Games in America and You!

[Same River New Water]

My guess is that it has something to do with America being a free country

Here are the countries of the world ranked by democratic freedom, as rated by The Economist:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index#2008_ranking
The USA polls strongly, at #18. But how many games star main characters from:
1 Sweden
2 Norway
3 Iceland
4 Netherlands
5 Denmark
6 Finland
7 New Zealand
8 Switzerland
9 Luxembourg
10 Australia
11 Canada
12 Ireland
13 Germany
14 Austria
15 Spain
16 Malta
17 Japan

 

[Same River New Water]

Okay biggest identifiable audience the "western world" or english speaking world is heavily influenced by america and like it or not America is prolly the one most likely to be involved in any conflict that arises in games. So hence most logical to make a game revolving around America or western european soldeirs/whatever.

That's why most games do star Americans, but it's no reason why they should. It's like saying "we should make a TV show about dancing because a lot of TV shows are about dancing right now." It's TV executive logic.

As a side note, there are more wars going on in the world than the ones you hear about. Of course the American media is going to report mostly on wars that involve America, but if you were in Africa, for example, it would be a very different story. See Far Cry 2 for example.

 

[Flying-Emu]

I don't understand the point of this thread. Games are set in America because it's a large country that has a number of instantly recognizable locations as well as varied terrain. It's not rocket science.

 

[The_Echo]

Home consoles started in America, Americans are a large part of the audience, many game companies are based in America or have American development teams, et cetera et cetera. America is like a cornerstone for the game industry.

 

[quack35]

Why does it bother you so much?

 

[Nuke_em_05]

On the original post:

1. If it looks like a flame thread and reads like a flame thread...

2. The two continents of the "New World" or the United States therof?

3. There are other lifestyles, people, and landscapes to the United States than just New York and Los Angeles.

4. While the protaganist is generally "American", he/she usually has to rescue key scientists who are of varying ethnicities and nationalities.

5. The "smartest man on the planet" in armageddon was british, he even made fun of the chief presidential scientific advisor.

6. Games set in the United States are generally made in the United States. Games based in Japan are generally made in Japan. Depends on where you are.

my $0.02 (not to be confused with .02 cents)

 

[Lancer723]

I don't understand the point of this thread. Games are set in America because it's a large country that has a number of instantly recognizable locations as well as varied terrain. It's not rocket science.

This man speaks truth.

Also, the market for gaming (Excluding the Japanese Market) is largely American and most of the developers also American, hence games star mostly Americans. It's simple economics really, the games are marketed toward their target audience for maximum profit.

 

[j0z]

Well, this is a flame thread you wanted, but I will post anyways, and keep it civil.
Most games/media is set in America because many of them ARE American. They are developed by Americans, for Americans. Have you noticed that (in movies case) that the US buys more tickets than the rest of the world combined?
Plus look at the great games not set in America:
Half Life 2 (Eastern Europe)
Resistance 1 (England)
All WWII games
Far Cry 2 (Africa)
etc
-EDIT-
forgot assassins creed was french, sorry!

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Simply put they're written by Americans to appeal to primarily American audiences. Simple as that.

Also FYI, the Telephone is a Canadian invention, not Scottish.

 

[Lord S. Binkleheimer]

The Fallout games were set in America for three reasons, to a degree:
1). It was the successor (spiritually) to Wasteland, a game set in *shock* America!
2). Americans made it.
3). It was effectively retro-futuristic. Its art styled dealt with the 50's style, for the most part. What other country was well known for the whole 50's icons?

 

[Cryo84R]

This thread makes jesus cry.

But seriously, I never understood the hate. Everywhere I have been (23 nations and counting) I have been well received as an American. We rock, and people know it.

 

[boholikeu]

EDIT:

Contrary to popular media belief, the United States is not (entirely) filled with overweight, ignorant rednecks who can't formulate a single thought beyond "I wonder if a Big Mac tastes good WITHOUT the special sauce?". While we, as a nation, have slipped as a leading scientific mind for the world, there is still a lot of brain power on this side of the pond (eat MIT's 1000 GHz processor!).

Although the OP worded it poorly, I don't think he was trying to say that it's unlikely that the smartest person in the world would be American, but rather that it was just as likely they would be from another country (adjusted for population, of course). On the other hand, because America is currently a cultural and economic superpower, a huge proportion of highly talented and intelligent people emigrate to America if they aren't born there, in order to go to MIT, for example. So a lot of that American ingenuity is actually powered by skills drawn from the rest of the world. Take a look at the scientists associated with the Manhattan Project [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Manhattan_Project_people], for example, who created the first working atomic bomb: plenty of corn-fed Americans, of course, but also Hungarians, Germans, Italians, Russians, etc etc., many of whom moved to America in order to work on it.

In short: it's not so much the people, it's the cultural momentum.

The problem with that argument is that "American" isn't a race, it's a nationality. When those Hungarians, Germans, Italians, Russians, etc etc. move to America to get their work done most of them get citizenship as well. Voila, they are now Americans too!

 

[Xanadeas]

Because a lot of these things are made in America and Americans are the target audience. @_@ Look at JRPGs their characters are usually Japanese or if they're in another world/dimension/time they're still usually Japanese. It just depends on where the game/movie is made. Godzilla is a great example. The original films took place in Japan and had Japanese people... But when a new version was made in the US quite some years ago it took place in New York and had American actors instead.

 

[Zeraki]

The majority of game development companies are American, and all of the movies you mentioned are from empty headed land(Hollywood), so that might be the reason why. It would be pretty much the same in any country. Take Doctor Who for example; it is a show based out of the UK, and in it Britain is usually the center of attention where all the aliens go to contact/exterminate the human race.

I really would like to see more variety of game characters from different cultures though, I'm still waiting on a WWII game that lets you see the war through the German soldier's perspective. Just as long as it is done right.

 

[Deleric]

Even games made in Japan feature ripped buff brown colored hair white guys. Know why? Because the majority of American video game audiences LIKE playing as the norm character in their society. A white badass hero. They will PAY for this stuff, because it appeals for THEM.

At least we don't have this issue in games like Halo

 

[kingbosss]

I'm definitely agenst American reimagines of movies,gamemovies, and t.v. shows. but that's not because their American but because their ether just done right the first time and don't add any thing new or just bad good example Godzilla. as for games i love to see more location that are not set on America but for American game developer it is a bit hard to do a game in china when you never been their. Example me and a friend once had a conversation about a fallout game set in Britain or France and says it would be interesting because they have rifles and not a lot of pistols and less people hording ammo and as such would be more melee based. then i said but wait nether of us have ever be to Europe in general and he responds how much wold we need to know besides what we could learn in a month long vacation there or by hiring a french guy to do art and dialog. which makes me think.

 

[Jirlond]

Cinema has a wide effect on this - american accents are the most common in english based films. A large portion of the world have got used to understanding a common american accent, games developers have taken from this trend so that many other countries can understand the english of their characters. It's like when I saw unleashed - filmed in glasgow and not a single glaswegian in it, because no one would have a clue what they were saying.

 

[lostclause]

I actually don't recall too many games judged on originality. Plus originality does not equal a good game in the least. And if your serious about the turkish thing well I'd say your a sliver that game devs don't care about

I refer you to psychonauts. An average combat based around an original idea and great writing. Also being able to play as a dervish or something form turkey would be fun.
Back on topic. I don't mind America being in games so long as they aren't constantly shoving it our faces. Saint's row is a good example. Okay stillwater is undoubtably an American city even if they never say it but who cares? They don't rub it in and I happily drive down the sidewalk over pedestrians, everyone's happy!
Oh yes,

7 New Zealand

Yay New Zealand!

 

[WrongSprite]

well the main guy in cod4 was british and the main guy in cod5 was russian

Uh....did you miss the American missions?