| smellygoat said: It's easier for people from countries who have never lost a war to enjoy games about war. Theres a reaosn germany is so strict with its game censorship. |
Yet there's all those Vietnam games...
I wonder what the response of US / UK gamers would be if a great FPS hit the market (I mean COD4 level of excellence) but you played an Arab foiling a US / UK plot (led by a spilnter group in the military of course) and had to take out lots of marines and SAS soldiers in the process...
I think the humans angle comes from the following areas:
1 - multiplayer - it became massive thanks to Doom and there was nothing better than knowing you were playing (and beating) another human being (who was smarter than a computer controlled foe)... and I think this started a trend that playing against human avatars meant they were smarter than aliens and therefore a more worthy foe
2 - while aliens, etc. are seen as SF or fantasy and perhaps harder to relate to - humans and real world settings make all to familiar gambits (something reinfored by films/TV) and therefore have a broader appeal. So some don't like SF settings, some don't like fantasy settings but most can relate to real world settings. I would note that while I always prefer more outlandish settings (I figure if I want reality I'll go out into it, while onscreen I can be in deep space, etc) many dislike it when settings move to far from more the norm (I remember the outcry about Xen in Half Life as being too alien and too difficult to adjust to).
3 - we see humans as the toughest enemy in real life therefore in games they also represent the toughest and therefore most worthy enemy
4 - most aliens and fantasy creatures are just humans in disguise anyway - i.e. Trek like they mostly are humanoid and easy to relate to - which reinforces the notion of fighting people in familiar settings
5 - the known fasination many males (16 to 26) have with war and combat scenarios - so fighting humans and fighting in settings such as COD4 allows you to satisfy that fasination
Actually, I'm going to stop there as none of the above really gels for me. I'm really curious about the clear, strong like to big titles and fighting humans (or very close to human aliens) vs games such as SMG and his friendlie ilk... but I need to think about it more.
