Let's revive the WWII genre

[Chrinik]

m'kay, have it your way.

Who commanded Germany during WW2? The Nazi party, headed by Hitler. AKA the Third Reich.

What was the Nazi's policy? Do what we say or earn a 1 way ticket to the concentration camps.
So regardless of whether or not these Germans shared the political views of the Nazi party, they were doing Nazi work anyway.

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck.....


ffs it was even called "Nazi Germany" at the time. Here, have a wiki quote:

"Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich,[3] is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party."

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany

This is wrong on so many levels, I can´t even begin to describe it.
Firstly, a Nazi is by far not a heritage...it was called Nazi-Germany by anyone outside of germany. Internally, it was Germany, or The Third Reich when reffering to all the occupied land also, nothing more, nothing less. So the people inside where still germans, by all accounts.
Then you have to consider the massive conscripting. Most "german" soldiers fought the russians on the eastern front, while a bunch of conscrips from all over the Reich served in the relatively save west, with a few scattered germans here and there to keep everything in order.
THEN, the Nazi-policy was by no means "do as we say or get send to Auschwitz", since most germans didn´t knew about the camps, AT ALL, even when they lived near one, if it WAS in germany, most where in Poland, way away from the german populace. Telling your people you mass-execute millions of people for basically no reason makes you lose your credibility really fast, believe it or not.

Political enemies where mostly executed or sent to prison.

Thirdly, just because they do Nazi work, does not make them a Nazi. Erwin Rommel highly opposed the Nazi-Party, and especially Hitler, which was part of his success, because he never answered radiocalls from the HQ and did his own thing, then later reported when he was done. He was offered a trial, which he would be found guilty in, or shoot himself.
Most factory workers didn´t care for whom they worked, as long as the pay was fine. Much like today actually.
The German Kriegsmarine was, even commented by HITLER HIMSELF, the least nazi branch of the german military. As he said it, he had "A nazi airforce, a conservative army, and a bolschevik navy.". While there probably were some nazis in the Wehrmacht, most where just soldiers, paid to fight. The sole exeption is the Waffen-SS, since it was the armed wing of the SS, it was entirely nazi.

Then you have to consider the massive anti-nazi political resistance groups, or single people who opposed the nazis their own way. Oskar Schindler, Stauffenberg, the guys who hid Anne Frank, just to name the more popular once.
Hell, Hitler survived EIGHT assasination attempts.

And just because America is currently ruled by the Democrats does not make each american a democrat, does it?
Likewise if a republican is in office.

Nazi is a mindset, it´s an ideology, it´s a political view. If you are not a national socialist, you aren´t one, easy as that. There still where democratic, socialist and what not partys, some of them survived til TODAY, like the SPD, but of course, because of brutal dictatorship, they had no say at all.
Therefore, they didn´t even quack like a duck, they didn´t even look like one most of the time. You couln´t mistake them for ducks if one of them bit you in the face for calling them a nazi...when no GeStaPo was looking.

But the UK and US in general is quick to assume that a country is just full of something.
The Soviet Union was only Communists, the Germans where all Nazis, Iraq is full of WMDs and Terrorists etc...
Afterall, if you know who the enemy is, the day has order.

It´s just an offensive title...would you like to have your ancestors slandered because they get thrown into the same bucket as NAZIS?
I guess not...so please don´t.

I have no problem with Yahtzee using it, A: he´s british, they do that constantly, and B: he does so for comedic purpose.
B is the point.

 

[CheckD3]

The problem with WWII is that it's the same thing over and over, realistic shooters taking place in the same years that have been used to death.

WWII, while been done to death, can come back, but not as WWII. What needs to be done is the gameplay and story needs to change. I know that sounds...odd...but I think that putting the WWII feel on a new blanket will do well. I loved that Steampunk world in Sucker Punch, it was unique, fresh, and had the feel without feeling stale.

The 2nd World War story is over, it's done, it's been written down and performed through so many eyes in so many mediums that it's been overcooked and burned. You want to get something fresh and tasty from this overcooked bird, add some seasonings. Mix up the story, mix up the gameplay, hell, add modern feels on the older story.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Here's one for a twist. How about where you play as a nazi? Can't think of any games off hand that have you playing as the bad guys.

Counter Strike... (But then again, I guess that doesn't really count...) But yeah, that would be interesting...

 

[Aeonknight]

snip

Now we're getting somewhere. Time for a rebuttal.

I'm very well aware that there is no Nazi race of people (ironically Hitler believed the exact opposite, preaching about an Aryan race.) But that's not the point.

I don't buy for a second that most soldiers didn't know about the concentration camps. That was what instilled fear of Hitler's wrath into both the low ranking grunt and the Generals of his own military (and everything in between.) Half of his political campaign was blaming the economic crisis on Jews or traitors that sabotaged the German war effort during WW1 (when in reality, the economic crisis Germany was in was directly a result of the Treaty of Versailles.)
What did they think he was going to do with them? What did they think the patches Jews were required to wear on their arms were for? What did they think the trains taking Jews, homosexuals, gypsys, and political enemies by the car load were going?

Hell the propaganda Hitler was spewing about Jews had even the ordinary citizens lynching Jews, firebombing shops, etc. all on their own. The population ate it up, and even the few that didn't sat quietly and let it happen. They knew exactly what was going on, and didn't want to end up in the same shoes.

Hence the broad generalization of calling it Nazi Germany. I'm sure there were plenty of examples of people who disagreed with what Hitler was doing, maybe even resisted, but the majority's action is what warrants the title.

I could go on, but this point it seems you're arguing that the interchangable use of Nazi and German in a WW2 setting is wrong... and maybe by technicality it is. I'm not bold enough to say that every single German was a Nazi affiliate, but the two terms in a WW2 context generally refer to the same thing: the soldiers shooting at you.
That was the entire point of my original post, playing as a soldier in the German military rather than the overdone "soldier charging up Omaha Beach." It would give perspective, something that most games based on War fail to do.


Now I hate to point it out, but this little remark kind of undermines your series of posts and paints you as a hypocrite:

I have no problem with Yahtzee using it, A: he´s british, they do that constantly, and B: he does so for comedic purpose.
B is the point.

You're not in a position to criticise me for making a broad generalization if your belief surrounding all of this functions as a double standard.

 

[Discord]

I don't know if that's a good idea but then again I'm open to anything in the gaming world. Now I think about it; To my knowledge there hasn't been alot of World War 2 games that focused on the East Asian Theater of combat, with the Japanese occupation of Manchuria or there attempted invasion of East Russia or The actions and battles of the Many British, Dutch and Australia Soldiers in the Pacific.

If the World War 2 Genre came back I'd Like if the game focused somewhere in those categories.

 

[BrEnNo1023]

How about a World War II city sim where you have to support the war effort and keep people from starving to death by correctly handing out foot stamps and rationing your supplies. You also have to refit car factories into military factories and correctly handle public responses after things like Pearl Harbor!

I have an idea for an expansion pack. Cleanup after the war; economical and social restabilisation in the years after the war, repairing the infrastructure of the cities destroyed by more than half a decade of destruction. Planning for the next profitable global-mayhem event...

Ahem....but I digress. The general population just doesn't seem to want to kill Nazis anymore; Terrorists, and aliens invading American cities are much more fashionable bulletsponges for this generation's American gamers, and the big game devs and publishers know this and are currently concentrating on milking *these* genres for all they're worth.

"Know your audience."

I guess I'm just looking at it from a big business's marketing point of view; sure, reliving the days when great ww2 games were in their heyday is great, I grew up with WW2 games, even! But according to the majority powers that be, WW2 is not where the big bucks are at anymore.
Nyeh, I'm sure the smaller developers will no doubt push out a few WW2 games in the coming decade, and I might even consider snapping up one or two if i have the cash to spare and they're decent and I can find them cheap on ebay or something. I just won't be holding my breath for a big EA/Activision/etc. blockbuster WW2 release anytime soon.

What about WW1?

 

[BrEnNo1023]

I don't know if that's a good idea but then again I'm open to anything in the gaming world. Now I think about it; To my knowledge there hasn't been alot of World War 2 games that focused on the East Asian Theater of combat, with the Japanese occupation of Manchuria or there attempted invasion of East Russia or The actions and battles of the Many British, Dutch and Australia Soldiers in the Pacific.

If the World War 2 Genre came back I'd Like if the game focused somewhere in those categories.

Actually this is a good point. Let's revive parts of the war we DIDN'T see the big publishers milk dry. I eat most of my words