I’ve been working through all the games my parents never let me play as a kid using emulators. The idea for this post was inspired by blitz: the league. A dark and gritty American football arcade style game. It features steroids, corruption, and to the modern audience disgusting emphasis on dirty hits and injury. The injuries are emphasized through rewarding the player and mortal kombat style xrays.
It is not without humor (sending sex workers to the away team’s hotel before a game is a feature in the sequel iirc). The gameplay is fun enough and it’s really funny how mad the nfl got because despite the deep flaws it correctly pointed out the corruption.
Final score: “hey dude sniff this milk”/10.
Mass Effect and Halo; they literally depict a neoliberal space America hundreds of years into the future and the Mass Effect codex actually says "the gap between rich and poor widens daily. Advanced nations have eliminated most genetic disease and pollution. Less fortunate regions have not progressed beyond 20th century technology, and are often smog-choked, overpopulated slums" Gee, I wonder what those less fortunate nations could be. :thinkin-lenin:
This kinda makes sense because both series began toward the end of the golden age of neoliberalism, but they aged super poorly because America and its vassal states are literally imploding. The succdem states in the EU are about the become America 2.0 as they vastly expand their military budgets and enact further austerity. :agony-shivering:
As much as I love Mass Effect its insane just how "End of History" lib it is, and simultaneously extremely militarisic "the damn ploiticians won't let us win"