NationStates Jolt Archive


Heeeeyyyy....how do Germans view all the WW2 videogames?

Colodia
01-08-2005, 06:00
I'd imagine they wouldn't be very happy about constantly playing American/British/Soviet soldiers invading their home country and constant orders to kill Germans.
Adrian Barbeau-Bot
01-08-2005, 06:05
they probably hate me. i've killed more nazis then i care to discribe. probably a good number of innocents as well.
Ritlina
01-08-2005, 06:10
ehh they should just go play battlefield 1942
Ravenshrike
01-08-2005, 06:48
In RTCW:ET the germans actually had better weaponry for the most part.
Monkotasotapolis
01-08-2005, 07:00
I think the balance of representation is actually pretty equal.

There are plenty of games where you can pick sides, or are on the German side.

From their perspective, however, I would imagine there is very little sympathy for the political regime which that army represented. Surely, there are decent and humane people who were enlisted in the German military during that war, and they are honored and remembered, but I don't think if a German character is displyed as cruel, that a German audience will have particular qualms about him getting blown away anymore than we do an American jerk in our films.

As well, in war films, I think that the saying is: "All war films are anti-war films, if made properly." and I think the horror and tragedy suffered on all sides is very apparent in most mainstream films in modern day if not as well displayed in previous efforts when the subject of World War II was still very recent.

The Germans are not disparaged and not dishonored on the whole. It's mostly Nazism that gets the shaft, and that should be expected. Just as the Russians (vodka and accent jokes aside) as an ethnic and national people are not being mistreated in media representation as much as the government that (mis)represented them for a long time.
[NS]Aigelior
01-08-2005, 07:12
I'm German. When playing games like Enemy Territory I find myself fighting on both sides about equally. When playing something like RTCW, I got no problems shooting Nazis. They aren't Germans for me, just Nazis. I guess it's the same for most of us.

Suprisingly (?) most of the time you find someone playing ET on the German side with a name like "Hitler" etc. those are US guys. No sane German would call himself that.
Colodia
01-08-2005, 07:19
Aigelior']I'm German. When playing games like Enemy Territory I find myself fighting on both sides about equally. When playing something like RTCW, I got no problems shooting Nazis. They aren't Germans for me, just Nazis. I guess it's the same for most of us.

Suprisingly (?) most of the time you find someone playing ET on the German side with a name like "Hitler" etc. those are US guys. No sane German would call himself that.
Well that's good...

...About those guys calling themselves Hitler...do they actually admit they're American? It really does make us look rather bad...but it really can't just be us being the only jerks on the net. British, Canadians...They too have their fair share of jerks like us.
Monkotasotapolis
01-08-2005, 07:33
The secrecy allowed by online gaming gives the opportunity to many young punks to pretend to be tough, rough Nazi-types.

I remember it quite well from my Return to Castle Wolfenstein days.
I always had difficulty playing as the Nazis, honestly, for reasons dear to me, but if it had to be due to team swaps or whatever, it had to be. I would never CHOOSE that side just for fun, because as our German friend says above, I didn't see it as selecting "A German Soldier" I saw it as "A Stormtrooper of Death, Tyranny and Genocide".
Leonstein
01-08-2005, 08:56
As long as they're remotely accurate historically, I don't mind. It's important that the other side isn't being dehumanised.

But I still would like to see a good long game with a good long campaign with a good long storyline where you play a German.
Laerod
01-08-2005, 09:07
I'd imagine they wouldn't be very happy about constantly playing American/British/Soviet soldiers invading their home country and constant orders to kill Germans.Depends. The neo-Nazis probably aren't to happy about games in which they kill the people they try to glorify, but I personally have no problem with shooting Wehrmacht soldiers.

I'd like to add that all German versions of games are treated so that any swastikas or SS-runes are removed.
The Black Forrest
01-08-2005, 09:10
Depends. The neo-Nazis probably aren't to happy about games in which they kill the people they try to glorify, but I personally have no problem with shooting Wehrmacht soldiers.

I'd like to add that all German versions of games are treated so that any swastikas or SS-runes are removed.

*Blinks*

Why? What does that accomplish?
Laerod
01-08-2005, 09:17
*Blinks*

Why? What does that accomplish?Not much. It's the same German law that prohibits neo-Nazis from waving the flag of the 3rd Reich. You're not allowed to use Nazis symbols outside of a historically educational context, so it's okay to have it in a history book but illegal to have it tattooed on your skin or to have it in a computer game.
Leonstein
01-08-2005, 09:18
Why? What does that accomplish?
They're illegal in Germany. They can't be displayed in any such manner, and so they are removed.

Or do you want us to come back at you!!!??? :D
Latao
01-08-2005, 09:22
Germany is a broken nation. It lost any prout and patrotism. The way everything concering the Nazi-era is handled is redicolous. Everything's simply banned. For the smallest actions or sayings, people end up in jail.
Laerod
01-08-2005, 09:26
Germany is a broken nation. It lost any prout and patrotism. The way everything concering the Nazi-era is handled is redicolous. Everything's simply banned. For the smallest actions or sayings, people end up in jail.Not true. You can't lock someone away just for voicing their opinion. There are instances where this goes too far, and then they get cracked down on, but you won't get locked away immediatly for saying racist things. As for actions, if you beat someone up or burn down a house, you violate German law anyway.
MGE
01-08-2005, 09:31
Good, Nazi stuff should be banned, It caused so much suffering it should never be allowed to get any power whatsoever
Leonstein
01-08-2005, 09:31
Germany is a broken nation. It lost any prout and patrotism. The way everything concering the Nazi-era is handled is redicolous. Everything's simply banned. For the smallest actions or sayings, people end up in jail.
Good stuff that. At least the Swiss still like us for killing 6 million Jews...

But seriously, I don't think the "shame" part of it should take such a big place. If they would simply tell people the actual reasons why racism and nationalism are stupid ideas, rather than go down the track of shaming people into not liking Nazis, then that would be a lot better.
I don't think we need to worry about pride or patriotism though. The EU will take the place of single countries sooner or later anyways, and Patriotism is just in the way in a globalised world.
Latao
01-08-2005, 09:35
Well, for me Germany's democracy is far from what I call "open" - the tenet of free speach isn't held very dear.
Just look at the moronic comparision made by left-winged powers "was arbeit schafft ist sozial" = "arbeit macht frei" = Nazi-slogans...funny though :-)
And it's a shame, that Schroeder participated that unholy war-celebration in Moscow...
Laerod
01-08-2005, 09:45
Well, for me Germany's democracy is far from what I call "open" - the tenet of free speach isn't held very dear.
Just look at the moronic comparision made by left-winged powers "was arbeit schafft ist sozial" = "arbeit macht frei" = Nazi-slogans...funny though :-)
And it's a shame, that Schroeder participated that unholy war-celebration in Moscow...Free speach isn't frowned upon. It's really difficult to convict someone of abusing the right to free speach in Germany.
And you're not seriously comparing an idealistic phrase to the cynical bullshit that the Nazis put on their KZ gates?
And what was so "unholy" about the parade in Moscow? Granted, it's pro-Soviet, but it is in a historical context. I find Schröder's support for that bogus Yukos trial worse than attending that parade.