I am feeling alienated and offended by Bioware

[hydrahh]

As a Canadian, this doesn't really bother me in this game's context. And here's why:

When you start dealing with Alien races, I think your nationality changes to 'Human'. I don't see Shepard as a 'Canadian' or 'American' or 'Scottish' or whatever. I see him as a human interacting with diverse Alien races.

 

[snark]

If it makes you feel any better, the male commander Shepard has a slight Canadian accent. So the galaxy is being saved by a Canadian.

 

[SuccessAndBiscuts]

I can't say I feel any national pride about my country (I'm not a huge fan of England) so getting offended over the lack of a patriotic character seems a bit alien to me (you think I really connect with the vast number of American protaganists dealing with stereotypical British villains out there?).

I have had several cases where I've noticed that my games were Canadian in origin and have also been suprised that they were usually excellent games (Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, Mass Effect and Farcry 2 to name just a few, in fact, the only bad Canadian game that sticks in my mind is Too Human).

I really don't think it's that big an issue (I can't actually think of any British or Irish developers).

For massive counterpoint value I have quite a bit of national pride and I'm Scottish. My personal theory is it connects to symbols and stereotypes, Scotland has a lot of strong associated imagery which I think England lacks.

Also for British developers, Jagex and Rockstar North are two just of the top of my head.

 

[etherlance]

well if canada and mexico were annexed into the usa, that probably means that all the small countries from the European union joined into one big faction as well (I'm from britain).

 

[Saulkar]

I understand where you're coming from... I mean, I was a little annoyed that in the Fallout games, a number of popular war games and even futuristic games like Mass Effect all think it just makes sense for Canada to become the USA 2, because that's pretty much how they see it now. You'd have to be some sort of idiot to think Canada would just agree to become more of the United States in real life.

You ever see the episode of Fairly Odd Parents when they look at a map of North America? Canada is like a sliver at the top of the screen while the U.S. is basically the whole map. Mexico is about twice Canada's size. That shit's not even subliminal!

Do I feel like you(OP) have a valid point? Well yes, but if you asked me whether I thought you were overreacting a bit, I'd have to say yes too. Our cultural identity is weak, that's true, and all the "funny" jokes at our expense by the American media can really get under the skin, but I don't feel like Bioware "caved into pressure" or don't have any pride in their country. Show me an article where a Bioware employee says, "Well of course that's what would really happen", and then I can get worked up too, but right now I think it's a bit much.

Sorry, I have no reference but thanks for the comment. I am leaving this topic permanently soon.

 

[Saulkar]

As a Canadian, this doesn't really bother me in this game's context. And here's why:

When you start dealing with Alien races, I think your nationality changes to 'Human'. I don't see Shepard as a 'Canadian' or 'American' or 'Scottish' or whatever. I see him as a human interacting with diverse Alien races.

That makes sense.

 

[kuolonen]

Whats with politics being drawn into video games lately?

Also OPs post has the distinct smell of nationalism. I thought that in americas that only exists amongst gunnut-rednecks of the southern US.

Also why do you think Canadian culture would be repressed under US rule? Do you think US would start force feeding apple pies to canadians and ban the maple syrup?

Only thing that would change, would be that fact that you no longer would be able to fly that precious flag of yours (one that you no doupt have in the ceiling of your room) and you would pay youre taxes to a diffrent address. For goodness sake, you even have the same language so even that wont change.

 

[thirdsonsaburo]

Geez, getting out of the kitchen much? Why the heck did you start a thread with such a whiny, inflammatory post?

 

[thebighead01]

It was simply highlighting a very likely future in the world. The world is increasingly uniting into continental blocks; the US, EU, African Union, etc, its reasonable to assume that in the future Canada and/or Mexico might join or be forced to join the US. And to be honest Canada is a nation of what 6 million, the US has over 250 million, plus having the biggest economy in the world it is going to have an affect on it, not only in terms of future politics but also how developers produce games. If you think there is an inclination to use american protagonist or america as the good guys in games you would be right. It's how they make their money. And that sort of thinking perverts other cultural establishments such as film.

The point you have to remember is that you have a much better country . You have universal healthcare and education that ranks as one of the best. Not to mention that you have some of the highest ranked cities in terms of liveability in the world. Plus I look at your history and it is hard to find a single blotch in it. I mean you guys really are as humorously (and scarily) nice as the americans like to point out. I should point out that I'm saying all of this as a brit. And we sometimes get the raw end of the stick too. But I don't take it personally, and neither should you.

 

[etherlance]

well if canada and mexico were annexed into the usa, that probably means that all the small countries from the European union joined into one big faction as well (I'm from britain).

Wait, didn't that happen already? Could have sworn I heard something about a...European...union?

No thats just a colilition of europeon countries who decide on general topics and nationwide laws, each country can leave whenever it feels like it and each country holds it's own sovereignty.
The union has no direct authority over any one country.

 

[Saulkar]

I am all for Quebec keeping their culture but they need to allow more culture in, Canada is built on letting culture in, building a unique one all in itself. I want culture to enter Canada and add to it, not dominate it.

As for Afrika, I am not a history or social major so do not quote me on that. Inform me, that is a request.

Well put it this way, American culture is already very commonplace in Canadian society, it hasn't really dominated it or anything either. Canada being a mixed culture society has its advantages, its diversity makes it far harder for a singular cultural aspect to dominate.

Well African cultural practices have actually been fairly well protected, but that's because African governments have never really openly identified with the cultural values of all its people. If you look at a map of Africa that divides culture based on ethnic group, language, religion or social structure, there's often dozens or even hundreds of diverse cultural groups in one country. This is because during the European imperialism of the 19th century, the borders of African countries followed lines based on colonial claims, not cultural values. Thus, when decolonization occurred, many of the nations kept the same borders. A lot of the conflict in Africa mostly comes from the technological and social kick-in-the-ass the Europeans gave the Africans in the past few hundred years. African culture was primarily tribalistic before then, with some citystates, the rapid acceleration to the nation-state in the past fifty years has somewhat taken a toll on outdated cultural practices from a different time (stuff like witchcraft, voodoo, etc.).

Thanks for the reply, that made sense.

 

[etherlance]

For goodness sake, you even have the same language so even that wont change.

I hope that the USA aren't claiming the ENGLISH language as their own. O-o

You know, what with it being created by us the English and everything....

 

[Saulkar]

snip

Fiction n.
1: a : something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically : an invented story b : fictitious literature (as novels or short stories) c : a work of fiction; especially : novel
2: a : an assumption of a possibility as a fact irrespective of the question of its truth b : a useful illusion or pretense
3: the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination

Now then, can we please never have this conversation again?

Too late, fiction has very real influence, influence that has a very real effect on people, something that cannot be denied.

Apparently, the effect it's had on you is it makes you spout jingoist bullshit. If you're really getting this bent out of shape over a single line of text regarding a fictional political situation in a god damn space opera, then clearly you are hypersensitive and should take steps to remedy this.

God, don't let this guy near any Macross manga.

I am done with this topic, I cannot think of anything to write that would make sense to you! The conepts are too abstract to be relevent to the rational mind. A mind that does not accept that abrstract reasoning is one way humans have succeded where animals fail. Jingoinistic bullshit?! I want Canada to change its practices in the game industry, I do not want any one outside of Canada to change their practices, they can keep them, they do not hurt me. So there you are, you tore away the last bit of entegrity I had left facing the critism Canada and me personally have every day, evidence that overtime even the smallest critism wear away even the most formidable defences. What do you want me to do, what did you expect from your comment? Me to threaten you, feel more little of myself, prove that fiction has no relevence to the maleable human mind, people get angry at the stupidest things while you intentionally target those who already are not able to approach the topic rationally? FUCK! I am done, do not even reply, if you are smart enough to copy and paste a definition you must be smart enough to realise you just frustated someone and you point has fallen on a pair of sore deafened ears that simply stopped caring. You failed to get anything across. I am done. That is a freakout if you cannot recognise it.

 

[Saulkar]

I'm Dutch. My country is never even mentioned in video games. I was ecstatic when it was referred to in World War Z. Suck it up.

. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . ,.-??. . . . . . . . . .``~.,
. . . . . . . .. . . . . .,.-?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .?-.,
. . . . .. . . . . . ..,/. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?:,
. . . . . . . .. .,?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\,
. . . . . . . . . /. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,}
. . . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`^`.}
. . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:?. . . ./
. . . . . . .?. . . __. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :`. . . ./
. . . . . . . /__.(. . .?~-,_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`. . . .. ./
. . . . . . /(_. . ?~,_. . . ..?~,_. . . . . . . . . .,:`. . . . _/
. . . .. .{.._$;_. . .?=,_. . . .?-,_. . . ,.-~-,}, .~?; /. .. .}
. . .. . .((. . .*~_. . . .?=-._. . .?;,,./`. . /? . . . ./. .. ../
. . . .. . .\`~,. . ..?~.,. . . . . . . . . ..`. . .}. . . . . . ../
. . . . . .(. ..`=-,,. . . .`. . . . . . . . . . . ..(. . . ;_,,-?
. . . . . ../.`~,. . ..`-.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..\. . /\
. . . . . . \`~.*-,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..|,./.....\,__
,,_. . . . . }.>-._\. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . ..`=~-,
. .. `=~-,_\_. . . `\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\
. . . . . . . . . .`=~-,,.\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . `:,, . . . . . . . . . . . . . `\. . . . . . ..__
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`=-,. . . . . . . . . .,%`>--

What? At least being annexed is being recognized. Besides, it's hardly ever displayed as a good thing. In Fallout 3 America is portrayed as a shell of it's former principles (which it actually is today), and while not explicitly noted in-game, the annexation of Canada is portrayed as being a bad thing.

Not sure how it is in Mass Effect though. It's not like they support it, either. It's just their version of the future. Not necessarily the way they'd like it to be. It's called a dystopia.

And don't ever face-palm me again.

Why? I could, but I am not.

 

[TaboriHK]

Dude did you read the whole thing? The overall story is a lack of representing our own nation in a medium we are incredable at using generating an overbearing sense of cultural insignificance in my own media industry.

Honestly I didn't because nationalism is not important, and that's something all future space games say on an overt level when the entire human race is seen as one body. Name a space game where nationalism was presented in a positive light. You won't, because the only contexts nationalism has in a universe where all nations are sort of melded into a race is either as naive but well intentioned or racist. Did you also find Firefly offensive? The Chinese usurp basically half of human race's culture.

 

[Isilidur]

Perhaps it's just me, but the only video game characters I remember having a specific cultural identity are American, Japanese, Russian, and the occasional Brit. Or, rather, the only ones with a realistic cultural identity, so sorry, but the Saboteur doesn't count for "Oirish", and the countless Hispanic soldiers with large machine guns do not count for Mexicans or Spaniards. Unless... Where's Niko from again? I thought it was just general, "Made-up-istan"?

 

[Okysho]

I do wish Canada was more recognized in games too. Canadian developers have a chance to at least say "Crewmember Z" is Canadian or something, but they don't (sad face)

I think the only game that made me feel proud to play as Canadians was Call of Duty 3 and that wasn't a very good game...

that being said, I ddin't know bioware was canadian until reading this thread. I just never bothered looking into it.