Poll: Why isn't Australia in any shooters?
- Thread starter Dylan Bonnett
- Start date
Clearly my friend, a Canadian studio needs to team up with an Australian one, and make an FPS where the Canadian Corps and the ANZACs team up to win World War One, since we both did all the heavy lifting for the Commonwealth in that war.Dylan Bonnett said:
It suprises me considering everything in Australia will try to eat you, kill you or poison you. Maybe not the sheep...maybe.
Well you could pester valve to make some Australian themed maps in TF2.In that universe Australia is supposed to be a utopian future country so that would be very fun.
Aussie characters? It happens more often than our share, really, when you consider our population as a percentage of the whole world. Why aren't there more Indian game characters? Or Brazilians? They are far more under-represented...
But why can't we use Australia as a setting for an FPS? Probably because there has never been a 'proper' war fought on our soil - the only large scale armed conflicts on our shores involved lots of white guys shooting lots of black guys. Not the most appealing or appropriate scenario for a historical shooter.
But our military has certainly taken part in lots of military campaigns that would be good game scttings, though it is slightly trickier to find ones that were entirely Aussie troops. You could probably make a kickass stealth game out of Aussie operations in Timor during WW2. A few hundred guys evaded capture by the japanese when the main force was taken, and proceeded to band together with the local Timorese people to conduct Australia's first guerilla war against the Japanese. Those few hundred engaged and bogged down thousands of Japanese troops, and maintained engagement with the enemy longer than any other Aussie unit in the war. Impressive as hell, and loads of opportunities for gaming gold.
But why can't we use Australia as a setting for an FPS? Probably because there has never been a 'proper' war fought on our soil - the only large scale armed conflicts on our shores involved lots of white guys shooting lots of black guys. Not the most appealing or appropriate scenario for a historical shooter.
But our military has certainly taken part in lots of military campaigns that would be good game scttings, though it is slightly trickier to find ones that were entirely Aussie troops. You could probably make a kickass stealth game out of Aussie operations in Timor during WW2. A few hundred guys evaded capture by the japanese when the main force was taken, and proceeded to band together with the local Timorese people to conduct Australia's first guerilla war against the Japanese. Those few hundred engaged and bogged down thousands of Japanese troops, and maintained engagement with the enemy longer than any other Aussie unit in the war. Impressive as hell, and loads of opportunities for gaming gold.
Because nobody gives a crap about Australia. When was the last time they were relevant to anything? Granted, as a gamer-centric website most of us are aware of the great land of Oz solely because of the anti-video game bullshit that goes on over there - but what else?
It'd be like having a FPS set in the Netherlands or Kazakhstan - Not that these countries are particularly bad (Okay, I'm lying: Kazakhstan is a total and complete shit-hole), it's just that places like Australia are a little absent from the world stage.
Take Africa for example: mostly a god-forsaken wasteland, but every modern FPS now has some sort of Africa-based level because of all the war, famine, plague, riots, and commonplace horrible shit that gets everyone's attention.
But I agree; I've been to Oz, and I loved the place. Even that big blank spot you guys call 'The Outback'. I actually think it would be a great setting for open-world games, or hell, anything vehicle-related a-la Mad Max.
* Must note: Even though Fallout was inspired by the Mad Max trilogy, the setting has always been uniquely American. Especially with the first two games of the series: It takes place in an apocalyptic retrofuture that parodies the US world view and futurism of the 1950's era. From the architecture, dialog, and robots to the weapons and clothing, everything was designed to evoke the trends and mannerisms of a time that many in the US still falsely (your mileage may vary) believe to be "the good ol' days" of our past. I could go deeper into what I liked about Fallout 1 & 2, but I just wanted to address the statement on Fallout in the OP.
It'd be like having a FPS set in the Netherlands or Kazakhstan - Not that these countries are particularly bad (Okay, I'm lying: Kazakhstan is a total and complete shit-hole), it's just that places like Australia are a little absent from the world stage.
Take Africa for example: mostly a god-forsaken wasteland, but every modern FPS now has some sort of Africa-based level because of all the war, famine, plague, riots, and commonplace horrible shit that gets everyone's attention.
But I agree; I've been to Oz, and I loved the place. Even that big blank spot you guys call 'The Outback'. I actually think it would be a great setting for open-world games, or hell, anything vehicle-related a-la Mad Max.
* Must note: Even though Fallout was inspired by the Mad Max trilogy, the setting has always been uniquely American. Especially with the first two games of the series: It takes place in an apocalyptic retrofuture that parodies the US world view and futurism of the 1950's era. From the architecture, dialog, and robots to the weapons and clothing, everything was designed to evoke the trends and mannerisms of a time that many in the US still falsely (your mileage may vary) believe to be "the good ol' days" of our past. I could go deeper into what I liked about Fallout 1 & 2, but I just wanted to address the statement on Fallout in the OP.
I can just imagine it taking place in the wilderness. You'd also have to contend with the wildlife as well as the people you were fighting. Just imagine, you're trekking through the undergrowth when A KOALA LATCHES ONTO YOUR FACE!!!! You snap its neck, and just as you're recovering, you're bowled over by a fucking kangaroo! It knocks you out, and you wake up, just as an enemy patrol is walking past a few yards away. Because of the fauna, they haven't seen you. If you can retrieve your gun and move quietly, you might be able to get away, or even launch a sneak attack. The problem? There's a fuck-off big spider on your chest, and it's creeping up to your face. Move even slightly too fast, it'll bite. If you slowly move your hand closer, it'll still strike.
Awesome.
Awesome.
wel in cc3 its featrd as one of the countries where th econfilct escaltes but in shooters i never ever dit see autralia (sorry for bad englich)
Why do games have to be in places? I like Saints Row's 2 and its Still Water and other games with places that aren't real. It leaves a lot up to the imagination of the developer tahther than trying to make a replica of his own city so good that he can actually go to his own house open it and see his house furnished just like it is in the room where he keeps the TV where he plays.
OK, rant aside, it's because the developers and the audience (or so they think) are usually America. They don't know Australia and well, not knowing about the place you write about it very bad. When you have to take time to actually learn about it for a game that is most likely going to contain some unlikely story where you expect everyone to buy it for the multiplayer. It would be a very bad game. It would contain fake Australian accent, they would expect their politics to be inferior to American politics simply because they don't impose their politics on the rest of the world. They wouldn't know the laws, the culture, the country. IT would basically be a game with Americans running around having racial stereotypes and fake Australian accents in a world looking vaguely like Australia. I might be wrong though.
OK, rant aside, it's because the developers and the audience (or so they think) are usually America. They don't know Australia and well, not knowing about the place you write about it very bad. When you have to take time to actually learn about it for a game that is most likely going to contain some unlikely story where you expect everyone to buy it for the multiplayer. It would be a very bad game. It would contain fake Australian accent, they would expect their politics to be inferior to American politics simply because they don't impose their politics on the rest of the world. They wouldn't know the laws, the culture, the country. IT would basically be a game with Americans running around having racial stereotypes and fake Australian accents in a world looking vaguely like Australia. I might be wrong though.
Because Canada invades Australia wouldn't be of huge interest. They have to make it somewhat of a fair fight and Australia dose not boast a huge military. Two middle weights is not a fight that sells out the arena except for a rare championship match. Its the heavy weight matches which bring in the crowds so that is what they give us.
I couldn't think of a more equivalent nation, there probably is one but i don't know enough about the military powers of the modern nations in the 100,000-150,000 troop range.
I couldn't think of a more equivalent nation, there probably is one but i don't know enough about the military powers of the modern nations in the 100,000-150,000 troop range.
My guess is that they just haven't thought of it, but I think it could be really cool. You know some kind of Far Cry 2 style free roam through the Outback, maybe have a machanic where you have to look out for wild animals as well as human enemies (I mean lets face it Australian wild life is pretty bad ass). I mean I'd buy that.
