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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
09/29/09
On a sidenote, this is by far my favorite Sony ad.
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In the ads, the guy on the bed on the right is you - the gamer, dressed in jeans or other attire typical of modern times, rather than the medieval era or Third-Reich period they've been placed in.
As a gamer, in the ad you "give life" to the person on the bed. You either put your heart or some of your blood in these historical figures, thus becoming them in this altered history that could only exist in a game.
Personally, I'd rather see an allied soldier on the bed instead of a Nazi, but you gotta admit the Nazi makes it pretty obvious that it's WWII versus a bland brown uniform that was used in a number of wars.
The ad isn't an endorsement of Nazism, but rather a statement that you can play as a Nazi on the Playstation 3 (can you? I can't recall any titles where you played on the Nazi side...) Even so, still in pretty bad taste for Western readers.
09/29/09
Are they in good taste? No
But do they get your attention? Yes
Are they successful in conveying the PS3? No
So as much as I would like to hate these AD's, they work in a kind of Car-wreck-in-slo-mo way. Don't want to look at them but can't look away.
Before you guys get too bent about the Natzi you need to do some reading about who he is (Erwin Rommel) and what he did (conspiracy to remove Hitler) [en.wikipedia.org]
I don't like the guy but he is not "the worst" Natzi ever either.
Also have to keep in mind that these were cooked up by AD companies not based here in the states; And trust me, there are some much worse ones: (LINK NSFW) [translate.googleusercontent.com]
Something tells me that these may not even be "official" Sony Ad's, but I don't know for sure.
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They're not giving blood or a heart. The ads are suggesting that you as the player will be receiving the blood and heart of a warrior. Whether that's a WWII general or Joan of Arc.
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09/29/09
The whole whining about Nazi's thing is getting old.
Why is it OK to shoot Nazis in a video game, but not portray them in an ad.
It's a part of history, it happened, covering your eyes won't make it go away, and I don't remember anyone saying that you have the right to not be offended...just f***ing get over it already.
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The one gentleman could possibly be a nazi, but there really isn't any definitive proof that he is, All I see is an iron eagle on his hat.
09/29/09
The eagle is the Nazi eagle emblem, designed in homage to the Roman eagle standard.
And yeah, there's a frakkin' swastika too.
Why is it a big deal? It just is something that sets off Jewish people, myself included. I'm pretty damned proud of my grandfather's service in WWII (he was a translator and helped liberate concentration camps).
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I don't mind hearing the occasional Jew joke, but things like this just desensitize people from the atrocities of WWII. I actually don't even enjoy playing games like Call of Duty because the fact that they are simulating real life wars and making a game out of it makes me a bit sick... I realize my opinion on games that simulate war is a bit odd, but I'm not militant about my beliefs on that topic, I just prefer not to play videogames that simulate real life horrors like WWII.
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What do you think of those in the U.S. Armed forces that left for Canada?
09/29/09
And yes, Rozzeh, even under the US military code of conduct, as former Joint Chief Gen. Peter Pace said (under Pres. George W. Bush) "It is the absolute responsibility of everybody in uniform to disobey an order that is either illegal or immoral."
Not only is there no duty to follow illegal or immoral orders, there is an affirmative duty to disobey them. It is one of the Nuremberg Principles.
"I was just following orders" is not a defense.
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09/29/09
As to the SSgTEX' analogy, that is a bit inapt as there was no conscription involved with the Iraqi War. However, when it comes to the treatment of the prisoners at Abu-Ghraib, yes - the soldiers and officers there had an affirmative duty to disobey the orders they were given, just as the officers and soldiers given orders to waterboard have a duty to disobey as the US took the position that waterboarding is torture in war crimes trials following WWII.
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08/08/09
08/08/09
When it comes to finding out the real difference between cameras, we still have to appeal to reviews, dpreview and steve digicams.... :P
08/07/09