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What games are genuinely 'not political'
- Thread starter sn00zer
- Start date
I disagree, as far as I'm concerned, Tetris is a metaphor where as soon as you build something, the soviet state takes it from you.
...
Maybe?
Nintendo's is explicitly about owning pets which is a political statement and the issues of pet ownership, animal rights, and ethics in dog breeding are political issues.
Pokemon Snap is a game where you're a photographer helping research a nature preserve. The very creation of nature preserves is a political thing.
Weird coincidence but I was just thinking about this article when I saw this thread
There is the politics of who is excluded from playing rhythm games, since there are disabled folks who have special considerations that keep them from playing them "properly". This goes for any video game tbh.
Someone else already said Metal Gear Solid, so I guess I have to give a sincere answer.
I was going to say most competitive couch multiplayer type games (Gang Beasts, for example). But even then those types of games are in themselves a part of a larger societal perception that there must be winners and losers-- that in order to succeed someone else must fail. Shit if that ain't political.
I was going to say most competitive couch multiplayer type games (Gang Beasts, for example). But even then those types of games are in themselves a part of a larger societal perception that there must be winners and losers-- that in order to succeed someone else must fail. Shit if that ain't political.
Peach is a monarch who is kidnapped by a rival monarch and rescued by her working class (boy)friend.
doom 1: the military killing the devil has some pretty clear themes imo.
the concept of apoliticism is fake, but there are plenty of games that have little of substance to say.
even if you're being as abstract as possible you're making an effort not to bring anything to mind or get your values across. that's pretty political.
anyways being political isnt a bad thing or the most important thing. there are degrees and plenty of stuff is inoffensive to most.
the concept of apoliticism is fake, but there are plenty of games that have little of substance to say.
even if you're being as abstract as possible you're making an effort not to bring anything to mind or get your values across. that's pretty political.
anyways being political isnt a bad thing or the most important thing. there are degrees and plenty of stuff is inoffensive to most.
Death of the author suggests that intended interpretation is no match for inferred interpretation.
True, definitely true. With that definition, I don't think that any art form is inherently lacking in some form of politics I suppose. Well....I tried lol.
Usage of fuels, commerce/trade/globalization, the need to continually work to make money to better yourself as a worker.
And if you're playing Euro Truck Simulator 2 accurately (with a 70's classic rock station), you'll probably hear "Jailbreak" by Thin Lizzy.
In Pokemon Snap you invade the natural habitats of Pokemon, sometimes hitting them with stuff or blowing up walls for your own gain
Journey is a commentary on the nature of communication in the information age
Wii sports resort might also be about invading a natural environment, but I never played it
Those are the ones I've got
What? How? Political, at least to me, doesn't mean "this has something deep and meaningful to say" or "intentional messaging".
Mario's game-play isn't tied to the framing narrative at all; they could literally have used almost any other justification to make jumping man jump, they chose "working class man saves princess damsel from rival monarch". That's just a surface reading of the story of most Mario games; you could also argue about the absence of non-European presenting human characters, LGBT characters, disabled characters, the decision to use gold/money as a means of increasing lives and so on.
You mean the game marketed by the Soviets?
Damn.
I appreciate this thread for the insights onto elements I'd taken for granted but the meme-y galaxy brain takes are sublime too.
You can make political analysis of basically everything, even if the creators didn't intend to put any in it.
For example, Mario Kart could be considered apolitical, but then you have elements of monarchy, servants, class differences etc etc.
Maybe something like Lumines.
For example, Mario Kart could be considered apolitical, but then you have elements of monarchy, servants, class differences etc etc.
Maybe something like Lumines.
To me there are two forms of political (not in everything but within relevant context)
1. A game that address a recent political agenda or concern, the sort of debate or issue that gets talked about on the news or societal trends (like taxes or sexism)
2. A game that has politics within its world that have their own rules and machinations, which may be applicable to something that has happened in political history, or current day events in our politics.
FOR EXAMPLE:
1. Agenda in a game: The Last of Us depicts homosexuality for several characters and has a reasonable amount of multicultural representation in its cast. For a 2013 game that sort of acceptance and representation was on the rise in popular media, with a lot of artists showing their support by breaking the mould of always having exclusively a white or straight cast. That is political, because it has to do with the social politics of that particular time, and things you would hear debated hotly on the news.
2. In-world political game: Mass Effect is about the politics between an alien civilization which humans are a part of. There is a bunch of racist ideas between races, and some of that speaks to behavior we see in reality. Is it however political? Does it address anything you hear specifically on the news? No. It can't because you're not gonna hear anyone talk about aliens. You could call this allegory but that assumes the story was told with an intent to Trojan-Horse a "REAL STORY" underneath through masked caricatures. That's not really it, or I certainly don't think it's the intent. It's applicability. The writers had ideas when they wrote these things which taps into personal politics they may have or it may even have been a whiff of fancy that they made that similarity.
The most real-world politics thing that happened in Mass Effect, at least Mass Effect 1 was the Geoff Keighley vs Fox News about sex in games, which sparked from its content - content that was not politicized, but became it once journalists found a scandal to make with it.
I don't think we seperate the kinds of "politics in a game" enough in our pursuit of proving that certain games "are inherently political."
For my pick of a genuinely apolitical game, I would say Jak 2 and I'll humor it because I think it tried pretty hard to be GTA III, but the difference between that Naughty Dog series and Rockstar is that Rockstar always went for societal satire and commentary, which is political but Jak 2 was only interested in the car jacking and the guns and was otherwise just an edgy saturday morning cartoon platformer.
1. A game that address a recent political agenda or concern, the sort of debate or issue that gets talked about on the news or societal trends (like taxes or sexism)
2. A game that has politics within its world that have their own rules and machinations, which may be applicable to something that has happened in political history, or current day events in our politics.
FOR EXAMPLE:
1. Agenda in a game: The Last of Us depicts homosexuality for several characters and has a reasonable amount of multicultural representation in its cast. For a 2013 game that sort of acceptance and representation was on the rise in popular media, with a lot of artists showing their support by breaking the mould of always having exclusively a white or straight cast. That is political, because it has to do with the social politics of that particular time, and things you would hear debated hotly on the news.
2. In-world political game: Mass Effect is about the politics between an alien civilization which humans are a part of. There is a bunch of racist ideas between races, and some of that speaks to behavior we see in reality. Is it however political? Does it address anything you hear specifically on the news? No. It can't because you're not gonna hear anyone talk about aliens. You could call this allegory but that assumes the story was told with an intent to Trojan-Horse a "REAL STORY" underneath through masked caricatures. That's not really it, or I certainly don't think it's the intent. It's applicability. The writers had ideas when they wrote these things which taps into personal politics they may have or it may even have been a whiff of fancy that they made that similarity.
The most real-world politics thing that happened in Mass Effect, at least Mass Effect 1 was the Geoff Keighley vs Fox News about sex in games, which sparked from its content - content that was not politicized, but became it once journalists found a scandal to make with it.
I don't think we seperate the kinds of "politics in a game" enough in our pursuit of proving that certain games "are inherently political."
For my pick of a genuinely apolitical game, I would say Jak 2 and I'll humor it because I think it tried pretty hard to be GTA III, but the difference between that Naughty Dog series and Rockstar is that Rockstar always went for societal satire and commentary, which is political but Jak 2 was only interested in the car jacking and the guns and was otherwise just an edgy saturday morning cartoon platformer.
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The entire iconography of Lucha Libre that it so joyously celebrates is one in which Luchadores are heroes of justice for the catholic working class, standing up against the forces of evil and corrupt officials
It depends a lot on what kind of "political" you mean.
Does it have an explicit political message?
Does it have a subliminal polticial message?
Does it depict things that can be political issues?
Does it reflect societal norms that may be considered political issues (talking about something like "rescue the princess" trope)?
Does it depict actions that some may want to regulate politically (e.g. weapon use)?
Does it depict anything that is specifically linked to a place that has ever been politically relevant?
If you are very broad in you application of the word, then you can probably rule out every game that has conscious actors, which would limit us to completely abstract games, such as:
- Picross (Nonograms in general)
- Sudoku
- Marble Madness (Now Monkey Ball 1? Maybe someone could argue that the monkeys may look like they are not in the balls out of their own free will? It ould be wrong as we know by SMB2, but SMB2 has a story)
- Typing trainer
Of course, if measurement of performance is already being considering political (it may be considered as pro-capitalist / utalitarian) then you can cross out all of these games as well.
Does it have an explicit political message?
Does it have a subliminal polticial message?
Does it depict things that can be political issues?
Does it reflect societal norms that may be considered political issues (talking about something like "rescue the princess" trope)?
Does it depict actions that some may want to regulate politically (e.g. weapon use)?
Does it depict anything that is specifically linked to a place that has ever been politically relevant?
If you are very broad in you application of the word, then you can probably rule out every game that has conscious actors, which would limit us to completely abstract games, such as:
- Picross (Nonograms in general)
- Sudoku
- Marble Madness (Now Monkey Ball 1? Maybe someone could argue that the monkeys may look like they are not in the balls out of their own free will? It ould be wrong as we know by SMB2, but SMB2 has a story)
- Typing trainer
Of course, if measurement of performance is already being considering political (it may be considered as pro-capitalist / utalitarian) then you can cross out all of these games as well.
Journey
Vall-Halla
Warframe
Slime Rancher
Orcs Must Die
La Mulana
Splatoon
Octopath Traveler
Vall-Halla
Warframe
Slime Rancher
Orcs Must Die
La Mulana
Splatoon
Octopath Traveler
If we're going to pretend our subjective interpretations can make something political, than everything is political. The internet is obsessed with "death of the author", but misuse it constantly.
Super Mario Comrades
That is actually the Vietnam flag. Mario was an advocator for removing american troops from the war.
It's no coincidence the flag in the flagpole has a peace sign.
Jim Davis and Mike Pence are real life friends thanks to their long Indiana ties. Seriously. So cross that one off the apolitical list.
