Returning to the practice of dedicating each week of posts to a given theme, I decided that the theme for this week should be a gaming one. More specifically, I have some interesting topics to discuss about that came from my experiences with the latest update of Collapse: A Political Simulator by Kremlingames. The post which I had written yesterday is merely the preliminary beginning of the theme.
In Collapse, the player has a chance to determine the development of a gaming industry in a fictitious former Soviet Republic. This event only appears after researching computer technology as early as 2000. One of the choices involved assisting in the establishment of a video game developer as a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE). The implication that came to mind was that doing so might allow the developer to create a gaming engine which would someday become synonymous with the Artform known as Machinima. I discussed about Machinima the Artform (not to be confused with the ill-fated, now-defunct Firm of the same name) in Should the Council State fund Gaming and Animation Industries? (Pt. I of II) as having the potential to become its medium. Even when it seems like the old practitioners have moved on and the Artforms appears to have fallen into obscurity, I remain convinced that it will be more welcomed on a National Intranet.
Another event, which I have yet to capture a screenshot of, is one about the growing popularity of Japanese Anime among young people in the fictional former Soviet Republic. It is a missable event that rarely happens late-game, but when it does occur, the player is given the choice of responding to the trend. From what I recall, the player could either express their support for the Artform in order to appeal to young people, ignore the trend, try to censor it, or advocate for the establishment of a State-Owned Enterprise specializing in Animations.
I always go for the fourth option whenever the event occurs because the outcome stipulates that the fictional former Soviet Republic established the SOE in order to create Animations that not only rivaled Japanese Anime but also promoted the values and culture of the fictional former Soviet Republic. The State was even said to have gone as far as to recruit Japanese animators to train the personnel of that SOE, whom I would presume are Anime Otakus.
This makes sense in hindsight because the post-1945 Japanese government in the 2000s considered subsidizing Anime, Manga, and Light Novel publications as part of its economic and social policies. The policy in question was coined in 2002 as “Cool Japan,” and it would receive proper form as a 2010 document called “New Growth Strategy – Blueprint for revitalizing Japan.” It was not until 2011 that post-1945 Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) officially referred to the policy as “Cool Japan.” For those interested, I am including a relevant link to METI’s website where they go in greater detail on the policy.
Anyway, Part II of “Should the Council State fund Gaming and Animation Industries?” will definitely be one of the posts that I will be writing this week.
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