mr_world

The last 20 years of American history can be summarized by car size getting smaller after 9/11 due to rising gas prices. Then the domestication of the hummer because gas guzzling became a symbol of defiance against the A-rabs. Then the giant SUVs also getting steadily smaller due to even higher gas prices. Then finally settling on re-hummerization of cars by convincing people they need a giant pickup truck to haul a 2x4 from the hardware store for their weekend projects.

Then maybe they shouldn’t own an animal ~~capable of maiming or killing people.~~

This. When these things fail as factory workers he's going to spin it off into sex robots. There will be a culture around them like there is Tesla. Jordon Peterson will be there to expound the virtues of young men safely and morally work out their libidinal energies on the machines. They'll push it as a men's right issue to tap the incel bazingas directly.

Bioshock Infinite.

The city of Columbia was built as a haven for the ruling class of 1800s America. Complete with a white underclass and, of course, slaves. It was built by a scientist who discovered a new technology and was to serve as a floating World's Fair showing the world how great and advanced America is. Pretty okay premise if done right. Many opportunities to talk about real history and draw comparisons to today. The city is politically divided among several factions, which isn't a fleshed out mechanic in the game due to development issues. But you have a cult that worships John Wilkes Booth and hates Lincoln for ending slavery. You have people who are hyper religious and treat the Founders as religious prophets. You have normal upper middle-class people who are tuned out to the politics. You also have the revolutionary group Vox Populi who are trying to overthrow Columbia's government and install actual democracy. Again, some great ideas in there for good stories based in real history. But then somewhere towards the end of the game it makes the Vox Populi just as bad as the imperialist, racists, sexists, zealots. When you start the game there is a couple being physically abused for miscegenation, in front of a cheering crowd. Yet the black lady trying to stop it is bad because her and other workers killed some cops and are pushing the middle class white people out of the city. It's total "both extremes are really the same" kind of thing. And to make the revolutionary leader bad they write her to kill a baby or something? It's been a while I can't remember if she tries to kill Elizabeth or just Comstock. She was also going to use Columbia's weapons and invade NYC to liberate people on land too. But that's bad because NYC in the late 1800s/early 1900s was good.

Some people might bring up the development troubles as a reason the story got so simplified into horseshoe theory. But there are early gameplay videos from before the troubles started that show Vox Populi implying they want to sexually assault Elizabeth. So they meant for them to be bad from the beginning. The only real thing that was different was that Comstock was supposed to me more nuanced. So the people's revolution of communists were pretty much always a political cartoon and they had to jam the right wing factions into one guy. Instead of getting the subtleties of "cleanse all the immigrants" from many different factions, we get it from one guy. Thanks 2k/Irrational.

Ken Levine is a fucking hack and always has been. Keep him away from games.

Do you remember the 90s? People were talking about getting piercings and tribal tattoos. People were singing about saving the planet and forming bands. There's a place where that idea still exists as a reality -- Portland. Remember when people were content to be unambitious. They sleep until 11am. Just hung out with their friends. They had no occupations whatsoever. Maybe work a couple hours a week at a coffee shop. Portland is a city where young people go to retire.