@WhiteRabbit I think before when I replied to you I was putting emotion before knowledge. I have seen quite a few misteps being pointed out and maybe they aren’t from people acting in good faith. And I have seen first hand accounts of Japanese friends raising concerns. I think it’s likely some Japanese people will see something online or in the news and see it that people are insulting their culture. Whether it’s a correct perception or not, or whether it is widespread or not, is another thing.
@Northern_munkey I will admit I made a wrong assumption as to your knowledge on the subject so for that I apologise. I also note you said I came across as the sort to just argue endlessly. Which, actually, I also want to apologise for. Because if that’s how my posts come across then I think I need to work on how I word things and also maybe learn to take a level headed approach to these things. You got any links for finding wisdom? 😅
@Northern_munkey thanks for providing that. I think you have misread me a bit as I am not an acolyte for a cause in this. I’m happy to learn and be corrected and change my view.
In fact @WhiteRabbit’s pointing out the inconsistencies with the criticism between two games has made me rethink some of this.
Clearly my view has been shaped by three things.
1. Japanese outrage / hurt (or at least my perception of that hurt).
2. Apparent lack of care from Ubisoft. (Example: claiming authenticity while using a knock off from One Piece.)
3. The apparent lack of authenticity. Which actually might not be as bad as I suspected. Or rather, not any different to other games and developers.
@Northern_munkey I’m highlighting what Japanese people are pointing out and it includes inaccuracies in the main characters and in sub characters. None of the above comment I made pointed out things I noticed, but what I have seen Japanese people noting.
Neither you nor I have the historic knowledge to debate whether a black samurai or a female shinobi is historically accurate.
The problem with all of this is that people have their teams they support, their political leanings they are defending and so on.
I’m sorry to say that the sources you’re reading are not giving you the full picture (or you too are demonstrating those leanings).
This is not just a right wing thing in Japan. And it isn’t just a Western YouTuber thing making it a big deal here. It’s also not about racism. To suggest it’s all about that is to dismiss genuine concerns from the Japanese.
Is it the biggest news over there? No. Is there racism from extreme elements of Japanese politics? Sure. But there are also a lot of genuine, regular people who are saddened and offended by how their culture is being handled.
Ubisoft have made some massive missteps. Even claiming that they made a replica sword from the game and it was a One Piece replica sword they bought off Amazon.
It’s an absolute mockery of what they are trying to achieve. And it shows they have people working there who are either in over their heads or not genuinely concerned with the work they are producing.
Ubisoft’s reputation is being damaged not because of bad people online, but because of incompetent people working for them.
They could have produced a game that was worthy of their work and honourable to Japanese culture. But they have failed both and they are letting down themselves and the Japanese.
Will it still be a good game? Probably. But it could have been so much more.
Actually the complete quote includes more than just architecture, but object placement, food etc and that they are dedicated to accuracy and taking the time to get it right.
But the initial sentence is: “We are trying to create a game that is as authentic as possible.”
The game is the whole thing.
They have failed in their quest to make the game authentic. Not only with the characters, but the way they act, the armour they use, the weaponry, banner styles, spelling mistakes, mixing different eras together, the clothing, plants, seasonal changes, harvest times and more. The list is massive. To top it off, they didn’t even get the architecture right. So you can’t even defend them with that.
Just listen to the Japanese. They are the ones micro-analysing everything and many aren’t happy. It’s become a national scandal.
And yet people have been defending Ubi saying “Well it’s not meant to be authentic.” Then when Ubi claims it is authentic they say, “Well they are only claiming this certain thing.”
The bottom line is Ubisoft are big enough and spending enough money on this to get it right. It’s their own fault for their incompetence.
@DonkeyFantasy you are right, we shouldn’t encourage upskirting.
However, if this game encourages upskirting, then we are getting into the territory that violence in games creates murderers and school shooters, and we know that isn’t the case.
I’m very much a prude. No sex before marriage. No looking at porn. Dress appropriately. Etc.
However, I find it so stupid that the video game industry has wholesale glorified gore, violence, vulgarity, and swearing, but sex is too far.
Despite my personal feelings, there is no denying the female form is a beautiful thing. I would much rather someone is a little bit of a pervert over pixels than someone enjoy seeing excessive gore and violence.
In fact, Mortal Kombat (a game I wouldn’t play in a million years) seems to allow you to tear scantily clad women limb from limb. But if someone shows a woman’s panties or rewards cleavage shots, that’s a step too far?
I think we are giving in to the mob far too easily. I would equally defend both gore in games as much as sex in games, despite personally playing games with neither. And I think it’s wrong to change games to suit people who have no interest in the game other than destroying the enjoyment of the fans of the game.
I’m also quite a big fan of game preservation. So why not give the option to include it or remove it depending on the player?
@thefourfoldroot1 I think it is something some people notice more than others. Kind of like 30fps and 60fps.
The problem was it happened everywhere in exactly the same way. Whether I was at home or at work. Even tried it on my brothers PS5 to see if it was my connection. I then used my laptop and tried it on all three places and didn’t have the problem.
The reason for it is lack of VRR integration. They designed it without it likely to save money as most would see past it. But it’s a known issue.
Unfortunately for me it’s a deal breaker and it’s a massive shame because I was really happy getting it. The screen is amazing. The controller felt great.
Gotta wait for the Portal 2 now.
Edit: It was all games I tested: Horizon Forbidden West, Final Fantasy 15, Rocket League and Astro Bot’s Playroom.
Unfortunately I returned mine as I couldn’t cope with the screen tearing and no update can fix that.
My laptop, with VRR, gives me much smoother streaming and so I stuck with that instead. It is sad because the Portal is designed from the ground up for one purpose and gives a worse quality stream than a third party device that isn’t built for it.
The Portal is the only PlayStation peripheral I’ve returned because it just isn’t built for purpose (or at least the purpose I want: smooth streaming).
@get2sammyb we get it’s the house style but in our opinion we think that changing it sometimes is acceptable so that the personal opinion of your writers is better expressed to your readers.
@Markatron84 yeah, the ‘our’ and ‘we’ terminology on the hook shot sites does not work for personal takes like this.
It is likely confusing to people who don’t know this is their style. New people to the site will think it’s the opinion of the entire website, not just one writer.
Why not let contributors have their own voice when giving their personal takes?
@RoomWithaMoose I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just saying that there is a clash of cultures that happens and trying to insert Western values into another culture doesn’t always work.
Ubisoft claim they are honouring a heritage, but they’ve misunderstood the culture entirely. They haven’t done their research and they’ve just copy and pasted from various places - even bought a One Piece replica sword off Amazon and claimed it as the replica of Yasuke’s sword.
It’s just shoddy, poor quality work from a team who are out of their depth.
But when you’re supposed to honour a culture and a growing number of that culture is offended. I will tend to defend that culture (especially as I have a vested interest in Japan). Not because I agree with everything, but because I think it’s wrong for others to talk down to them or tell them how they are supposed to feel.
And if you read my original comment, all I said was to see what the Japanese feel about this.
By the way, I just wanted to point out. I don’t think the main problem with the game is the fact it has a Black lead.
The biggest problem is the team making the game simply copy and pasted stuff from museums, pictures, and apparently from Manga and enactment groups, and had no real knowledge about the subject they were meant to be honouring, and it shows. Ubisoft could even face court cases over this stuff.
It’s just a sad state of affairs all round and takes away from what the game could and should have been.
@RoomWithaMoose well, to claim a Black African is Japanese isn’t showing you understand Japanese culture (no offence). That’s not a minority view in Japan (looking aside from AC:Shadows), that’s a very common viewpoint.
Does that make it racist? Possibly. Xenophobic might be a more accurate. Or maybe they just have a different viewpoint.
And if you want to go down that route then 80% of the world’s population is racist and xenophobic, because there are a lot of cultures that clearly treat foreigners differently and put people of different colours and cultures into boxes.
It’s a big world out there and Western values are the minority, unfortunately.
@RoomWithaMoose I’m really sorry, but I think you probably just might not realise how different Japanese culture is to the West.
You are calling their views ‘racist’ because they are resistant to change. This is most obvious when you claim that Yasuke (a Black immigrant) ‘is Japanese.’
You are applying Western values to a different culture. My family is mixed/Asian/immigrant but it doesn’t matter what colour our skin is, we are also British.
In Japan today there are White/Black/Asian people born and raised in Japan to who speak Japanese as their first language and are culturally Japanese and yet still don’t consider themselves Japanese and would not be considered Japanese by the Japanese.
This isn’t racism (although some might see it that way and clearly there is racism in Japan) but rather Japanese people on the whole view Japanese people as people who are ethnically Japanese not culturally. Although they are welcoming to others.
There is also a strong emphasis on preserving their culture and heritage. Which is basically why Ubisoft is seen as missing the mark.
Sorry, but I don’t accept that at all. Nothing I said was racist.
You literally misread what I said, wrongly represented it back to me and then after I explained myself you doubled down with the race card and falsely accusing me of something I never said.
That’s a real shame.
I thought we were just having a civil debate here not resorting to low level tactics to win an argument.
I didn’t say ‘only’ Black people will like this game. I was emphasising how Black people will be extra appreciative of seeing a Black Samurai (and there is nothing wrong with that). I then said Westerners won’t see much of a problem compared to Japanese.
Thanks for implying I’m racist though. 😅
Anyways, you’re Asian? Cool beans, so is my family! But why didn’t you say, “I’m Japanese.” You are not Japanese, right? So are you implying that all Asian cultures are the same and we all look the same? That because you’re Asian you speak on behalf of all Asians? Just because you are not offended does that mean the Japanese cannot have their own feelings?
(See how I can misuse your words also. 😇)
Anyways, I hope you understand I’m just playing above.
I’m likely going to play AC:Shadows at some point and enjoy it. But I am also acutely aware of the sensitivities of Japanese people.
Mainly because I have personal Japanese friends who feel like Western politics is being injected into their culture and then the Western media is calling them racist for not agreeing with it.
They don’t feel anger, they feel hurt. And I’m going to defend them. Sorry.
@wildcat_kickz I agree with a lot of what you’re saying. And by the way, I don’t think it is wrong for people to have creative license, but I do think there is an argument for respecting cultures and having sensitivity to current events.
AC games have always been great for helping people have a taste for a place in history. Alexandria in AC:Origins is used by educators because of its historical accuracy. But at the same time it has an element of fantasy, after all, there is magic in the stars and the whole connecting with your ancestors thing.
I have no doubts AC:Shadows will be a great game and Western audiences will love it. Many in Japan will also. But there are definitely a large number of people in Japan not happy with Ubisoft.
But if the whole world loves a game, but the culture it is based upon is largely offended. I think that is a big problem.
I also think it’s wrong for us to tell Japan how they should feel.
“It’s the 21st century, we’re supposed to be constantly inserting Western ideals into other cultures and modern politics into history all the time. You didn’t get the memo?”
@Korgon I said “Japanese Samurai” for a reason because there are two characters. A Samurai and a Ninja.
You can be a Japanese Ninja in the game, but not a Japanese Samurai. Hopefully that clears up that point.
AC has always straddled the line of fiction/reality. No one is denying that, but they clearly took it further in this game with a culture that does not have a Western mindset.
And again, you couldn’t be a black Viking or an Asian Bayek in other games. They’ve done it at a time where there is massive cultural sensitivity in Japan about protecting their heritage.
My family is also from a minority background that isn’t represented much in the media. But we don’t feel out of place in the UK as it’s very multicultural.
See my comment above to see why many in Japan are upset (and I’m just scratching the surface really), and why I don’t think it was wise for Ubisoft to do what it did.
The thing is, AC has always straddled the line of fiction and accuracy. And they’re doing that here again. But I think they didn’t take into account the disrespect it would cause to the culture they were trying to honour.
I actually think Western gaming journalism has done a massive disservice to Japan for not covering their feelings in all of this.
It’s being seen through the lens of Western politics and labelling everyone extremists rather than dealing with the sensitivities of Japan.
It’s like Ubisoft is ‘West-washing’ (if I can coin that term) Japanese culture while the Western media are ‘West-washing’ the hurt many Japanese feel about this.
Maybe you’re looking at this from a Western perspective. I’m sure this game will do well in the West. And yes, you will always find a Japanese person who is fine with it.
But trust me when I say there are many Japanese people who are deeply offended by this.
In Japan right now, there is a big discussion over foreigners going to the country and disrespecting Japan and Japanese culture. There are incidents of people desecrating shrines or breaking the law in Japan. And this is blowing up in the news and people are outraged by it. It goes against the culture of Japan which is very respectful and law abiding.
Ubisoft, instead of honouring Japan by giving them their first ever Japanese Samurai, instead has said, “Hey, lets use the only black guy we can find in history that is loosely associated with being a Samurai and insert our Western politics into Japanese culture. The Japanese will love that.”
Now, I’ve seen people saying “this is fiction, it’s not real” on the other hand they’re defending the game by saying, “this black Samurai is a real historic person.”
It doesn’t matter if it’s a work of fiction or that a black Samurai existed (he likely wasn’t Samurai, by the way, even though he was trained). What matters is that the culture being represented is respected.
Ubisoft didn’t put a Chinese person as the main protagonist for AC:Valhalla and they didn’t put a White person as the main protagonist for AC:Origins. They weren’t historically accurate games either. But they did respect the cultures they represented. And Origins, to this day, is still an extremely accurate representation of Alexandria and used for educational purposes.
AC:Shadows however isn’t even accurate on small things like the kanji mentioned in this article. So it’s not just about race, it goes a lot deeper than that. But again, it’s mainly the Japanese being offended. And the rest of the world doesn’t really care.
Black people seeing a black Samurai are likely going to love the game. Samurai are cool no matter what race you are.
Westerners in general will likely not see much wrong with a black Samurai. It’s not their culture after all and they’re used to seeing merging of cultures and modern politics being inserted into everything.
The Japanese, however, are largely seeing this as a massive disrespect to their culture and proud heritage.
I’m quite disheartened to see all the comments overly praising the PlayStation Portal and mocking those of us who don’t get on with it. As a huge fan of PlayStation, the Portal has been the biggest let down of any of their devices. And yes, I do own one.
I wanted to love my PlayStation Portal, but I simply can’t.
Despite its nice design, at the end of the day, it’s still only a cloud gaming device and cloud gaming still sucks.
Worse than that. It’s an inferior cloud gaming device to my laptop. Without VRR, the connection, frame rate and image quality are noticeably inferior to what I was getting with Remote Play on my laptop.
If the PlayStation Portal had the ability to have a direct connection from the PS5 to it, kind of like a WiiU Gamepad, even if it was via a dongle plugged into my PS5 so that I could have a flawless 1080p/60fps experience in the same room as my PS5, then I’d be willing to overlook its other flaws (no Bluetooth etc). But the fact it cannot just does not cut it to me.
My laptop giving me a better performance in the same room and on the same network as a dedicated device made by Sony because they chose to limit its features to save money is the type of mediocrity I refuse to accept.
It doesn’t matter what firmware updates they add. This device could and should have been so much better.
They know exactly what I’m playing and there are options available to them to create more social/interactive experiences for players based on what they’re playing by incorporating social media/reddit etc and allowing content (based on the users preferences) in order to increase our experiences and enjoyment of the games we are playing at the time. It could even be based on recommendations from other users or something.
I was meaning to express my agreement with your article. But actually I think they could do far, far more and just allow players to turn on or off various notifications and integration to get the best experience for themselves.
I actually think they could do more interaction for single player games also.
I personally don’t play any games that are live service (besides Guild Wars 2 on PC).
The PS5 tries to show me news about games I’m interested in, but most of the time it’s updates on content I’m nowhere near playing or games I only dabbled in.
What I’d like is some user generated content popping up to show the community of the game I’m currently playing.
For me I’m on FF15. About 90hrs in and almost at the Platinum. Yes, I know it’s a PS4 game and old, but if there was a way for the PS5 to recognise that was the game I’m invested in and somehow link to the Reddit page and share a screenshot a day from another player, or give me a tips on grinding AP or whatever, I would feel a lot more like I’m part of the community of that game.
Instead, I’m doing that personally by going onto the Reddit for that game. I may be asking too much, but I’m just saying that I like community. Even in single player games. Even if it’s just knowing others are enjoying the same content as me. So surely there is something Sony can add to cater to that.
Comments 1,176
Re: Square Enix Has Got Fans Talking About a Final Fantasy 13 Remake, Not a Remaster
@Buckeye4Life2015 I agree. I see no reason why digital versions of the original couldn’t be made available.
On Xbox Series X they can play FF13 in 4K/60fps but PS5 we can’t even play FF13 or its sequels. The Switch could also benefit from the FF13 games.
Square needs to sort it out. Hehe
Re: Ubisoft Suggests More Development Time Required for Future Assassin's Creed Games
@WhiteRabbit I think before when I replied to you I was putting emotion before knowledge. I have seen quite a few misteps being pointed out and maybe they aren’t from people acting in good faith. And I have seen first hand accounts of Japanese friends raising concerns. I think it’s likely some Japanese people will see something online or in the news and see it that people are insulting their culture. Whether it’s a correct perception or not, or whether it is widespread or not, is another thing.
@Northern_munkey I will admit I made a wrong assumption as to your knowledge on the subject so for that I apologise. I also note you said I came across as the sort to just argue endlessly. Which, actually, I also want to apologise for. Because if that’s how my posts come across then I think I need to work on how I word things and also maybe learn to take a level headed approach to these things. You got any links for finding wisdom? 😅
Re: Ubisoft Suggests More Development Time Required for Future Assassin's Creed Games
@Northern_munkey thanks for providing that. I think you have misread me a bit as I am not an acolyte for a cause in this. I’m happy to learn and be corrected and change my view.
In fact @WhiteRabbit’s pointing out the inconsistencies with the criticism between two games has made me rethink some of this.
Clearly my view has been shaped by three things.
1. Japanese outrage / hurt (or at least my perception of that hurt).
2. Apparent lack of care from Ubisoft. (Example: claiming authenticity while using a knock off from One Piece.)
3. The apparent lack of authenticity. Which actually might not be as bad as I suspected. Or rather, not any different to other games and developers.
Re: Ubisoft Suggests More Development Time Required for Future Assassin's Creed Games
@Northern_munkey care to educate me?
Re: Ubisoft Suggests More Development Time Required for Future Assassin's Creed Games
@Northern_munkey I’m highlighting what Japanese people are pointing out and it includes inaccuracies in the main characters and in sub characters. None of the above comment I made pointed out things I noticed, but what I have seen Japanese people noting.
Neither you nor I have the historic knowledge to debate whether a black samurai or a female shinobi is historically accurate.
Let’s not fool ourselves.
Re: Ubisoft Suggests More Development Time Required for Future Assassin's Creed Games
@WhiteRabbit
The problem with all of this is that people have their teams they support, their political leanings they are defending and so on.
I’m sorry to say that the sources you’re reading are not giving you the full picture (or you too are demonstrating those leanings).
This is not just a right wing thing in Japan. And it isn’t just a Western YouTuber thing making it a big deal here. It’s also not about racism. To suggest it’s all about that is to dismiss genuine concerns from the Japanese.
Is it the biggest news over there? No. Is there racism from extreme elements of Japanese politics? Sure. But there are also a lot of genuine, regular people who are saddened and offended by how their culture is being handled.
Ubisoft have made some massive missteps. Even claiming that they made a replica sword from the game and it was a One Piece replica sword they bought off Amazon.
It’s an absolute mockery of what they are trying to achieve. And it shows they have people working there who are either in over their heads or not genuinely concerned with the work they are producing.
Ubisoft’s reputation is being damaged not because of bad people online, but because of incompetent people working for them.
They could have produced a game that was worthy of their work and honourable to Japanese culture. But they have failed both and they are letting down themselves and the Japanese.
Will it still be a good game? Probably. But it could have been so much more.
Re: Ubisoft Suggests More Development Time Required for Future Assassin's Creed Games
@chucksneed @WhiteRabbit
Actually the complete quote includes more than just architecture, but object placement, food etc and that they are dedicated to accuracy and taking the time to get it right.
But the initial sentence is: “We are trying to create a game that is as authentic as possible.”
The game is the whole thing.
They have failed in their quest to make the game authentic. Not only with the characters, but the way they act, the armour they use, the weaponry, banner styles, spelling mistakes, mixing different eras together, the clothing, plants, seasonal changes, harvest times and more. The list is massive. To top it off, they didn’t even get the architecture right. So you can’t even defend them with that.
Just listen to the Japanese. They are the ones micro-analysing everything and many aren’t happy. It’s become a national scandal.
And yet people have been defending Ubi saying “Well it’s not meant to be authentic.” Then when Ubi claims it is authentic they say, “Well they are only claiming this certain thing.”
The bottom line is Ubisoft are big enough and spending enough money on this to get it right. It’s their own fault for their incompetence.
Re: Uniqlo Introduces Make-Your-Own Monster Hunter Merch Range
Japan always gets the cool stuff. 😭
Re: Geralt Voice Actor Confirms Role in The Witcher 4, White Wolf Will Be 'Part of the Game'
@Drago201 I thought cockle picking could only happen at the beach, but I see you are a digital cockler.
That warms my cockles.
Re: Dead Rising's PS5 Remaster Will Strip Bonus Points for Erotic Photos
@DonkeyFantasy you are right, we shouldn’t encourage upskirting.
However, if this game encourages upskirting, then we are getting into the territory that violence in games creates murderers and school shooters, and we know that isn’t the case.
Re: Dead Rising's PS5 Remaster Will Strip Bonus Points for Erotic Photos
I’m very much a prude. No sex before marriage. No looking at porn. Dress appropriately. Etc.
However, I find it so stupid that the video game industry has wholesale glorified gore, violence, vulgarity, and swearing, but sex is too far.
Despite my personal feelings, there is no denying the female form is a beautiful thing. I would much rather someone is a little bit of a pervert over pixels than someone enjoy seeing excessive gore and violence.
In fact, Mortal Kombat (a game I wouldn’t play in a million years) seems to allow you to tear scantily clad women limb from limb. But if someone shows a woman’s panties or rewards cleavage shots, that’s a step too far?
I think we are giving in to the mob far too easily. I would equally defend both gore in games as much as sex in games, despite personally playing games with neither. And I think it’s wrong to change games to suit people who have no interest in the game other than destroying the enjoyment of the fans of the game.
I’m also quite a big fan of game preservation. So why not give the option to include it or remove it depending on the player?
Re: Interview: Cat Quest 3 Dev on the Success of Its Delightful RPG Series, and What's Next for the Studio
I literally got the Platinum for Cat Quest over the weekend. Now I want to play them all.
It was on PS+ Extra so I downloaded it for my kids. They haven’t played it yet… 😅
Re: Kitana's Only Fan Leaks in First Mortal Kombat 2 Movie Image
Look at the curves on that!
Re: PS Portal Update 3.0.1 Allows Connection to 5GHz Public WiFi, Here Are the Patch Notes
@thefourfoldroot1 I think it is something some people notice more than others. Kind of like 30fps and 60fps.
The problem was it happened everywhere in exactly the same way. Whether I was at home or at work. Even tried it on my brothers PS5 to see if it was my connection. I then used my laptop and tried it on all three places and didn’t have the problem.
The reason for it is lack of VRR integration. They designed it without it likely to save money as most would see past it. But it’s a known issue.
Unfortunately for me it’s a deal breaker and it’s a massive shame because I was really happy getting it. The screen is amazing. The controller felt great.
Gotta wait for the Portal 2 now.
Edit: It was all games I tested: Horizon Forbidden West, Final Fantasy 15, Rocket League and Astro Bot’s Playroom.
Re: PS Portal Update 3.0.1 Allows Connection to 5GHz Public WiFi, Here Are the Patch Notes
Unfortunately I returned mine as I couldn’t cope with the screen tearing and no update can fix that.
My laptop, with VRR, gives me much smoother streaming and so I stuck with that instead. It is sad because the Portal is designed from the ground up for one purpose and gives a worse quality stream than a third party device that isn’t built for it.
The Portal is the only PlayStation peripheral I’ve returned because it just isn’t built for purpose (or at least the purpose I want: smooth streaming).
Re: Preview: There's Nothing Super About Marvel Rivals on PS5
@get2sammyb we get it’s the house style but in our opinion we think that changing it sometimes is acceptable so that the personal opinion of your writers is better expressed to your readers.
Maybe consider it. 😇
Re: Preview: There's Nothing Super About Marvel Rivals on PS5
@Markatron84 yeah, the ‘our’ and ‘we’ terminology on the hook shot sites does not work for personal takes like this.
It is likely confusing to people who don’t know this is their style. New people to the site will think it’s the opinion of the entire website, not just one writer.
Why not let contributors have their own voice when giving their personal takes?
Re: Preview: There's Nothing Super About Marvel Rivals on PS5
It doesn’t matter if this game is mid. What matters is that any kid who loves Marvel is going to love this game.
They will only care that they can be their favourite superheroes and fight other superheroes.
… and they likely don’t even know or care what an Overwatch or Concord is. 😅
Re: Test Your PlayStation General Knowledge - Issue 23
I’m proud of my 6/10.
That’s an improvement on some of my previous scores.
Re: Free-to-Play Phenomenon Genshin Impact Gets Its Own PS5 Console Bundle in Japan
If it’s popular enough to shift consoles then it could prove profitable.
Xbox Series S had a Fortnite/Rocket League bundle which sold well and they were both free.
I’m guessing there are many fans of the game who will be enticed by this. Even if all they are getting is a shiny box and some cosmetics.
Re: Re-Enactment Group Not Satisfied with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows Flag Apology
@RoomWithaMoose I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just saying that there is a clash of cultures that happens and trying to insert Western values into another culture doesn’t always work.
Ubisoft claim they are honouring a heritage, but they’ve misunderstood the culture entirely. They haven’t done their research and they’ve just copy and pasted from various places - even bought a One Piece replica sword off Amazon and claimed it as the replica of Yasuke’s sword.
It’s just shoddy, poor quality work from a team who are out of their depth.
But when you’re supposed to honour a culture and a growing number of that culture is offended. I will tend to defend that culture (especially as I have a vested interest in Japan). Not because I agree with everything, but because I think it’s wrong for others to talk down to them or tell them how they are supposed to feel.
And if you read my original comment, all I said was to see what the Japanese feel about this.
Re: Re-Enactment Group Not Satisfied with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows Flag Apology
@RoomWithaMoose @DennisReynolds
By the way, I just wanted to point out. I don’t think the main problem with the game is the fact it has a Black lead.
The biggest problem is the team making the game simply copy and pasted stuff from museums, pictures, and apparently from Manga and enactment groups, and had no real knowledge about the subject they were meant to be honouring, and it shows. Ubisoft could even face court cases over this stuff.
It’s just a sad state of affairs all round and takes away from what the game could and should have been.
Re: Re-Enactment Group Not Satisfied with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows Flag Apology
@RoomWithaMoose well, to claim a Black African is Japanese isn’t showing you understand Japanese culture (no offence). That’s not a minority view in Japan (looking aside from AC:Shadows), that’s a very common viewpoint.
Does that make it racist? Possibly. Xenophobic might be a more accurate. Or maybe they just have a different viewpoint.
And if you want to go down that route then 80% of the world’s population is racist and xenophobic, because there are a lot of cultures that clearly treat foreigners differently and put people of different colours and cultures into boxes.
It’s a big world out there and Western values are the minority, unfortunately.
Re: Re-Enactment Group Not Satisfied with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows Flag Apology
@DennisReynolds well, obviously it’s not a completely accurate representation.
But to pretend all the comments mean nothing is also not reality.
Re: Re-Enactment Group Not Satisfied with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows Flag Apology
@RoomWithaMoose I’m really sorry, but I think you probably just might not realise how different Japanese culture is to the West.
You are calling their views ‘racist’ because they are resistant to change. This is most obvious when you claim that Yasuke (a Black immigrant) ‘is Japanese.’
You are applying Western values to a different culture. My family is mixed/Asian/immigrant but it doesn’t matter what colour our skin is, we are also British.
In Japan today there are White/Black/Asian people born and raised in Japan to who speak Japanese as their first language and are culturally Japanese and yet still don’t consider themselves Japanese and would not be considered Japanese by the Japanese.
This isn’t racism (although some might see it that way and clearly there is racism in Japan) but rather Japanese people on the whole view Japanese people as people who are ethnically Japanese not culturally. Although they are welcoming to others.
There is also a strong emphasis on preserving their culture and heritage. Which is basically why Ubisoft is seen as missing the mark.
Re: Re-Enactment Group Not Satisfied with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows Flag Apology
@DennisReynolds it’s a snapshot of the bigger picture.
I was just giving an example of people can do to get a taste.
Re: Re-Enactment Group Not Satisfied with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows Flag Apology
Anyone trying to defend Ubisoft here:
Go to Ubisoft Japan’s YouTube channel. Read all the Japanese comments.
It says everything you need to know as to why Ubisoft messed up here.
But I guess you’ll all continue telling the Japanese how they’re supposed to feel.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@PuppetMaster
Sorry, but I don’t accept that at all. Nothing I said was racist.
You literally misread what I said, wrongly represented it back to me and then after I explained myself you doubled down with the race card and falsely accusing me of something I never said.
That’s a real shame.
I thought we were just having a civil debate here not resorting to low level tactics to win an argument.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@PuppetMaster
I didn’t say ‘only’ Black people will like this game. I was emphasising how Black people will be extra appreciative of seeing a Black Samurai (and there is nothing wrong with that). I then said Westerners won’t see much of a problem compared to Japanese.
Thanks for implying I’m racist though. 😅
Anyways, you’re Asian? Cool beans, so is my family! But why didn’t you say, “I’m Japanese.” You are not Japanese, right? So are you implying that all Asian cultures are the same and we all look the same? That because you’re Asian you speak on behalf of all Asians? Just because you are not offended does that mean the Japanese cannot have their own feelings?
(See how I can misuse your words also. 😇)
Anyways, I hope you understand I’m just playing above.
I’m likely going to play AC:Shadows at some point and enjoy it. But I am also acutely aware of the sensitivities of Japanese people.
Mainly because I have personal Japanese friends who feel like Western politics is being injected into their culture and then the Western media is calling them racist for not agreeing with it.
They don’t feel anger, they feel hurt. And I’m going to defend them. Sorry.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@Korgon nothing you’re saying is wrong, but…
Just look at Japanese reactions to this.
I’m literally just defending Japanese people in all this.
Ubisoft got it wrong to the point where it has caused great offence. And too many Westerners are telling the Japanese how to feel.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@wildcat_kickz I agree with a lot of what you’re saying. And by the way, I don’t think it is wrong for people to have creative license, but I do think there is an argument for respecting cultures and having sensitivity to current events.
AC games have always been great for helping people have a taste for a place in history. Alexandria in AC:Origins is used by educators because of its historical accuracy. But at the same time it has an element of fantasy, after all, there is magic in the stars and the whole connecting with your ancestors thing.
I have no doubts AC:Shadows will be a great game and Western audiences will love it. Many in Japan will also. But there are definitely a large number of people in Japan not happy with Ubisoft.
But if the whole world loves a game, but the culture it is based upon is largely offended. I think that is a big problem.
I also think it’s wrong for us to tell Japan how they should feel.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@tangyzesty you didn’t hit a nerve.
I agree with your statement. People do get offended too easily. However, I also wanted to add another perspective to what you said.
Both statements, in my opinion, are true. And there are likely other variations that can be applied.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@tangyzesty
This could also be:
“It’s the 21st century, we’re supposed to be constantly inserting Western ideals into other cultures and modern politics into history all the time. You didn’t get the memo?”
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@Korgon I said “Japanese Samurai” for a reason because there are two characters. A Samurai and a Ninja.
You can be a Japanese Ninja in the game, but not a Japanese Samurai. Hopefully that clears up that point.
AC has always straddled the line of fiction/reality. No one is denying that, but they clearly took it further in this game with a culture that does not have a Western mindset.
And again, you couldn’t be a black Viking or an Asian Bayek in other games. They’ve done it at a time where there is massive cultural sensitivity in Japan about protecting their heritage.
It’s unwise to say the least.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@nhSnork
My family is also from a minority background that isn’t represented much in the media. But we don’t feel out of place in the UK as it’s very multicultural.
See my comment above to see why many in Japan are upset (and I’m just scratching the surface really), and why I don’t think it was wise for Ubisoft to do what it did.
The thing is, AC has always straddled the line of fiction and accuracy. And they’re doing that here again. But I think they didn’t take into account the disrespect it would cause to the culture they were trying to honour.
I actually think Western gaming journalism has done a massive disservice to Japan for not covering their feelings in all of this.
It’s being seen through the lens of Western politics and labelling everyone extremists rather than dealing with the sensitivities of Japan.
It’s like Ubisoft is ‘West-washing’ (if I can coin that term) Japanese culture while the Western media are ‘West-washing’ the hurt many Japanese feel about this.
The Japanese voice is not being heard.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@Korgon @PuppetMaster
Maybe you’re looking at this from a Western perspective. I’m sure this game will do well in the West. And yes, you will always find a Japanese person who is fine with it.
But trust me when I say there are many Japanese people who are deeply offended by this.
In Japan right now, there is a big discussion over foreigners going to the country and disrespecting Japan and Japanese culture. There are incidents of people desecrating shrines or breaking the law in Japan. And this is blowing up in the news and people are outraged by it. It goes against the culture of Japan which is very respectful and law abiding.
Ubisoft, instead of honouring Japan by giving them their first ever Japanese Samurai, instead has said, “Hey, lets use the only black guy we can find in history that is loosely associated with being a Samurai and insert our Western politics into Japanese culture. The Japanese will love that.”
Now, I’ve seen people saying “this is fiction, it’s not real” on the other hand they’re defending the game by saying, “this black Samurai is a real historic person.”
It doesn’t matter if it’s a work of fiction or that a black Samurai existed (he likely wasn’t Samurai, by the way, even though he was trained). What matters is that the culture being represented is respected.
Ubisoft didn’t put a Chinese person as the main protagonist for AC:Valhalla and they didn’t put a White person as the main protagonist for AC:Origins. They weren’t historically accurate games either. But they did respect the cultures they represented. And Origins, to this day, is still an extremely accurate representation of Alexandria and used for educational purposes.
AC:Shadows however isn’t even accurate on small things like the kanji mentioned in this article. So it’s not just about race, it goes a lot deeper than that. But again, it’s mainly the Japanese being offended. And the rest of the world doesn’t really care.
Black people seeing a black Samurai are likely going to love the game. Samurai are cool no matter what race you are.
Westerners in general will likely not see much wrong with a black Samurai. It’s not their culture after all and they’re used to seeing merging of cultures and modern politics being inserted into everything.
The Japanese, however, are largely seeing this as a massive disrespect to their culture and proud heritage.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
@ShadowofSparta
Calm down, I was not trying to bait. I was just stating my opinion.
I don’t think Ubisoft has properly honoured Japanese tradition/heritage or respected the Japanese people themselves in all of this.
That’s how I feel, and many Japanese people feel the same.
Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art
I think Ubisoft has a lot more to apologise to Japan for…
Re: PS Store Sales Charts: GTA 5 Manages to Dethrone Elden Ring in Shadow of the Erdtree Release Month
Am I the only person on earth who doesn’t own a copy?
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Patch Clearly Improves PS5 Performance, But It's Still Far from Perfect
Come on developer optimisation.
Re: Talking Point: What's Your Most Anticipated PS5 Game for the Second Half of 2024?
For me:
Re: PlayStation Likely to Go All-Digital By PS7, Analyst Predicts
“The future ain’t what it used to be.”
Going through my old PS2 games today I have to say I will greatly miss physical.
Personally I still buy 100% physical in the hopes of keeping it alive for as long as possible.
Re: Elden Ring DLC Made Easier with New PS5, PS4 Calibration Update
I’m not going to pretend I’m anything other than happy that they have made it easier for me.
All the try hards can hate me. But this is good news. 😇
Re: Poll: Are You Playing Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree?
In the second poll why is there no option for: “Yes, I’ve played it but not finished it.” ?
Re: New PS Portal Firmware Update Adds Better Wi-Fi Features and More
I’m quite disheartened to see all the comments overly praising the PlayStation Portal and mocking those of us who don’t get on with it. As a huge fan of PlayStation, the Portal has been the biggest let down of any of their devices. And yes, I do own one.
I wanted to love my PlayStation Portal, but I simply can’t.
Despite its nice design, at the end of the day, it’s still only a cloud gaming device and cloud gaming still sucks.
Worse than that. It’s an inferior cloud gaming device to my laptop. Without VRR, the connection, frame rate and image quality are noticeably inferior to what I was getting with Remote Play on my laptop.
If the PlayStation Portal had the ability to have a direct connection from the PS5 to it, kind of like a WiiU Gamepad, even if it was via a dongle plugged into my PS5 so that I could have a flawless 1080p/60fps experience in the same room as my PS5, then I’d be willing to overlook its other flaws (no Bluetooth etc). But the fact it cannot just does not cut it to me.
My laptop giving me a better performance in the same room and on the same network as a dedicated device made by Sony because they chose to limit its features to save money is the type of mediocrity I refuse to accept.
It doesn’t matter what firmware updates they add. This device could and should have been so much better.
Re: Preview: Star Wars Outlaws on PS5 Has a World of Possibilities, But Is Let Down by a Rough Demo
@dark_knightmare2 no, most people have not turned against Dragons Dogma 2.
90% of gamers don’t even interact with the online community and especially not the ‘moaning minority’.
Most gamers just play games and enjoy them. The same will happen with this game. Many mediocre games are enjoyed by the masses.
Re: Preview: LEGO Horizon Adventures Is an Unexpected But Very Pleasant Surprise
I never thought I’d be blown away by the graphics on a Lego game. Really looking forward to this one.
Re: Oh Right, We Need to Write About Sea of Thieves Now
Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Push Square life for Sea of Thieves.
Re: PS5 Needs to Do a Better Job of Alerting You to the Things Going on in Your Games
@get2sammyb yeah, that’s what I mean.
They know exactly what I’m playing and there are options available to them to create more social/interactive experiences for players based on what they’re playing by incorporating social media/reddit etc and allowing content (based on the users preferences) in order to increase our experiences and enjoyment of the games we are playing at the time. It could even be based on recommendations from other users or something.
I was meaning to express my agreement with your article. But actually I think they could do far, far more and just allow players to turn on or off various notifications and integration to get the best experience for themselves.
Re: PS5 Needs to Do a Better Job of Alerting You to the Things Going on in Your Games
I actually think they could do more interaction for single player games also.
I personally don’t play any games that are live service (besides Guild Wars 2 on PC).
The PS5 tries to show me news about games I’m interested in, but most of the time it’s updates on content I’m nowhere near playing or games I only dabbled in.
What I’d like is some user generated content popping up to show the community of the game I’m currently playing.
For me I’m on FF15. About 90hrs in and almost at the Platinum. Yes, I know it’s a PS4 game and old, but if there was a way for the PS5 to recognise that was the game I’m invested in and somehow link to the Reddit page and share a screenshot a day from another player, or give me a tips on grinding AP or whatever, I would feel a lot more like I’m part of the community of that game.
Instead, I’m doing that personally by going onto the Reddit for that game. I may be asking too much, but I’m just saying that I like community. Even in single player games. Even if it’s just knowing others are enjoying the same content as me. So surely there is something Sony can add to cater to that.