Israeli Council Releases Videogames as Propaganda

[Robert0288]

I've personally am sick and tired of all the rah rah jarhead-marine type BS. As soon as another country makes the a game about the exploits of their culturealbiet some fudge, AS ALL GAMES, and movies do. Its propaganda. Way to go double standard.

 

[Jumplion]

Snip

Snip

And so it begins.

*Sigh* Look, I don't agree with either of your positions, but I respect it. I really hope this wont start something that makes everybody going off, pointing fingers, and getting riled up. Could we please keep this in the "Religion and Politics" board? It might as well have been posted there.

 

[Mr.Gompers]

I find it amusing though that one of the games was using the soundtrack from Halo.

What? I was curious

EDIT: It was the Ammunition Hill one that had the Halo music

 

[fnartilter]

Judah Maccabee was one of the heroes in the story of Hannukah.

The untitled game sounds like a funny version of the 40 year post-exodus of Egypt lost-in-the-desert.

No clue who Ahab is. Is it Abraham? That sounds about right. What a boring story that would be...

Ammunition Hill, well, 6 Day War actually happened. You don't want to play it, that's fine, but don't start throwing out the word propaganda without any grounds. Try remaining objective. If Al-Jazeera doesn't even care about these little browser games then as an American you've got less stance on what effect it has. The Al-Jazeera network is concerned about other games though. [http://english.aljazeera.net/video/americas/2011/03/2011324193515700940.html]

Edutainment can be fun, I certainly had fun playing Math Blaster as a kid.

 

[KalosCast]

It's a good thing that the United States government would never make propaganda video games to support their military.

 

[Throwitawaynow]

No clue who Ahab is.

Captain Ahab was the main character in Moby Dick.

 

[WingedFortress]

This isn't mandatory for anyone. They have as much right to promote their own government as we have to promote our own values. If you don't want to play the game you don't have to.

This isn't a "game". Its a tool in game form used to address an age group that still responds to flashy lights, colors, and yes, videogames.

Propaganda isn't just the governments version of free speech. Its an insidious force that has been used time and time again to undermine individual rights and freedoms and is used to circumvent public opinion on hot button and important issues. It is not governments "Right" to use vast examples of social engineering in order to secure an economically appropriate future for its countries centralized power. Governments are tools of the people, not the other way around. This steps over the line of governmental awareness into outright propaganda.

Propaganda scares me. The reason why it still scares me is because not everybody is frightened by it yet. To some people, its just another form of advertising. What a slippery slope that is.

 

[Zhukov]

Ew.

I wouldn't touch those with a ten-foot pole.

Unless the pole had a point on the end.

 

[Uber Evil]

It's a good thing that the United States government would never make propaganda video games to support their military.

Is this sarcasm or no? Have you ever heard of America's Army?

 

[Jumplion]

So I should only post neutral and appeasing comments? I have no control over where this article was posted.

That's a strawman, and I know that you know that.

Look, I'll be honest and that that I support Israel. I don't agree with every action they make, and why would I? They fuck up like most any nation, and I'd be lieing if I said the Israeli government doesn't have flaws in it (it's an incredibly convoluted system). I will be perfectly happy to discuss the situation through PM as I do enjoy a good debate every now and again, I wholeheartedly encourage you.

But I really don't think that anyone really wants yet another 10+ page argument over who should be on what land and whether this person or that person is justified. It's just not necessary

I wholeheartedly agree though. The topic and tone of the OP may have been ill-considered for the front page feed.

Hell, even if the OP did a perfectly neutral "I have no strong feelings one way or the other" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ussCHoQttyQ] news post, it'd still break out to a convoluted, 10+ flame war that will basically end with a "Get your peanut butter out of my chocolate!" "No, you get your chocolate out of my peanut butter!" "No you-! Wait, what were we arguing about again?" "Get your chocola-....wait..."

 

[mjc0961]

So how long before the "OMG A GAME ABOUT WAR IS MAKING FUN OF IT AND YOU SHOULDN'T DO THAT!" and other nonsense rants like Six Days in Fallujah was subjected to?

EDIT: Less time that it took me to write this comment, apparently.

Heck, us Americans do that already. Ever played a Tom Clancy or Call of Duty game?

So do the Japanese. Remember kids, when you play Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima wants you to know that nukes are bad.

And he and his duck are super serious about that:

 

[Animyr]

Heck, us Americans do that already. Ever played a Tom Clancy or Call of Duty game?

Bias? Where?

 

[Hiroshi Mishima]

I know this is kinda unrelated, but it really was the first thing to enter my head at this point:

I wonder how long it will be before certain places in the middle east began marketing video games towards children that teach and encourage the raping of women and the stoning of said women and people who encourage "radical" thinking in their fiercely patriarchal society.

Also, inb4 GTA, cause that's not quite the same thing. Unless they made a patch that turned CJ into a muslim.

I'm not trying to stir up a huge argument, and I apologize beforehand if it does. But this is seriously something I'm concerned about. As others have said, these games may be educational, but it's only going to further divide a community that doesn't even really need a reason to start beating the crap outta one another if the mood arises.

Insofar as America doing the same thing.. I would like to hope that most Americans aren't so thick as to be unable to read between the lines. But then, if they don't there is always Yahtzee to remind us.

EDIT: Also wanted to mention that while some people seem to think otherwise, these really are basically propaganda. At first I was a bit uncertain myself, but the more I thought about it as I read the article, the more certain I became.

 

[Raziel Paragorne]

Remember kids, when you play Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima wants you to know that nukes are bad.

And he and his duck are super serious about that:

There is so much win in that statement,

 

[Jumplion]

Wow, people sure love throwing that term around these days don't they? What happened to the good old days where literary prowess was judged by wild exaggerations flung with abandon and the raw imagination of one's hyberbole? *Sigh* That was entertainment ;P

Seriously though, it would have been a strawman fallacy if I'd actually been arguing a point. In fact I was only posing you a straightforward question. Your inference being that the thread would be better served without the conflict this topic invariably raises.

Really? :S Bleh, I thought for sure it was, I like feeling smart! Isn't a strawman arguing a point that your opponent didn't actually make? Like "I think we should regulate alcohol better" and then someone going "Oh, so nobody should ever be allowed to drink any beverage ever?" That's a strawman, isn't it (at least according to Wikipedia)?

The imperfection of nations and their machinations is a given, you are totally right there. You seem like a reasonable guy who wants to encourage reasonable discussion, which is great. So I know then that you didn't mean it that way; but might I suggest that your slightly patronizing first comment would have done more to inflame argument, if I were a foaming-at-the-mouth pro-Palestinan supporter?

Hmm, good point. I didn't intend it to be coming off as patronizing, more negotiating (I guess is the right word) or something. I get that people like to argue/debate (whatever you want to call it), though I'd rather we kept volatile topics like this out of the more public newsroom.

 

[Doom972]

Things can get lost in translation very easily. If you read this in Hebrew you realize this was intended as a joke.
I would appreciate a nice AAA title depicting one of our struggles.
And to all the haters: Every nation had to fight battles in order to exist, don't pretend yours is any different.