Real Gear

Discussion related to the most well-known series by Kojima. News, debate and any related discussions are welcome. IMPORTANT Any topics related to MGS4 should temporarily go in the appropriate forum. Please keep spoilers out of signatures too.
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Squallidus
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Real Gear

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A little article I wrote for my site, plz tell me what you think.

Real Gear: Part 1
Metal Gear has intersected between fiction and reality in its storylines; it’s partly a reason for its popularity. For this article, I will outline some of the cross over between the games organizations, companies, and technology with those found in our, real, world. I can not verify that everything written was meant by Kojima, some may be coincidental, but what I write has been documented and is un-fabricated, no matter how crazy it sounds. The real world is truly as unnerving and multi-faceted as any of Kojima’s games.

September 11th/Iraq war (MGS4 definition: ‘Manhattan Incident’)
Seemingly, Kojima has now used the Manhattan Incident (the crash of Arsenal Gear into city hall), from MGS2: Sons of Liberty, as the Metal Gear world’s equivalent of September 11th. The easing of the restraints on military intervention in foreign countries in MGS4 also mirrors real world events, the switch of the policy of deterrence to pre-emptive war, such as the U.S/British war in Iraq.

Private Military Contractors (MGS4 definition: Private Military Companies)
In Iraq today, 20% of the troops are made up of mercenaries hired from private military companies. War has become a business that is posted on the U.S stock market and is worth circa $100 billion. PMC’s operate in 110 countries around the world, and have tapped into the need of manpower after the downsizing of military, post the Cold War era. The threat of such organizations is that they profit from war, thus there is a large incentive for them to instigate them.

‘Future Combat Systems’ (MGS4: Gekkou)
Robots patrolling the battlefields in MGS4 is not wishful thinking on Kojima’s part, it’s the future. The Pentagon has established a 70 billion dollar contract (the largest military contract ever prior to its announcement) to create an army of fighting robots. These machines, in their early incarnation, are planned to be remote controlled by, and work alongside, soldiers in a ration of 150 robots for every 2,000 troops. However, in the distant future, there are plans for smaller, Gekkou-esque, machines that will walk like humans. There are also plans for machines that will mimic some other of nature’s designs, such as insects and birds. U.S Navy research in San Diego is focussing on creating war machines with greater intelligence. Jeff Grossman, one of the San Diego researches, said in regards to the machines intelligence “now, maybe, we're a mammal. We're trying to get to the level of a primate”. The Guns of the la-li-lu-le-lo’s vision of future warfare is ringing true.

Implantable Microchips (MGS4: ID tags)
Applied Digital Solutions and IBM are the two main companies spearheading ID chip technology. The RFID (radio frequency identification) chips contain ID data of the user, and also can be also be used to trace the host through GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) technology. The RFID microchips, which are about the size of a grain of rice, are usually implanted above the triceps of the right arm. These chips are already in, comparatively small, use. However, the military and government members are pushing for more wide spread use. U.S Air Force documents have unveiled plans for their application in soldiers and even civilians. This technology eerily echoes the ID tags of MGS4 used by the soldiers; perhaps Kojima knows of the pursuit of military, and public, RFID use. MGS4’s world also reflects the desire for full spectrum managent over all aspects of society, where ‘everything is monitored, and kept under control’ by those in authority.

“Living War Machine” (MGA2: Serap) You think Serap, MGA2’s part gorilla, part human/machine, sounds like science fiction? Well, it almost became science fact. In the mid 1920’s, the former Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, asked Russia’s top animal breeding scientist, Ilya Ivanov, to create a new race of hybrid soldiers. The soldiers Stalin called for would be part human, part ape and would be capable of strength far superior to any man. They’d also be able to withstand much more pain, and survive on lower food supplies, than any conventional, human, soldier. After his experiments failed to bring any results, Ivanov was sent to jail in Kazakhstan for 5 years, where he later died.

Genotype Specific Weapons (MGS1 definition: FOXDIE)
Genotype Specific Weapons have turned from fiction into a reality. In PNAC (Project for the New American Century), a Neo Con think tank written prior to their placement to power in the U.S government, Dick Cheney, the U.S Vice President, has called to legitimize the use of genotype specific bio weapons to the public using their ‘friends’ in the media. These bio weapons can be specifically targeted to certain people or even entire races. Worth note, Israel has also worked on the creation of these weapons with much controversy over their possible use against the Palestinians. After the completion of the human genome it was noted that the difference between each race of human was very minute. Therefore, the problem with race specific bio-weapons is that the risk of a disease modifying itself and passing between all races is great, this should – hopefully – negate the chance of them being used.

(MGS2/3/4 definition: The Philosophers/<B>Patriots</B>)
The <B>Patriots</B> are intentionally, or coincidentally, an amalgamation of the most prominent secretive groups in the world. The organization from which the <B>Patriots</B> are derived, the Philosophers, bare a close resemblance to two famous groups, namely the Bildeberg Group and the Illuminati. The Illuminati, who’s existence is debateable, stem from 13 families, or ‘bloodlines’, similar to the Philosopher’s 12 families. They were said to be intellectuals who garnered massive influence through control of the world’s central banking system and fiat currency, much like the Philosopher’s influence originates from their financial power. The Bildeberg Group (a known real life organization) is made up of the richest heads of multi-international corporations, of media, and former, and current, government members in secret, extremely heavily guarded, annual meetings. Also, the Bildeberg Group are accredited for the creation of the U.N. Their meetings are said to influence everything from the price of oil and other natural resources, population control, and what wars will be fought.

The Wiseman’s Committee share a similar structure with the Majestic-12 a, supposed, real-life organization set up by President Truman to investigate UFO activity post Roswell Incident. The <B>Patriots</B>’ power stems through their ability to control and process information flow, the U.S government and intelligence agency have done similar things for years. Operation Mockingbird was a C.I.A project to infiltrate and influence the foreign and domestic media, and use it as a vehicle to push their propaganda, their reality, to the public.

The Orwellian named The la-li-lu-le-lo Act that was created post Septemer 11th further intrudes on person’s secrecy with the presumption that anyone could be a ‘terrorist’. The act allows intelligence agencies like the FBI to see what you read, buy and do. They can get 3rd party companies to disclose information of your activities, which ironically demolishes the freedoms of which the act was supposedly created to protect.

Furthermore, like the <B>Patriots</B>, those in power wish to censor the final refuge of freedom, the internet. Internet 2, which has been under heavy scrutiny recently, is set-up as a semantic web which removes your anonymity; all your internet activity will be traceable and stored, new born children will be given their own url’s to access the internet for later in life. Such a system would be liable to extensive abuse, and could be misused to trace dissenting voices or ideals that go against government policy.

Conclusion
Kojima has expertly forecasted the future of both technology and politics with his games. We know that he’s studied the background of what appears in them, he’s said so several times in interviews. Perhaps, whilst you’re playing one of them, you should think about the implications of this foresight and use it as a platform to become more aware of what is going out there, in the real world. Being aware is key to effecting change, for the better, for future generations.
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