Side Quest, Episode 18: Far Cry 5 and the Politics of Games Journalism
Added 2018-04-03 17:43:00 +0000 UTCFuck flyover country. Am I right?!
Comments
Very well put. Thank you for your kind words, and for your support!
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-10 18:27:49 +0000 UTCExpectations are the devil man. Most times in life our disappointment in something or someone doesn't come from anything they actually did or didn't do. The disappointment comes from them not living up to our expectations for them. When you realize that it becomes much easier to discipline yourself to temper your expectations and not get so bent out of shape over everything. The only thing in this universe any of us have any hope of controlling is our own attitudes. These "journalists" simply set themselves up for disappointment by creating expectations for the game that had no evidence to support them. Thanks for the work you do Colin!
Jason Stafford
2018-04-10 13:30:25 +0000 UTCIt's super bizarre, BUT! Ubisoft just revealed that the game is selling absolute gangbusters, so.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-05 16:40:52 +0000 UTCIf a product doesn't immediately take a dump on Trump (and anyone who voted for him) the gaming media wants no part of it. Such a strange thing and seems like a miserable way to live. Great video.... The whole "backlash" against Ubisoft seemed weird to me too and you captured it well here.
Brian Dewire
2018-04-05 16:38:48 +0000 UTCThank you. I will. =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-05 16:27:51 +0000 UTCThat's the thing: Even those of us who don't like Trump can't escape from the insanity. I know it's not popular with everyone, but Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real thing. LOL.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-05 16:19:29 +0000 UTCGreat episode Colin, keep calling that shit out, lazy bullshit journalism is what's killing the media.
Bryan Finck
2018-04-05 16:19:09 +0000 UTCNo, they'll never go... but we can absolutely make it a point to keep calling the insanity out.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-05 16:18:55 +0000 UTCThank you so much!
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-05 16:18:05 +0000 UTCYeah, but to know that, you need to, y'know, know what you're talking about and whatnot.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-05 16:17:58 +0000 UTCThank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. <3
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-05 16:17:34 +0000 UTCI have no problem with games telling a political story or having political undertones (or overtones!)... but I don't like when things are criticized for what they're not even attempting to do. It's strange.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-05 16:17:22 +0000 UTCI don’t get how anyone can think this references anything other than Waco. If someone said yeah, I wanted the game to drill down harder on its plot, great. But to try to force this into some sort of Trump necessary world is ridiculous. I hate Trump. I’m far left progressive, and I am happy to be playing games that thankfully have nothing to do with Trump. Every day he says some moronic thing that scares the shit out of everyone, myself included. Can we not have any media at all that let’s us escape this reality? Isn’t that the point of games in the first place? Look, I’m terribly underwhelmed with FC5. But it had nothing to do with fucking Donald Trump. It has to do with the game being in my opinion fairly shallow. I love the concept. I love the source material. They could have done more with it. That ya what is disappointing to me. No Trump vs the world is a plus in my view, not a negative.
Anthony Wright
2018-04-04 15:46:58 +0000 UTCLiked this video. Video games journalism, with that over-reading and crazy bias, is experiencing what film has had since the 1960's. Lots of writers arguing on the subject, many of whom have an ideological axe or are possibly insane. I would like to write that it will get better but I think it will be a constant, rising and falling in ferocity over the years. If you have an industry that supports intelligent voices, you're also gonna get the trash. I'm a subscriber to the film magazine Sight & Sound, a monthly that has some of the most interesting, as well as some of the most bugshit crazy theories. It's wonderful for both its peaks and its valleys. While the games industry writing may become more stable and have a variety of different outlooks, I don't think the crazies will ever fully go.
Peter Campbell
2018-04-04 12:13:46 +0000 UTCLove the research you did behind this one! I learned a lot while enjoying farcry stuff!
Jason Pettet
2018-04-04 11:38:33 +0000 UTCTotally get what you said in the video. I watched Oklahoma City on Netflix a while ago and my first thought in FC5 was Waco in that. How could it NOT be? And all these people saying it doesn't go deeper into themes, I think it does. Faith shows what addicts look for in desperation, John had to accept his punishments when he was young and it scarred him for life, thus the YES. Joseph is the typical charismatic leader, but explains his pain that led to his being. It says less overall in terms of how people buy into cults etc but it's a focused story on specific characters in their fictional world. I think it's great. And maybe it's because I'm not in the US, but Trump didnt spring to mind at all. It's clearly based on Waco. Also, I'm waiting for the Jonestown DLC where they do all your work for you. *ba dum tish*
Smokey Joh
2018-04-04 06:49:22 +0000 UTCThis video was so well researched and written. I learned a lot about the history that the game is based on! It seems completely ridiculous to me that these “journalists” are complaining about issues that don’t exist. Like you said they are trying to make up their own story.
Ryan Blushke
2018-04-04 04:51:07 +0000 UTCI'm really getting sick of people complaining about games not sending a political message that everyone wants. They are games they are meant to be fun and to let the creators tell whatever story they want. I will expect the next Mario game to get destroyed because it doesn't have enough racial diversity. Great job as always!
strawhatninja
2018-04-04 01:40:47 +0000 UTCThank you for watching!
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 23:41:18 +0000 UTCI like it. No opinion on God of War yet, but will hope to have a review up a few days after I get back from Philly.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 23:41:12 +0000 UTCI love it when you talk about politics in gaming on Side Quests. You think Far Cry 5 is worth a shot right now? I would like to play it but I’m saving money for God of War.
Will Hahn
2018-04-03 22:35:32 +0000 UTCWhen far cry 5 was first announced and introduced the Seed cult, the only parallel that came to my mind was Koresh and the Waco seige. I truly don't get where these journalists are trying to infuse Trump issues into the storyline. Great Sidequest Colin, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Ron Chastain
2018-04-03 22:09:34 +0000 UTCThank you so much!
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 21:00:05 +0000 UTCThank you! Not worried about a backlash. The video is totally tame. =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 21:00:00 +0000 UTCI'm gonna reach out to her to see if she wants to podcast when she's here for E3.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 20:59:49 +0000 UTCSee, I have no problem with politics being in games, or there being political critiques of games. But Far Cry 5 never purported to be anything these critics want, and instead of focusing on what the game is and what it's trying to do (or how it could do what it's trying to do better), they instead decided to take aim at a fictional, parallel game that doesn't exist.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 20:59:34 +0000 UTCThis is one of the best Sidequests to date and I'm not even a Farcry fan!
Sean Chandler
2018-04-03 20:49:51 +0000 UTCA well-researched and well-articulated piece. Now brace yourself for the backlash!
Aaron
2018-04-03 19:55:57 +0000 UTCI'd be down for a podcast with Kezza discussing Far Cry 5 and other things.
Stephen Crane
2018-04-03 19:51:11 +0000 UTCI am tired of people. Can't we just enjoy a game because its a game?
Joey Finelli
2018-04-03 19:36:28 +0000 UTCBut it’s current year! Who doesn’t think Obama was a godsend in current year!?!
Marc Boggio
2018-04-03 19:28:45 +0000 UTCWho would have thought that a state that voted for McCain and Romney wouldn't like Obama? Hard sell! =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 19:27:35 +0000 UTCAwesome episode! I haven’t read a single mainstream review for Far Cry that didn’t include at least one eye-roll-worthy line, so it’s great that a counterpoint exists 👍 There’s a hilarious Gamespot video where a few guys are giving their thoughts on the game, they play a clip with a character saying something disparaging about Obama (his presidency, not his race) and are blown away (and made uncomfortable) by the fact that he isn’t a villain. All I could think was: “it is possible there are good people in your country who didn’t think Obama was the messiah, you know... not everyone who voted for Romney was evil incarnate” 😂
Marc Boggio
2018-04-03 19:06:51 +0000 UTCThank you! I'm so pleased that you enjoyed it. <3
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 18:49:19 +0000 UTCMan, I'd love to interview that person on Fireside Chats! Shit would be wild.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 18:49:09 +0000 UTCIt's all the epitome of strange.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 18:48:41 +0000 UTCGreat video Colin. I really enjoyed it. Very well thought out. 👍👍👌👌.
Cameron Paterson
2018-04-03 18:34:49 +0000 UTCSome of these reviewers have been getting too steeped in their own views to truly enjoy a game. I didn’t realize how bad it was until Austin Walker was bringing politics in Monster Hunter. I have hope that they will release most of their hot air, and slowly realize that we, the audience, just want to hear about the product not the politics. Side Note - I have a customer who was part of the branch davidians. Even years later, they are still a bit off.
Chris B
2018-04-03 18:26:30 +0000 UTCI am glad your bringing attention to this issue, it seems reviewers were expecting Far Cry to move away from open world and gameplay and move toward some story driven expose on America and Trump. First thing Far Cry has always been about a simple revenge story. I don't understand how reviewers or gamers expected multiple hundreds of ubisoft employees across the world and studios to have some specific and focused commentary on a country, a people and a political system they might not understand at all or even visited in their life
Brett Gomolka
2018-04-03 18:24:14 +0000 UTCI wouldn't have had a problem with it being about Trump. That wouldn't have bothered me at all. But no one ever said it would be, and it clearly isn't, so why are we judging it based on that? It's profoundly strange.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 18:14:55 +0000 UTCWell, that's why I threw Roseanne in at the end, because it's dealing with similar "repercussions." People love it; journalists don't.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 18:14:23 +0000 UTCThank you! I knew I had to dive into Montana's politics in particular, as you could tell from reading a lot of the shit being written that people have no idea what's going on in the state.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 18:14:01 +0000 UTCMany of these people claim to not know any Trump voters. I don't even know how that's possible. I know dozens. That said, there are great people on both the left and the right, and I'd go as far as to say that most of them don't take automatic issue with someone simply because they don't line up with them ideologically. This shit is getting very tired.
Colin Moriarty
2018-04-03 18:13:36 +0000 UTCI'll say if it were about Trump... I probably wouldn't play it... I need a break man just as you said at the end of the video Colin. Sometimes I just wanna play a game... and Farcry 5 (my first entry into the series) has been scratching that itch. Drop into the game... kill some NPCs in crazy ways, drive your 4 wheeler off a cliff because you're not paying attention to where you're going, have fun. That to much to ask? apparently for some people it is, but I've been having fun.
Owen
2018-04-03 18:11:30 +0000 UTCWhat you said about games critics judging games based on their personal politics has seeped into movies and tv criticism. Even as a liberal i have no interest in knowing if a Netflix show is liberal enough. That's why I now ignore critics across the board.
walter pocasangre
2018-04-03 18:10:49 +0000 UTCGreat research and insight on this one. I was concerned from what I have come to expect of much of media, that this was just going to be a red state bashfest, but thankfully it seems I was wrong.
Tyler Goll
2018-04-03 18:08:08 +0000 UTCOne of the most disturbing trends of politics is how each side sees each other. It came clear to me when I was talking on arstechnica once more than a year ago and after I defended my friends who are Republicans as good people several commenters claimed essentially "Yeah right, I keep hearing there are good republicans but we all know they really don't exist and are all just hateful". I had no idea that people really didn't even associate with others that aren't of the same frame of mind as they are to this extent. It's very ironic because this is essentially what they gay community has tried to do. They have basically said that they key is having someone who is against gay people to actually meet a gay person and the result is you will find these aren't the terrible people you think they are. These same people who say this though don't seem to realize the same also applies to Republicans (and I'm sure to democrats for some on the right too). People at Polygon and other publications probably don't have any interaction with the other side in their day to day lives and therefore truly have this hollywood evil image of a Trump voter. This image becomes their obsession and they can't understand how a game like this isn't calling out the OBVIOUS evil elephant in the US room.
CTE
2018-04-03 18:07:15 +0000 UTC
