I am feeling alienated and offended by Bioware

[Kortney]

A question though, what prevents Commander Shepard from being Canadian?

The male Commander Shepard is a Canadian. Or, at least, talks with a very heavy Canadian accent.

 

[Saulkar]

the reason Bioware wpuld make an American game is because... well think about it, whats the ratio of people in America to the people in Canada. America not only has an overall higher population, but we also are congrigated enough that we dont really have any real chors to do like gathering fire wood or hunting. These are more for sport. So we are alot of people with alot of time, and the only thing that does not seem to be affected by our recession (witch im proud to announce is over)was entertainment. We have the cash to pay up front, no questions asked.
Now do you think that if the protagonist was Canidain we really would have cared, not really. We do how ever have a very high sense of patriotism among most if not all states, so a game about an American hero might sell better then the hidden jewel that could have been.

This was going to be my next point, glad to see it was brought up and understood. Of course a bit of Americanization will help sales when the majority of the market is in "America."(btw the population ratio is approx. ten to one, not including illegal immigrants) I also noticed this next beautiful post and am relieved to know that bioware IS showing their home country some much needed attention. If you haven't seen this Saulkar, I think it might alleviate some of your worry. Without further ado

Mass Effect actually has a lot of Canadian references.
Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale, the Shepard voices, are both Canadian, and speak with slight Canadian accents. Donnelly fron ME2 was Scottish, but his voice actor was Canadian, and there are a number of Scottish Canadians in the world today. He may just as well have come from Nova Scotia. The Asari in charge of Omega is voiced by Carrie Anne Moss.

The Blood Dragon Armor was signed by a sports team from Edmonton. Drew Karpyshin, the man who wrote the Mass Effect book tie-ins which were referenced in ME2 is a Canadian.

There is a ton of little clues and hints teasing towards Canadian audiences that are present in both games.

See? It looks like they ARE doing what you asked after all, just not incredibly overtly P.S. I know you'd like to kill the thread soon, I'm just interested in the issue in particular because (as I said before) I am Canadian, and now that most of the flamers have stopped trying to eat you for breakfast, the thread feels peaceful and respectful. To be honest I'm having a bit of fun here Hopefully I've been able to help!

A late reply since I have calmed down and can think clearly, and I must say much of what I see here went over my head and I only noticed days ago and am now acknowledging, thanks.

 

[Saulkar]

in the lore Canada and Mexico has been annexed

And you are annoyed about this? It makes perfect sense. If humans were to face aliens, country's identities would pretty much disappear. Naturally the powerful nations would incorporate the lesser ones. So, you are annoyed because the game doesn't have a pro-Canadian bias just because the developers were Canadians?

Right. I can't even understand your view so I think we'll just leave it. My advise to you would be to not slag off Bioware and moan about it - just admit you have an extremely odd view of it all and move on. If you are that offended over it, don't play Bioware's games.

I, for one, love the fact that a developer's country does not effect their story line and they are able to produce a narrative that is not heavily biased.

Slag Bioware for miffing me once?! HERESY!!!

 

[Therumancer]

Thanks for the long and well thought out comment. But I have to disagree with one glaring point, you made me sound so much more extreme than I was. I am not asking for Canada to be some jingoinistic (I rrreally hate that word) controlling nation in fiction. What I mean by more love is for Canada (not forcing video game companies from other nations) to show more of itself (Canada) in some (but not all) of the many games we make.

Even though I feel somewhat disapointed (as trivial as it is) that a Canadian company would create a fiction (stories are how culture and nation identity are preserved thus fiction has importance, look at greek mythology and the impacts it has (please do not make me list them) ;-) ) that has Canada and Mexico merged with the States. A person might argue that some American writer is always writing about something bad happening to the States in fiction but the American audience is secure in knowing that the chances of that happening are slim and they have the pride and cultural soundness to shrug it off, something Canada lacks thus it has more effect on us.

I know Bioware meant nothing and just wanted to create a realistic scenario but it is just one of those nitpicks that really have an impact on the individual and gets one thinking. But to be fair Bioware did add some Canadian bacon to the game. On the other hand I do not want to RAM our culture into the faces of other nations (we are too humble), just to show that we care about it and want other nations to see it from a distance, and more importantly cater to some Canadian gamers who want to see more of ourselves and what our views on the world could affect a story driven character. Additionally one could argue that we are not very different from the States and this is indeed true but go back 30-50 years and you will find out how much the American media has influenced the newer generations and changed us. Finally how much harm could there really be with a Canadian company making a Canadian main character given the right circumstances and not just for the heck of it. I may come off over strong with my words and this is purely by accident, I really hope my message is being understood.

Hope to hear a reply soon.

P.S. Other nations need to do this too because videogames can really show us in an entertaining way how other people from other parts of the world act and live, not just how the States or Canada sees them.

P.P.S. I chose a too strong of a title for this thread, oops.

Well, a lot of things come down to global attitudes as well. People tend to be interested in the culture of dominant nations where things happen (or have happened), where the people in smaller and traditionally less important nations are the only ones who really care about their neck of the woods.

A guy in say Belize isn't going to be all that interested in say Malaysia, and vice versa. However both people from Belize and Malaysia have some knowlege of, and interest in, what happens in America. Even when dealing with other big powers, or ones that have bee big, there is some interest in say Britan, China, and other major forces.

One of the things to understand is that the world is being globalized, very slowly but surely, and it's very specific nations like the US who are bringing the world together through their idealogy. It has been said that the US has done a better job of conquering the world with "The Big Mac" and "Starbucks" than anyone ever has with force.

I don't want to focus on it too much for the purpose of this arguement, but I generally think this is a good thing in the long run. I understand how a lot of people do not like the idea of their culture being trivialized and forgotten, but in the end if humanity is going to survive that's pretty much what is going to happen to everyone, and the sooner the better. Simply put we need to expand into space for resources and living space, and that isn't going to happen with multiple nations.... I could say more, but it will get well off track.

The point I'm getting at is that just as you, a Canadian, are probably not all that interested in the cultural trappings of say Yugoslavia, the people of Yugoslavia probably aren't all that interested in your country. You and a Yugoslavian on the other hand do meet something of a middle ground when it comes to say the US, or to blow my own nation's horn a bit less... China. Along with stuff from the US and UK, you probably have some passing familirity with the Hong Kong cinema even if it's not as big as Hollywood. Guys like Jackie Chan, and Jei Li became international stars through China's movie industry, China (my opinions of them aside) being a global power which is partially how this happens.

That said, one also has to ask what there is that is distinctly Canadian that could be used. I mean we did have that whole "Due South" series that went on for a few seasons that was all about a Mountie. I'm also pretty sure the Canadian wilderness/rural areas have featured in a number of horror movis as an isolated enviroment.... I've actually been to Canada (albiet Niagra Falls which is a big tourist area) and truthfully I just didn't run into anything that really struck me as being incredible and distinctive that would entertain the world.

What I'm getting at is, that if you don't want this to be some kind of "Canada rulez!" nationalistic thing, what more is there?

-

I'll also say that as far as looking back in the history of science fiction games and such and not seeing Canada mentioned, it comes back to the points in my first post. Things might change, but right now Canada isn't that big a global player. It's one of many nations that would probably merge into the whole, and not be thought about much by mainstream historians thousands of years later. As things are right now, we haven't really ever seen the entire world hinging on Canada and it's actions. There are hundreds of nations that are in a similar state. Trying to make Canada into some huge force from the past because a game is developed in Canada falls into the same traps I was talking about above.

I'll also be honest about one other thing, and please don't take this the wrong way. I do not think that Mexico and Canada are liable to merge with the US as things are now. I think as things progress both Mexico and Canada are liable to remain distinct until pretty much everyone disbands into a global goverment (probably after one final, titanic war), and that will include the US.... whenever that happens to be (though I think that day will come sooner than anyone suspects due to sheer nessecity).

The reason for this is that in the present sense, neither Canada or Mexico officially joining the US would really benefit us. With Canada there are some definate pros in terms of natural resources and such, but the cons in terms of actually managing the land and population probably wouldn't be worth it. I've read some stuff that talked about it hypothetically, and while most of it comes down to logistical and administration concerns, and all kinds of numbers, the bottom line is that even if Canada wanted to join the US (being divided up into a couple of new states) it would wind up hurting us.

With Mexico there are far less pros to weigh since the nation is pretty poor, and has very little that we would want. This is why we have such massive immigration issues with it. If the US absorbed Mexico it would literally be a giant money sink that would slam the rest of the nation. Unlike Canada, Mexico would pretty much drive our poverty levels (proportionatly) through the roof, while there are some nice places in Mexico, and a few benefits it's just not something the US would benefit from in a practical sense.

What's more Mexico being an independant nation is useful as a buffer between us and Central/South America, which includes a lot of countries that are even more impoverished than Mexico. If we didn't have Mexico there we'd be dealing with even bigger immigration issues. One of the things a lot of people tend not to realize is that Mexico tends to be pretty militant with it's own borders and dealing with immigrants from even poorer nations coming in.

Probably not what you wanted to hear though unfortunatly. America can be quite arrogant, and while it's not likely to ever happen back during the last Election when Hillary Clinton was down in Puerto Rico the issue of Puerto Rico (which is a US Territory) becoming an official state like Hawaii was again brought up, along with some other countries being talked about in a similar (hypothetical) context. Truthfully I don't remember the gist of the comments about Canada, but the bottom line is that none of our territories or neighbors would benefit us by joining the US even hypothetically.

 

[Saulkar]

Thanks for the long and well thought out comment. But I have to disagree with one glaring point, you made me sound so much more extreme than I was. I am not asking for Canada to be some jingoinistic (I rrreally hate that word) controlling nation in fiction. What I mean by more love is for Canada (not forcing video game companies from other nations) to show more of itself (Canada) in some (but not all) of the many games we make.

Even though I feel somewhat disapointed (as trivial as it is) that a Canadian company would create a fiction (stories are how culture and nation identity are preserved thus fiction has importance, look at greek mythology and the impacts it has (please do not make me list them) ;-) ) that has Canada and Mexico merged with the States. A person might argue that some American writer is always writing about something bad happening to the States in fiction but the American audience is secure in knowing that the chances of that happening are slim and they have the pride and cultural soundness to shrug it off, something Canada lacks thus it has more effect on us.

I know Bioware meant nothing and just wanted to create a realistic scenario but it is just one of those nitpicks that really have an impact on the individual and gets one thinking. But to be fair Bioware did add some Canadian bacon to the game. On the other hand I do not want to RAM our culture into the faces of other nations (we are too humble), just to show that we care about it and want other nations to see it from a distance, and more importantly cater to some Canadian gamers who want to see more of ourselves and what our views on the world could affect a story driven character. Additionally one could argue that we are not very different from the States and this is indeed true but go back 30-50 years and you will find out how much the American media has influenced the newer generations and changed us. Finally how much harm could there really be with a Canadian company making a Canadian main character given the right circumstances and not just for the heck of it. I may come off over strong with my words and this is purely by accident, I really hope my message is being understood.

Hope to hear a reply soon.

P.S. Other nations need to do this too because videogames can really show us in an entertaining way how other people from other parts of the world act and live, not just how the States or Canada sees them.

P.P.S. I chose a too strong of a title for this thread, oops.

Well, a lot of things come down to global attitudes as well. People tend to be interested in the culture of dominant nations where things happen (or have happened), where the people in smaller and traditionally less important nations are the only ones who really care about their neck of the woods.

A guy in say Belize isn't going to be all that interested in say Malaysia, and vice versa. However both people from Belize and Malaysia have some knowlege of, and interest in, what happens in America. Even when dealing with other big powers, or ones that have bee big, there is some interest in say Britan, China, and other major forces.

One of the things to understand is that the world is being globalized, very slowly but surely, and it's very specific nations like the US who are bringing the world together through their idealogy. It has been said that the US has done a better job of conquering the world with "The Big Mac" and "Starbucks" than anyone ever has with force.

I don't want to focus on it too much for the purpose of this arguement, but I generally think this is a good thing in the long run. I understand how a lot of people do not like the idea of their culture being trivialized and forgotten, but in the end if humanity is going to survive that's pretty much what is going to happen to everyone, and the sooner the better. Simply put we need to expand into space for resources and living space, and that isn't going to happen with multiple nations.... I could say more, but it will get well off track.

The point I'm getting at is that just as you, a Canadian, are probably not all that interested in the cultural trappings of say Yugoslavia, the people of Yugoslavia probably aren't all that interested in your country. You and a Yugoslavian on the other hand do meet something of a middle ground when it comes to say the US, or to blow my own nation's horn a bit less... China. Along with stuff from the US and UK, you probably have some passing familirity with the Hong Kong cinema even if it's not as big as Hollywood. Guys like Jackie Chan, and Jei Li became international stars through China's movie industry, China (my opinions of them aside) being a global power which is partially how this happens.

That said, one also has to ask what there is that is distinctly Canadian that could be used. I mean we did have that whole "Due South" series that went on for a few seasons that was all about a Mountie. I'm also pretty sure the Canadian wilderness/rural areas have featured in a number of horror movis as an isolated enviroment.... I've actually been to Canada (albiet Niagra Falls which is a big tourist area) and truthfully I just didn't run into anything that really struck me as being incredible and distinctive that would entertain the world.

What I'm getting at is, that if you don't want this to be some kind of "Canada rulez!" nationalistic thing, what more is there?

-

I'll also say that as far as looking back in the history of science fiction games and such and not seeing Canada mentioned, it comes back to the points in my first post. Things might change, but right now Canada isn't that big a global player. It's one of many nations that would probably merge into the whole, and not be thought about much by mainstream historians thousands of years later. As things are right now, we haven't really ever seen the entire world hinging on Canada and it's actions. There are hundreds of nations that are in a similar state. Trying to make Canada into some huge force from the past because a game is developed in Canada falls into the same traps I was talking about above.

I'll also be honest about one other thing, and please don't take this the wrong way. I do not think that Mexico and Canada are liable to merge with the US as things are now. I think as things progress both Mexico and Canada are liable to remain distinct until pretty much everyone disbands into a global goverment (probably after one final, titanic war), and that will include the US.... whenever that happens to be (though I think that day will come sooner than anyone suspects due to sheer nessecity).

The reason for this is that in the present sense, neither Canada or Mexico officially joining the US would really benefit us. With Canada there are some definate pros in terms of natural resources and such, but the cons in terms of actually managing the land and population probably wouldn't be worth it. I've read some stuff that talked about it hypothetically, and while most of it comes down to logistical and administration concerns, and all kinds of numbers, the bottom line is that even if Canada wanted to join the US (being divided up into a couple of new states) it would wind up hurting us.

With Mexico there are far less pros to weigh since the nation is pretty poor, and has very little that we would want. This is why we have such massive immigration issues with it. If the US absorbed Mexico it would literally be a giant money sink that would slam the rest of the nation. Unlike Canada, Mexico would pretty much drive our poverty levels (proportionatly) through the roof, while there are some nice places in Mexico, and a few benefits it's just not something the US would benefit from in a practical sense.

What's more Mexico being an independant nation is useful as a buffer between us and Central/South America, which includes a lot of countries that are even more impoverished than Mexico. If we didn't have Mexico there we'd be dealing with even bigger immigration issues. One of the things a lot of people tend not to realize is that Mexico tends to be pretty militant with it's own borders and dealing with immigrants from even poorer nations coming in.

Probably not what you wanted to hear though unfortunatly. America can be quite arrogant, and while it's not likely to ever happen back during the last Election when Hillary Clinton was down in Puerto Rico the issue of Puerto Rico (which is a US Territory) becoming an official state like Hawaii was again brought up, along with some other countries being talked about in a similar (hypothetical) context. Truthfully I don't remember the gist of the comments about Canada, but the bottom line is that none of our territories or neighbors would benefit us by joining the US even hypothetically.

Once again another well written comment. Somethings I do not agree with but overall I really like how you approached this intellectually with clear written explanations. Thanks for your insite.