Month: August 2021

Is Politics Changing how Games are Created?

Posted on by Oderico Armenta Llarnas

Political matters in video games such as in RAID Shadow Legends could be a contentious thing. A lot of people would prefer to veer away from this topic as it is seen more of a personal point-of-view of the person. Additionally, it is a subject that comes up whenever players feel of escaping into their fantasy world suddenly reminding them of the real-world problems.

Politics is Everywhere

On the other hand, it is completely impossible to leave out politics from our lives. Because whether you like it or not, politics is applied from our work, negotiating with a deal and everything in between. Of course, even in game development, politics is part of it.

Indeed, discussing politics is quite uncomfortable to some people. However, it comes with caveats. Nowadays, games may seem to be intertwined with politics. Oftentimes, when thinking about politics, we are thinking of politicians – from topics regarding game addictions, particularly during the peak of World of Warcraft, loot boxes and topics of whether shooting games are causing violence in real world or not.

All these matters have made politicians to take interest in video games whenever it became obvious that it is playing a big role in our lives.

Politics as Part of Game Development

The overall awareness that a lot of people are playing video games is what pushed it to grow into a multibillion-dollar industry. This is also why politics has become an essential element of any games being released today. As a term, politics is multifaceted and it is applicable to any construct the either governs or helps people to live with each other.

Games, even though it isn’t about revolution or shouting objection in the courtroom have fundamental rights and duties to citizens in achieving political goals, one of which is to live harmoniously together.

Awareness in Games and Politics

Games might have become more political and not to mention, there have been so many changes in the world today too. Now, we are more informed of politics not just in our own backyard but also, in other nations as well. Because of these things, we are able to have our own point-of-view on political discourse and at the same time, identify when a certain game is trying to replicate current events.

Germany: Train Drivers Went On Stike, Passengers Left Stranded

Posted on by Julio W. Wilson

BERLIN. On August 11, Wednesday. Train drivers who went on a strike (regarding payment issues) are seriously affecting traffic across Germany, adding pressure to the European supply chain, which is in high demand during the summer, and disappointing to many passengers.

Information from Deutsche Bahn (auskunft deutsche bahn). The railway company said in a statement that approximately 190 freight trains have ceased operations, and the strike has had a significant impact on industrial supply chains in Germany and Europe, which have been affected by the COVID-19 bottleneck. He said it could be given.

After COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed, many people went on summer vacation, and passenger demand was high.

Akim Staus, Byrne spokesperson said the company managed to continue operations of some of its long-distance trains and hopes to run between major cities at least every two hours.

“Today, we are committed to helping people reach their destinations,” Staus said.

It is said that the strike will continue until Friday morning.

According to Forsa’s survey of TV channels RTL and n-tv, 50% of the respondents opposed the strike, and 42% believed that the strike was appropriate.

The stranded passengers waited for the delayed train at stations across Germany.

“I understand and support this strike, but the problem is that there is very little information about it on the Internet,” said David Zhengyu, a traveler trapped in Berlin Central Station.

The German Automobile Industry Association (VDA) stated that the strike may exacerbate problems in the logistics industry, which must recover from the effects of the pandemic.

VDA President Hildegard Muller told Reuters: “Due to supply chain disruptions may quickly lead to production shutdowns, long-term strikes will cause huge losses to companies.”

President Klaus Wesselski told ZDF on Wednesday that the GDL union representing some train drivers will decide whether to continue the strike next week.

According to Wezelski, the passenger strike that began at 0200 local time on Wednesday (0000 GMT) has so far brought about 700 trains to a halt.

GDL is asking for an increase of about 3.2% in salary and a one-time coronavirus allowance of 600 euros. Deutsche Bahn proposes to increase wages in two stages within the next two years, but the union hopes to increase wages at an early date.

Japan National Railways reported that with the relaxation of COVID-19 travel restrictions and freight improvement after a loss of 5.7 billion euros in 2020, business began to recover in April.

The company expects to return to profitability in 2022, but the floods that hit western Germany last month caused losses of approximately 1.3 billion euros (1.53 billion US dollars).