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[–] 145 points 2 years ago (23 children)

If chess were a new game released today, I imagine a lot of these "why'd they make it political" types would probably object to the fact that the most powerful character in the game is the only one that's clearly stated to be a woman.

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  • [–] 66 points 2 years ago (11 children)

    Wokeness is why she's not in a bikini or hot. Look at this. ♕

    End WOKENESS

    /s

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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    If chess came out today, some mod author would give her huge badonkers

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  • [–] 25 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Some mod authors have most definitely already done that. Only 250$ USD for a hand carved set on Etsy.

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  • [–] 31 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Well, originally, the piece is Vizier - king's advisor, the gender of which isn't specified. (but implied to be male?)

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  • [–] 24 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    So what you're saying is that switching it from Vizier to Queen isn't about progressive feminism, but instead about monogamy and heteronormative gender roles? Way to ruin it for everybody! 😠

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  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Idk if I'm saying that, but it's definitely woke. They should've came up with a new character instead of just gender-swapping an existing one!

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    The Vizier also only moved one space at a time, like the king but without significant importance. It wasn't until the French changed the Queen in the 1600s to move as far as she wants that she was liberated from the shackles of the patriarchy.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Well, not if chess were created today, the way it was created originally. It took until 997 for The Queen to replace The Chancellor/Minister, and even then she could only move one square diagonally only. It took till the 1400's for her to gain a flying mount, or whatever the explanation is for her current OP movement status.

    Bishops replaced Elephants in the 1200s, but could only move 2 squares, diagonally, at a time.

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  • [–] 59 points 2 years ago* (17 children)

    Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is literally one of the best games I've ever played and it's entire basis is politics.

    Armstrong was screaming Make America Great Again about three years too early.

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  • [–] [S] 14 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    I’ve always wanted to play it, but I never have. Same for all of the metal gear games, lol.

    If only I could play them on PS5 :(

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago* (6 children)

    I guarantee you that’s where Turnip’s team got the slogan. Some unpaid internet played the game and mentioned it as Orange was walking by.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago

    It was a Reagan campaign, and people like Roger Stone and Steve Pieczenick were involved. Listening to him on Knowledge Fight covering Infowars, they aren't in touch enough to know video game references, unfortunately, since that would have been hilarious.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It originated from Reagan who took it from Thatcher, with Reagan not getting the "Make Britan Great Again" pun works because Great Britain is the name of the English portion of the UK

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    [–] 54 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    It's not about killing the king. The king can never be killed. It's about keeping him in check until he can't move anymore

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  • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    It's also worth noting the term is "capture". And outside of rare instance - you didn't really want to kill knights and the like: You captured them, and ransomed them back to their family/liege lord etc.

    And there is a reason the term "Kings Ransom" exists. John the II of France for instance was captured, and Ransomed for something like 300000 gold coins of the day - something like 300 million or up to about 3 billion in today's dollars (conversion is a little fuzzy but to put it simply: A BLOODY TONNE OF MONEY).

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    The term "check mate" literally means "the king is dead".

    We know the word for king from other known forms like "sheikh" or "Shah". I don't think the word for "dead" was loaned to English from Persian or Arab in any phrases or sayings except "check mate".

    Yeah, but it's about killing the king. It's also about protecting your own king, so not a game of republicanism.

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  • [–] 31 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    The only apolitical video game is Tetris, and its export history is Cliff's Notes for cold-war economic shenanigans.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    Tetris is a hyperabstract policing simulator. The shapes are people, your job is to shove them into boxes and keep them in line. Too many get out of line and you lose. Some people are easy to fit in, like lines and squares, some go out of their way to be helpful like Ls and Ts and some people...well, some people are just always gonna be Zs facing the wrong direction.

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  • [–] 25 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    The Fallout community is ludicrous with this. New Vegas is one of the most politically charged games in recent years, and yet chuds think it's somehow not extremely anticapitalist and pro-leftist.

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    [–] 19 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    You want a game about politics? Play fallout new vegas. Yes, there is no true government, but the whole game is about factions trying to establish themselves like a government.

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    [–] 13 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    There's not a time in history sports and games weren't political.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (4 children)
  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago

    Pac man disrespects the dead by eating ghosts, which is considered highly disrespectful in cultures that practice ancestor worship. What's more, Pac man has a wife who is explicitly shown to be as capable as he is, to the point where the only real difference between them is that Mrs Pac man has a bow and lipstick. A bold statement on gender roles if I've ever seen one. In summary, this game is a feminist masterpiece that pokes fun at superstitious conservative countries. Truly a thought provoking piece that will be remembered in the same vein as other great provocative works, such as A Modest Proposal or the movie Borat.

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    [–] 10 points 2 years ago

    Chess does not involve politics, because there is no decision making in groups. The chess in Harry potter where the pieces can talk to you... That has politics

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I mean, killing people as a function of time plays a role here, right?

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    "The Finals" has different approach - you, as a real person, play video game, in which you control a character while in inner "virtual reality".

    Or you know - controlling a virtual character to kill other virtual characters isn't so bad, isn't it? 😅

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    When people say this it's an extension of telling people you're "not interested in politics" as a more polite alternative to "you're a windbag and not nearly as smart as you think you are, so I'd rather stick to things it's fun to talk to you about." Nobody complains about games like New Vegas and Deus Ex because they're written by people with enough education and skill to pull it off. That's why it's always the same games being used as examples. That level of writing is nowhere close to the norm.

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