GameSpot asks if Homefront (Upcoming Next Gen Game) may be joyless racism

Oh my goodness.

Dude, **** that excuse, and you know it. A crappy electrician could do a total botch job on your house that results in your house burning down. A plumber could accidentally flood your home with sewage. The fact that you can't do better doesn't mean it isn't valid to call him out on doing a shitty. Job. Hell, I don't know how to make a movie, or a song, or a video game. Does that mean that I can NEVER say that a movie, song, or video game doesn't work?

Furthermore, are you willing to live by your words? If you ever buy a shitty piece of hardware that malfunctions, are you just gonna be okay with that since you can't do better? If a cop hassles you unjustifiably and violates your cxivil rights, are you just gonna forgive that because you don't think you'd be able to do a better job as a cop?

Dude, NO. Recognizing that something is shit does NOT automatically entail personally having the knowledge and the means and the experience to do things better. That is not how things work.

So if I write a completely fictional story based in the future about how my wife starts banging the entire city as soon as I die, you don't think that MAYBE I'm saying that my wife is a whore?

If my niece read my novel about how she's dies at the age of 13 purely out of stupidity, and then my novel chronicles her misfortune as she gets tortured in hell, you don't think that she might get a little bit pissed off at me?

Are you really going to stand there and say that just because Star Trek and Idiocracy were future stories, that they weren't saying anything about contemporary society?

Do you even understand how fiction works? Have you ever even given the SLIGHTEST bit of thought to the various future-based stories that have become popular over the years?

I wouldn't look that deep into this game.

Star Trek is one thing but I'm pretty sure the devs just picked a less used enemy in games to warrant some interest for being different.

i might be wrong but the only other major game I remember N Korea being the "bad guy" was Crysis.

or was that China?

Possibly. But the problem here is that people are so defensive that they're flipping the **** out just because the interviewer is ASKING about the game. They're rejecting the mere POSSIBILITY that maybe the game is expressing some beliefs when "fictional stories that may or not be set in the future" have often historically been VERY much about making statements about the world at the time the story was written.

And that's the thing that grates on my nerves. I'm seeing lots of "free speech" and "if you don't like it then shut up" comments. But apparently the most vocal whiners are completely missing that the POINT of free speech is to allow for the communication of ideas and information. Dismissing any questioning on the grounds of "shut up, it's just a dumb fictional video game" actually works AGAINST the argument for free speech. If there are zero ideas being expressed through the medium, then what the hell difference does it make if we lose it? If it's so inconsequential that it can't be offensive and we're just supposed to stop discussing it when we have questions about it, then how the hell can it possibly benefit us?

YES, if it's worth being protected then it's worth people talking about it and asking questions about it. The fact that people flip out this much when someone merely asks about the creation shows that there's a HUGE way to go when it comes to appreciation of video games by even so-called fans. I'm seeing people asking to SHUT DOWN discussion about the decisions that went into making a video game, and the people asking to shut down such discussion are the actual gamers. That's ****ing insane. That's like a movie fan not wanting a director to do an interview because being asked questions "is an attack on free speech".

@uninspiredcup: Dumbest post I've seen this week, congrats.

Never mind, just read MrGeezers rant, you're off the hook uninspiredcup.

So the title of the article seems to be only loosely related to the article. The article is actually extremely gentle and upfront and nobody suggests that the game is offensive. Questions are asked and answers are given and none of the questions and none of the answers are shocking in any way.

So we have already established in history anyone can be the "bad" guys, so what's the problem?

Nobody complained about the dozens of WW2 FPS games where you shoot white people in the face.

@ten_pints: I thought white people were the most active participants of WWII.

Black people and Indians participated in WW2 sadly it wasn't until George Lucas Red Tails were acknowledged. Even then racist Hollywood tried to hold him back.

It's difficult to think of any video games in which you play a black man during WW2. Even within the context of white people, unless you're American, you're subordinate or outright dismissed.

Very ridiculous. Hmm.

#GenerationSnowflake infesting SW.............it's a sad day.

Find your safe space please. Fictional characters are driving people crazy.

Precisely. This was an extremely light interview. None of these questions were challenging or inflammatory, and this kind of light questioning is freaking standard when people talk about creative works. If video games can't even stand up to that level of scrutiny, if even easy questions such as these are considered off-limits and outrageous, then the people getting upset about this interview have no business ever trying to argue for the legitimacy of video games as an art form. Discussion about art is often just as important as art itself, and this is always going to be nothing but kid's stuff if people are too afraid of offending a developer to ask even light questions about the games that are being created. If you want something to be taken seriously then that's not gonna happen if you're not willing to take off the kid's gloves and subject it to actual scrutiny. Failure to discuss creative works actually STIFLES creativity.

Ironically, it's actually the "shut up and don't buy it" crowd who are asking for a safe place. The interviewer never took issue with the game's creation or suggested that it shouldn't be made, but a lot of gamers most certainly ARE asking to be protected from discussion about the game because they might not like where such discussion leads. To say "shut up and don't talk about it" is a VERY clear example of asking for a safe place from discussion that they might find objectionable.

@Juub1990: doesn't stop people making fictional games about it.

@MrGeezer: C,mon man, comparing works of fiction, which allows for personal freedom, to services of necessity is nonsense. Just because someone's own creation doesn't match his racism or his idea of non-fictional reality, doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. He has the right to complain but I have the right to say he's wasting his time doing so.

Complaining is one thing, but trying to have others works banned, censored or removed is wrong. Even if a plumber fucks things up, you have to pay for it whether or not they have to fix their mistakes. Trying to make it where artists do not get paid for their works is wrong on any level.

MrGeezer appears to have removed some shame from gaming community with wise words.

@uninspiredcup: Most of Hollywood is run by old Jewish men.

And the vast majority of participants in WW2 were white.

@MrGeezer: "this is stupid" and "I need a safe place" are 2 different things.

Either way TC posted this just to start shit and get a rise out of whoever.

This isn't the place for whrere this conversation is going. You're not a hero for saying what you said you're a pawn.

What, exactly (?) does this thread or topic have to do with System Wars again?

The thing is that people AREN'T just saying that the questions are stupid. What they're saying is that the game shouldn't be questioned because of "free speech" and "artist intent" and "it's just fiction." That's not how it works AT ALL. Just because I use my right to free speech to create a fictional work does not at all mean that that work should not be questioned and examined. The thing here is that people are very much suggesting that the work shouldn't be discussed because that might bring up some uncomfortable answers, and that is ABSOLUTELY akin to asking for a "safe space".

And if this isn't a topic for system wars, then a moderator can move it to another forum. As it stands, the topic IS on System Wars and it IS still open. So whether or not this is the place for this discussion is irrelevant. This is where this discussion is.

@mr_huggles_dog: Regardless of any personal opinion or motive, what he (MrGeezer) said was genuinely what people would term "common sense".

It's an unfortunate fact that gamers knee jerk throwing logic into the wind when anything they even remotely infringing upon perceived gaming freedoms.

Excuse me, but where in that interview was the interviewer trying to get the game banned, censored, or removed? Oh, they weren't even remotely trying to do such a thing, but were instead just asking simple questions about the game? Then why the hell did such a light interview end up with so many gamers immediately spouting off about free speech and rights?

@MrGeezer: I don't remember seeing anyone say it's bringing up uncomfortable answers.

Again regardless if this discussion is open or not....it was done to get a rise out of ppl. Someone who can't see that might not be a person worth listening to...bc said person doesn't see the full picture.

@uninspiredcup: motive has a lot to do with it.

I don't honestly think you care so I don't really give my honest opinion.

This is SW....most ppl aren't going to give this a hard look and it's not going to change lives. There are better things to do and other places to go with this information if you truly wanted do something.

I had to wonder: what does this subject has anyting to do with System Wars? Can it be moved to the general gaming forum?