第二章 招揽回头客：史诗现实主义和战争游戏专营的产生

ing” (unpublished paper, 2009), cited in Steven Shaviro, Post Cinematic Affect (Winchester, UK: 0 Books, 2010), 118.

26Shaviro, Post Cinematic Affect, 119.

27Shaviro, Post Cinematic Affect, 124.

28Ubisoft Entertainment, Ubisoft Annual Report 2008 (2008), [31], https:// ubisoftgroup/comsite_common/ en-US/images/Annual_Report_ 2008tcm9927542.pdf.

29Stephen Totilo, “Why Activision Let Go of ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘50 Cent’ Games,” MTV Multiplayer, November 5, 2008, http://multiplayerblog.mtv. com/2008/11/05/why-activision-let-goof- ghostbusters-and-50-cent-games/.

30Adam Satariano, “Did Activision Just Frag Itself?” Bloomberg Businessweek, April 22, 2010, http://bloomberg. com/bw/magazine/content/10_18/ b4176053952018.htm; Randy Nichols, The Video Game Business (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), 65–66; Chris Suellentrop, “Big Franchise: Modern Warfare,” Rolling Stone, May 31, 2012.

31Bogost, Persuasive Games, 59; emphasis in original.

32The stealth-shooter genre, for example, often gives players incentives to avoid violence. While this is an exception to the general tendency here, stealth-shooter games also fall somewhat outside the popular wargame frame of reference we are using. Many of the most popular stealth-shooter franchises, such as Metal Gear Solid and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, have seen falling returns as console gaming has become more mainstream. Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2013) and Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes (2014), the latest entries in their respective franchises, have seen around 2 million sales each. By way of comparison, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014) has sold 19.5 million copies and Battlefield 4 (2013) 12.5 million, placing them in drastically different categories.

33This is not to say that franchise wargames are incapable of dealing with controversial and thought-provoking subject matter. The infamous “No Russian” level of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, in which the player is tasked with slaughtering civilians in a terrorist attack, is a great example of such a provocative scenario. Content like “No Russian,” however, is profoundly rare in franchise wargames and is routinely transformed into a reason and justification for military violence rather than its critique.

34Aaron Thomas, “Medal of Honor: Airborne Review,” Gamespot, September 4, 2007, http://gamespot/reviews/ medal-of-honor-airbornereview/ 1900-6178113/.

35Battlefield 1942 did include a single-player mode in which bots were substituted for other players, but in terms of function, that mode was similar enough to call it a multiplayer game.

36Scott Osborne, “Battlefield 1942 Review,” Gamespot, September 16, 2002, http:// gamespot/reviews/battlefield- 1942-review/1900-2880344/.

37Christopher Dring, “The Medal of Honor Killer: A Call of Duty Story,” MCV, November 1, 2013, http://mcvuk/ news/read/the-medal-of-honor-killer-acall- of-d