Non-Americans Can Like Homefront, Too

[Staskala]

If I may ask, what video games do you play and what tv shows or movies do you watch? I guarantee you I can easily dig political and social commentary out of them (especially Bioware, Bioware loves Thomas Hobbes so much it's insane).

Now hold it, what are we talking about here?
It's obvious that you can't get not influenced by the media you consume.
After all, every single person in a creative line of work will always write about what he thinks is right, about the ideologies and morals he identifies with and so on.
It's a given that you might pick up some of it, especially if it's well presented.

But that's not the issue here.
We're talking about a developer that's taking an actual political stance here.
I'm mostly referring to all that talk along the lines of "If NK could they would totally act like we show in this game!"

That's not presenting your own morals and ideals. That's not even political commentary.
It's just plain, old propaganda.

 

[viranimus]

哦，不！它可能是時間學習漢語。

Perhaps its not the scenario that is offputting, but the constant stream of clone shooters with very little difference between them that might be why people outside of the US might not be as interested.

You got to admit to look at it from an outside perspective, It really must seem like people in the US almost masturbate to Guns and Ammo magazine.

 

[Dyp100]

Maybe they they should stop advertising the games to Americans, for Americans.

The ads were like "SAVE AMERICA COS YOU'RE AMERICAN!" Yeah, but I'm not, and don't try to lie to me about it being about west ideals in general, because it's not.

In the end, it's going to be an America "FUCK YEAH" game with no real ideology difference between NK and the USA in the game.

 

[Kinguendo]

Yeah, I dont see the Universal appeal... unless they think we are all retarded. America gets screwed and thats it, the rest of the world can do nothing to stop NORTH KOREA from taking over. Doesnt help that Kim Jong-Un is a young idiot (his fathers words, not mine) either, yep world coudlnt stop some snot-nosed kid from turning a country on the brink of collapse into (apparently) the only super power on the planet.

 

[DaHero]

I wonder if they realize they're wasting their time...FPS and storyline doesn't mix. As soon as the game hits multiplayer it'll just be boiled down like every other FPS on the market, heck most FPS games out there have completely forgotten about storyline all together.

I applaud them don't get me wrong, they just probably should have focused on single player a lot...and not had multiplayer at all if they want to tell a story.

 

[John Funk]

Who the hell pissed in your cheerios? Nobody's saying that the next foreign horde is over the hill. Watch some interviews about the game, the staff hardly comes off as "nutcase rednecks."

Can't argue with people who don't understand what an analogy is.

Learn to read, dude. He's not saying that people in Chechnya or Afghanistan will sympathize with the poor americans. He's saying that the idea of wanting to defend your family and the place you sleep at night is pretty universal, no matter if you're American, Mexican, Afghan, or whatever.

Let me quote the article for you, 'dude'

"Any country is applicable, it's about defending something that you care about and that's dear to you."

So I took his little claim and applied it to some countries where people have actually been invaded. Of course, it would be remiss of me to assume that they actually want to market the game in those countries. But you see, it's blanket statements like this that create ill will towards the West. The idea that anyone in America, a country that has never been invaded in its history (unless you happen to be a Native American) could know the pain of invasion is just condescending.

These guys are releasing a fictional game about North Korea invading the USA at a time when tensions on the Korean peninsula are at an all-time high. That is the height of diplomatic insensitivity and they know it, but they're doubtless keen to cash in on the political climate - notice how he admits North Korea only became the antagonist later in the game's development? So in order to deflect any incoming flak about releasing such a game, they're making all these pretensions to sensitivity. It's about as transparent as an air curtain.

In all fairness to Kaos, the game has been in development for three years, and the North Koreans were the antagonists for at least two of them. So NK was chosen before the tension blew up. Kim Jong Il has been making anti-West statements for a LOT longer than this.

 

[JerrytheBullfrog]

Who the hell pissed in your cheerios? Nobody's saying that the next foreign horde is over the hill. Watch some interviews about the game, the staff hardly comes off as "nutcase rednecks."

Can't argue with people who don't understand what an analogy is.

Learn to read, dude. He's not saying that people in Chechnya or Afghanistan will sympathize with the poor americans. He's saying that the idea of wanting to defend your family and the place you sleep at night is pretty universal, no matter if you're American, Mexican, Afghan, or whatever.

Let me quote the article for you, 'dude'

"Any country is applicable, it's about defending something that you care about and that's dear to you."

So I took his little claim and applied it to some countries where people have actually been invaded. Of course, it would be remiss of me to assume that they actually want to market the game in those countries. But you see, it's blanket statements like this that create ill will towards the West. The idea that anyone in America, a country that has never been invaded in its history (unless you happen to be a Native American) could know the pain of invasion is just condescending.

These guys are releasing a fictional game about North Korea invading the USA at a time when tensions on the Korean peninsula are at an all-time high. That is the height of diplomatic insensitivity and they know it, but they're doubtless keen to cash in on the political climate - notice how he admits North Korea only became the antagonist later in the game's development? So in order to deflect any incoming flak about releasing such a game, they're making all these pretensions to sensitivity. It's about as transparent as an air curtain.

I understood your analogy perfectly, I just think you're wrong as hell.

Why do you have to be in a country that's been invaded to understand the idea of "my family and places I love are in danger, I want to protect them"? You're being wholly unreasonable in expecting a group of Americans to just say "hey, let's make a game about Afghans/some other people who we're not," and you're being idealistic if you don't think that advocacy groups would fuck them over for MISREPRESENTING (group X)

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I'd rather play as the Koreans myself.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

I understood your analogy perfectly, I just think you're wrong as hell.

Why do you have to be in a country that's been invaded to understand the idea of "my family and places I love are in danger, I want to protect them"? You're being wholly unreasonable in expecting a group of Americans to just say "hey, let's make a game about Afghans/some other people who we're not," and you're being idealistic if you don't think that advocacy groups would fuck them over for MISREPRESENTING (group X)

I'm not assuming they wouldn't get in trouble for that. I'm not saying it's insensitive to produce a game which explores these themes, but that it's laughable on their part to declare that the game can give a sensitive treatment of this issue when so much of it is based around an insensitive portrayal of international politics. Anyway, the real reason Kaos' claim doesn't hold water with me is that the American media was quick to throw a huge shit fit over the very IDEA of a sympathetic portrait of people defending THEIR homeland in Medal of Honor (which wasn't even what the game was about!), so for Kaos to claim theirs is more sensitive is nothing but hypocrisy, because the only difference is that it's from the perspective of Americans. It's that kind of double standard which makes people consider these assertions of having universal themes to be insensitive.

 

[JerrytheBullfrog]

I understood your analogy perfectly, I just think you're wrong as hell.

Why do you have to be in a country that's been invaded to understand the idea of "my family and places I love are in danger, I want to protect them"? You're being wholly unreasonable in expecting a group of Americans to just say "hey, let's make a game about Afghans/some other people who we're not," and you're being idealistic if you don't think that advocacy groups would fuck them over for MISREPRESENTING (group X)

I'm not assuming they wouldn't get in trouble for that. I'm not saying it's insensitive to produce a game which explores these themes, but that it's laughable on their part to declare that the game can give a sensitive treatment of this issue when so much of it is based around an insensitive portrayal of international politics. Anyway, the real reason Kaos' claim doesn't hold water with me is that the American media was quick to throw a huge shit fit over the very IDEA of a sympathetic portrait of people defending THEIR homeland in Medal of Honor (which wasn't even what the game was about!), so for Kaos to claim theirs is more sensitive is nothing but hypocrisy, because the only difference is that it's from the perspective of Americans. It's that kind of double standard which makes people consider these assertions of having universal themes to be insensitive.

Sorry, not following you. It's speculative fiction, and I for one am glad that they're not going with tired old Russians or whatever. It's saying "North Korea is a warlike, aggressive state with illusions of grandeur" (which is true, don't say it isn't) "what happens if it somehow had the capacity to act on that"? In fact, the fact that it's such an unrealistic scenario (we all know NK is only really dangerous for its missiles) is arguably MORE sensitive.

And what are you talking about with MOH? The big controversy was allowing people to play as Taliban. There was nothing about them being portrayed sympathetically; it was the same durka durka muhammad jihad we see in every middle eastern portrayal, the shit fit was about just calling them Taliban as opposed to Opposing Force.

Not to mention that "hypocrisy" has nothing to do with it. Kaos would be hypocritical if they were INSULTING EA, but they had no voice in the argument there. They're only saying here (if I'm reading the interview right) that they don't think people will be as upset or that it will be as controversial as MOH, because it isn't a real world conflict where you or I might have a brother fighting there.

I see nothing hypocritical in it. What they're saying in the interview is that the themes would be the same whether they were making a game about AFghans defending Afghanistan (let's set it in the 70s/80s and say it's against the Soviets to get over that hump), Aussies defending Australia, French resistance fighting in France in WW2, whatever. It's about trying to defend and protect a place you love and hold dear, and of seeing familiar places made alien.

But, because they're an American company, they're choosing to set it in... the place they know, THEIR home.

There is nothing wrong with this.

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

If the game is good, people will play it, regardless of where they live.

 

[WanderingFool]

If the game is good, people will play it, regardless of where they live.

Agreed, and from what ive heard and seen, it hopefully will be.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

It's funny how the USA drags us the sentiment of constant, neverending warfare into our societal way of life, there's just so many US companymade War related games, that it would be futile to enumerate them.

just think about it.

 

[teknoarcanist]

Yeah why do I feel like like this is going to amount to a bunch of cutscenes where the main character whines about his wife . . .

OH WAIT.

Seriously, the only way to do this right would be if the first two hours of the game put you on the oppressed/invaded end of things, where you wake up, hang out with your family, drive your truck to work, the office gets invaded by Koreans, you're shepherded into an internment line...and you don't get a gun or any kind of proactive powers for a very, very long time.

Which I think we can agree is not what this game is going to entail.

 

[gl1koz3]

Universal one place.

North Korea is barely perceived as anything other than a bit dug in and reluctant to try new things (people that I know of don't even care about bringing it up). Talking about how they try conquering the world is just waaay too much of a long shot and is plainly a paranoia of misinformation.

 

[Blind Sight]

If I may ask, what video games do you play and what tv shows or movies do you watch? I guarantee you I can easily dig political and social commentary out of them (especially Bioware, Bioware loves Thomas Hobbes so much it's insane).

Now hold it, what are we talking about here?
It's obvious that you can't get not influenced by the media you consume.
After all, every single person in a creative line of work will always write about what he thinks is right, about the ideologies and morals he identifies with and so on.
It's a given that you might pick up some of it, especially if it's well presented.

But that's not the issue here.
We're talking about a developer that's taking an actual political stance here.
I'm mostly referring to all that talk along the lines of "If NK could they would totally act like we show in this game!"

That's not presenting your own morals and ideals. That's not even political commentary.
It's just plain, old propaganda.

I suggest you take a look at VBS TV's travel guide of North Korea online. It's a very interesting look at North Korea from a 'tourist' perspective, and what they experience throughout their trip is constant propaganda about the evils of American and Western imperialism, the North's position as 'the last anti-imperialist force on the planet' and their absolute devotion to both communism and Kim Jong-Il. Hell, there's even a song about 'freeing the world from American capitalist oppression'. If anything, Homefront is borrowing directly from North Korea's propaganda claims as much as the United States'.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

You know I was reading through all these posts and felt like responding to some (whether about the plot or the theme of the game), but then I stoped and realized: "Wait, this is all just speculation. The game isn't out now and yet people are already making serious judgements about it. I'm just gonna wait until it comes out and I can judge it by itself, not its trailers and my experiences with games in general."

So yeah, can't wait for it to come out to see if its good. Hopefully it will be a fun game and will pull of the themes they're saying it will, but I'll have to wait and see. I can entirely see this as just being another mediocre game where everyone had too high expectations for it.

 

[Thaluikhain]

"Wait, this is all just speculation. The game isn't out now and yet people are already making serious judgements about it. I'm just gonna wait until it comes out and I can judge it by itself, not its trailers and my experiences with games in general."

That's a reasonable viewpoint. But...media frenzy is fun.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Of course non-Americans will like Homefront. The big bully United States taken down by North Korea? They'll be laughing at us all the way to the end credits.

Well let's just take a wild guess who the hero/winner will be at the end?
You can be assured it will be the typically Hollywood spin on it as an extremely pro-American game, because all non americans are clearly evil, and a big bad american hero will come to save the day, and freedom and democracy and McDonalds and baby seals and Justin Bever... maybe not him, but you get the idea.