COD:WoW trailer is SOOOOOOO bad!

[Mozgus]

According to one Owen Good anyway.

http://kotaku.com/5080808/where-was-the ... n-this-one

I must raise a few counter-points:

1) Has this clown just discovered this industry? If this the first game trailer he's ever seen? Calling out the editor's skills is way out of line. The trailer is edited together better then 80% of the competition. I think I have some credit in this area. Editing game footage to music is pretty tough, but the flow and rhythm shown here work out pretty well.

2) He seems to be implying that this trailer is so bad, because it's offensive or tasteless. I must ask again, has this fool never played a COD game before? Since when has this series, or any other WW2 shooter been respectful? The initial concept of a WW2 videogame can be argued as offensive. ANY game resembling a real world conflict from ANY era can be offensive. This is nothing new. Furthermore, COD4 and WoW are just as "metal" as this trailer implies. This trailer actually perfectly demonstrates the vibe of the game. The games could only be more metal if the characters all wore 150lb power armors and were armed with chainsaw guns, but that was already done.

3) If neither of the above is what he's actually griping about, then perhaps he just doesn't like the music itself. To that, I say, tough shit. I know I've had to say it many times to viewers of my little videos in years past. If I think a song works with some footage, then that's all that matters. If the editor of this trailer thinks it works, then that's that. No one else has a stronger say on things than the editor did. Sometimes, it's true, that a trailer is a rush job with no point, but more often there is an actual underlying message or purpose to the whole thing. Most often however, the viewer is retarded and incapable of making any connection between audio and video. For example I've been gloriously praised for some stupid, obnoxious little Street Fighter Alpha video with Linkin Park I did a long time ago, and it can be seen posted at least a dozen times on youtube, but when I actually put together something with some honest humor or atmosphere, I was told be so many little cretins how awful the music was, or how boring it was because there wasn't enough....fighting.

[General Chaos]

It's interesting that Cannon Fodder actually received quite a bit of criticism when it was released on the PC in the UK, evidently for "trivializing" war. I would have to assume that my namesake, General Chaos, might have inspired similar sentiments with some.

Conker's beach storming scene also comes to mind. I actually remember thinking at the time that that could be perceived as extremely offensive. In fact, that one scene is probably the most offensive portrayal of a real war I've seen in a video game, though of course one could suggest it's a spoof on Saving Private Ryan and not the event itself. Either way, I do own Conker and think that part of the game is a lot of fun.

Regarding the trailer at hand, I think we have to look beyond the content of the media we're examining and consider the impact on the viewer and eventual game-player. We could argue about desensitization all day, but the reality is that by middle school the average child has seen thousands of fictional murders on TV, in movies, and in games.

Here we're talking about desensitization of a different kind, by which our sensitivity to historic events and the integrity of their actors is at stake. I might also add that I view WW2 as one of the last justifiable wars and having known several veterans I'm of the belief that the soldiers of WW2 were qualitatively different from those in the military today. Quite honestly, I don't mind games that glorify "modern desert warfare" because I know that "the troops" play the stuff and enjoy it (the military even uses its own game as a recruitment tool--which is statement on the state of the military today). However, I think today's military is filled with hyper-masculine beef heads who often join for all the wrong reasons, just like we fight wars for all the wrong reasons.

So for me it's in part a statement on the politics and culture of war and the military. My uncles who fought in WW2, one of whom lied about his age and joined the marines at age 15, later to fight and survive D-day, would scoff at this trailer. This same uncle I mention fell asleep during Saving Private Ryan. He'd been there; he'd experienced it. We're just trying to glean entertainment from something he invested his life in.

Advertise "super desert-camo muscle-bound band of jocks killing Arabs to pay for college all the while rocking out and kicking ass part 3" any way you want, but there are more tasteful and appropriate ways to advertise a game about WW2.

BUT remember, I liked that scene in Conker, so I'm as tasteless a bastard as the rest of them.

[corn619]

I don't why but I can't stand FPSs, maybe its because the genre hasn't evolved gameplay wise since the mid 90s. Or the over abundance of them on the shelfs. The graphics are really good but I can't stand the fact that you can't even see your character. All you see is a gun sticking out the screen, been there done that thank you very much.

[Pulsar_t]

It's interesting that Cannon Fodder actually received quite a bit of criticism when it was released on the PC in the UK, evidently for "trivializing" war. I would have to assume that my namesake, General Chaos, might have inspired similar sentiments with some.

Conker's beach storming scene also comes to mind. I actually remember thinking at the time that that could be perceived as extremely offensive. In fact, that one scene is probably the most offensive portrayal of a real war I've seen in a video game, though of course one could suggest it's a spoof on Saving Private Ryan and not the event itself. Either way, I do own Conker and think that part of the game is a lot of fun.

Regarding the trailer at hand, I think we have to look beyond the content of the media we're examining and consider the impact on the viewer and eventual game-player. We could argue about desensitization all day, but the reality is that by middle school the average child has seen thousands of fictional murders on TV, in movies, and in games.

Here we're talking about desensitization of a different kind, by which our sensitivity to historic events and the integrity of their actors is at stake. I might also add that I view WW2 as one of the last justifiable wars and having known several veterans I'm of the belief that the soldiers of WW2 were qualitatively different from those in the military today. Quite honestly, I don't mind games that glorify "modern desert warfare" because I know that "the troops" play the stuff and enjoy it (the military even uses its own game as a recruitment tool--which is statement on the state of the military today). However, I think today's military is filled with hyper-masculine beef heads who often join for all the wrong reasons, just like we fight wars for all the wrong reasons.

So for me it's in part a statement on the politics and culture of war and the military. My uncles who fought in WW2, one of whom lied about his age and joined the marines at age 15, later to fight and survive D-day, would scoff at this trailer. This same uncle I mention fell asleep during Saving Private Ryan. He'd been there; he'd experienced it. We're just trying to glean entertainment from something he invested his life in.

Advertise "super desert-camo muscle-bound band of jocks killing Arabs to pay for college all the while rocking out and kicking ass part 3" any way you want, but there are more tasteful and appropriate ways to advertise a game about WW2.

BUT remember, I liked that scene in Conker, so I'm as tasteless a bastard as the rest of them.

Thanks for this insightful post. Funny how Cannon Fodder looks so tame nowadays compared to back then. But nothing tops Return Fire's pause message, and even so I consider that great a great classic!

tl;dr, edited rest of my post for clarity
1) war games ought to be played by older gamers, not teens who dwell on it and annoy the rest of us with their warmongering attitudes.
2) violence is a significant part of human nature, but games cater to prejudices and impulses more crudely year after year
3) why not offer older gamers more subtle experiences? we're not asking for Apocalypse Now material, just something more thoughtful. I guess the market isn't ready for it yet.
4) there is a common notion gamers are obnoxious, rude simpletons. The trailer above enforces such a mainstream view

[ubelaffe]

That trailer was pretty awesome. At first, I thought it might be cheezy, but as soon as the shush synced, it turned into a totally great trailer. This looks way more brutal than the other games in the franchise, and I think that's awesome. This reviewer should try walking in the editor's shoes before calling him out like that. I think it worked really well.

[Mozgus]

http://www.destructoid.com/call-of-duty ... 0773.phtml

I'm not sure which way Jim is even swinging on this one. The sarcasm is evident, but he's not the type to be offended about anything.

[Pulsar_t]

I believe as long as they make trailers like this one games will remain considered the interactive equivalent of cheesy b-movies. And who takes people who watch Van Damme and Dolph movies seriously? Perhaps that's precisely the point and the target demographic doesn't care? But I for one want change, and not the Wii way.

Now I'm going to plug this article which I find very interesting (and the comments as well) -> http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i ... tory=20675

Edit - Watching the trailer now. It's awful. I think it's worse than Windtalkers. They've turned WWII into a John Woo movie.

[Ack]

For the record, I watch Dolph movies from time to time. They're hilarious.

Also, the trailer made me feel sick, mainly what with all the flamethrowers. Maybe I'm the only person who's ever done this, but there have been things I've seen in first person shooters that have seriously made me feel ill, like witnessing through a sniper scope as a guy gets sprayed with the chunks that used to be his buddy who happened to end up on the wrong side of an airstrike. Now, watching those guys get cooked and squirming, all I can think of is that quote, "Ain't war hell?"

I had a talk once with my dad about Call of Duty 4 and how awesome I though it was. I started telling him some of the stuff that happens in the game, and he just stood silent, nodding his head. When I finished my rant, he looked at me and said "Son, I've actually done some of those things." It makes me question my attitude towards these games when I think about him saying that. I mean, I love first person shooters, especially ones set on massive battlefields or in war zones. I mean, I enjoy them, and I've got some great stories about them, but...well, when confronted with an actual veteran, all these video games just seem so childish. And I often find myself wondering if I could ever do some of the things those guys have done, or if my knees would just buckle and I'd give up right there.

It's very likely I will never experience a war first hand, just as many others on this forum never will. The closest we will probably ever get will be through the various media we encounter or by talking to individuals who have seen war. Maybe this is what the original article's author is trying to cope with, just by doing so in a way that is...counterproductive.

[Mozgus]

I just don't...care what veterans think. They have their memories. That's fine. Yes, they experienced the real deal. Good for them. I don't care. I'm proud that I've never wanted to exterminate a human life. I'm proud that I avoid that kind of course. I've never felt the need to go over and kill some brown skinned people because of what happened to a couple of our towers. I'm sure I was born generations prior, I wouldn't have felt the urge to go kill Nazis either.

My point is, let me enjoy my stupid, pointless, childish video games.

[dsheinem]

I can't stand FPSs, maybe its because the genre hasn't evolved gameplay wise since the mid 90s... you can't even see your character. All you see is a gun sticking out the screen, been there done that thank you very much.

The same arguments can be made for almost any genre - RPGs are often similar (HP/MP stats, level grinding, etc.), as are shmups (shoot stuff in space either vertically or horizontally, avoid bullets, etc.), platformers (jump from ledge to ledge and collect stuff) and so on. But there's plenty of innovation within each genre also - including in FPS games. If you really think the genre hasn't evolved since the mid 90s you either haven't played recent FPS games or you are just trolling.