Note: Mayaincatec is filmography slang for anything resembling Mayan, Incan or Aztec culture in films and other media. I have two reasons for making this topic. To discuss the newer themes in games involving Mayaincatec imagery. And to discuss and speculate where those themes may come up, and whether they will help inspire us as lizardmen gamers. My reasoning is this: The newly announced/upcoming entry in the tomb raider reboot trilogy has step pyramids and an unidentified baddie who looks a hello of alot like a Mayaincatec priest. God of war (4) on the PS4 has a brief allusion to Tyr meeting Mayaincatec gods during a cutscenes. Thoughts, ideas, positions?
I don't think the Mayaincatec theme gets more numerous. Quite the opposite. In the late 90s we had more of that I think. Two in one year isn't a trend.
Sure, I am happy about every game, book, or movie that includes it in a way which improves awareness of people for those interesting cultures. Unfortunately that hasn't happened very often yet, most are just - YAY Pyramids - YAY Aliens did something - YAY End of the world (Maya calendar or whatever) - YAY human sacrifice, ripping out hearts and skinning the corpse, wearing its skin and bones and eating its flesh because apparently that's the only thing you can still shock people with these days. ...and that's pretty much it. It is a shame.
I saw the new Magic set recently is in a mayaincaztec world filled with pirates, dinosaurs, pirates, conquistadors, feathered serpents, pirates, temples, pirates, and more pirates. It had some cool art, but looked very surface level to me. Very true. Plus the fact that two of the things on your list don't have any basis in actual fact; they are leftovers from poor archaeology over the last few centuries, pseudoscience, Hollywood, and the pulp era. Doesn't make mayaincaztec any less interesting, but it does stereotype the culture far out of proportion from reality or the history. It is amazing how much is actually known about the culture, but very little makes it into the mainstream cultural awareness, much less fictional works. The Mayan culture alone had a history and culture in some ways similiar to Ancient Greece, almost like a Mesoamerican Peloponesian war between Tikal and Calakmul through parts of its history, plus a long written record of their own history through their few surviving monumental architecture, pottery, and fragmentary book record. Personally I have never been a fan of "mayaincaztec" as a genera by itself, mostly because 1) my interest is tends to be confined to a single culture of the trilogy, 2) the cultures might all have organically developed in the same hemisphere, but are each individual, unique, and are much more diverse than I ever realized, and 3) it ignores the other varied and diverse cultures of the Precolumbian/Mesoamerican/South American world: Olmecs, Mixtecs, Zapotec, Tarascans, and the Toltecs just to name a few from Central America alone. Pardon my ranting , 'tis why I like to read books in conjunction with collecting and painting Mayan lizard aliens that live in the jungle.
I really liked these two articles; they are over on TV Tropes (tons of great rabbit holes to go down!) Useful Notes / Pre-Columbian Civilizations (difference between Maya, Inca, Aztec) Good Summary of Aztec Mythology
No that makes complete sense. As to the magic set,it is indeed in amayaincatec design. Except vampire conquistadors. That's straight new and really cool.