One of the things I like about Halo's version of the alien invasion story, is it's kinda sneaky about not absolving humanity of our past sins as we band together to defeat an external threat. The spartan program was made to stamp down colonies that were starting to get rebellious, it was just convenient that the aliens happened to show up just as they were really getting the program off the ground.

@ZombieGuy1

3 жыл бұрын

The irony of your statement is that at least one of the novels, Fall of Reach if I remember correctly, actually DID try to desperately absolve humanity. At least for the Spartan program. “Look I know it’s kinda fucked up that we kidnapped children and replaced them with clones that would self-terminate so that we could have a pool of candidates for super soldier programs that had something like a 90% death rate and the Spartans were going to be used to control unruly populations before the aliens attacked...but we had to do it come oooon!”

@michelottens6083

3 жыл бұрын

@@ZombieGuy1 Yeah the halo thing is that it at least doesn't gloss over or ignore the messed up stuff that military industrial complexes or half-hearted governments can get up to. They try to emulate the wry scifi-exagerrated observance and the anarchic outside view on politics of Iain Banks' Culture books. Halo just also wants to be a juvenile funtimes Doom clone, while fitting in with the hip jingoist Irak-war angst, all of which undermines the deep lore themes and the Banksian subdued punk rage. But it's toothlessly in there at least, as videogames do.

@Oldhandlewasabitcringe

3 жыл бұрын

It mentions the fact that spartans were used in that way but the 99.99% of the rest of the series fetishises the military

@Lazypackmule

3 жыл бұрын

@@Oldhandlewasabitcringe because it's not the military that did that, it was the space CIA

@GroovyDude00

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry buster, you're bad for liking halo, feel guilty now

As a Māori from Aotearoa, I am always delightfully surprised to have my people mentioned.

@TofuSG98

3 жыл бұрын

Cooler name than New Zealand thats for sure, might visit sometime.

@staceymeikle514

3 жыл бұрын

I also love hearing people having a go at using te teo Māori. Like, ka pai on the attempt ehoa

@EcstaticObsessive

3 жыл бұрын

Always nice to have a yank talk about us without it being about lord of the rings that's for sure

@staceymeikle514

3 жыл бұрын

@@veselekov that's the cutest mfuckin thing

@TheSoulHarvester

3 жыл бұрын

@@tardwrangler1019 is it the inbreeding that makes you guys like this or is it the bland food

Thor (the composer for the game) has a killer yt channel, probably one of my top 3 favourite He is so good Also his album positive yellow is great, too: with bangers like "king of the iron fuck"

@fakename105

3 жыл бұрын

Link? When I search it's not showing up, too much marvel stuff

@ReversedMedia

3 жыл бұрын

@@fakename105 ThorHighHeels loveee his stuff

@Fullbatteri

3 жыл бұрын

My damn hero he is!

@2ndbleak

2 жыл бұрын

Love his aesthetics and video topics, but his diction gets so annoying sometimes with the shifts between mumbling and loud clear talking

I love the ethical dilemma of balancing your cash flow versus doing the right thing. It's like an evolution of Papers, Please.

Yeah, that's why my favorite alien story is Roadside Picnic

@fireaza

3 жыл бұрын

Get out of here, STALKER.

@MegapiemanPHD

3 жыл бұрын

Aliens are both the least important and most important part of that story. It's great.

@theblue2228

3 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah brother! I need to read that book again

@mir1999

3 жыл бұрын

Roadside Picnic is sooo good man

@DeaconPain

3 жыл бұрын

Happiness for all and nobody goes away unsatisfied

Amazing hearing your perspective on this thing George!

That's the game Thor HighHeels made the soundtrack for :D

@HT0o0

3 жыл бұрын

I had no idea! I watch his channel and have played this game but never connected the two!

@SpartanBerseker

3 жыл бұрын

SuperBunnyHeels

@WarMomPT

3 жыл бұрын

Yo what? First it's made chiefly by a guy who I had mentally pigeonholed as A Dark Souls KZreadr and then you tell me someone who IS a youtuber did the soundtrack?

@nolankanski9116

3 жыл бұрын

His music is so good, and his videos are great too. I hope he gets more attention online and does well.

@ediapaff8858

3 жыл бұрын

@@nolankanski9116 I keep wondering how he did not have a blow up yet. His videos feel so unique and their quality is so high.

Once again, George tricks me in to learning through the lens of a "game review". Great work!

I love how this is a gaming channel that just goes into whatever George feels like talking about

@questioningespecialy9107

3 жыл бұрын

As it should be.

@VaNDaIUKR

3 жыл бұрын

George is fascinating, i thought it's impossible to make 20min game review yet say almost nothing about the game.

@corvusification

3 жыл бұрын

And thats why his views are plummeted

@basil7292

3 жыл бұрын

@Shin Shaman you seem unpleasant

@saisameer8771

3 жыл бұрын

I don't know. I feel like he wanted to talk about aliens and colonialism while using the game as a way to do it. Most of what he talks about is something I already know. He doesn't really go too deep into the topic either, prefering a more surface level analysis. I mean, after watching the entire video, I still don't know much about the game.

"They make shows for the history channel" and that alone is enough reason not to take them seriously.

@GGchannel1025

3 жыл бұрын

“History Channel: where the truth, is history.” -South Park

@termitreter6545

3 жыл бұрын

@@GGchannel1025 Lmao, sometimes Soth Parks satire is spot on

"The primary bullet points of reference are Neon Genesis Evangelion and Jet Set Radio" got my hairs standing up on my skin

@rattenkollektiv

3 жыл бұрын

AND THE PRIMARY CULTURAL REFERENCE IS COLONIALISM

Another theory I like: Any aliens we see aren't like the vanguard of some large fleet - maybe they're just the equivalent of that guy who bribed some people to take him to the uncontacted tribe off the coast of India.

@BobExcalibur

3 жыл бұрын

Or the "Teasers" from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy".

@xdeser2949

3 жыл бұрын

We put cameras in fake animals all the time to research them its probably the underfunded grad student project of some alien university.

IMO, the reason why human mythologies around the world have so many similar points is because basic human emotional/psychological necessities are roughly the same no matter where you go, and the gods and myths are partially, if not entirely made, to fulfill those necessities: To feel like you have an origin, like you are loved no matter what, like you have a set of rules to follow on how to be good, a purpose, an endgame. To feel *special*, a unique piece in a celestial plan of phenomenal proportions, with everyone being the hero of their own stories in the end. With enough variations here and there you can see how an "evil alien invasion" would fit into such way of thinking. Oh me, the heroic, pure and unique human (A word that we use frequently to point out that something is good, correct and pleasing), being targeted by some sort of cruel and scheming intergalactic warlords hellbent on subjugating my absolutely perfect, innocent culture, my way of living. Maybe their plans are already in motion! Maybe they are controlling everything, making people do bad things, whispering in their ears like... like the Devil. You catch my drift here? It's far easier to think like that than to own the fact that humanity is a freaking mess that is its own evil, its own worst enemy. A species that holds itself in too high regard while killing and exploiting over crumbs, while bending to all sorts of evil rules just because it's more convenient than fixing our problems. And the perfect punchline to that joke would be that we are alone in the universe, and we are all we have. What an accident of an evolution, huh? Great video. Thank you.

@user-to9lk8ix6h

3 жыл бұрын

How can we delineate “good” and “evil” if human behavior is the result of naturalistic processes?

@tcbvgames

3 жыл бұрын

Imagine if the "aliens" weren't "good" or "evil". But just, like, in the wrong neighborhood, and trying to get back to the intergalactic wormhole exit on their way to Cardassia? Ever been lost in an exurb before, and just want to get back to the Interstate?

@AkichiDaikashima

3 жыл бұрын

Why is it that mythology or religion reflects individual needs rather than the needs of a certain social structure to repertuate itself? There's comparatively little diversity among pre-industrial societies in terms of economics, and consequently comparatively little diversity in terms of what the political ideology in religion and mythology would reflect as the order of the world as-is, and would be invested in reproducing for every generation. I think the sort of individualism ascribed to religions here conflates the general themes of patriarchal authority contained within inherited property as an economic vehicle as that of being watched over by a special authority (which in turn makes the subject of its authority special and galvanises support, much in the same way that fascism promotes individual responsibility to the nation, or a racial group to justify violence and a concept of martyrdom) with some sort of idea of a general 'individualised' need - which is itself just the parallax view of Enlightenment 'universal individualist' rationalism projecting its own political ontology onto the past. I'd argue that we don't even know what 'needs' are reflected in culture whatsoever, and whatever documentation we find cannot escape the political gravity well of its own constituting especially given the highly politicised nature of art and culture from the beginning given the innate ambiguity that comes with it.

@tsartomato

3 жыл бұрын

because people want pretend to see similarities where is none

@neofromthewarnerbrothersic145

3 жыл бұрын

@@AkichiDaikashima "I think the sort of individualism ascribed to religions here conflates the general themes of patriarchal authority contained within inherited property as an economic vehicle as that of being watched over by a special authority (which in turn makes the subject of its authority special and galvanises support, much in the same way that fascism promotes individual responsibility to the nation, or a racial group to justify violence and a concept of martyrdom) with some sort of idea of a general 'individualised' need - which is itself just the parallax view of Enlightenment 'universal individualist' rationalism projecting its own political ontology onto the past." ^^ ALL ONE SENTENCE. lmao. I tried to read your word salad three times and it still just sounds like someone did too much meth and acid at the same time. Where are you getting this assumption that "mythology/religion reflect individual needs"? Mythology and religion have always been more collectivist than individualist. "Repertuate" isn't even a word... did you mean "perpetuate"? What are you actually trying to say? Can you make your point without sounding like a broken AI's attempt at post-doctoral thesis?

This video gives me that feel of Dad getting back with a pack of cigarettes.

@darklsn

3 жыл бұрын

and a bowl of noodles

@junior1388666

3 жыл бұрын

Nah he was just in the UFO rabbit hole. And the hole goes deep It's amazing he could find he's way back up

@LINK67890

3 жыл бұрын

@@junior1388666 I believe it was the Coast to Coast AM interview when he snap out of it.

@wearecoterminous

3 жыл бұрын

Don't know that feel

@narcspector

3 жыл бұрын

I have no idea what that means.

As far as I see, the only value of Earth to some alien civilization would be the biodiversity of Earth. In a grand score of things, the planets with life are rare and isolated, so there will be always something to learn from the new ones that are encountered.

@RaidsEpicly

3 жыл бұрын

What about an alien civilization that really likes art created by civilizations about to be conquered by aliens? I know that sounds flippant but that sort of 'rage rage against the dying of the light' is something that we find pretty powerful as well

@gryffehondor4236

3 жыл бұрын

@@RaidsEpicly Reminds me of a board game that 'just came out', Excavation Earth, about aliens 'invading' a post-apocalyptic Earth where humans went extinct to unearth their art and artefacts. You play as alien private art collectors and your goal is to gather the most influence and riches by the end of the game through careful market manipulation. It's pretty neat !

@saisameer8771

3 жыл бұрын

Maybe the ufos are just alien teenagers getting drunk and going on joy rides only to expose themselves to us. I mean, that would explain all those erratic movements and sudden appearances and disappearances.

@SapphireCrook

3 жыл бұрын

Turns out Earth's greatest resource was tourism and merchandizing.

@gryffehondor4236

3 жыл бұрын

@@SapphireCrook Maybe Earth's real ressource was the friends we made along the way ?

"b-but the military says they seen alienz" yeah the military was tricked by a bunch of magicians to think you could bend spoons with your mind.

@evansmith6242

3 жыл бұрын

10/10 comment

@L0LWTF1337

3 жыл бұрын

The soviets actually faked a bunch of telekinesis experiments in the hope that the USA would waste money in investigating the supernatural.

@polycultural-capital-enjoyer

3 жыл бұрын

@@L0LWTF1337 They didn't "fake it". They actually spent money on paranormal experiments because a lot of USSR higherups were into that shit. All will Sergueï Korolev, one of the most brilliant rocket scientists the world has ever known, was rotting in a gulag.

@remembertotakeshowerspleas355

3 жыл бұрын

The military said they saw some weird shit they couldn't, or at least weren't willing to explain. It's easy to leap to fantastical conclusions like aliens but the real answer is probably going to be pretty mundane. The Roswell situation and by extension the entire UFO craze was started by a balloon.

@pee-bot

3 жыл бұрын

@@polycultural-capital-enjoyer where is my daily dose of socialism old man

The best first contact story and really how weird it's gonna be if it ever happened is Blindsight by Peter Watts

It's about time someone talked about Umurangi Generation. I bought it on a whim a while back and it's one of my favourite games now.

I missed these. Glad you're back!

Highly suggest anyone interested in thought-provoking first contact stories that don't just resort to a lazy us vs them check out Steven Erikson's "Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart".

@decimusanothos5178

3 жыл бұрын

ayyyy i came to say this

@R3GARnator

3 жыл бұрын

The film Arrival too.

War of The Worlds may have been written with colonialism on the mind but doesn't mean it successfully connects the idea of an invasion with colonialism. In fact I don't think alien invasion stories in general can principally touch on a subject like colonialism when the focus is on the invasion rather than occupation.

For a different (and IMO, more mature) take on this game, Errant Signal just released a video on the game. It emphasizes the metaphors of the game instead of taking the alien invasion literally.

How did they conflate "cargo cult" with slavery? The concept of a "cargo cult" was that remotely located people came up with explanations for technology they couldn't identify. They weren't enslaved by the makers of the technology.

Love this video and love Umurangi Generation! I'm so stoked to hear your thoughts on it and really enjoyed your take! As I've gotten older I've noticed more messages in games like what Umurangi Generation is saying. I've been wondering if it's my tastes and biases leading me to media like this or if it's more and more people being fed up with the status quo. Regardless, I'm glad there is art being made that is unafraid to be political.

@nsalegit9482

3 жыл бұрын

What are some other games like umarangi? I'm always looking to support counter hegemonic art.

@blasegg2396

3 жыл бұрын

@@nsalegit9482 a lot less angry but I just played Alba: A Wildlife Adventure and it gave me a a similar vibe. Great game and great anti capitalist message

@nsalegit9482

3 жыл бұрын

@@blasegg2396 thanks!

@hayk3000

3 жыл бұрын

Well if you're in search for great underground art you'll rarely stumble upon some conservative bullshit. Most humans who feel the need to get out of their way to create something that expresses an idea.. do feel the need for some damn progress!

@hayk3000

3 жыл бұрын

@@nsalegit9482 check out "Papers, Please" if you haven't already. And "Neocolonialism" is an interesting small board-type game that George recommended a couple of years ago also

The thing about the resource curve: We're already past it. I know Im not the first to say this, but scarcity in the modern world is a political problem not a technical one; it exists because a hierarchical elite feels that their ease and importance REQUIRES it to exist(because if other people aren't suffering, then how is their lack of suffering important? How will they control and influence us if they dont control our access to comfort?), and so they enforce it, as governmental policy, on the rest of us.

@dylanpresidafonseca2545

3 жыл бұрын

Well that's not true.

@Mordrevious

3 жыл бұрын

@@dylanpresidafonseca2545 Nice rebuttal. Literally no argument, just 'no'.

@dylanpresidafonseca2545

3 жыл бұрын

@@Mordrevious it's such a stupid argument that I can't even muster a counterargument.

@Mordrevious

3 жыл бұрын

@@dylanpresidafonseca2545 That still isn't any kind of counterargument. The above guy has reasons to support his thesis and you have 'this is a stupid argument because I say it's stupid.' That's not anything, it's the rhetorical equivalent of 'no u'. If his argument was truly stupid and you had any idea why, you'd be able to 'muster a counterargument' to say *why* his statement is stupid.

@dylanpresidafonseca2545

3 жыл бұрын

@@Mordrevious I mean he has no real evidence, just conjecture.

Great video, I like that you kinda embraced the ambiguity of the UAPs and how revealing people's immediate responses to them are. I think on some level the smartest thing someone can do is recognize when they don't know something.

@Tb0n3

3 жыл бұрын

Great. Except it's not aliens. It appears to be completely mundane objects in odd situations with deceptive orientations. Birds look really fast when you're filming them from miles away at near mach 1. On a spherical earth the infrared exhaust signature of a jet exaust appears to crash into the ocean when it goes beyond the horizon. A triangular aperture with a shallow depth of field makes a commercial airliner look like a triangular light in the sky.

@triggthediscovery

3 жыл бұрын

@@Tb0n3 I'm looking for credible sources which back your explanations, but have only been able to find good proof of the last one. Without it coming from a physicist/sensor tech, blaming everything on "deceptive orientations" feels like a cop out when there have been military officials who have claimed that's insufficient, even if historically that explanation is far more likely than the alternatives. My real point though was as an observer, it's ultimately pointless to speculate. You might be a sensor tech where actually being on top of (and being able to identify) phenomena like this is a crucial job skill, but if you're just a rando like me this is all a bit silly. I certainly don't have the credentials to speak definitively, and I don't even have the credentials to identify someone with the credentials.

@Tb0n3

3 жыл бұрын

@@triggthediscovery Thunderf00t has done many videos on these. His explanations satisfy my skepticism well enough. On top of that, the likelihood of evidence being misinterpreted is much more likely than aliens.

"The most depressed a video has ever made me" is a hell of a pitch, not gonna lie.

@aturchomicz821

3 жыл бұрын

yeah... Sadge

to ur point about similarities between religious myths being due in part to the activity of colonization/imperialism of the great world-empires (from Akkad to America), i think you would like Kojin Karatani's Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy, which contextualizes the Socrates-Plato-Aristotle complex of athenian antiquity in their particular political forms. he contrasts the slave-owning, semi-aristocratic democracy of Athens to the Isonomia of the Ionian colonies, with the latter producing many of the great pre-Socratic philosophers. what emerges is that philosophy appears not out of an uncomplicated "wonder" or "love of Truth", but from war, hardship, inter-imperialist rivalry, and social crisis. i think Karatani over-idealizes certain historical moments (his analysis of the early american colonial township elides the fact that this social form was produced by brutal colonization of an already inhabited continent) but the basic premise seems worthwhile. he makes passing reference to the way the Babylonian exile brought about many of the revolutionary concepts and institutions of Second Temple Judaism, roughly contemporary with the birth of philosophy in golden age Athens, so ur comment made me think of this book. great video!

I came here to learn about Umurangi Generation and I have learned very little about Umurangi Generation.

I know absolutely nothing about this game except that the expansion's ost is done by KZreadr Thorhighheels who is an insanely talented human being who deserves love and kisses

@Ozziw162

3 жыл бұрын

I second that notion. He's amazing and has introduced me to so much interesting stuff, and made me appreciate games in a whole new way.

@lukedevine9006

3 жыл бұрын

thor did the whole soundtrack! expansion included

@SleepyMatt-zzz

3 жыл бұрын

I just love how instead of nit picking, he just looks at games for what they are, rather than what they could be.

@lukedevine9006

3 жыл бұрын

@@SleepyMatt-zzz yeah he really is so refreshing

I was literally just thinking last night "Huh, it's been a while since the last Super Bunnyhop video, I wonder what he's up to..." and I gotta say I sure didn't expect this LOL but I love it this is exactly the kind of content I want!!!

Bunnyhop, have you ever seem "Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer"? The 'alien invasion' plot is more about 'humanity must get its shit together and evolve as a society so they can co-exist with the galaxy' and less 'humans are without fault and must band together against the evil aliens'. I think you would get a kick out of it.

@shiloh6915

3 жыл бұрын

Also that the aliens where a single cell organisms that required communication through the sixth sense super power that is seen in the Gundam series, making that movie a trope breaker of most of the Gundam formula

@gregorythelazy8099

3 жыл бұрын

This sounds good, should I watch all of the series before, or can I just go into the movie blind?

@AKImeru

3 жыл бұрын

@@gregorythelazy8099 You can actually go blind, you will miss out on many character arcs but if the only thing you care is the thing I talked on the original post it will deliver to you. The series attached to the movie isn't flawless and the popular opinion is that the message gets muddled on the second season. It is a easy recommend if you are into Gundam though.

@gregorythelazy8099

3 жыл бұрын

@@AKImeru sweet thanks I'll go for the movie first and go back for the series if I'm craving more

@SECONDQUEST

3 жыл бұрын

@@gregorythelazy8099 👌👌 gundam nice

Absolutely stellar piece. Something only found on this channel. Bravo.

How in the hell is the view count on this video not in the millions? I've watched this a couple of times and I'm personally starting to feel this is your best video yet. Keep it up, George!

@deathdoor

2 жыл бұрын

Watch Errant Signal take.

Carl Sagan said that the Romans didn't develop steam power despite having a steam engine because slaves were just cheaper. Carl Sagan was very wrong on that one. The Romans didn't have the metallurgy to develop anything remotely close to a useful steam engine. The Aeolipile was hilariously inefficient and little more than a toy, a neat trick to make some temple's doors move by themselves. It was a technological dead-end, and building actually useful steam engines would take many, many centuries of incremental progress to even have good enough steel for it. And that's even before worrying about where they would have found enough fuel for large-scale steam engine use, as wood wouldn't have been nearly enough and they didn't know about much fossil fuel deposits. To be fair to Carl Sagan, he didn't live in a world where this can be found with a few hours of Internet research at most, and the "ancient people were just dumb unlike us enlightened modernites" fallacy has always had an irresistible allure.

@aghayejalebian7364

3 жыл бұрын

You misunderstood the message. The message wasn't that "ancient people were just dumb", quite the opposite, that ancient people were in fact pretty smart and they had a good grasp on the science of the things we use today, but the material conditions weren't lined up for the kind of development we have today.

Fantastic stuff. Always delighted to see where your videos go. This time I was happy to hear you state something I've been seeing for years: if space aliens can defy the laws of physics to surpass the incomprehensible vastness of space, then they have no material reason to invade or conquer earth.

@junior1388666

3 жыл бұрын

Don't think they'd try conquering us, but study humanity and the other life forms on earth They probably have as much curiosity as we do

*Adds to Wishlist*

@DonLasagna

3 жыл бұрын

It's a fun game, I think you'd like it!

@danquinn5812

3 жыл бұрын

I can't wait for you to talk about this game in eight years

@AstralPhnx

3 жыл бұрын

@@veselekov Literally just bought it after this video, worth it. Will have to wait a few weeks to buy the DLC though

I have never been able to come to a satisfactory motive for an alien invasion by any intelligence capable of travelling between stars (even at sub-light speeds).

@junior1388666

3 жыл бұрын

Academic purposes? Why do people go to the middle of the jungle to study chimps of we are so much more advanced than they are?

@CarrotConsumer

3 жыл бұрын

For fun.

@intevolver

3 жыл бұрын

fun and study are valid reasons to visit, but not to invade

@TombaFanatic

3 жыл бұрын

Without having to come up with alien reasons (like the Combine in Half-Life who absorb other species into their "society," or an AI with a rogue directive), just the human dream of space colonization is that we find a pre-existing biosphere we can live on. Sure dust balls and gas giants will be the majority of a space faring race's holdings, but I imagine a pre-built planet that doesn't need generations of geoengineering will be pretty desirable for any colonists - as long as some pesky sentient beings don't interfere.

@junior1388666

3 жыл бұрын

@@CarrotConsumer they must have the time of their lives sticking probes up our asses

I first heard about Umurangi Generation from Curio and I'm really happy it's getting out there. Thank you for talking about it and giving your unique perspective!

I haven't watched a Super Bunnyhop or ThorHigheels video in months and now I'm getting both at once

this title will confuse yt for rest of this year. thanks G

Cosmos with Carl Sagan is probably my favorite piece of media. Ever.

God dude this video is fantastic, everything is tied together so well, absolutely amazing work

I think the overblown, unwieldy and distracted organization of topics all mixed together under the vague banner of 'colonialism bad' is the video essay that finally made me dump video essays entirely.

I see that Super Bunnyhop also spend a lot of time photgraphing the 'wrong' sprays in the last level.

I remember watching some of Veselekov's darksouls stuff a long time ago, wild.

@JewTube001

3 жыл бұрын

i remembered watching them the other day when he uploaded a video saying they were deleted forever.

So the first 7 minutes are fine. Then Bunny just hits the pause button on the video game discussion to spend 9 minutes discussing UFO conspiracies, post-truth, culture clash, and potential extraterrestrial alien behaviors (and at no point in that timeframe do they tie these things directly back to the game). I get the initial premise of "this video game tells a different kind of story than what I'm used to and it focuses on colonialism" but going off on ET aliens really felt like the wrong tact to take. Bunny never manages to close the loop and bring back this wild journey to the discussion of the game. They kind of try with "well you see even though we're so far apart we actually have extremely similar interests and memes because of a shared language and culture on the internet" and that's a result of colonialism. I just don't think it connects back. The game and this comparison they're trying to make never get tied together in convincing fashion in my opinion. Either we needed a more in-depth look at the game, or the comparison needed to be much more direct. Or maybe both. I think this is one of the weaker videos of this channel.

@Y0UT0PIA

3 жыл бұрын

yup, it's another Hades & the Gods-style "political rant that briefly starts as a game review"-video.

@TheSoulHarvester

3 жыл бұрын

i too do not wish to traffic in abstracts. please explain every connection to me explicitly in great detail.

@Valdonkis

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheSoulHarvester Bringing non-sequiturs into a discourse is not the same as being abstract.

@TheSoulHarvester

3 жыл бұрын

@@Valdonkis misusing ominous latin phrases is not the same as making a coherent point.

14:35 George scream is no longer exclusive to the podcast

Man, let your script breath a bit. My brain is tapping out when you glue the next sentence that close to the previous one, I'm in the middle of processing what you said and you're already talking about something else.

@LameBushido

3 жыл бұрын

watch it again. get gud @ video essays scrub

Fantastic vid George! As someone from an ex-colony, I've struggled with forming my own identity many times. I never made the connection of Alien 'abduction' theories being seen from our human lense and so we project what we think aliens may do to us.

Thanks for the upload Dad. We've missed you

Playing Devil's Advocate, do you know how many unique cultures that were wiped out before the invention of written language? The history of humanity is the history of colonialism. Even our closest relatives, chimpanzees, show a particularly proclivity towards conquering and violence. I'd suggest reading up on Lawrence H. Keeley’s seminal work _War Before Civilization_ if anyone’s interested in diving deeper into the subject.

@52thephotoshop

3 жыл бұрын

Okay what’s your point exactly?

@iSlowhands

3 жыл бұрын

@@52thephotoshop That warmongering is deeply ingrained in our nature and it's not a byproduct of culture.

@TheSoulHarvester

3 жыл бұрын

@@52thephotoshop that "colonialism = war," a lame effort to flatten an entire discourse so it can be dismissed.

Ah, shame the video didn’t have any noodle clip in it though.

@Birmanncat

3 жыл бұрын

The Noodle is implied. It's always there.

@SixerMason

3 жыл бұрын

It's basically worthless without it.

@hayk3000

3 жыл бұрын

Yep... gotta report it 16 times in a row.. sigh

If I had a dollar for everytime parts of Māori and pacific culture were taken and removed from their context to justify a monomyth about the origins of humanity, I'd have two dollars. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

@AstralPhnx

3 жыл бұрын

Wait it happened TWICE?

@eamonntee

3 жыл бұрын

@@AstralPhnx Yea, 'mana' (the videogame blue magic juice) was inspired by early racist anthropology where the concept of mana (the complex Māori and pacific term that roughly translates to 'authority') was thought to be a sort of pre-religion that would eventually turn into Christianity. Since such a wide variety of groups shared this concept. They thought that mana was like, the essence of God that was worshipped before a culture became 'developed' enough to create a monotheistic religion. This assumption was also partially because they saw pacific peoples as not advanced enough to travel, trade, and interact with groups all across the ocean. So they assumed that all these groups independently came up with a concept called 'mana' which was similar across cultures.

@AstralPhnx

3 жыл бұрын

@@eamonntee That is... Extremely fucked up god I fucking hate colonialism

@suuslime3908

3 жыл бұрын

@@AstralPhnx What a stupid thing to say.

@Cunt143

3 жыл бұрын

@@suuslime3908 you like colonialism?

This video is so good. Thanks for uploading.

The coast to coast yelling is beautiful

A little weird how you never mention the Beyond Good & Evil, a game that's a bit more positive about the theme of people being confronted by an alien invasion and a journalistic photographer's place in dealing with that. Of course, Hillys seems like a pretty cosmopolitan place that probably already has some interplanetary cultural influences before the DomZ start their invasion.

@Solinaru

3 жыл бұрын

BGE is nice but what's the verbs in that game? The main character is a journalist, but their verbs/actions don't tie back to that trait. :(

@slothfulcobra

3 жыл бұрын

@@Solinaru You sneak into secret bases to take pictures of the stuff that's going on, and then as a side job you have to catalog all the species on the planet

What a fever dream of a video this was. Thanks! Also, if anybody wants to read somebody who makes Philip K. Dick stories feel mundane, then read Stanislaw Lem. And if you saw this damn Hollywood version of Solaris and thought it was lame, then know it is like comparing the Hobbit movie and book.

@erikruder3360

2 жыл бұрын

More people should read Stanislaw Lem, the Futurological Congress and Pirx the Pilot short stories are also great

Every once in a while I remember this game and wish it got more recognition. There's a VR version coming soon but as far as I can tell nobody's really talking about it, in spite of some pretty unique features I haven't seen in VR before. The underlying themes are still painfully relevant, of course.

This video is awesome! Thank you so much for the recs and all the hard work! Love the deconstructive, post-modern, speed take, strategic deep-dive, dispersed energy vibe you got. Reminds me of reading Mark Fisher's 'Ghosts of my Life'. I also love the quiet shouting at the wildly rambling speakers that reminds me of a Potholer debunk! Really loved this one.

Did you know a Maori explorer visited England before an english person ever visited New Zealand? Maori history is more like an adventurer went to another galaxy and traded with them for advanced technology which he then went back to earth and became king of the world. The aliens then came 20 years later and took over .

"Mom! Dad's back but he forgot his cigarettes so he's gone again."

George, you’re my favorite KZreadr. This video is great and I look forward to playing this game

This video was a *wild* trip. Thank you 💜💜

14:56 - 15:30 This is a nice point, George. And well-phrased as well. 🤍

Urumangi generation is the first and only game to actually subvert my expectations.

Great video, George. Thanks! I'll be sure to check out this game

Thanks for posting a new vid super bunnyhop I was having trouble finding something to watch and I've seen all your videos a thousand times

Crazy that ThorHighHeels did the music for this game and Veselekov directed it, and now George Weedman is covering it.

Discussions on Colonialism and Half-Life 2 feel very understated considering the franchises popularity. I've been thinking about it a lot since my latest playthrough, especially when presented in a setting reminiscent of Eastern Europe, an area that has had a history of being occupied by foreign entities such as the Soviet Union and is still under risk of being occupied by Russia.

@ignotumperignotius630

Жыл бұрын

Every modern state is an exercise in colonisation by a metropolis or two.

You really sold me on curiosity stream on that statement of an old guy getting off to mathematics lol

Thanks for the vid. Always great.

This is great and all but I still don't understand what the game's supposed to be about.

@just_matt214

2 жыл бұрын

Mission-based, you take pictures of your surroundings to complete objectives - kinda like a Tony Hawk game but with photos instead of skateboarding. Each mission unlocks a new piece of kit, and doing all the bonus objectives in a mission unlocks a secret piece of kit. It's easier played then explained.

George once again proving he is the smartest and most mature person in the entire video game review industry. God damn man, this video depresses me with how spot on and accurate it is.

Man, this was a great video. Thanks for making it, really this is great stuff

It was a fun game and was nice to see you talk about all these topics.

This felt incredibly rambly

I really wasn't expecting you to cover this great game, cool!

@SanguineThor

3 жыл бұрын

Check out the podcast episode they did with the developer!

Very interesting video! The only thing I would point out is that the motor of imperialism is not simple resource scarcity, but rather class societies' drive for expansion. Class societies have one or more big working classes that provide for the needs of one or more small ruling classes. The ruling classes fund their luxuries through the extraction of surplus labor: making the workers produce more than what they themselves consume, and appropriating the surplus product. The slaves may collectively produce 20 tons of crops but only be fed 10, leaving the other 10 for the slave holder (to eat, sell in the market, pay taxes, recruit an army, buy more slaves, etc.) In this arrangement, the ruling classes can increase their own standard of living by increasing the amount of surplus product appropriated. This can be achieved by forcing the workers to produce more for the same compensation, lowering compensation for the same work, raising productivity while raising compensation by less than the productivity increase, or by increasing the size of the working class. By expanding and conquering new territories, the ruling classes expand the size of the working class, the total amount of people from which they can extract surplus, and thus, the total amount of surplus that they may enjoy for themselves. This is the motor force of imperialism, from Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire to Great Britain and the United States.

Always need a cup of coffee in me before checking out these videos. They require real thinking!

At this point I'm convinced that these videos are actively trying to be made less coherent, less focused, and with less actually being said just as a test to see how far things can be taken before whatever the experiment in decreasing the actual information in each video has as its end goal is reached. Or maybe George just can't figure out a better way to make a 5 minute video 20 by adding 15 minutes of empty filler that has no connection to anything.

@decimusanothos5178

3 жыл бұрын

It's also possible you missed something important.

@ZontarDow

3 жыл бұрын

@@decimusanothos5178 The only thing I'm missing is how the two videos this video effectively is connect at the end.

@DarranKern

3 жыл бұрын

@@decimusanothos5178 nope, nothing important missed

I'm playing Earth Defense Force 5 right now, so this video hits different. Another one of those camp stories you mentioned earlier in the video.

This has become a very special gaming channel. happy to accompany you on this voyage, curious where we go next

This was a fantastic video, thanks for making this Super Bunnyhop.

New high-water mark. The rhythm was fantastic, really nailed it, the pacing was good especially for something so complicated. Proud of you, outstanding work here. Fash will be on this like flies on shit but ah well.

@tomverlaine728

3 жыл бұрын

Disagreement equals fash to you I bet. Can't even have discourse without automatic labeling. You're part of the problem.

@TheSoulHarvester

3 жыл бұрын

@@tomverlaine728 Uh you kinda labelled yourself here, chief. nobody was talking to you lmao

I was literally just listening to Dad and Sons episode about this game. Perfect timing!

Damn, am glad i discovered your channel

Another great video George!

I appreciate you covering this Kiwi developed game and giving it the attention it deserves but I can't help but cringe a little at some of the Maori pronunciation here and there haha. To be fair though, it is kinda hard to pronounce. Either way, great video!

@eamonntee

3 жыл бұрын

Ao tea ora... Despite the pronunciation, really love the fact that Umurangi Generation is getting more coverage.

@AstralPhnx

3 жыл бұрын

@@eamonntee OH GOD YEAH THAT ONE IN PARTICULAR HAD ME CRINGING LMAO. But good seeing more Umarangi yeah

the bit dismissing the 3 act structure and the heros journey like they are outdated ways of thinking, the next few lines don't seem to justify it, it's a piece of propaganda because it is a political piece of art, and is it a good game, or does it give you the good feelings that you now know the plight of the Maori, because he says in the video the revolution will be televised, but the televising I'm seeing here is a faux version of someone's cultural resentment, these are not real photos of real places and real people, that would be televising the revolution or at least the beginning of one, but I guess revolution is just going round in circles, it's designed to take you back to the start, just like hoggle I'm the labyrinth, or that mono myth that I've never seen anyone mention that it's circular nature seems to imply the hero learnt nothing and will have to do it all over again, it's why movies like hero or the story of Jesus Christ, break the revolution, they show mercy forgiveness and sacrifice that stops the wheel in its tracks, not resentment, apathy and vanity that rev it up, and when your spinning your dizzy, you can't walk straight, like how drunk people walk in circles, and if you can't walk straight you might as well be living in grounding day, tomorrow you'll be right back where you are when you should be moving forward, it's like the left and right divide in politics, thier just clockwise and anti clockwise around the same revolution over and over and over, an d final thought, this video is exactly the kind of subtle propaganda that influences people to resent their fellow man, thier ancestors and themselves for not "televising" the revolution, well id say baking a cake for your mother is worth more than spreading this division, it's not unity to get all tribal and culturally proud, to be tribal is to have an other and that leads to an existential crisis because you then try to compare the two and who can say who is doing things the right way?, it's the knowledge of good and evil, choice that means indecision, stagnation and death

@NoobLord9001

2 жыл бұрын

godzilla had a stroke trying to read this comment and fucking died.

Finally, another video from George.

Hey man love your vids!

something feels, off about this video. I know your work tends to be rather rambly most of the time but in the end the final product is coherent in one or 1.5 viewings. i've watched the video 3 times now and am still not really getting the message you were trying to convey. the script seems to come off as though it's been rewritten many times and that you were failing to put your thoughts together in the way you wanted, deciding to upload it as it is rather than fall to sunk cost fallacy and potentially never upload it at all. If i am missing the mark that's fine, just from my perspective this video isn't as good as your usual works.

@brandonmorel2658

3 жыл бұрын

It feels like a fever dream. and the core theme is fairly simple, he doesn't explain whatever he wants to convey so it feels like a weird video coming from him.

@josefcastillo8220

3 жыл бұрын

I gathered that it’s about how we use alien invasion in media usually as an us against them, underdog mentality when in reality, we’re the conquerors. And so he examines how do we get to that point? By actually believing in aliens who want to control or kill us and building conspiracies as opposed to focusing on the actual misdeeds our countries have enacted.So the game he recommends is an example of the reality(though through the lens of aliens)some ppl live in when being conquered which is how early invasion stories were meant to be, a satire or critique on colonialism. I thought the video flowed well and is one of my favorites from him. Didn’t even feel 20 mins long

@Rokiriko

3 жыл бұрын

Furthermore why does it take so damn long to make such a short and rambly video.I'm glad I'm not a patreon.

@ycdtosa

3 жыл бұрын

I only watched it from start to finish once so maybe I'm missing the mark, but I'm pretty sure the message is just alien invasion stories were rooted in a critique of colonialism, so we should look at the present moment from that framework. The video chapter titles spell it out too, going by the thumbnail I could see it being confusing since it looks like an Umurangi Generation review. But the video title makes it clear, the video is about this near photography game, colonialism, UFOs and alien invasion.

@brandonmorel2658

3 жыл бұрын

@@josefcastillo8220 One of my favorite videos from him are his MGS3 video and Hunt Showdown one. Maybe I feel this video is not as good as the others because the main conversation piece is not the videogame but an interpretation? Maybe I am too slow to get it.

I wonder, did Super Bunnyhop become more radicalized or was he there all the while and I only spot it after being more radicalized myself?

@Y0UT0PIA

3 жыл бұрын

you can still go back and watch his old content, you know.

@Calintares

3 жыл бұрын

@@Y0UT0PIA I started watching because I loved his take on Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. didn't feel that overtly radical at the time.

@TortoiseMaximus

3 жыл бұрын

@@Calintares 2016 increased polarization of American’s political stances

@BobExcalibur

3 жыл бұрын

Remember the Soul Calibur video where he digressed on the subject of the slave trade but never mentioned the Arabian slave trade? Its always been there, he just doesn't bother being subtle about it now.

@seanevans6880

3 жыл бұрын

Why are you treating radicalism like it's a virtue? Radical thinkers of all stripes are usually ideological morons who very often dangerous and self destructive. It's just pathetic

Maybe I'm just tired but what this is the most entertaining video about I have no f'n clue what it's about I've seen in awhile.

15:24 "There is no better way to learn how mythology spreads than to observe paranormal conspiracies now" Literally the point of The Demon Haunted World, while we're on the subject of Sagan

Hey George good video, but it has a big problem your thesis is wrong. Even tho the genre of Alien invasion's was created from a nationalistic fear from foreigners. I would say that is unfair that it is the basis to interpret the genre, it would be like saying that the basis of the zombie movie is a narrative about the persecution of black Americans. And your point of comparison of the extermination that humanity would find in an alien invasion scenario whit the colonization period showed your lack of knowledge about the period. The majority of the deaths of the indigenous people in the American continent was because of the virus that were brought by the Europeans, and even tho they are responsible is unfair to say that this was there intention, but the big problem whit your point is to apply your North American interpretation of you fact in the global escale. The Spanish empire was almost kicked out o from Mexico, they conquer the Astecs using the political instability of the region in their favor, very much like the USA would use to instal military dictatoships in Latin america. In Brazil the colonization was made along side the Tupi tribe, that alied whit the Portuguese to destroy their regional rivals, and in India the multiple revolts against the East Indie Company rule. To say that resistance is futile and that the evil Europeans conquer the world whit their superior thecnology is reductive and misleading, you can criticize the events of your past, but to reduce the world to fit your interpretation is very deplorable. The negative reception that you are receiving in this video might look like shallow criticism of the political beliefs that you showed, a form of denounce of your political opinions that you had not show in this channel until now, but i would say that they denounce the change in your analysis, by talking about controversial topics as if you were the voice of reason , and weirdly bringing points that have nothing to do whit the discussion like the comparison to conspirace theories or Fox news just because they fit your narrative. Im not saying that you should leave politics out of video games or this kinda of ideocracy, but i would recommend you to not pretend that you know about thing that are outside of your knowledge, and stop whit the white guilt is pathetic and weird to every one, reducing history to the last 300 years is foolish and egomaniac. Sorry for the bad English and have a good day

@BobExcalibur

3 жыл бұрын

Damn good post.

I love how this channel never disappoints, and only gets better.

Great Video as always and a lot of interesting topics to think about and explore after, thanks!

My favorite KZreadr is back!