[KS] Just a game? Homefront’s sick, stupid Korean invasion fantasy

Fri Apr 1 02:45:58 EDT 2011

No particular opinion about the game, but their balloon promo event for the
game in San Francisco - meant to simulate the method South Koreans use to
send messages, etc to the North - was...interesting.

Dylan Davis

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL

  Balloon stunt in S.F. draws anger, criticism

John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer <jwildermuth at sfchronicle.com>
San Francisco Chronicle March 2, 2011 04:54 PM Copyright San Francisco
Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL#license-/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL>

Thursday, March 3, 2011
  <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/03/03/BAU11I2LER.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Fba-balloons03_PH_0503077188.jpg>

Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle

Ten thousand red balloons are released at Yerba Buena Gardens in S.F. to
promote a new video game being featured at the Game Developers Conference.
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  Images[image: Ten thousand red balloons are released at Yerba Buena
Gar...]<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/03/03/BAU11I2LER.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Fba-balloons03_PH_0503077188.jpg>[image:
Some of the 10,000 red balloons that were released
Wednes...]<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/03/03/BAU11I2LER.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Fba-balloons03_PH_0503077898.jpg>[image:
Some of the thousands of balloons that were released to
p...]<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/03/03/BAU11I2LER.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Fba-balloons03_PH_0503077191.jpg>
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*(03-02) 17:54 PST San Francisco* -- A publicity stunt for a new
warfare-based video game sent local environmentalists to arms when a mass of
balloons carrying advertisements for the game cascaded into San Francisco
Bay.

"When I looked out the window and saw thousands of balloons dropping
straight into the bay, I was flabbergasted," said Rod Fujita, a senior
oceans scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund. "I never expected to
see something like this in San Francisco, where there's such concern about
the bay and pollution."

The release of the 10,000 ill-fated red balloons came courtesy of THQ, a
Southern California video game company in town for the Game Developers
Conference at Moscone Center.

Because the game is set in a near-future where the United States is invaded
by nuclear-armed troops from North Korea, the company staged a mock
lunchtime rally at Yerba Buena Gardens where the game's supporters, in the
words of the company's news release, "will take to the streets to
demonstrate against the North Korean regime and the treatment of its
citizens."

The staged rally was capped by the massive balloon launch, designed, the
company said, to "simulate a method used by South Korea to send messages of
hope to the North."

The "messages of hope" carried by these balloons, however, amounted to an
exclusive offer from GameStop video game store allowing gamers to "receive
the resistance multi-player pack, featuring an exclusive weapon."

Even that message didn't get too far. While the balloons at first soared
into the leaden gray skies above the city, wind and rain quickly sent
thousands of them plunging into the bay, only blocks away.

"They were just dropping right out of the sky into the water," Fujita said.

Pictures of the balloons bobbing on the bay quickly made their way onto
social media sites like Facebook and Flickr, as angry environmentalists
blasted the stunt in e-mails and on Twitter.

"Obviously, we have a problem with polluting of the bay and this is just
polluting and littering," said Amy Ricard, a spokeswoman for the
environmental group Save the Bay.

"Your balloon campaign was a stupid thing to do to a city surrounded on
three sides by water," one San Francisco resident said in an e-mail to
GameStop. "You should be held accountable for the waste."

The companies quickly went to damage control.

"We understand the concerns consumers have regarding the impact balloons can
have on the environment," read a statement released by GameStop. "However,
the balloon drop stunt in San Francisco was created by THQ ... and Game-Stop
had no prior knowledge of it."

A statement from THQ assured concerned bayside residents that the balloons
released "were made from a 100% organic product and are 100% biodegradable,"
with no history of causing environmental pollution.

But just in case, the statement continued, "we've retained a clean up crew
to remove any potential lingering debris."

Environmental groups remained concerned about potential danger to the bay
and its sea life and the ocean.

"Even biodegradable products take a while to disappear," Fujita said.

E-mail John Wildermuth at jwildermuth at sfchronicle.com.

Read more:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL#ixzz1IFdMRAbZ

On Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 9:46 PM, <afostercarter at aol.com> wrote:

> Dear friends and colleagues,
>
> Many thanks to Stephen Epstein for sparking a most useful debate.
> I fully share his concerns.
>
> In perhaps parallel vein, I found myself similarly outraged by a new
> video game. Am I over-reacting, or is this also reprehensible
> and something which should concern the Koreanist community?
> - not many of whom, I'd hazard, are familiar with this popular genre.
> (And yes, Don, I know it's a free country.) See the first link below.
>
> Kind regards
> Aidan FC
>
>  *Aidan Foster-Carter*
> *Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds
> University, UK*
> * *
> *
> *
>
>
> *Recent articles, broadcasts and other activities on Korea (mostly):*
> * *
> *29 March, 2011   *I get all steamed up about a video nasty. *Just a game?
> Homefront’s sick, stupid Korean invasion fantasy. *At *38North*: * *
> http://38north.org/2011/03/homefront/**
> * *
> *16 March              **Lee versus Lee: A phoney war in Seoul**  Asia
> Times Online***
> http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MC16Dg02.html
> * *
> *9 March                **Korea's pulpit bullies take aim at Islam   **Asia
> Times Online * http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MC09Dg01.html       (Not
> my choice of headline, which was “Protestants protest: South Korea’s church
> militant”)
> * *
> *4 March    **North Koreans: Still hungry. Who cares?*   *Asia Times
> Online *http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MC04Dg01.html**
> * *
>
>
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