Far Cry 4: A grenade rolls down everest

[brkl]

When power fantasies starring white people are business as usual, I don't see how a power fantasy starring another ethnicity would not be welcome.

[Bjorn]

How do you know how the dog feels?  Dogs seem thrilled at the chance to slurp up puke.  One of my cats gets so excited I have to lock her in another room to clean it up, if I even get a chance to clean before it's gone. 

[BFrank]

I thought the writing in FC2 and 3 was really great and self-aware on all of these subjects. It's always been a decidedly euro POV (it's got some of that post-colonial Tin Tin style adventure story theme going on), but always complicated enough that you couldn't really accuse Ubi of working racist tropes unambiguously. Or, at least, I couldn't.

 

I assume that people are making projections about how 4 will turn out based on their feelings about the last 2. I put them in the 'brave for engaging with this stuff, and at worst a little corny' category, personally.

[Merus]

guys this thread

 

I'm sorry.

[Architecture]

So I was watching a Twitch stream last night of Watch_Dogs. In the game, your mobile device automatically updates you with "relevant" information about the NPCs around you, I suppose to give the player insight into the fiction of the world (apparently some in-game missions are also initiated through this system). I think the conceit is that the player can leverage this information against his unsuspecting targets.

 

Anyway, one of the descriptors that came up for an NPC was "HOMOSEXUAL." In a big, bold sans serif typeface, just eating up the screen.

 

I was so disgusted, I'm not even sure where to begin. Anyway, it motivated me to waltz back in here and just say that I'm sorry for having caused any friction on this board. I found myself here because the discourse on the IT podcast seems so much more informed than the others I listen to, and I figured it would extend to the listeners of the show as well. I'd like to whole-heartedly apologize to anyone I might've offended, as my intention was solely to figure out why others were so averse to giving Ubisoft Montreal the benefit of the doubt.

 

Now it's absurdly clear that I was wrong.

[osmosisch]

I found myself here because the discourse on the IT podcast seems so much more informed than the others I listen to, and I figured it would extend to the listeners of the show as well.

 

Now it's absurdly clear that I was wrong.

I'm sorry, this just was too funny to leave hanging.

e: oops, this is a bad post to have as the first of a new page. Nobody get angry before reading the actual post I quote-mangled please.

[TychoCelchuuu]

[Twig]

Anyway, one of the descriptors that came up for an NPC was "HOMOSEXUAL." In a big, bold sans serif typeface, just eating up the screen.

WAIT WHAT

 

INCREDIBLE

 

WHAT

[Architecture]

There's precious little information out there about this, though I guess Polygon noticed it as well:

 

http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/23/5745986/watch-dogs-gameplay-video-walkthrough

[Twig]

I actually sort of like the idea of it as a criticism of our invasion of privacy from the government, etc. But it's probably an entirely surface level thing that serves no purpose. I wonder if it even needs to be more than a surface level thing, assuming they address the privacy issues appropriately elsewhere. Hmm.

 

Hmmm.

 

I find myself once again conflicted. Anyway this is a Far Cry 4 is Racist thread so what does homosexuality have to do with anything.

[Justin Leego]

Hello. Really appreciating the debate on both sides here. Topics of exclusion are seldom easy to discuss, think it's actually been relatively restrained so far (!) so good job all round.

Just to put my less eloquent cent into the pot. On the subject of non-caucasian protagonist possibilities, I am very interested in seeing that realized with greater and greater nuance.

But not convinced that stirring a melting pot of subcontinental racial tensions (if that is indeed the thematic direction) will neccesarily prove fruitful without bold and clear statements of authorial intention.

[Nachimir]

The Mad World Gears of War ad was ridiculous, Far Cry 3 failed at satire, and this latest Ubisoft stuff is just inscrutable but I don't feel like giving them the benefit of the doubt.

 

They reference serious things, they shove them into cutscenes, but ultimately they have to find a way of connecting them to the JUICY VIOLENCE, and that turns them into entertainment companies playing at making something more serious than what they actually do. Or at least, significant in different ways. I hope one day we'll look back on all of these games that are the equivalents of Michael Bay films and find attempts at "dealing with issues" in them ridiculous.

 

I think this is one of the primary things that makes video games still look so fucking idiotic to some people in other creative fields, and I'm embarrassed by it. There are tens of thousands of incredibly clever, technically and artistically skilled developers who, collectively, manage to spew this stuff out. I am really looking forward to the re-release of N.O.L.F.

 

Edit:

"A comprehensive examination of the marginalisation of indigenous people, but fun!"

"A long form mediation on the oppressive nature of mass surveillance and belief in big data, but fun!"

 

Either this trend dies, or we end up with studios trying to shoe horn it into racing games too.

[Bjorn]

"A comprehensive examination of the marginalisation of indigenous people, but fun!"

"A long form mediation on the oppressive nature of mass surveillance and belief in big data, but fun!"

 

 

 

Either this trend dies, or we end up with studios trying to shoe horn it into racing games too.

 

Global Warming: Kartz!  -  An examination of how humanity's consumerist culture of disposability has contributed to climate change, but fun!

[Apelsin]

Either this trend dies, or we end up with studios trying to shoe horn it into racing games too.

 

Oh, now I know what I'm writing into our design doc come Monday!

[ariskany_evan]

Oh, now I know what I'm writing into our design doc come Monday!

 

BUTT FUN

[miffy495]

 

 

 

Global Warming: Kartz!  -  An examination of how humanity's consumerist culture of disposability has contributed to climate change, but fun!

 

Done:

 

 

Fuel is an open world racing game set in a Mad Max-like post-apocalyptic world ravaged by extreme weather fueled by global warming, with players experiencing varying weather effects such as occasional tornadoes andsandstorms, as well as an accelerated day-night cycle.^[5] 

[Nachimir]

Fuck. There's no hope for any of us.

[Bjorn]

Done:

 

Holy shit, I had no idea that was the basis for that game.  Just remembered seeing the title and not really being interested in a racing game at the time.

[feelthedarkness]

To be fair the formative arcade games of my youth were vigilante fantasies, born out of recession nightmares. 

[Bjorn]

Oh good, Arma 3 is now officially Arma 3: Kartz, so now it's a realistic military simulation, but fun for the whole family!

 

 

 

I actually find this kinda awesome and hilarious, but figured it fit well with the theme here.

[Nachimir]

Well, since this is now the ridiculous games industry wishing thread, now I want a studio to announce a stealth game about the privatisation of public services.

[Gormongous]

Not to reopen old wounds, but Ubisoft previewed the first five minutes of the game today.

 

 

I love the setting, which just looks breathtaking, even the mud on the road, but about the rest I'm pretty lukewarm. The player character has an American passport and accent, the villain is a craaazy eccentric psycho who stabs his own subordinates and takes kidnapping selfies, and overall it just feels like a remix of Far Cry 3, complete with cack-handed meta-commentary about games-as-games ("There's a party waiting for you" and all that).

 

A couple people commenting on the RockPaperShotgun article also complained that the Nepalese soldiers were voiced by Indians speaking Hindu, which is disappointing if true. Less optimistic the more I hear, but still holding out hope.

[Griddlelol]

All the race bullshit aside, it still looks like a fucking fun game. Seeing an elephant charge and blow up a jeep made me laugh. Hard.

[Nachimir]

Status over the environment: Jazzed

 

Status over the tone, narrative, etc.: Unjazzed

[Gamemore]

 

Focusses a bit more on the gamey part of the gameplay, which looks pretty much like Far Cry 3 in a more interesting environment. I kind of like the idea of having drop-in co-op in an open world setting, far too little games realize you don't need extra missions to have fun blowing shit up with a friend.

Notable quote "For the first time in a Far Cry game you'll be attacked from above.". I kinda doubt that this is really the first time. Far Cry and Far Cry 2 were three-dimensional, right?

 

Also, as to the soldiers: Are we sure they are even supposed to be Nepalese? I thought the game was set in some sort of fictional kingdom and as far as I am aware part of the Himalaya is in Indian territory.