MGS2 & The Military Entertainment Complex

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2001's METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY shocked fans and subverted expectations by changing the protagonist mid-way through from grizzled special forces veteran Solid Snake to Raiden, an inexperienced narcissist whose only conception of warfare comes from Virtual Reality simulations.
As a game ostensibly all about warfare, technology, and society, MGS2, by way of its emphasis on VR, was saying a lot more about video games and their relationship to the military than many perhaps understood at the time.
In this, part 9 of our retrospective on MGS2, we delve into precisely this controversial context for MGS2: the fusion that occurred throughout the late 20th Century between the Pentagon, private defense contractors, and the nascent games industry that some have called the 'Military-Entertainment Complex'.
This video is not a critique of violent or war-oriented video games, though it will all but certainly be misunderstood, by at least some of the viewership, as precisely that. No, this isn't a 'Jack Thompson' esque screed against games - rather, it's a critique of the new kind of warfare, not to mention society, that violent, war-related games have (I argue) been exploited to safeguard at the turn of the century.
0:00 - Introduction
1:08 - Part 1
9:57 - Part 2
14:23 - Part 3
19:51 - Part 4
26:48 - Part 5
30:26 - Part 6

[@scribblenaughttv]

I recall MGS1 talking about “Gulf war babies” and the use of uranium depleted shells. I like the segment about that and the atrocities of the Gulf War being lost to obscurity in entertainment media. Love these videos

[@swirling0panda]

There is literally no better time than now to binge Futurasound

[@KheranSmith]

your not wrong there lol

[@edge_case]

True

[@elcalabozodelandroide2]

Nah , i got this.

[@HyperDefective]

Wow, to think it's been long enough that I'm now on a second binge

[@tigerdawg97]

Two years later this is still true.

[@jarvy251]

24:28 Every 90s gamer knew that the HK MP5 submachinegun fired from a closed bolt- But had no idea what that meant, other than it was a feature unique to the MP5 (it's not). Maybe it let the gun fire underwater? (no) The difference between a closed- and open-bolt weapon is something that would be negligible in a simulation like a video game, if the devs bothered to model the differences at all (which they usually did not, particularly back then). But in real life, the differences in handling and accurately firing the two weapon types are stark. That "MP5 factoid" that was repeated in every game manual always stuck in my mind as an example of the illusion of competence that simulations impart.

[@Zinc_Nitrogen]

War has changed

[@KnutKniffte]

That's a great birthday gift. Thanks Boss. 🥳

[@ffnovice7]

asl?

[@killerbee1974]

@@ItalianJoe83 i rejected joining the US armed forces because i knew of the innocent people i would be helping murder, i got that from watching Naruto and seeing what war can do to people. You kill an innocent person, someones going to want to avenge them

[@ItalianJoe83]

@@killerbee1974 I erased my comment after reposting in the correct section because I made a mistake selecting the wrong option on app (I didn't wanted to reply to another comment)

[@killerbee1974]

@@ItalianJoe83 oh ok

[@deanasaurs]

killer bee if only those sane soldiers saved innocent ppl as well, oh wait they do! Too bad cartoons prevented you from helping some kid in Iraq get to school without being murdered by terrorists. What did you glean from Scooby Doo? Any deep religious insight?

[@bebopobama4686]

This is a topic I'd heard about in passing, but I really didn't realize just how intertwined the US military was with the gaming industry. I always knew that series like CoD were being used for this purpose, but the fact that even in the 90s early digital computer technologies were developed by them and then adapted into "games" was pretty eye opening. Even moreso because the clues were there all along. Anyone else notice how so many early PC videogames were simulators? Tank sims, fighter jet sims, tactical games, etc.

[@fnd2583]

The military is also intertwined in the hollywood movie industry.

[@dopedoh-homer]

​@@fnd2583 as someone who has attended to some Animation and CGI conferences like Siggraph, the military is really interested on its application. One guy i saw was Paul Debevec, he is a Senior Scientist at Google VR and Adjunct Research Professor of Computer Science in the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, working within the Vision and Graphics Laboratory at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. He also worked as "senior supervisor: Light Stage 2" in Spider-Man 2 (2004). The guy pretty much is one of the resposibles in creating HDR Ilumination, and Light Stage is the device used for making a CGI version of the actors in very high detail, like we saw with Death Stranding and its cast for example. The thing that caught my attention was that one of the sponsors for his HDRI R&D, was the US Army, it kinda tickled me off at the time cuz i said "why would the army be interested in cgi movie effects?" but then i remembered MGS and my head clicked "Stealth Camo!?" Stealth basically works by using HDR Ilumination, thats how it gets the reflections and correct "image based" on where its being used. Also University of California discovered the materials for creating it in November 2008.

[@fnd2583]

@@dopedoh-homer Interesting, thanks for sharing, tough it is important to notice that it goes beyond the technological stuff.

[@RichLuciano1]

"There is no such thing in the world as absolute reality." --Snake Circa 2009 One does not simply argue against an absolute reality unless an absolute reality is the basis of said argument.

[@WTFmomentGaming]

Damn, that's insane. Great video. I remember the scene in MGS4 is really what got me thinking about this, when Big Mama is talking to Snake about how these war games have trained a generation of soldiers. What is significant is that rarely do these games choose to expose realities, but further the delusion. I always enjoyed the game Modern Warfare 2, because it felt like it was relevant to the modern war on terror that was just happening rhetorically. Subjects like terrorism and false flag attacks were shown in a video game, and I'd say that game definitely aims to expose the popular perception of good and necessary military activity by the U.S. Of course at times CoD does play into the military entertainment complex, playing on that "patriotic Americans defeat the bad guys" note over and over. Metal Gear Solid though has constantly been about exposing the military entertainment complex, by actually putting these messages in a war game, subverting the complex to expose it.

[@hanzo7616]

You could say MW2 did expose some aspects of it too. I mean the US military betray their own allies being the UK SAS teams.

[@AvianSavara]

I find Raiden's entire story arc is so perfectly descriptive of the disorienting experience of our era : that cloudy, numb, familiar yet worrisome impression of missing a part of the picture. In more psychonautic or philosophical terms : a feeling like ataraxy is just barely out of reach. In different terms, it's like the brain's seeming inability to completely assess the gap between the simulated and the real. Almost like a blind spot of the mind. Many first-time MGS2 players who were members of Generation X, Y, or Z can likely attest to the lingering feeling of familiarity this very phenomenon induces. This paranoid feeling of frantic denial at having been shepherded into an unavoidable life-or-death situation by forces unseen (or only barely glimpsed). It's a very fatalistic feeling, like a fixed point in time. Exploring MGSV for the first time induces a similar state of mind, but it waxes and wanes. In a strange way, I believe it is meant to be more hopeful than MGS2's ambiguous ending. V just flat out refuses to end, instead suggesting that a player's agency in the story can only grow in the playing. It's gameplay model is designed to stimulate more creative solutions to player situations. This lends a mixed feeling of excitement and boredom, one gradually giving way to the other, and vice versa. However, as you mention in the video, there are constant intrusions of absurd elements that seem at odds with the fluid realistic gameplay. As they become more common, familiarity with these 'outsider' elements breeds a strange sense of contentment that a perfect simulation of warfare would completely fail to induce. Addictive? Yes. MGS is a drug against war.

[@sygos]

Who describes terms as psychonautic without being a psychonaut themselves? Is MGS the only anti-war drug you know of?

[@AvianSavara]

I think it depends on what you're personally interested in sampling. There are plenty of substances that are safe to explore provided a comfortable set and setting and an appropriate dosage is selected. Alternatively, there are a wealth of activities that can induce similar states without the use of any molecule (dancing, music, meditation, video game immersion, asmr, etc). The common objective of all of them is to break down useless barriers in the ego in favour of more creative outcomes. More instinctive problem solving stemming from a greated range of analytical angles from which to attack any given problem. etc etc etc.

[@Fox_Pajama]

Can’t wait to watch! Thank you again for the insightful and well-researched content that allows deeper discussion about not only the game itself, but it’s influences and terminology used within the dialogue. You leave no stone unturned. Also, love the B footage used during your explanations, reminds me of MGS1 and 2 cutscenes.

[@aicampbell1381]

oh hi fox

[@bastianfrusciante]

Fox are you receiving? We’re still here

[@WightKnight]

Over the course of two days I just went through this entire series and it has done such an amazing job of contextualising all my thoughts about the game, I gave it my first replay in over a decade two days ago and I can't believe how much more I enjoy it as an adult for the sheer quantity of subtext and messaging contacted within. Thank you for making this amazing video series!

[@NachozMan]

The fact that I can clearly see how passionate you are about Metal Gear as a whole when watching your videos really gives off good secondhand vibes. Your TLOU2 review was really good too btw, forgot to comment on that vid

[@surrealistidealist]

24:30 But we didn't know that silencers aren't actually silent at all!

[@visiblevalen244]

I never usually comment on youtube videos but one of the ads on this was for Black Rifle Coffee. Perfection.

[@skullslingerdave7975]

I genuinely want to thank you for this insightful video, both in explaining metal gear 2's thesis that I'm still trying to understand, and helping me come to the scary terms of just how the military entertainment complex eerily has had a big impact on me that I've been unaware of till now on reflection: In some of the b-roll footage, the software/game used in digital training is "VBS2". To those unaware, that is a military branch version of the simulator ARMA - where the ARMA series and the current iteration ARMA 3 is a commercial branch of the same engine with the same gameplay. In joining virtual units/clans and experiencing thousands of hours of the sandbox simulation game, I've been taught many military tactics, strategies and organizational structures utilized in common infantry and mechanized training both in gameplay, but through instruction by active enlisted members and military veterans that populate the community. Some times having to take community instructed courses on military symbology, language, communications and different types of combat doctrines and scenarios (even learning methods of using up to date JTAC training for calling in artillery and air strikes). I strictly saw anything in ARMA from a hobbyist perspective that had no impact in life or relevance in actual military knowledge, until about last year. When on a trip with fellow university class mates in which we where to observe a field training exercise for a history course - a majority of other class members had experience with playing ARMA regularly or where enlisted. Following a demonstration, we where asked to accompany a Major (a friend of our professors back when he was enlisted) to the virtual training centre in which we could participate in operating virtual machines that operated on VBS2 - with simulation docks for Infantry and Armoured vehicles. Once again, VBS2 and ARMA 3 are essentially the same, with VBS2 having some more specialized military uses. The transition for those that strictly only played ARMA (including myself) was seamless - alongside those who were enlisted. Our automatic organization into a standard infantry squad based on the common experience we go through in ARMA alongside the common tactics and references passed along different ARMA communities saw an eerie level of immediate movement, teamwork and effectiveness. At the time we enjoyed our time and took it with pride, (the idea that civilians could be incredibly capable of performing military movements - although of course it was all virtual and knowingly not the real thing), but we were complimented on our foreknowledge with a non-serious remark from the Major recommending us to be the next generation of soldiers since we wouldn't have to be taught much else. This video has put that experience into an uncomfortable perspective, in which it really brought up the question on the media I consume. Kojima truly is a mad bastard in his topics of military predictions in his games.

[@maybemablemaples2144]

Holy shit dude. Just wow. I mean I know public schools were just a way to make smarter soldiers but this, this is Black Mirror shit. They out here really training us and we're doing it for free 🙃

[@tomhoward4905]

Best MGS content out there for sure.

[@findingnobody]

Futurasound deserves all the praise in the world for its amazingly informative and entertaining content. Thank you for all hard work, Jorin!

[@giovannid9959]

I agree with others that this has been your best work until now. And what a job you did! It is outstanding. Clear, precise, entertaining, informing, up to the point, comprehensive, but not overly long and very well edited. I cannot recommend it enough. Thank you.

[@tmantonytv1166]

Thanks for uploading another one of these, i just started replaying mgs2 last night

[@giusepperazzino685]

Great video! I'm loving all of your essays on MGS. Good job.

[@TehUltimateSnake]

Wow I've never seen so much indepth documentaries on MGS. Love to see it!

[@Marshy50]

I really hope you talk about the theme's of ghosts/spirts and humans relationship to them thru animals in MGS, and also how these spirits possess people like how psycho mantis is shown possessing Sahalanthopus and the Man on fire back to life. He brings back to life a dead man for revenge like the player spirit brings back to life (after the coma) punished venom snake. In MGS 2 i postulate that the player possesses Raiden and that is shown thru the dog tag that he wears with the players name on it. Kojima shows this himself as well given his literal person being in all these games weather he's alive in them or not.

[@candidklutz5056]

always love watching your videos, they never fail to be interesting. hope you get big soon

[@cyb3r_m0nky]

This is such a fantastic video essay. Thank you for doing this kind of work.

[@caymancombatclub]

This channel has kept me sane throughout quarantine.

[@jarvy251]

Surprised you didn't mention "America's Army," a multiplayer FPS actually put out by the US army in the early 2000s rather explicitly as a recruiting tool, designed to make people more comfortable with the idea of enlisting. It was unique as the player had to complete an offline "boot camp" before they could play the multiplayer matches - part to ensure basic competency in game mechanics, but also to impart the idea that the feared boot camp drill instructors are not needlessly harsh, that their main purpose is to guide and mentor you. The multiplayer matches were also unique in that the player's team was always the US Army from their perspective, and the enemy team always appeared to be a generic Russian-inspired enemy force. The result was that both sides in the match were playing as the "good guys" and the enemy team were always the "bad guys." As an FPS with a more realistic slant, the matches themselves were absolutely brutal as you would expect from a simulation of two first-world military forces clashing. The realistically-modeled devastatingly powerful weaponry combined with a lack of tactics typical of ad-hoc teams formed through public matchmaking would typically result in a total bloodbath every match. While as a game, that was part of it's appeal, as a recruiting tool, the army decided it was perhaps not the best look. Later iterations of the game would instead become presented as mere bouts of laser-tag training exercises between US army units.

[@FuturasoundProductions]

I def used footage of it, but thanks for the informative comment! I could have taken the time to mention it by name

[@justink2291]

Your the reason I’ve decided to go back and replay all the mgs games, your a legend dude

[@marinal7493]

Thank you for your work, man! I'm so glad you doing this

[@alovidya]

Your videos are awesome dude. And I think this is one of the best ones you’ve done so far. Thank you for your work!! I deeply appreciate and enjoy it.

[@ItalianJoe83]

Just finished to wach one of the best videos on this KZbin channel: it reminded me of when I made the mandatory military visits twice around age 18 during my college days back in 2001 and 2002 before finally succeded to be "rejected" to join the italian army also thanks to the lessons I learned by playing Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid on my Sony PlayStation home game console

[@killerbee1974]

as i put before, i dont want to harm innocent people. I dont want the blood of a kid on my hands. I hate it when they say in the US military that your the good guy. if you take the life of an innocent person in any situation, you would be put on trail as killer most likely. but due to many falling to this we live in the cycle that i call "political sins of the father" the actions of a previous people in power, we have to deal with the fallout. US involvement in the middle east after ww1 and 2 has caused the anti-american views many have today in those areas, all cause the west said it was better than the rest

[@juansakura2868]

I can´t get enough of this channel, this is priceless, thank you very much, Boss.

[@Thom_YIIK]

This video is so good, I’m annoyed at myself that I didn’t find your channel sooner. I hope you keep up the good work

[@LordFlaggy]

love your video essays

[@steviebeanz1]

Awesome essay my guy. Keeps it up.

[@palix5925]

Your videos are so good. You deserve way more subscribers.

[@AdrianPowersFilmmaker]

The MGS2 Existence Project is your finest work.

[@tboys92011]

Great work man. Keep it up

[@jaysonagli6210]

As someone who works within the military system (specifically some of the things you spoke about in the first few minutes), the outsider perspective is extremely interesting to listen to. Just another reason why I love your videos and Metal Gear as a whole

[@alovidya]

I just finished the video and I felt the need to comment again, just to stress out how awesome your videos are.

[@The_Captainn]

I was an E5 in the US Army, and I'm glad that I ran onto this video because I've said the same things you've said here. The sad fact is that a lot of the lower enlisted I worked with were prime examples of the ideas you present in this video. It honestly made me swear off any entertainment that glorifies combat altogether now, as that form of media always leaves a bad taste in my mouth nowadays.

[@ReelRai]

You have criminally low views. So glad KZbin recommended me your videos, have been on a massive binge ever since.

[@Decoy.Octopus]

This is seriously the most well researched piece on video games role in the military industrial complex that I've ever seen in video form. As far as I know, MGS1 is the only game in the series to have any production assistance from U.S. military personnel.

[@sygos]

I remember Kojima being quoted as asking "How would a sole soldier battle and win against an M1 Abrams tank?" and being told it could never happen. Do you know any more about the details of the production assistance given to the project?

[@Decoy.Octopus]

@@sygos I dont know many details although they can be seen in the games credits, I actually made a minute-long video years ago about one of the advisors whose likeness was used in the MGS Radio Drama kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5DLapt3aKpjq5I

[@tesko_1]

nailed it again. love this series.

[@mxin2155]

keep it up , ur work is extraordinary

[@soulpatch.youtube]

fantastic essay, fantastic thought!

[@tmantonytv1166]

“INSTINCTIVELY”

[@Nathan_H1gg3rz]

My family was stationed in Fort ord California, I was seven years old and my favorite video game was Metal Gear for the NES. Fast forward 15 years and I was a soldier in Iraq and my favorite game was metal gear solid 2. digital child soldier indeed sir. well said

[@Shokisan1]

Super great video thank you

[@cowboy4187]

This is probably your best one yet. I'm glad that you've dropped some of the reflexive anti-communist cold war digs that I disliked in your previous videos. I think that your appeals to Baudrillard are also well done. I loved the historical tracing of military hardware to gaming systems and pop culture more broadly. I found the old CNN clips of those marines playing modded doom to be very disturbing. Awesome video, thanks for posting!

[@sygos]

The Doom clips, (according to youtube, from 1996) especially how they specifically mention modeling the layouts of US embassies in order to train for hostage rescue missions, ring in eerie parallel to the mass murderers of Columbine high school who allegedly modeled the high school in Doom maps to practice for their mass murder attack. The Marines called it the "shooter labs." It just sounds like a very specific name for a program designed to do a lot more than just shooting training, especially given how little aiming precision and practice can be done with Doom 2 controls.

[@MGSVxBreakpoint]

Bravo! Baudrillard, postmodernism and media. The building blocks of MGS2! You might say this vid is more MGS2 than MGS2. A hyperreal MGS2 lol. Baudrillard would be proud.

[@Goatsee]

Just like the simulations

[@Exigentable]

I love these videos.

[@djbeema]

Damn you are pumping out the videos lately

[@sygos]

Is this "season 2" of your Existence series? Is the first season going to release on DVD? Lol. I love the episodes, I can't get enough. I'm just sad that youtube has shadowbanned me or something because now I don't get notified when someone replies to my comments. Your viewers and commenters are also very insightful.

[@AlmaInfinium]

I love that I found this. Good shit can you link any sources to read more on the topic at all? I really enjoyed this great stuff.

[@fnd2583]

Interesting point about the games being marketed to boys in Part 6. Things have changed a bit, nowadays you can see more marketing and participation of woman and POC, Battlefield 5 being quite blatant and controversial around the time. This move coincides with the military industrial complex also pushing for more gender and racial equity among it's ranks. One could say that genocidal wars just got more politically correct, the military industrial complex have a total stronghold on any media so you will think they are the good guys instead of the actual reality of them being bloodthirsty war criminals, tough they will make sure you think of their enemies while they do it, be it the Axis in the past or brown arabs 10 years ago or Russians, North Koreans, South Americans like Cubans or Venezuelans etc. For every enemy of the military industrial complex, there is a game where you can kill them, and when they do include some instance of you going against the MIC, it's just a rogue army.

[@sygos]

When traditional military recruiting is down and half of your population is female, they seem like a great target for pro-war propaganda.

[@fnd2583]

@@sygos pro-war media, like any status quo propaganda constantly shapeshift in order to sell it's message. So if i the 90's the propaganda mostly focused on hot chicks and adventure, nowadays it is dressed in humanitarianism, multiculturalism and it's variants like anti-racism and feminism. If that does sound unapealling for some it's because they take their original target base for granted and are on the lookout for new audiences to beat up the war drums.

[@MrDrManPerson]

New sub here. Looking forward to digging through your content.

[@sharafelemam3917]

Good work Boss

[@chrysm6842]

Thanks !

[@teprokai]

Awesome video, leaving comment for KZbin's algorithm

[@tmantonytv1166]

I have to watch this one multiple times It’s so good

[@soundslikeknee]

This work is too good

[@Lintukori]

Good essay. I don't mind guns and violence in games. But I would like to see more serious effects of killing somebody. Like in Death Stranding leaving a corpse causes explosions and ruin the terrain. DS and many Kojima games make you think whether or not to pull the trigger. Other games where you kill hundreds of people feel unrealistic as they don't have any effect on the world or the psyche of the player character.

[@heraldofoblivion499]

You mean like Dishonored? You mean like Thief? You mean like racing games and puzzle games? You mean like superhero games where killing is outright discouraged and contrary to the narrative? I'm just saying, MGS can't really condemn violence when it goes out of its way to make it damn cool, and in many ways shows it as a solution to specific problems.

[@mercury2157]

@@heraldofoblivion499 MGSV introduced one of the most asinine mechanics in the form of Demon Mode as a means of punishment for killing too many soldiers

[@notsorrystory]

​​@@mercury2157 I see that kind of stuff as a penance for past crimes. Same for death stranding lol. Clearly there's a reverence for the aesthetics of violence. Cqc, gun talk, tactical swag, tanks etc... I think these anti war narratives have always been a way to salve oneself in Kojima's case. Same with the nonviolent s ranking stuff and tranq gun introduction. You used to have to kill people in stealth, too I believe. It's the same with us, no? We're here because we like metal gear. Does that make us sick fucks? Well. Maybe a little, but that doesn't make us bad people. I think mgs absolutely glorifies this stuff, which is why Kojima and co have tried to make caveats in exchange. They were all drawn in, too, but they try and send a message at minimum. Good enough for me and leagues beyond most other developers imo. I'll say I think the other dude's examples kind of suck, though. Those are more than likely about hitting certain age ratings for higher sales numbers. Certain IPs can't do anything past PG anyway. Can't really think of any other mature titles that bother to give anything back in this way.

[@cowboy4187]

However you statement at 34 minutes that "neither the right or left" care about the military industrial complex does strike me as incorrect. If you mean that the democratic party is pro-war, then that is clearly true. However, I don't think that the democratic party is left wing, in fact they are an obstacle to left wing movements in the United States. Both parties are imperial capitalists interested in the maintenance of the military industrial complex. However, the democratic party is not the left. They are a very right wing party. They actively block the left and scheme against them. Granted, the US is perhaps the least class conscious country in the world, but this strikes me as a pretty egregious mischaracterization. Otherwise, great video!

[@FuturasoundProductions]

That’s actually why I said ‘so-called left’. As I said earlier in the vid, words and interpretations get in the way. Anyway, thanks for the support! Glad you liked this one

[@cowboy4187]

@@FuturasoundProductions love your stuff, thanks for these!

[@fnd2583]

There is only one single party in America. The 51%-49% election results, their bipartisan consensus on issues related to "defence"(of which country btw?) reveal who the real patriots are.

[@dannyd7426]

Fnd - What do you mean, one party? We all know it’s in “defense” of the hand’s bank account.

[@cowboy4187]

@@dannyd7426 in my estimation both parties represent capital. One is just mask off racist and the other one pretends not to be. It is very much like wrestling kayfabe though. They both represent capital and the interests of the capitalist class. Sadly there are no electoral outlets for working class power in the us right now

[@PleasantLeech]

Wow imagine a world where journalists put as much research and thought into what they said as what was put into this youtube video. So much of this should be common knowledge for Americans yet I was learning something new about my own countries military every few minutes.

[@ABadRash]

It's funny to see doom being used where games like squad, arma, or even door kickers, could be used hyper-effectively today, of course I think I remember ARMA being developed alongside of specifically for army simulations before the first edition's release. Or was that Flash Point?

[@muxperience]

brings to mind the 'white phosphorus' killstreak in the new COD: modern warfare and how Infinity War put themselves in a position where a violation of the laws of war was a reward for in-game performance. That drew gamers to defend White Phosphorus against the critical gaming press.

[@TheBig451]

Another day, another 40 minute video on a game that has already been discussed to death. We're almost at Silent Hill 2 levels.

[@BeardofBeesPool]

I mostly saw those videos everywhere else.. I'm learning new stuff on this channel though lol

[@TheBig451]

@@BeardofBeesPool He makes great content, don't get me wrong. Just taking the piss.

[@artyom2801]

We just talked about this in regards to Ukraine. No, Depleted Uranium is not radioactive.... or at least is a primordial material, it is an incredibly pure Uranium-238 material, with 0.02% 235 which given the half life of Uranium-235 which is surprisingly long, it wouldn't exactly kill you through radiation poisoning, that said this is neglecting 2 things! One, Uranium is an actinoid, their oxidation state is +3 since most actinoids have that, there are exceptions and I'm not gonna explain why that's the case but you can be chemically poisoned. Two, The fucker can iignite on fire for a brief moment due to the surrounding oxygen coupled with the surrounding oxide layer cracking, revealing the chemically Pure Uranium. If you ever seen thermite light up, a magnesium tape where you break its surrounding that isolates it from the air or even an alkali metal reacting with water, you should know its bad. Funny thing is though, it somehow doesn't fall under the legal definition of chemical warfare, not the poisoning or the fact you are effectively utilizing incenidiary weaponry. Bear in mind, the game half life also made this mistake where for some reason, the gluon and tau weapons utilized what was refered internally as Depleted Uranium, which although has the radioactive symbol, it kind of implies the tau gun was initially a rail gun akin to quake accelerating quite heavy projectiles. Going back, despite the inhuman things DU does, the reason its picked is also due to its density, 18 grams per cm^3, pretty much double copper mass wise which is coupled with how U-238 is usually a waste product of enrichment to fuel grade and even maybe weapons grade. Edit: That being said, apparently the proportion of activity is still a relatively high 15 Becquerels per miligram, by no means its incredibly bad in a bubble as I've worked with activated Gold-198 and it dies pretty quick, so much so that detectors get a significant dead time unless you change the subtended angle to reduce intensity onto the detector, which we did for reference. It is however definitely above background, even if it less dense quantities given Uranium 235's Molar mass as well as the risk of commited dose. Once again, US fucking everything up for the survivors, Vietnam style baby.

[@ZagorTeNayebo]

excellent video and a great reminder of just how good of a critical view of war and pop culture the Metal Gear series has always given, I always liked your videos but this one earned a subscribe

[@LifeLikeSage]

Never forget The Boss' will.

[@dev2763]

This content is preventing lockdown from turning my brain to scrambled egg, bravo

[@boofacebandana]

A masterwork

[@guardianoftruth1468]

This was a great documentary! I am very passionate on script writing and film. I have read a lot of informational books and operations, and found this very insightful. People have t think about this... If we can create it or film set it, it can exist. The #psychoffilm and #Physicsoffilm

[@killerbee1974]

like the video, however with my generation and younger, we have protested these endless wars, people demand a stop to the violence. the culture shift in the US today has major anti-war message. The Military Entertainment Complex is not seen in as high regards today as it was 15 years ago. so any response to that?

[@sytran666]

Kids are focused on the culture war now

[@FuturasoundProductions]

I’m glad to hear that! It’s hard to know what’s real or true anymore, so I’m not going to act like just because I haven’t seen a big anti-war message out there means it doesn’t exist. I know that people are still stuck with the two party system and neither side is serious about curtailing the forever war, so there’s only so much any of us can do. All I can say is keep it up! Here’s hoping we can end this cycle of violence in our lifetimes

[@Hank_Castle]

But shooters still dominate the market and violence is the dominant game mechanic in most games. You have been mesmerized to think its any different now, the techniques are only more refined. Shit look at fortnite

[@tmantonytv1166]

Nah that’s bs

[@fnd2583]

What's the point of their supposed unpopularity if they can't even get out of a single war or occupation. Ever since Obama the USA is "withdrawing" it's forces, but nothing have changed, in fact, it got worse.

[@Jaspertine]

People panic about the content of media, but the way that content is framed tends to slip past us. And it's the framing that ought to concern us, because of the way it shapes our worldview without our notice. It doesn't even need to be so deliberate as that. Even when the creators of a game fully intend for it to be completely politically neutral, the game can't help but frame certain worldviews as either favourable or unfavourable, the actions of certain characters as either justified or unjustified, and so on.

[@visassess8607]

MGS2 was partly about using games to get troops ready for actual combat. MGS4 was partly about changing a soldier's mind so real combat feels like a video game.

[@SolarScion]

9:40 -- from this point on in the segment is horrifyingly glib. We know what these implementations lead to in practice (eg., the drone program.) Just that shot in the beginning of the WWII production footage with the rifle cartridges spilling into a sorting trough was immediately chilling. Industrialized warfare is terrifying if you have any context for what it actually is.

[@SolarScion]

33:44 I'm sure you also know of the similar effects of agent orange and other chemicals used in Vietnam (you may have even mentioned in a previous video). The unacknowledged, and largely unknown things that the US MIC has done and does that have these type of long-term, population-wide effects really make the US one of, if not the most insidiously inhumane entities on the planet. I think only international agribusiness eclipses the US MIC.

[@SolarScion]

34:24 For the plebian members of the Democrats and Republicans, yes (real leftism being a radical element existing outside the major political parties due to the Overton Window) I'd say you're right that your "MEC" as a propaganda arm of the military-industrial complex, along with complicit propagandist in the mainstream news/other media, was instrumental in the hypernormalization of profiteer war mongering/modern-day imperialism. The elites who play puppet masters for the two allowed parties of course orchestrated this for their own/corporate (and to some degree, I'd argue, still tribal reasons.)

[@sygos]

@@SolarScion Monsanto, one of the largest agricultural corporations in the world today, were one of the main organizations used to manufacture Agent Orange.

[@notsorrystory]

​@@SolarScion Yeah I think this is an important distinction. The MIC as a term has been pretty prevalent for me and the homies for some time. But lib city vibes. Even then, it seems so insurmountable, it's like we don't even bother anymore. There's not even lip service paid to cutting the military budget among the political elite. Trump and Bernie were the last serious contenders to mention pulling out of foreign wars. Trump clearly wasn't trustworthy, but it seems Biden is even worse imo. They way these guys casually thrust us into conflict is sickening. Moral imperative my balls. NATO or someone just shipped depleted uranium shells to the front a month ago or something. Felt like a week before I read about the lasting effects of their use. So I guess I agree this you, but it's not a fight I've heard much about lately either. People care, they don't know what to do. Even if we did, I need health-care first and foremost. Rent and all that. Almost like it's intentionally that way lol

[@sirdavis2101]

I’m doing research on this topic. Could you assist me with some of your sources?

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

this might be the most important video in the channel

[@heraldofoblivion499]

27:00 This isn't new. The whole concept of formation fighting is to maintain discipline in the ranks, and mitigate the desperate capabilities of your soldiers into a single cohesive force. The phalanx is simple, easy, and requires no individual skill to function and it was effective. Same with the firing lines of napoleonic warfare and the trenches of WW1. You can't control everything from the top down as a commander, you're not an omniscient God. And each layer of command relies on another to handle another aspect of the conflict. War has always been about organizing and directing violence, and militaries have always strived to make it as inhuman and machinelike as possible. Because the moment you let a bunch of angry people with weapons do what they want, you get Nanking and the sackings that plagued the medieval period

[@notsorrystory]

Don't act like this stuff is about preventing massacres. That's not what discipline is about. It's not to protect the natives, it's to protect the commanders and their kings.

[@itsdavefrommarketing5935]

I dont remember where but i heard that the best way to prevent a war is not just to shoot your enemy but to plant the bombs for birth defects and plauge to deplete the next generation so when it comes time to deploy the hundred of thousands of once potential capable to mobilize is now to sickly or deformed to do anything but sit and watch and that leaves you with only a handful of capable fighters. Idk if that made sense

[@collierwright988]

We *truly* live in a society

[@sulaymanhamid6628]

Awesome

[@kayzed9824]

its my booyyyy futura!

[@fuck_chinanobrain5011]

I havent watched this but Ive worked in the VR industry, its sickening the removed language and mental gymnastics the people use in the industry.

[@cole1714]

I still can't believe that no game has topped MGS2 in the way it addresses these issues... it's such a fucking crazy, obvious reality of growing up/living in the present moment, especially in the US (imo, since that's where I live) that it seems like super fertile material for a game

[@DoomsdayHrmnk]

This is the scariest sh I have ever heard...and the quote from 19freaking83 makes it even scarier

[@SolarScion]

Random commentary: 31:40 Holy shit, those have to be British ads. Those look straight out of a lad mag ("MegaDrive"-- definitely not the US.) That Earthworm Jim ad is legitimately hilarious, though 😄

[@Wardog01Actual]

Bruh! That's some heavy stuff there. Maybe if they hired YOU, the next Metal Gear would be the TRUE "Citizen Kane" of video games. Tim and Eric's Awesome Show says: "Great job!"

[@Ner0mancer]

Deep thematic here, these are the things that should be discussed in the post-covid world

[@hundun5604]

11:54 When you die it's game over? Stuff like that?

[@mysticwizard1943]

Fun fact: Tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons cropped up out of war games, which were a training tool for officers that became a post-WWII hobby with full endorsement from military high command. They're still in use today as a training and recruitment tool. History certainly repeats itself, huh? Also it's pretty crazy that Republicans started all that rhetoric about the WHO being controlled by China to some ambiguous nefarious end, when a lot of the higher ups in the party probably had full knowledge that the organization helped the US military hide their war crimes... I don't consider myself member of either party and I'm extremely critical of both, but how the hell do self described republicans and conservatives (as in citizens) not notice how obvious the party leadership is? How do they not see the hypocrisy, or that as soon as the party sees an organization as a threat (in the case of the WHO, holding secrets), they turn on them, demonize them, and work their followers into an angry mob? It just amazes me that political parties still have such a hold on the critical thinking of the masses.

[@NachozMan]

Also you should make a Discord Channel.

[@malik87breaker]

I disagree. Let the man work in peace :D

[@petertan_sg]

Military or shooter games just normalise kills as numbers and desensitise kills as part of play. And P2P allows gamers to improve their field intelligence if combating against real people. That is why violence becomes commercialized.

[@heraldofoblivion499]

50s kids read about gangsters and mobsters fighting against cops. The kids of the 20s read books about cowboys and Indians. And before that people told stories of bad guys fighting knights. People like stories about violence. It's always been the case that cultures have some sort of saga about a badge that gets beat up. It's abnormal to deny the simple fact that we're animals with teeth, meant to tear and shred flesh for our delight and sustainment.

[@mercury2157]

@@heraldofoblivion499 and it's also fucked to see no problem with it and embrace it as many people do

[@ddanbeatz186]

Reaching

[@soychidoese]

Just like Big Mama said in MGS4

[@jwalton1915]

Pretty sure the British made the first conceptual computer (Charles Babbage) and Alan Turing…a Brit, more or less made the fundamentals of modern day computers.

[@harrisonmckinney7659]

Having received a few different forms of the “advanced” and “computer simulated” training, I can tell you it almost never works properly. It’s constantly broken and has no training value. It’s a huge boondoggle. In the infantry we always got the shittiest stuff but anything electronic was garbage. If it wasn’t night vision or a flashlight, it was garbage. The only way to train infantry is in the field, in the heat, with the gear and tired as shit. Everything else is just fucking around.

[@sygos]

The main purpose of simulated battlefield training is to reduce cost secondarily to reduce training casualties. You're basically quoting Snake when he confronts Raiden who only had VR training lol. Have you tried any commercial VR systems lately? They are becoming more and more sophisticated so I imagine that 2020 simulated combat training is much farther ahead than what's available on the commercial market.

[@craid23]

I think the notion of "computer simulated" training is rather mental preperation by hypernormalisation. Kids, teens and young adults playing games like "Call of Duty", "Battlefield", "Arma", or even something rather cartoonish like "Fortnite" can get accustomed rather quickly to these virtual battlefields, because such games are "fun". They are designed to be "fun" and can certainly increase excitment and motivation for actual combat training, because the human brain applies the virtual "fun" to the "real" deal. Think about it, recruits who have "fun" doing actual combat training... a wet dream for any drill instructor, isn't it?

[@andygarcia4960]

another home run vid. the quote by Peter Baofu brought me to tears by the atrocities committed by our country against the afghans and iraq.

[@Coldsteak]

this was insightful and eye opening. okay im gunna play call of duty multiplayer now bye!!!