Changes

**''Metal Gear Solid V'': Like with ''Peace Walker'', it depicts several anti-American references throughout both games. In the first part of the game, ''Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes'', it depicts a black site in Cuba that was all but stated to be Guantanamo Bay in what was clearly intended to be a condemnation towards its existence, including implying that the terrorists placed there had just been abducted in the dead of night and didn't actually do anything wrong. It also showcased some extremely brutal torture, including them forcing a kid to rape a girl, as well as stuffing a bomb down said girl's vagina. It also depicts the Marines in a very negative light. One of the side missions for the game also has the player infiltrating the base with the explicit mission of assassinating members of a Marine Sniper-Spotter team who had previously been deployed to Laos due to their being successful in killing several high-ranking members of the NVA and other Communist organizations in the region, with the person giving the mission being KGB, while another mission has the player sabotaging anti-air guns as well as doing a helicopter raid on the base. Kojima, in an interview with the Guardian, also makes it perfectly clear that up to that point, he intended for his games to question America's role in the world, and implied he wanted to show it in a negative light.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/18/hideo-kojima-interview-metal-gear-solid-phantom-pain

**''Metal Gear Solid V'': Like with ''Peace Walker'', it depicts several anti-American references throughout both games. In the first part of the game, ''Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes'', it depicts a black site in Cuba that was all but stated to be Guantanamo Bay in what was clearly intended to be a condemnation towards its existence, including implying that the terrorists placed there had just been abducted in the dead of night and didn't actually do anything wrong. It also showcased some extremely brutal torture, including them forcing a kid to rape a girl, as well as stuffing a bomb down said girl's vagina. It also depicts the Marines in a very negative light. One of the side missions for the game also has the player infiltrating the base with the explicit mission of assassinating members of a Marine Sniper-Spotter team who had previously been deployed to Laos due to their being successful in killing several high-ranking members of the NVA and other Communist organizations in the region, with the person giving the mission being KGB, while another mission has the player sabotaging anti-air guns as well as doing a helicopter raid on the base. Kojima, in an interview with the Guardian, also makes it perfectly clear that up to that point, he intended for his games to question America's role in the world, and implied he wanted to show it in a negative light.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/18/hideo-kojima-interview-metal-gear-solid-phantom-pain

"With Ground Zeroes he [Hideo Kojima] escalated the stakes by taking aim at North America’s contemporary policies towards terror suspects. “In the past the US was the centre of the world, where everything was happening,” he says. “I think my stories have always sought to question this, maybe even criticise it. But the situation is changing. America is not seen as the centre of the world any more. So the focus of my stories is shifting alongside with that change in the real world.”

"With Ground Zeroes he [Hideo Kojima] escalated the stakes by taking aim at North America’s contemporary policies towards terror suspects. “In the past the US was the centre of the world, where everything was happening,” he says. “I think my stories have always sought to question this, maybe even criticise it. But the situation is changing. America is not seen as the centre of the world any more. So the focus of my stories is shifting alongside with that change in the real world.”

"It’s a diplomatic answer, but Ground Zeroes is not an especially diplomatic video game. Its incarcerated terror suspects kneel in wire cages, bound at the hands and feet with blinding sacks over their heads. As you hoist them on to Snake’s shoulder and sprint to the evacuation helicopter, some break down in tears either through fear or relief. It’s grimly political. “[Guantanamo] was definitely something that I made decision to address in the game,” Kojima says. “Hollywood continues to present the US army as being the good guys, always defeating the aliens or foreigners. I am trying to shift that focus. These movies might not be the only way to view current affairs. I am trying to present an alternate view in these games.”" </ref> In the second half, ''Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain'', there were several anti-American references, such as having a character named Code Talker refer negatively to the American Indian Boarding School as well as developing genocidal views on the English language and his being portrayed sympathetically for this, as well as Miller making a reference to the pejorative "American Empire." Ronald Reagan was also mentioned as well as his Evil Empire speech, with a more sarcastic element to it. In addition, although the protagonists do fight against the USSR, their missions in Africa have them aiding the Communist backed MPLA, and also make several anti-Colonial references such as Western Powers being "parasitic" towards their natural resources. Like before, it mentions the FSLN in a glowing manner, even explicitly founding a socialist state as well as being backed by the USSR. In addition, writer Kenji Yano also implied that Big Boss being Ishmael instead of Huey Emmerich was because they wanted to avoid a pro-American bias regarding morality.<ref>http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=25955

"It’s a diplomatic answer, but Ground Zeroes is not an especially diplomatic video game. Its incarcerated terror suspects kneel in wire cages, bound at the hands and feet with blinding sacks over their heads. As you hoist them on to Snake’s shoulder and sprint to the evacuation helicopter, some break down in tears either through fear or relief. It’s grimly political. “[Guantanamo] was definitely something that I made decision to address in the game,” Kojima says. “Hollywood continues to present the US army as being the good guys, always defeating the aliens or foreigners. I am trying to shift that focus. These movies might not be the only way to view current affairs. I am trying to present an alternate view in these games.”" </ref> The ending for the main mission as well as one of the tapes has the character Skull Face, when describing Here's to You, falsely referring to [[Sacco and Vanzetti]] as having been innocent of the crimes they were executed for. In the second half, ''Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain'', there were several anti-American references, such as having a character named Code Talker refer negatively to the American Indian Boarding School as well as developing genocidal views on the English language and his being portrayed sympathetically for this, as well as Miller making a reference to the pejorative "American Empire." Ronald Reagan was also mentioned as well as his Evil Empire speech, with a more sarcastic element to it. In addition, although the protagonists do fight against the USSR, their missions in Africa have them aiding the Communist backed MPLA, and also make several anti-Colonial references such as Western Powers being "parasitic" towards their natural resources. Like before, it mentions the FSLN in a glowing manner, even explicitly founding a socialist state as well as being backed by the USSR. In addition, writer Kenji Yano also implied that Big Boss being Ishmael instead of Huey Emmerich was because they wanted to avoid a pro-American bias regarding morality.<ref>http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=25955

Yano says that Kojima explained the structure of MGSV to him as early as 2011, and all the different elements were already in place: from the themes (such as phantom pain and retaliation) to the motif of Moby Dick. “However, at that point Ishmael was actually Huey. Snake was Ahab, and Diamond Dogs’ enemy was America. It was set up so that the story, being told by Huey (Ishmael) as an American citizen, would be biased toward the American perspective, showing America as being right the whole time.” According to Yano, the Moby Dick connection is also meant as an allegory for the powers that drive the world, as whales used to be more than just a source of food. “Of course their oil was prized, but also other parts such as the bones and baleen played an important role in people’s lifestyles. […] World maps are thought to have come about thanks to the whaling trade. In short, whaling was inseparable from people’s lives at the time. You could even say it had “infiltrated” their lives.” With MGSV, Kojima brought this theme to a new century: “What’s important is that Kojima-san didn’t just transplant the motif from Moby-Dick. I think it’s more a case of these two creators, Melville and Kojima, relentlessly thinking through the way that the world works, and arriving at the same answer.” This connects to the setting of the game: “if we look at the game from the energy perspective, it’s obvious that Afghanistan and Africa would be the settings for the events in MGSV. Each produces oil, and each is a source of rare metals and other mined resources.” Of course, both Moby Dick and MGSV share the theme of revenge. “As Skull Face stated in MGSV, the world is an endless loop of action and reaction. It’s always an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. […] Like Moby-Dick, MGSV is also a tale of revenge.” Why was Ishmael changed from Huey to Big Boss? Yano believes the answer to that lies in what Ahab represents: “Although Ahab has only his personal revenge, when the character is superimposed onto American righteousness, he serves as an analogy for how justification for revenge based on instinctive national memory is converted into a just cause.” He continues: “But in MGSV, it’s actually America that’s the overarching Moby Dick. Big Boss is Ahab in the sense that he’s been maimed by America in the past. Big Boss turns his yearning for revenge into bonds that bind him together with comrades who share his wish to retaliate against America (or its self-righteous justifications). However, from America’s point of view it’s Big Boss that’s Moby Dick. So what we can see in MGSV is actually an attempt to depict battle between Ahab and Ahab, or perhaps Moby Dick and Moby Dick.” This, according to Yano, explains why Kojima chose to switch the role of Ahab from Huey to Big Boss. “To be more precise, the aim is to reveal that the system the world runs on defines Big Boss’s existence as “evil.” That’s why MGSV tells you distinctly that Ahab is you, the player. It says, now you have to experience first-hand the absurdity of being branded a villain by the manipulating ways of the global status quo. […] For that message to be put across, it can’t be Huey telling it, since he’s on the American side. It has to be Big Boss himself that delivers the message.”</ref> In addition, there was an ending for disarming all nukes on a server that implied that all nukes had been gotten rid of, which also featured a quotation by Barack Obama as part of the credits.

Yano says that Kojima explained the structure of MGSV to him as early as 2011, and all the different elements were already in place: from the themes (such as phantom pain and retaliation) to the motif of Moby Dick. “However, at that point Ishmael was actually Huey. Snake was Ahab, and Diamond Dogs’ enemy was America. It was set up so that the story, being told by Huey (Ishmael) as an American citizen, would be biased toward the American perspective, showing America as being right the whole time.” According to Yano, the Moby Dick connection is also meant as an allegory for the powers that drive the world, as whales used to be more than just a source of food. “Of course their oil was prized, but also other parts such as the bones and baleen played an important role in people’s lifestyles. […] World maps are thought to have come about thanks to the whaling trade. In short, whaling was inseparable from people’s lives at the time. You could even say it had “infiltrated” their lives.” With MGSV, Kojima brought this theme to a new century: “What’s important is that Kojima-san didn’t just transplant the motif from Moby-Dick. I think it’s more a case of these two creators, Melville and Kojima, relentlessly thinking through the way that the world works, and arriving at the same answer.” This connects to the setting of the game: “if we look at the game from the energy perspective, it’s obvious that Afghanistan and Africa would be the settings for the events in MGSV. Each produces oil, and each is a source of rare metals and other mined resources.” Of course, both Moby Dick and MGSV share the theme of revenge. “As Skull Face stated in MGSV, the world is an endless loop of action and reaction. It’s always an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. […] Like Moby-Dick, MGSV is also a tale of revenge.” Why was Ishmael changed from Huey to Big Boss? Yano believes the answer to that lies in what Ahab represents: “Although Ahab has only his personal revenge, when the character is superimposed onto American righteousness, he serves as an analogy for how justification for revenge based on instinctive national memory is converted into a just cause.” He continues: “But in MGSV, it’s actually America that’s the overarching Moby Dick. Big Boss is Ahab in the sense that he’s been maimed by America in the past. Big Boss turns his yearning for revenge into bonds that bind him together with comrades who share his wish to retaliate against America (or its self-righteous justifications). However, from America’s point of view it’s Big Boss that’s Moby Dick. So what we can see in MGSV is actually an attempt to depict battle between Ahab and Ahab, or perhaps Moby Dick and Moby Dick.” This, according to Yano, explains why Kojima chose to switch the role of Ahab from Huey to Big Boss. “To be more precise, the aim is to reveal that the system the world runs on defines Big Boss’s existence as “evil.” That’s why MGSV tells you distinctly that Ahab is you, the player. It says, now you have to experience first-hand the absurdity of being branded a villain by the manipulating ways of the global status quo. […] For that message to be put across, it can’t be Huey telling it, since he’s on the American side. It has to be Big Boss himself that delivers the message.”</ref> In addition, there was an ending for disarming all nukes on a server that implied that all nukes had been gotten rid of, which also featured a quotation by Barack Obama as part of the credits.