Inspired by the stupidest anime i'm watching this season (16 bit sensation, which i adore), a question:
If you could go back in time and change the development of one video game, movie, album, or other piece of modern media; what would you change in order to make the world as a whole less shit?
We're not talking about "oh well i'd get PT uncancelled cause that would be cool" we're talking about trying to alter history as a whole through your actions, when all you can do is change the development path of ONE piece of media in a relatively reasonable way. What's your plan?
Following the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, shooter games attracted widespread scrutiny. In response, the staff behind an in-development game called Medal of Honor took the proactive step of removing some particularly gory scenes from their game. Meanwhile, Paul Bucha, president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, heard of the game's developmnent, and was extremely displeased. A meeting was arranged between him and the game's producers: Peter Hirschmann and Steven Spielberg (yes, that one).
To quote an article by Edge:
“It was an intense meeting,” recalls Medal Of Honor writer and producer Peter Hirschmann. “Paul came in and laid it out on the table. We just sat there and let him speak. He didn’t know anything about the game but laid out a case: ‘When it comes to the Medal of Honor, it’s a serious and sacred thing; you don’t turn it into a video game. It’s an awful thing to do.’ He made a really compelling case that we shouldn’t be doing this.”
At the end of the meeting, Medal Of Honor appears to be done for. Even though it’s just reached the “release to manufacturing” stage – and DreamWorks has invested millions in its development and production – Spielberg is seriously thinking about cutting his losses. Bucha’s blitzkrieg seems to have landed a fatal broadside. Hirschmann respectfully counters with a question: has the decorated war veteran got time for a quick play?
[...]
Inviting Bucha to see the game for himself and explaining in detail the team’s passion about honouring American military personnel, Hirschmann convinced the Vietnam veteran of the project’s weight. Not only did the Society drop their objections to the game, they decided to endorse it too. “I give all credit in the world to Paul Bucha,” says Hirschmann. “He had won the conversation but he was willing to listen.”
By preventing Hirschmann from attending the meeting, Bucha's speech lands the fatal blow, Hirschmann isn't there to counter with a demo, Spielberg cuts his losses and pulls the plug on the project, and Medal of Honor never releases.
In turn, the game's sequels never get made. What would have been the dev team of the threequel, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, don’t go on to form a studio called Infinity Ward, and their "Medal of Honor killer" titled Call of Duty is never made.
