Re-releasing Final Fantasy VII in a Post 9/11 World
on December 21st, 2011 at 9:12 pm
A stray thought crossed my mind while looking at the news today. If Final Fantasy VII (FFVII) were to be re-released today would the misinformed media jump on its opening theme of terrorism? I feel that this question is valid because of sensational articles involving Grand Theft Auto IV’s violence and Mass Effect 2 sexual themes are the hot topics of recent years. What theme of terrorism? At the beginning of FFVII you are introduced to your protagonist, Cloud Strife, an ex-SOLIDER turned mercenary for hire who has joined a rebel group called ACALANCHE. Your first mission is to raid and destroy one of the Mako reactors (think Nuclear power plant but not really) surrounding the city/capital of Midgar. Of course this is only a small portion of a beautiful story arc that encompasses over 80+ hours of events surrounding anything from; a love triangle, a deadly rivalry, a world-controlling megacorporation, cross-dressing, the end of the world, and arguably the most shocking moment in gaming history. This is my favorite game of all time and possibly yours as well considering 10 million copies have been sold since its January debut back in 1997!
However, all of that awe-inspiring story would be lost on the cable news watching culture that would be told that FFVII glorifies terrorism and villianizes big business. Of course none of the positive aspects of the game will be highlighted because that would mean a journalist would have to sit down and play the game. As gamers we all know that our beloved games are not played before being highlighted in the non-gaming media. Worse yet, those who only gather their news from one source in 1 hour chunks do not understand how to read between the lines or obtain more information on a so-called controversial topic.
Also, the world is a different place after 9/11. There are some Americans who are a lot less tolerant of anything containing terrorism or terrorist themes. Even if it is a very small portion of a game dealing with major world issues. This is not to say that the game wouldn’t sell well. The opposite would most than likely be true because gamers in their mid twenties to mid thirty’s would buy this game in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, instead of being celebrated for being a groundbreaking piece of art a re-released FFVII would be added to the long list of controversial games in recent years. Does this somehow have an impact on a re-release of the fabled FFVII? Most than likely the thought hasn’t even crossed the minds of the bigwigs at Square-Enix. There is probably more concern about development costs and budgets than possible outrage over terrorism. Again, this is just a stray thought that crossed my mind. What do you think?
I agree, it may create some kind of brief news item, more over the terrorism than the attack on big business given current sentiments about the economy. It will be out of most people’s minds very quickly though as the next big story distracts people from everything that came before it. The biggest impact will probably be a few kids being told that they can’t play it by parents who see the piece and don’t bother looking any deeper. Those kids will hopefully play it anyway.
It may not even become an issue, though…big as it is, FF7 has barely registered non-gamer culture before, and major albeit less well-known games and anime that have had terrorist protagonists since 9/11 (most notably several of the Gundam series, such as 00 and Wing) have not drawn any backlash.