The China Syndrome
- Thread starter Robert Rath
- Start date
This is a fantastic sort of article that we need more of here
The whole China thing is weird though, because I know lots of chinese people or people with chinese parents and they're always very proud of their home country and want to show off it's achievements and successes, but China also does one 1984 style thing after another. It's weird, like the people and the government exist in two completely different places and the events happen on completely different levels. I mean people can still be persecuted for just having the wrong religion yet a lot of it's people seem to be happy and completely unaffected
The whole China thing is weird though, because I know lots of chinese people or people with chinese parents and they're always very proud of their home country and want to show off it's achievements and successes, but China also does one 1984 style thing after another. It's weird, like the people and the government exist in two completely different places and the events happen on completely different levels. I mean people can still be persecuted for just having the wrong religion yet a lot of it's people seem to be happy and completely unaffected
I think I have a solution to keep both the Chinese and South Korean markets.
Make every nation-antagonist in all videogames Atlantis. That way nobody complains.
[sub][sub]Sorry Aquaman.[/sub][/sub]
Make every nation-antagonist in all videogames Atlantis. That way nobody complains.
[sub][sub]Sorry Aquaman.[/sub][/sub]
The odd thing about Crysis and Homefront is that before this article mentioned they had Koreans as enemies seemed to remember them being Chinese.
As for the rest of the article; very interesting read.
I'd say we need more articles like this here, but I won't because I can't really define what "like this" is except for words that don't really say much, like "good" and so forth.
Basically the Escapist needs more good articles?
As for the rest of the article; very interesting read.
I'd say we need more articles like this here, but I won't because I can't really define what "like this" is except for words that don't really say much, like "good" and so forth.
Basically the Escapist needs more good articles?
Thanks, I appreciate that! I'll be here every Thursday.BrotherRool said:
China is a strange place full of contradictions. It's a culture that's been around thousands of years, capped by a government whose political philosophies are less than a century old. They're supposedly Communist, but they have one of the largest capitalist markets in the world. They're major trade partners of the United States, and yet they regularly attack us through cyberspace as both sides build up Pacific fleets to counter the other. Added to that, there are major divisions between the older generation that grew up with Communism and the younger generation that's steeped in internet and consumer culture.
Basically, China is changing very rapidly while still trying to retain its cultural identity and strong central control. That makes it a really dynamic, interesting, and sometimes quite frightening place.
There's an old Chinese proverb that roughly translates as "The montain is high, and the Emperor is far away." It describes exactly what you're saying, China is a big country and the Politburo can only effect so much.BrotherRool said:
Back on topic: This kind of article, dealing more with the politics and psychology of game design is always nice to see, they realy help to differentiate The Escapist from any other gaming website. Quite high-brow, keep it up.
China my be officially communist but the reality is that very little has changed from the past. There is an all embracing bureaucracy which is largely corrupt and runs the country for the benefit of those at the top. The biggest difference is that there no longer an hereditary emperor but power shifts every 10 years. The bureaucracy is entirely unaccountable to anyone but themselves. The younger generation may be steeped in internet and consumer culture but that does not preclude them from Chinese nationalism. Those in charge know this and use the foreign bogeyman whenever possible.Robert Rath said:
On topic. Guess what just like google and apple, games studios act all anti establishment and against the man right up until the moment it threatens their commercial opportunities. Nothing new in that. An Iranian game featuring George Washington as a leader of French backed terrorists in the 18 century wouldn't sell that well in the US and undoubtedly some congressmen would jump and down and threaten retaliations. I'm not trying to justify China's position but companies aren't going to cut their own throat over it.
Excellent article! I am looking forward to reading you every Thursday sir, keep up the good work.
I always wondered about this when stuff comes out with North Korea as the villains. I mean, North Korea physically invades the US? With every single one of their 25 million people (men, women, and children)? LA would stop them cold all on its own.
(Yeah, I read the Wikipedia article for it, and they do some interesting ballet to get North Korea into an actual power, but that can be safely ignored as impossible.)
(Yeah, I read the Wikipedia article for it, and they do some interesting ballet to get North Korea into an actual power, but that can be safely ignored as impossible.)
I understand the financial reasons for making such changes, but it bothers me a lot that game and movie companies are so willing to cater to one country in the world. While China has a lot of people and is a potentially huge market (once the piracy issue is worked on), it's still one country, and I hate my products being subject to their censorship.
Also, the changes defy my ability to suspend disbelief. I can almost imagine (for example) an invasion by China. They have a lot of manpower, a good tech base and an aggressive history. North Korea though... imagining them invading the USA is rather like imagining a Pomeranian taking on a Rottweiler. The little Pom is going to get eaten, and the Rottweiler is barely going to notice. It's just not believable.
Also, the changes defy my ability to suspend disbelief. I can almost imagine (for example) an invasion by China. They have a lot of manpower, a good tech base and an aggressive history. North Korea though... imagining them invading the USA is rather like imagining a Pomeranian taking on a Rottweiler. The little Pom is going to get eaten, and the Rottweiler is barely going to notice. It's just not believable.
But on the other hand what's the point in writing a story where China, a country that the US is supposed to have friendly relations with, is the villain in the first place?I mean even when Russia's used as an enemy it's because some radical group organizes a coup or something, but when it's China, it's just... China that decides to take over the world. Obviously they would be pissed.Royas said:
Now I'm not saying that they're not a country with problems or anything, but if you're supposed to be "friends" with someone you can't go around talking shit about them.
That is another element to it. It seems to me that if game companies want to appeal to the Chinese, they shouldn't really be portraying them as murderous villains in the first place. I thought we were passed the whole soulless Soviet propaganda movie thing in the 80s, but it seems were still okay with telling the same story even today.Gatx said:
The best way around it would be to simply cast the protagonist as a non-American, thus allowing you to pick and choose which nation is antagonising the hero. It is just as tasteless, but at least you can pick a nation who's inevitable boycotting of your game will be negligable in terms of sales. Might as well go full bastard with this sort of thing.
I live and teach in China, and this was an interesting article. Someone brought up the Fallout franchise. As far as I can tell the one that was pirated and put out in China, (Because people here don't pay money for RPGs only micro-transactions) still shows China as the main enemy. Many of my students liked that because it shows China winning at war or being strong or something. It's really only the government that doesn't want to be seen as corrupt. It's like how politicians in the U.S. think people can't tell the difference between game worlds and the real worlds because someone goes crazy once in awhile. The PRC thinks that anything put out there fictionally must also mean that people believe it to be like 100% true...
P.S. In the piracy mentioned above I am not saying I DLed it and I know piracy is not a topic I should talk about, but I need to make it clear that there are the versions that is released in China and then there are pirated and hacked versions which are much more common and usually not neutered.
P.S. In the piracy mentioned above I am not saying I DLed it and I know piracy is not a topic I should talk about, but I need to make it clear that there are the versions that is released in China and then there are pirated and hacked versions which are much more common and usually not neutered.
