Iranian-born Navid Khonsari -- voice actor, co-director and writer for PS2-era GTAs -- is working on a new game centered around the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Specifically, the happenings surrounding the U.S. embassy hostage crisis.
In an interview with a Russia Today lady whose hairdresser lives in the 90s, Khonsari doesn't go into much detail about the gameplay, but instead focuses on how there are not really good or bad guys in a conflict situation like this. He sees it as something that depends on the perspective of the people involved, the context surrounding it, and the way a situation can cause people to become swept up in it.
"Nobody is to say that this person is right and this person is wrong. It is just a matter of what the situation is dictating and the legions of people that are making decisions, that has kinda caused this conflict. But the people involved in them might not be the true aggressor. There is a number of different facets to it. And I’m not pointing to say that Americans are bad or Iranians are bad. I’m saying the situation is bad."
While I'm not sure how exactly he's going to make this work in a game, it certainly sounds intriguing. The last time a game openly and bluntly gave us any political commentary, we got it via Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's Shaun Hastings with his snarky notes on the U.S. healthcare system, and the Subject 16 puzzles which paint the U.S. as a Templar/Abstergo-controlled corporate state.
Khonsari's concept sounds like a game approach to humanizing the 1979 Iranian Revolution period in a way Persepolis has done before through animation, with maybe a touch of GTA's trademark social and political commentary. Perhaps he's right, and hopefully he will succeed in generating a form of awareness, understanding and dialogue through the medium of videogames that hasn't been achieved before.
No matter how it ends up, I'll gladly take his attempt over "Big Strong Western Man Shooting Brown People For Points Game #69" anytime.
Maurice Tan Maurice Tan does his Associate Editing from The Netherlands in a reality-shattering time zone. After working as a university lecturer in Psychology and Communications teaching game studies and the merits of Keyboard Cat, he now spends most of his time posting news, previews, reviews, and features about industry stuff or all things PC and strategy. He is also a connoisseur of licensed games, as long as they have achievements. Likes Deus Ex, Colonization, Mass Effect, TIE Fighter, and his iPod Touch.
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I wonder if any developer has the gonads to pick this up...I can't imagine a game with swarthy protagonists selling well in the states,but it sounds interesting..maybe a downloadable title would work
I wonder if the sequel will take on Americas shooting down of Iranian Flight 655?
Lemme refresh your memories.
"Iran Air Flight 655 (IR655) was a civilian jet airliner shot down by US missiles on 3 July 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, toward the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The aircraft, an Airbus A300B2-203 operated by Iran Air, was flying from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when it was destroyed by the U.S. Navy's guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard, including 66 children,[1] ranking it seventh among the deadliest airliner fatalities.[2] It was the highest death toll of any aviation incident in the Indian Ocean and the highest death toll of any incident involving an Airbus A300 anywhere in the world. Vincennes was traversing the Strait of Hormuz, inside Iranian territorial waters, and at the time of the attack IR655 was within Iranian airspace.[3]"
Yeah, this was on the c-blogs a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it's like 10% about the game and 90% "Are violent games training our children to be serial panda murderers?" bullshit
I live in Iran (though I'm not an Iranian) and I have to say I'm not interested in this, at all.
It will either A) Be full of lies B) Never come out of development. Mark my words on that.
Thank god it's finally happening. For too long stories have been from just one perspective, and that is of the protagonist of a fairly cliche story. The thought that now there will be a game with the same story told from multiple perspectives just to highlight the notion that "there are no good guys" sounds really appealing to me.
I just hope everyone can put down the latest Call of Duty to give it a try. I think it's about time we start seeing deeper stories in games; the kind that aren't spoon-fed to you and tell you exactly how you should feel throughout.
Sounds really good I look forward to hearing more about this.
as for Persepolis read the 2 Graphic Novels instead it is seriously probably the best thing I've ever read. Although the film wasn't bad I don't think it was half as effective as the books and in order to appreciate the film you need to know what going through her mind psychologically.
@bobthecatlol :
Why is everything about marketing. This is the game that obviously he wants to make. Thats why it exists. I dont suspect he cares how this relates to most gamers, hes just putting it out there.
As for iran, for such a divided country, a game about divisions sounds really interesting. Definitely on my radar. I'm confused about how this is a game though, unless you can change the flow of history?
I hope this does come out, especially if like they promise that it'll have many different views on what happened. Colour me intrigued even if it does end up as just a good idea.
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Contest:
12:40 PM on 02.16.2011
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Lemme refresh your memories.
"Iran Air Flight 655 (IR655) was a civilian jet airliner shot down by US missiles on 3 July 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, toward the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The aircraft, an Airbus A300B2-203 operated by Iran Air, was flying from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when it was destroyed by the U.S. Navy's guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard, including 66 children,[1] ranking it seventh among the deadliest airliner fatalities.[2] It was the highest death toll of any aviation incident in the Indian Ocean and the highest death toll of any incident involving an Airbus A300 anywhere in the world. Vincennes was traversing the Strait of Hormuz, inside Iranian territorial waters, and at the time of the attack IR655 was within Iranian airspace.[3]"
I wonder if Ubisoft will try & integrate the current wave of revolutions in the Middle East into the story of Assassin's Creed 3.
That is not really something that inspires confidence.
It will either A) Be full of lies B) Never come out of development. Mark my words on that.
I just hope everyone can put down the latest Call of Duty to give it a try. I think it's about time we start seeing deeper stories in games; the kind that aren't spoon-fed to you and tell you exactly how you should feel throughout.
as for Persepolis read the 2 Graphic Novels instead it is seriously probably the best thing I've ever read. Although the film wasn't bad I don't think it was half as effective as the books and in order to appreciate the film you need to know what going through her mind psychologically.
Why is everything about marketing. This is the game that obviously he wants to make. Thats why it exists. I dont suspect he cares how this relates to most gamers, hes just putting it out there.
As for iran, for such a divided country, a game about divisions sounds really interesting. Definitely on my radar. I'm confused about how this is a game though, unless you can change the flow of history?
SN: Funny Comment: I usually play as the good guys in games but I will play as the USA in this one.