Infestation 88 developer, Nightmare Forge Games, have responded to claims that the '88' in the game's title refers to the Neo-Nazi salute.

Infestation 88 developer, Nightmare Forge Games, have responded to claims that the ‘88’ in the game’s title refers to the Neo-Nazi salute.

  • Lvxferre@lemmy.mlEnglish
    319·
    1 year ago

    Okay… I think that it’s worth to look further at the Twitter comment chain from Josh Fagundes, mentioned in the text.

    I’ll use the exact same [lack of] reasoning that the author used to “prove” that he’s a Nazi. (I don’t think that he’s a Nazi, mind you; I’m doing this to show how bloody stupid his witch hunting is):

    • Josh ‘Anoriand’ has 14 characters, including the quotation marks. Coincidence? Perhaps not!
    • Look, I’m not saying it’s IMPOSSIBLE that this game wasn’t made with ill intent is exactly 14 words. And it’s immediately followed by “but 88”. Coincidence? Perhaps not!

    “Conclusion”: I’m going to play it safe and treat Josh Fagundes as a nazi!

    …yes, it is that tier of stupid. And if the developers are actually Nazi trying to push a Nazi discourse into the players, Josh is not “denouncing” them. He’s actually helping them to push said Nazi discourse, since now they can say “ah, that’s just someone being silly. Pay no mind, look at the ridiculous shit that he’s using to “prove” that our game is Nazi.”

    Here’s a better approach.

    What’s “88” in the title conveying to the player, within the context of the game? Through all the screenshots being shared, I’ve seen it being consistently used to refer to 1988, and nothing else. Is there any other element contextualising it to be interpreted as “heil Hitler” instead of the year?

      • Lvxferre@lemmy.mlEnglish
        305·
        1 year ago

        More like “tankie user defends basic reading comprehension”.

        What Josh is doing here is witch hunting like a moron. That only helps the Nazi by giving them a believable cover.

        • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
          1518·
          1 year ago

          Not the point. “Infestation” + 88 + gassing vermin is absolutely not comparable to the mental gymnastics you just vomited out as an example. Even if the developer was truly this oblivious, it would still not change the issue of it, and the Nazis that posted on their Discord for so long were clearly proof of that as well.

          • Lvxferre@lemmy.mlEnglish
            202·
            1 year ago

            Not the point. “Infestation” + 88 + gassing vermin is absolutely not comparable to the mental gymnastics you just vomited out as an example.

            You didn’t read the Twitter thread that I’ve linked, right? Do it. It’s actually way worse mental gymnastics than my shitty example. (“1-4 players = Nazi dogwhistle” tier.)

            Even if the developer was truly this oblivious, it would still not change the issue of it, and the Nazis that posted on their Discord for so long were clearly proof of that as well.

            Give this a check. The developers are changing the name of the game, and addressing the Discord server by pausing discussions there until they get better moderation.

            EDIT: by the way you’re already doing less worse than he did. At least you’re trying to connect discursive elements, like “gassing vermin”, instead of doing conspiracy shit tier things like “they’re active from 2010 to 2024! That must be a sign of an enemy Stand 14 words!”. And the fact that you called me a “tankie” shows that you at least checked my profile to see if I was potentially a Nazi, seriously, props for that.

            • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
              211·
              1 year ago

              I’ve read your “points” several times throughout this thread already and none of them actually address the issue. lol

                  • Lvxferre@lemmy.mlEnglish
                    1·
                    1 year ago

                    You’re really, really craving for attention, aren’t you?

                    …usually I don’t bother with this idiotic “I dun unrurstand lol lmao XD haha” conveying “I expect you to waste your time explaining obvious shit over and over while I pretend to not understand what you say”. But since I’m in a really good mood, just this once I’ll bite. I don’t think that you’re able to follow either, but other users will and I think that this is a good example of the problem with witch hunters.

                    “But gassing vermin!!11 Infestation! lol” - then find some elements prompting the player to conflate the vermin with Jewish people, or any other victim of the Holocaust. Things like this:

                    • Is the player’s avatar dressed in a way reminiscent of the Schutzstaffel? No. Compare this with this.
                    • Are the rooms recognisably similar to gas chambers used in the Holocaust? No. (inb4 “bUt BoTh ArE CrEePy LoL” is grasping at straws)
                    • Does the vermin in question resemble a caricature Jewish person? No; it’s Mickey Bloody Mouse dammit. And from other screenshots you have a moth and some tumour thing too.
                    • Posters painting fascist slogans, symbols, or discourses in a positive light? So far I saw none.
                    • et cetera.

                    Do it. Find those elements. Or elements that are similar in spirit. The burden of the proof is in the one claiming the connection, in this case you.

                    Without those elements, gassing vermin is simply gassing vermin, and the one creating the association between vermin and Jewish people is you, not the devs.

                    “88 gives it context” - nope. You need to link them. If they were showing that 88 with fireworks right after you got rid of a rat, then perhaps it would give you the context to interpret that rat as a Jewish person.

                    Also worth repeating that this association is undesirable for the developers, as shown by the fact that they changed the name of the game to “Infestation: Origins”. But hey, this contradicts your assumption, and it prevents you from rolling in certainty like a pig would roll in filth, so it gets “conveniently” (dishonestly) ignored, right?

                    The above is already enough to address your idiotic point. But I’ll go further, because I’m predicting that you’re going to grasp at straws.

                    “But the Discord…” - they already paused discussions there until they get better moderation; that shows that they do not condone whatever was happening there. (They probably got some nazi with the same sort of reading comprehension as you [zero] assuming that he was in good company.)

                    “But all those pieces of evidence in Twitter! So many things, it must be a sure sign!” The “evidence” being shared there is ridiculous:

                    counting the space “Infestation 88” is 14 keystrokes.

                    This is numerology tier idiocy.

                    [associating TG·44 SST with STG 44, one of the assault rifles used by the Nazi in the war]

                    Yeah, sure - pick anything written, shuffle it enough, omit some characters, be very accepting on what you’re matching it with, and you’ll get whatever you want out of it.

                    And, rewatching the trailer, the found footage section is October 13, 1988 // Meaning the date would end in 13/88, which is SUSPICIOUSLY close, especially if you would be playing AFTER this point.

                    Not only “13 is close to 14, this must be a sign of an enemy Stand!” is already a silly stretch on its own, but the date being displayed in the picture doesn’t even follow that idiotic M/D/Y order. It’s displayed in Y/M/D (1988 Oct, 13). Good motherfucking luck associating 88/10/13 with 14/88.

                    “1-4 players, in 88, taking on an “outbreak of vermin in various locations”.”

                    This was as a reply to a screenshot showing In the year 1988, what was thought to be an outbreak of vermin in varioues locations morphed into something far more sinister. Infestation 88 is an episodic, 1-4 player co- [cut off]

                    …do I really need to highlight how fucking stupid this is? 1-4 players is fairly common in games, and the text in the screeshot does no effort to align that “1-4” in a way that you’d read “1-4 88”. The one doing it is actually Fagundes himself.

                    Theyve [SIC] been creating horror games since 2010. But at the bottom, copyright 2024. // 14 year difference.

                    More numerology tier crap.

                    Yup. There is a REASON to use THIS public domain character, and it ain’t a good one.

                    As a reply to “Let’s also not forget Disney himself was an anti-Semite.”

                    If the devs are supposed to be anti-Semite, then why the hell would they represent the brainfart of an anti-Semite as the enemy???

      • Metal Zealot@lemmy.mlEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        I’d hate to live in your world, where literally everything and anything is a Nazi dog whistle

        • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
          12·
          1 year ago

          Buddy, if you’re unaware of literally the most common Nazi dogwhistle out there, then that’s simply ignorance and naivety on your part. Just because you chose to look away, does not mean they aren’t there.