor sweeps in to Save The Day(tm) by hatcheting them in the face.

As for Americans getting blame, it's not about blame, it's about developers vacantly indulging a delusional interpretation of history in order to pander to a profitable demographic; young white American males who are ignorant of historical events.

The game is a work of fiction... It's based off of real events (the American Revolution), but it's not meant to be an accurate depiction of anything. Also, rape in video games is frowned upon by pretty much everyone, so you won't see that. I have seen plenty of American films that did a fantastic job at depicting exactly what "Patriots" did to the native peoples of North America. It's not my fault as an American, what Ubishit decides to put in their games. If you don't like it, don't buy it. I certainly am not. Nor do I think that anyone is going to play this game think, "this is exactly what the American Revolution was like!"

American's going to school are told a reasonably good number of lies or inaccurate truth, as I'm sure are British students, French students, German students, Russian students, ad infinitum. I love the delusion that American's are taught bad or fake history, which by extension everyone else is taught good and accurate history. All knowledge of history is bad and inaccurate, it's delusional to think otherwise.

OT: This was reasonably funny. I do feel that the whole chopping carrots maniacally thing would constitute trying too hard though.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Oh lovely, more "British v. America" shit in lieu of the upcoming release of Assassin's Creed III.

Let me just put an end to all these trivialities: Your ancestors were bastards. Yes, that's right. Am I addressing the US or the UK?
Both, sir. I'm addressing both.

Americans, you were just as bastardly as your British counterparts, the only difference is that they were well-dressed bastards. Your cries for revolution were rash and impulsively made without any clear minded thinking. It cost a lot of innocent lives and was almost pointless in the end. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Brits, even though the Americans were also bastards, you're still a bunch of bastards. That hasn't changed with more historical insight. You were never justified in your stubborn reactions to colonists who only wanted reprieve from having taken the worst of your war with the French in previous years. Blood is on your hands because of it. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Everybody happy and equally shameful? Good. Now that that's over with, I can't wait for this game to come out and give everyone involved the historically-accurate swift kick in the balls that's been well deserved.

 

[antipunt]

Am I the only brit NOT offended by this game?! Its hardly Mel gibsons the patriot.

I just hope we get the next one set in Victorian london during the industrial revolution, that would be cool.

Any actual Brit bashing in this game is probably down to French canadians, and even the french consider them a joke. I have a french friend over here working as a chemist in my roleplay group called Luc, he called them 'more french than french' with their obsession over the french language and hatred for the english because we beat them in a fair fight.

My family hails from ireland and we view the irish-americans the same way. Especially when they get agitated that I point out oliver cromwell was hopelessly outnumbered when he took his army to ireland (who instigated the whole thing by raising the army to invade england and re-instate the catholic king) and won anyway because he was a better general.

In the end it's just silly to get worked up over these things, and I can't say i've ever bought a videogame for historical accuracy, I just want something fun to play.

Every time I enter one of these AC3 threads, I'm already expecting an onslaught of butthurt Brits. It's pretty annoying.

Thank goodness for the level-headed people. Hats off to you sir

It's so insanely hypocritical. I'm American born Chinese and you don't see me flying off the handle whenever someone exclaims "excuse me sir, would you like some 'flied lice'".

Want, the shitty pork or da shitty chicken!?

It's a massive sense of entitlement. Other cultures, sure cool! Middle Eastern 'mooslimsss'?, alright! Germans the Nazis, hookay! But my own ?! who-who-whoa...hold on just a minute.