So setting a game in America is bad?

[AngryFrenchCanadian]

It bugs me, because it's supposed to have a "realistic" setting, and that whole "the cost of war" and whatnot. Of COURSE they couldn't have chosen a more predictable place for the events to unfold. I'm just a tiny bit sick that the devs think the only way a game will sell is if it's about Americans. It's like they have no imagination.

 

[Treblaine]

Well it seems like a lot of people have a bit of a fuss because Homefront takes place in the US and not anywhere else. To the extent where they have to tell people in other countries that they will still enjoy the game...

I don't know and it seems like people just hate when games are set in the US, that apparently its bad. Sure countries invading the US in games isn't new but just because another game does it, doesn't make it bad. Its like if the North Korean's were invading Europe (Which I believe they are doing something like that for Homefront 2), that the game would just be better.

Now I am not saying the game is good because its not in Europe or any other country, but just because its set in the US doesn't make the game bad.

It seems that its becoming like how many people now say:

Not many vibrant colors = Bland and Bad game.

It shouldn't matter where the game is set, as long as they make it fun and cool, doesn't that matter more?

Fair enough. Resistance was about an alien Invasion of Britain. Then again, that didn't sell to well in the US and the UK almost banned it for offending the Archbishop! (almost being a very loose term)
It was still a really good game, and I personally liked it for all the little touches that reminded me it was set in ol' blighty (though an alternate timeline).

It's just the way Homefront has been framed it seems to be depending on the gimmick of "OMG! That's just like my school the Koreans are invading!" which would obviously only work if you went to a school like that.

America is generally a pretty good setting for games as Hollywood and American TV as set a great groundwork to build upon as Rockstar has done with Grand Theft Auto (which is actually made by a British team) and more recently Red Dead Revolver. Wild West is a really great setting and soon 2K will be taking another interesting perspective on Americana with Bioshock Infinite, set in a Steampunk 1912.

Really, it shouldn't matter where a game is set, if it is framed right it should be appealing to all.

Take Red Dawn. That was a very affecting film to me mostly because it remained character driven rather than just depending on "damn ruskies in mah cuntrah!"

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

You know what would be awesome, a game where you play as a character in a country that america has invaded to "keep the peace" It would be cool seeing america in light other than, we are the best country ever with no flaws and we are also the world police because we kick so much ass

 

[maturin]

If it comes at the complete cost of plausibility in a game, then the plausibility should matter a bit more.

Seriously? In a medium where we can play Mass Effect, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft...you get hung up on the plausibility of a game?

Mass Effect, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft, Homefront.

One of these things is not like the other...

 

[Stagezilla]

I wouldn't mind seeing a decent game set in Australia, doesn't need to be the whole game either. Drake should go there in search of something in a future Uncharted.

 

[foryth]

Hmmm... from what I get from Homefront's video/back-story is that for whatever reason when Il dies, Un takes over and south Korea actually likes that. said Koreas then expand fairly rapidly (years) and go after the US.
I think the point that people are missing, isnt that the game is set in the US, but WHY the game is set in the US. If Canada was the most powerful country on the planet, the game would probably be set there, same with Mexico.

Formula: [underdog entity] grows up and takes on everything. Eventually going after [Main boss entity of immediate area].

How many movies have you seen that follow that? Stories? Games? Homefront's backstory just happens to have Korea as the underdog entity, and US as the main boss entity.

Why is this even an issue?

 

[Carlston]

I just find the idea North Korea over running the USA about as believable as ohhh...mutant dolphins attacking. How bout a country with a budget and a ability to make it here...Mexico has a better chance? Canada and Mexico maybe?

But why does that matter? Do all games need to have stories that follow real life rules?

Your right, it doesn't make it bad. It makes it feel generic. It makes it feel like I've played this all before with the extreme patriotism that seems to crop up with every game involving Americans by a game developed by Americans. Variety is the spice of life! Seeing a flag that has more then red white and blue on it would be a nice change of pace.

Even though they said their would be no extreme patriotism, people continue to say it will. People who say that, obviously hasn't read up info on it. Even an article on the Escapist no less said that they weren't going for extreme Patriotism.

Yeah I need some believability. I'm not buying a game where Haiti becomes a super power, nukes china and invades India without a damn good explanation. Now if you have a story line where Doctor Evil took it over, used a super machine to steal the worlds resources ect sure yeah. But till I get a real story...nah...Korea doesn't have the man power, navy or even motivation to cross the sea to the USA when riper countries are closer. I need a slice of reality in my military games. Mindlessness has special places only for Plants vs Zombies and I don't know...pacman.

So time will tell, but first I want back story.

 

[Irridium]

It's the basic, "It's cool to hate on America because it's a current super power! Look how cool I am being by hating the most powerful country on the planet!"

Seriously, if this game took place in Russia, as an earlier poster said, I'd be just as interested in it as I am now. Which isn't very much, but still. For example, Half-Life 2 takes place in Russia. Does that mean I suddenly don't care about saving the Earth just because I happen to be saving the Earth in Russia?

And everyone claiming, "OMG IT SO UNPLAUSABILEEE!!111," the game takes 20 years in the damn future. Plausibility be damned, this is the future we're talking about.

I though Half Life 2 took place in Austria.
Huh...

OT: Honestly, it doesn't bother me that much. But I am kinda tired of saving the US.

Its one reason I loved Resistance: Fall of Man. It took place in the UK.

 

[Geekosaurus]

It's not the fact that a game is set in America that annoys me, it's the threads they spawn. Could this game work in any other country but America? Of course it can. There's nothing overly special about your bit of land as opposed to my bit of land.

 

[Vault101]

if homefront is good Im pretty sure I could enjoy it as much as any Amercian

its simply a story about north korea taking over america

 

[The Random One]

Way to simplify things, dude. You should be doing math. ZING

The problem is not that the game is set in America. The problem is that the fact it's set in America is an issue. It's supposed to be ringing the tones of American life. Contrast this with GTA games, whcih are also very much about America but with an outsider perspective on it (in fact, the first GTA games were made when Rockstar, then DMA design, was British). This wouldn't have been a problem if the game was simply about Western modern society being invaded by a restrictive outside power, and this Western modern society was exemplified by the US. Instead, the game makes a point of how American it is, and surely alienates foreign audiences.

But the real problem is that the game is about the US being in a war in which a massive military from a foreign power invades a modern civilized country and destroys their culture, forcing their own upon the civilians. The US is the only country in the world who would read that description and think the US is the country being invaded. The entire world knows the US as an aggressor, and while I'm sure the intent of the devs was to turn the tables on this assumption by portraying them as the victim, it comes across as sincere as a racist man trying to make up for their racism by putting on blackface. Plus, the whole idea of the game is that 'the US fights back' and there is no way the final message won't be 'US still wins, bitches'.

Setting the game in America isn't the problem, it's the beginning of the start of the first draft of the problem.

 

[Korten12]

It's not the fact that a game is set in America that annoys me, it's the threads they spawn. Could this game work in any other country but America? Of course it can. There's nothing overly special about your bit of land as opposed to my bit of land.

Um... Of course it could work in other places... I think you're thinking of Fallout were the lore keeps it in America. This game doesn't have lore that restricts its place, thats why they are already talking about Homefront 2 in Europe.

 

[Geekosaurus]

It's not the fact that a game is set in America that annoys me, it's the threads they spawn. Could this game work in any other country but America? Of course it can. There's nothing overly special about your bit of land as opposed to my bit of land.

Um... Of course it could work in other places... I think you're thinking of Fallout were the lore keeps it in America. This game doesn't have lore that restricts its place, thats why they are already talking about Homefront 2 in Europe.

I know it would work...that's why it annoys me.

 

[Vykrel]

im not from fucking Illium, so Mass Effect 2 was the shittiest game i have ever played.

the logic is pretty damn stupid when you think about it

 

[Mercsenary]

It shouldn't matter where the game is set, as long as they make it fun and cool, doesn't that matter more?

If it comes at the complete cost of plausibility in a game, then the plausibility should matter a bit more. Come on - the North Koreans can hardly feed their country with the military sponging up all of their resources. They have no force projection past the Korean Peninsula, and are hemmed in by the Chinese and South Koreans on either side. They wouldn't even dare attack the United States using conventional forces.

An America that is weaken economically and politically and the NK's have a vast army and update equipment? This is a What if? Unfortunatly it seems you cant suspend your disbelief enought.

 

[mb16]

It's not the fact that a game is set in America that annoys me, it's the threads they spawn. Could this game work in any other country but America? Of course it can. There's nothing overly special about your bit of land as opposed to my bit of land.

yes but that stops being true after 90% of games are set in your bit of land.

 

[Korten12]

It's not the fact that a game is set in America that annoys me, it's the threads they spawn. Could this game work in any other country but America? Of course it can. There's nothing overly special about your bit of land as opposed to my bit of land.

Um... Of course it could work in other places... I think you're thinking of Fallout were the lore keeps it in America. This game doesn't have lore that restricts its place, thats why they are already talking about Homefront 2 in Europe.

I know it would work...that's why it annoys me.

So... basicaly, if a game can't work in that country. It is bad? Sorry, not all games can please you.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

It shouldn't matter where the game is set, as long as they make it fun and cool, doesn't that matter more?

If it comes at the complete cost of plausibility in a game, then the plausibility should matter a bit more. Come on - the North Koreans can hardly feed their country with the military sponging up all of their resources. They have no force projection past the Korean Peninsula, and are hemmed in by the Chinese and South Koreans on either side. They wouldn't even dare attack the United States using conventional forces.

That's because the game is nothing but Communism fear propaganda. I bet it will sell like Jesus.

 

[Geekosaurus]

It's not the fact that a game is set in America that annoys me, it's the threads they spawn. Could this game work in any other country but America? Of course it can. There's nothing overly special about your bit of land as opposed to my bit of land.

Um... Of course it could work in other places... I think you're thinking of Fallout were the lore keeps it in America. This game doesn't have lore that restricts its place, thats why they are already talking about Homefront 2 in Europe.

I know it would work...that's why it annoys me.

So... basicaly, if a game can't work in that country. It is bad? Sorry, not all games can please you.

What? No... How have you come to this conclusion? The location of the game doesn't annoy me. It can be set in America or the Mushroom Kingdom, I'm not bothered either way. What annoys me is the people that think a game will only work in one country - usually America. The classic example is Fallout. Can Fallout work in any other country but America? Yes. It'd just be a different game - it doesn't mean it wouldn't work. It's the people that annoy me, not the location of the game.

 

[Korten12]

It's not the fact that a game is set in America that annoys me, it's the threads they spawn. Could this game work in any other country but America? Of course it can. There's nothing overly special about your bit of land as opposed to my bit of land.

Um... Of course it could work in other places... I think you're thinking of Fallout were the lore keeps it in America. This game doesn't have lore that restricts its place, thats why they are already talking about Homefront 2 in Europe.

I know it would work...that's why it annoys me.

So... basicaly, if a game can't work in that country. It is bad? Sorry, not all games can please you.

What? No... How have you come to this conclusion? The location of the game doesn't annoy me. It can be set in America or the Mushroom Kingdom, I'm not bothered either way. What annoys me is the people that think a game will only work in one country - usually America. The classic example is Fallout. Can Fallout work in any other country but America? Yes. It'd just be a different game - it doesn't mean it wouldn't work. It's the people that annoy me, not the location of the game.

Ah, makes more sense.