Popular video game reveals villain as “leader of the 99%”

Originally posted by darkbake
Back in the day, video games used to take pride in having the hero take down corrupt corporate or government leaders.

It's funny how the term back in the day is relative, from my perspective back in the day video games didnt have storylines.

reply to post by Drunkenparrot


yeah back in the day for me was pong, space invaders, and pacman. And i still have my atari 2600. it still works too

Wow. After how refreshing the plot-line was for the original Black-Ops (though the gameplay was anything but), they come up with this? On one side, a conspiratorial rewrite of recent history, on the other, a propagandized parody of current events. SMH, because I was actually considering this one after skipping MW3... back to waiting for Mechwarrior...

Originally posted by seabag

After months of teasing, Treyarch has finally revealed the villain of its upcoming first person shooter, Black Ops 2.

The game’s main villain is Raul Menendez, described as the “idolized Messiah of the 99%”—a Julian Assange-like character who’s old, experienced, and hell bent on starting a global insurrection against the status quo. He hands Sgt. Frank Woods, the protagonist of the first game, a necklace at the end of the trailer which symbolizes a connection between the two characters.

link

This is propaganda at its finest and a slap in the face to Occupy!

They have vilified Occupy and are conditioning the masses. Anybody who has read my threads knows that I’m no fan of the Occupy movement because of their violent and destructive actions time and again, so I think this portrayal is pretty funny. Obviously this game is fictional in nature. We all know Occupy doesn’t even have a ‘leader’, at least that's what we're lead to believe.

However, I find it interesting that this is coming not from the government or news media but from the entertainment industry.

Is the anti-Occupy sentiment spreading??

edit on 14-7-2012 by seabag because: (no reason given)

So you read that little bit and all you saw was the word "occupy?"
I don't even see it. The guy is about a lot more than "the leader of the 99%" whatever that means. Keep reading. Then sit there with that smug little smile and tell us all about how you want to side with the governments of the world because of their mass benevolence.

what if its reverse psychology and they actually want us to "rebel"... And that maybe that guy who will make us rebel, will be the douche of the universe

Interestingly, when I saw the headline for this thread, it immediately made me think of the fact that The Dark Knight Rises apparently features the villain Bane as the leader of an occupy-type movement. Then when I watched the trailer for the game, it turns to be written by the co-writer of Dark Knight Rises, David S Goyer. Curious.

reply to post by NavyDoc

So what is the new villain going to do: smoke some weed, not shower, ask for the government to take care of him, and then go home when mom & dad stop sending checks?

More than likely be out to kill the worthless people that destroyed this countries economy so they could make more money. You know the kind of scumbags the founding fathers were against.

Originally posted by buster2010
reply to post by NavyDoc

 

So what is the new villain going to do: smoke some weed, not shower, ask for the government to take care of him, and then go home when mom & dad stop sending checks?

More than likely be out to kill the worthless people that destroyed this countries economy so they could make more money. You know the kind of scumbags the founding fathers were against.

I was thinking more of an anti christ-ish thing, your idea is nice though.

Personally, Call of Duty storylines can be deceptively deep. I watch my little bro play, and it actually presents some pretty nice stories.

My take is that people on this forum should stop freaking whining about a game that hasn't been released yet. All we have is a vague synopsis. Which is almost assurdely misleading itself. Wait until the game is released before getting up in arms about government propaganda, ATS. Jesus Christ, act like adults and be patient!

reply to post by hiphoprevolution

dude...ur bit at the bottom.......... the entertainment industry is run/controlled by the govt....and so is the news...wake up sheepy.

I don’t play video games these days…and no need for name calling.

Do you think government monitors instruct video game makers on proper use of propaganda? Paranoid are we?

I woke up about a year ago and its great...

Are you sure?

if your not catching on i suggest you watch zeitgeist 1,2,3 or thrive...dare ya to, nah u havnt got the balls like i thought.....to scared to jump into the world of truth that deep down the child in you knows exists. peace

That’s RICH coming from a guy who just joined ATS.

reply to post by habitforming

So you read that little bit and all you saw was the word "occupy?"
I don't even see it. The guy is about a lot more than "the leader of the 99%" whatever that means.

Is there another group that calls themselves the “99%”?

Keep reading. Then sit there with that smug little smile and tell us all about how you want to side with the governments of the world because of their mass benevolence.

Some people just can’t seem to escape logical fallacy.

So because I despise the actions of Occupy I somehow support the governments of the world and all of their baggage? You really should think these things through before hitting the "reply" button.

Meh…

reply to post by buster2010

More than likely be out to kill the worthless people that destroyed this countries economy so they could make more money. You know the kind of scumbags the founding fathers were against.

So you can relate to this theme; you see the mission of Occupy as the desire to kill worthless rich people for perceived wrong doing?

I see it too! That plot wouldn't seem like much of a stretch consider the violence we've seen.

Glad someone came out of the closet.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
reply to post by seabag

 

I never liked these games in the first place, they marginalize the horrors of war and even make kids believe it's fun and cool and full of honor. It already was propaganda before this...

I'd disagree with a lot of this.

I'm not a massive gamer, but the call of duty games I've played have allowed gamers to control characters just before they are killed from first person perspective. Often these deaths are brutal and senseless executions or horrific ways to die. I've never seen a game discourage a person more from being a soldier and it's a giant step forward from games that were just senseless killing of foriegn power's militaries.

I'm not sure what it is about games, but if a movie shows a traumatic event it's at times okay, but if a game tries it ... it's senseless glorified violence?

Other than that, writers of games etc are getting increasingly media savvy and know how to kick up some attention. Tackling real world controversial issues is in vogue at the moment. I used to be you had to wait a good number of years before making a controversial movie, now you do it less than five years after the actual event.

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by buster2010

 

More than likely be out to kill the worthless people that destroyed this countries economy so they could make more money. You know the kind of scumbags the founding fathers were against.

So you can relate to this theme; you see the mission of Occupy as the desire to kill worthless rich people for perceived wrong doing?

I see it too! That plot wouldn't seem like much of a stretch consider the violence we've seen.

Glad someone came out of the closet.

edit on 15-7-2012 by seabag because: (no reason given)

Still living in your dream world huh? How many people have died due to the scumbags quest for more wealth? How many die during unnecessary wars that are started for profit of the few? How many die of starvation because they can't afford food? How many die because they can't afford to see a doctor or be able to pay for medicine? You seem to be happy being one of the brainwashed masses. I pity you.

reply to post by buster2010

Still living in your dream world huh? How many people have died due to the scumbags quest for more wealth? How many die during unnecessary wars that are started for profit of the few? How many die of starvation because they can't afford food? How many die because they can't afford to see a doctor or be able to pay for medicine? You seem to be happy being one of the brainwashed masses. I pity you.

I was agreeing with you.

I believe the story line that OWS would like to kill all worthless RICH people; that's what I gathered from their rhetoric. It’s refreshing to see an OWS supporter finally admit it and then further justify it in a second reply!

I cannot believe what sheep some people are. The game never even mentions Occupy. It mentions the 99%. Occupy is NOT the 99%. 99%. 99% is a portion, not a group. So in this game, rich government overlords hand you a gun and tell you to kill a guy because the vast majority of people on the planet support him. The OP says...where do I sign?

Seriously?

reply to post by Drunkenparrot


Obviously I don't recall correctly. No need to get up in arms. We don't have to go into the information regarding how inaccurate the human memory is historically do we?

Nice wiki source though. I would rather have seen a real source but okay. The only thing I can remember is people sitting in the road and some cop spraying them down. I don't remember anything about a smoke bomb.

Originally posted by Jedite
Or how about, maybe just maybe. You all better sit down for this it's a big on. It's just a damn game?

It is not just a game.
These games are designed hand in hand with the military.
They server very few purposes.
Most games of the type of action as these games are entertaining. These are not.
You shoot anything that moves until the screen yells "PRESS X NOW" or you watch a cutscene until the screen screams at you "PRESS B NOW." You never have to think or even be strategic. You just move forward and shoot. They are recruitment tools designed to make killing strangers seem easy and fun. This is not a secret. Now this one is setting up the player to take guns from their government masters and just kill anyone they are told is the enemy. Perfect!

Originally posted by Turq1
Those in the video game industry by and large tend to be liberal. So I wouldn't say this is bashing a movement.

The Occupy movement is popular at the moment and this amounts to free publicity, free money.

Even those in the military that work on games like Battlefield and COD?
Crazy libs in the military promoting OWS by painting them as the enemy.
You make a ton of sense.

reply to post by habitforming

It is not just a game.

Its the matrix?

These games are designed hand in hand with the military.

The military uses simulations, which is not in anyway like a CoD game.

Most games of the type of action as these games are entertaining. These are not.

Says you!

You shoot anything that moves until the screen yells "PRESS X NOW" or you watch a cutscene until the screen screams at you "PRESS B NOW." You never have to think or even be strategic. You just move forward and shoot.

CoD is a Tactical Shooter. Strategy is kinda the whole point.

They are recruitment tools designed to make killing strangers seem easy and fun.

I guess thats why I felt no guilt over all those hookers I killed, you maybe onto something here...

This is not a secret.

Well not anymore it sure isn't!

Now this one is setting up the player to take guns from their government masters and just kill anyone they are told is the enemy.

If you think thats bad, you should play GTA. I continue to rack up the body counts long after I set down the controller. In fact, I thinks its time for a nice drive...

I played shooter games for a very long time, since the 90s.

And guess what ? Call of Duty sucks. There are no new features worth anything, it's all a rehash of games I played 10 years ago with better gfx.

I guess it's ok for kids who don't know of anything better...

But seriously shooter games have become ultra-repetitive and the physics are crap.
Very low amounts of new content in each iteration of the title, etc.

I guess I am just more into the whole "It's 2012 we should have vehicles in our shooter games with large maps" thing. I was done with the "little tiny level cheap jump around spray and pray" crap around when I don't know, Counter Strike was starting to get boring?

When are they going to make me a new PC version of Battlefield 1942? 1943 was for console only and I was very upset about that.
Oh yeah, and check out the ARMA titles, they are quite entertaining if you collect some of the modifications out there on the net (or have time to design your own battles in the editor).