Indie First Person Shooter
by Anton Bursch · 11/04/2007 (6:16 pm) · 24 comments
So, the Gap is the latest corporation to get caught using child slave labor. They claim no knowledge, that it was a subcontract from one of their contractors. Ok. Maybe. Doesn't change the fact that children were working 16 hours a day, sleeping on a roof, using overflowed urinals, eating misquito covered rice, being beaten for slow labor and if they cried being beaten an oil soaked cloth was stuffed in their mouths. This brings me to the point of my blog. Something I've been thinking for a long time.
With all of the anti-terrorist and anti-nazi and anti-communist and anti-alien and anti-demon first person shooters to play... what about an anti-enslavement first person shooter? If I am going to mow down someone with a mini-gun, how about the people who are running slave labor shops?
How about sex slave traders as well. And the pigs who come from free countries who are paying for sex with children.
It would be like Splinter Cell... only it would go after a group of monsters who are being ignorned.
You know, when I think of why these people are being ignored, the only reason I can see is that these monsters are enslaving and torturing and killing women and children. They are not a threat to men. Huh. That's kinda messed up.
I wonder what the anti-violent video game people would say to a first person shooter in which you blew the balls off of a child rapist or took the pipe away from the guy who's been beating the woman who isn't sewing fast enough and gave him a beating.
What would we say to that game?
Would that cross the line between fantasy and reality too much? Would that make a first person shooter actually matter? Actually inform gamers of the kind of horrors that are happening in the world that they can stop, maybe not by killing, of course, but by not buying from stores that use slave labor. Or allowing porn from countries using slaves.
That would be an indie first person shooter. Don't know if it would make any money. I wonder if it would make any difference though?
With all of the anti-terrorist and anti-nazi and anti-communist and anti-alien and anti-demon first person shooters to play... what about an anti-enslavement first person shooter? If I am going to mow down someone with a mini-gun, how about the people who are running slave labor shops?
How about sex slave traders as well. And the pigs who come from free countries who are paying for sex with children.
It would be like Splinter Cell... only it would go after a group of monsters who are being ignorned.
You know, when I think of why these people are being ignored, the only reason I can see is that these monsters are enslaving and torturing and killing women and children. They are not a threat to men. Huh. That's kinda messed up.
I wonder what the anti-violent video game people would say to a first person shooter in which you blew the balls off of a child rapist or took the pipe away from the guy who's been beating the woman who isn't sewing fast enough and gave him a beating.
What would we say to that game?
Would that cross the line between fantasy and reality too much? Would that make a first person shooter actually matter? Actually inform gamers of the kind of horrors that are happening in the world that they can stop, maybe not by killing, of course, but by not buying from stores that use slave labor. Or allowing porn from countries using slaves.
That would be an indie first person shooter. Don't know if it would make any money. I wonder if it would make any difference though?
About the author
#22
Most people already know that rape is bad. An edu-game about how rapists are bad sounds boring. That really just comes down to good storytelling, though.
That's my 2c.
11/06/2007 (9:26 pm)
I want my games to entertain me, not lecture me. If a game is too preechy it becomes boring and begins to annoy people, even those who might already agree with the message. That's not to say that games can't educate or inspire people, but it has to be done correctly. If you're too gung-ho about "shooting those mf's" you risk alienating your audience. I actually like the reporter idea, but if the premise was simply, "your character hates mf's because mf's are bad and wants to expose them for the mf'ing mf's they mf'ing are... mf!" I would probably not play the game because it doesn't sound compelling.Most people already know that rape is bad. An edu-game about how rapists are bad sounds boring. That really just comes down to good storytelling, though.
That's my 2c.
#23
This is a group of monsters who are mostly getting away with their brutality. If a game could bring that to light and start mainstream dialog it would be a good thing.
11/07/2007 (5:43 am)
You know if you combined the stealth like approach of Thief or Splinter Cell with journalist with a camera where you try to sneak in and film the atrocities then make your escape with no detection I think it would be great Anton.This is a group of monsters who are mostly getting away with their brutality. If a game could bring that to light and start mainstream dialog it would be a good thing.
#24
* In the "spectacle vs. thoughtful" debate, what you have to ask is A) can my method really convince someone or is it just offensive (i.e. writing an essay vs. burning a flag, etc.) but also B) is anyone going to hear about or read my thoughtful essay, vs. doing something spectacularly offensive that gets on the front page (or in all the gaming mags)? There are all kinds of solutions that don't offend anyone and seem inherently "more productive" but they very often fail to attract any attention, because they appear to the average observer to be, for lack of a better word, boring. This problem extends well beyond the world of gaming and through all different sorts of political activism, and explains the propensity of certain types to engage in controversial tactics to get their message out.
* Re: "I want my games to be fun, not preachy" there are also two ways to look at that, being A) there are lots and lots of games in the world, and the vast majority are doing nothing whatsoever except trying to be fun. I think there's plenty of room there for games that try to still be fun, but also say something real about the world. The other extreme, unfortunately, is B) the large number of educational games that forgot all about being fun, because they were made by Education PhDs who hate fun and would be embarrassed to create anything that was the least bit entertaining. I think edu-games are a great idea, but they don't work if no one wants to play them. For that reason, I would definitely lean toward a game that let me tear up an outlaw rapist bandit camp, as opposed to skulking around taking pictures and hoping to somehow sway public opinion with my earnest documentary. That kind of work is what real life is for. If it's a game I want to KILL the mfers. :-)
Edit: oh yeah, and also armed monkeys, that's a great idea. And bears, never neglect your right to arm bears.
11/07/2007 (3:09 pm)
Wow, good discussion here! Some points that occur to me:* In the "spectacle vs. thoughtful" debate, what you have to ask is A) can my method really convince someone or is it just offensive (i.e. writing an essay vs. burning a flag, etc.) but also B) is anyone going to hear about or read my thoughtful essay, vs. doing something spectacularly offensive that gets on the front page (or in all the gaming mags)? There are all kinds of solutions that don't offend anyone and seem inherently "more productive" but they very often fail to attract any attention, because they appear to the average observer to be, for lack of a better word, boring. This problem extends well beyond the world of gaming and through all different sorts of political activism, and explains the propensity of certain types to engage in controversial tactics to get their message out.
* Re: "I want my games to be fun, not preachy" there are also two ways to look at that, being A) there are lots and lots of games in the world, and the vast majority are doing nothing whatsoever except trying to be fun. I think there's plenty of room there for games that try to still be fun, but also say something real about the world. The other extreme, unfortunately, is B) the large number of educational games that forgot all about being fun, because they were made by Education PhDs who hate fun and would be embarrassed to create anything that was the least bit entertaining. I think edu-games are a great idea, but they don't work if no one wants to play them. For that reason, I would definitely lean toward a game that let me tear up an outlaw rapist bandit camp, as opposed to skulking around taking pictures and hoping to somehow sway public opinion with my earnest documentary. That kind of work is what real life is for. If it's a game I want to KILL the mfers. :-)
Edit: oh yeah, and also armed monkeys, that's a great idea. And bears, never neglect your right to arm bears.
Torque Owner Anton Bursch
Yeah, I got Josh's point. I was trying to continue a conversation with everyone.
I read an interview with Robert Redford about his movie Lions for Lambs. I like what he said right from the begining of the interview.