Mariena said:
Same goes for WW2 games and nazis. British vs Germans, Americans vs Germans, Soviets vs Germans.. Even Americans vs Japanese. Where's the other side?
Red Orchestra 2 will feature a "nazi" campaign. Playing from the German side on the eastern front. That should be interesting.
The
Sudden Strike series of WWII RTS games have always allowed for this. In the first game there was just a German campaign, but in later games there was a German campaign as well as a Japanese campaign.
Honestly, you could probably find Axis campaigns in quite a few RTS and simulation titles. I know there was at least on simulation game about German Panzerkampfwagens.
ANYWHO....
On topic. I honestly don't see that much of a problem. I can distinguish the difference between video games and reality, and I know these games play off stereotypes and old rivalries. I've played an enjoyed quite a few games where Russians have been portrayed as bad guys. Do I hate Russians? Nope. I actually find them and their country to be pretty interesting. If I made more money and could actually afford to take vacations, Russia would probably be at the top of the list.
If anything the common usage of Russia as an antagonist is kind of a compliment. What it says is that America in general considers Russians to be a potent enough threat to be worth fearing. It says that Americans consider Russians to be on equal footing in military might. And what do rivals typically do to each other? They poke fun, jab at each other's insecurities to try and promote themselves. It's a big back-and-forth game of posturing.
And with regard to the people saying that Americans are never the bad guys...
DID ANYONE ACTUALLY PLAY MW2?
Spoilers, Lieutenant General Shepherd ain't exactly an American hero.
And even beyond the CoD series... really... I see Americans as the main bad guys pretty much all the time. Evil American corporations, evil American businessmen, evil American mercenaries, evil American conspirators, evil American spies...
Then there are games like
Deus Ex where the American government and military are being used by villains with agendas, completely unaware of the fact that they're being used for evil.
I dunno. I guess in the end I just really don't see what the big deal is. Games need antagonists, and the only way to make an antagonist that won't upset anyone would be to have every single bad guy be an alien. Not only would that get increasingly stale and boring, but we'd have an awful lot of explaining to do the day we finally make first contact.
