I never thought I'd say this but...

[Krooze L-Roy]

I'm pretty sure the kids spewing racism over the Internet aren't living in families where such things are taboo. It's not like the ones who taught them those words are gonna be having conniption fits when they hear them repeated. Cultural sensitivity might be all the rage around Campus, but it's not considered such a bright shining virtue amongst all folks.

And honestly, the way things seem to be going right now, those same kids may well find themselves actually fighting Arabs before too long. They're probably just as well having a bit of desensitization.

[RCBH928]

In all honesty
i don't think cod4 is an issue of racism,
even if it is, it is against Arabs which are far away

If I was American I would be worried about games like gta
That game really splits people into groups like the blacks, the Russians,
the thugs, I think this builds the idea of racism a lot more . Its like its
cool to be the black gangster or the Russian mafia guy.
It is a great game, but I really think that kind of games would touch on that are more than a war game.

[Limewater]

As ignorant as that sounds...in my area there is a decent number of bullies, and wannabe thugs, that cause trouble for no reason, and they just so happen to be coloured...thus profiling themselves the way the media portrays them.

Is "coloured" not considered a racial slur up in Canada? I ask because, while it does not reach the level of "nigger", it is generally considered rude among non-old folks down here in the US. Except when one is referring for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).

[Ack]

If I was American I would be worried about games like gta
That game really splits people into groups like the blacks, the Russians,
the thugs, I think this builds the idea of racism a lot more . Its like its
cool to be the black gangster or the Russian mafia guy.
It is a great game, but I really think that kind of games would touch on that are more than a war game.

Actually, I consider GTA much more of a satire on our society. It is every stereotype in our culture taken to an extreme that is not always logical. I do think people should be hesitant to let their children play it, but as an American, I can see that the game is much more a joke on us than anything else. I think what bothers me the most about it is that I don't believe the international community realizes it's a joke.

[Mozgus]

In all honesty
i don't think cod4 is an issue of racism,
even if it is, it is against Arabs which are far away

What?

Actually, I consider GTA much more of a satire on our society. It is every stereotype in our culture taken to an extreme that is not always logical. I do think people should be hesitant to let their children play it, but as an American, I can see that the game is much more a joke on us than anything else. I think what bothers me the most about it is that I don't believe the international community realizes it's a joke.

Couldn't have said it better.

[lordofduct]

In all honesty
i don't think cod4 is an issue of racism,
even if it is, it is against Arabs which are far away

What?

WOW!

So you're saying it is OK to hate against someone very far away?

Ok, well kingmohd84 I think you're a biggot fucker and I'm gonna burn your town to the ground if I ever get the chance... is that ok? Cause you know... you're really far away.

[Scooter]

Years ago I had a boss who gave GTA to his sons, 4 and 6 at the time, for a Christmas present. I asked him if he had any idea what the content of the game actually was and he did. His comment was that he didn't think they really "got" the violence, sexual or whatever themes permeate the game since they were so young. What?!?

While overt racism/violence is one thing, blythely ignoring their impact, especially on the very young who we tend to think don't "get" things they are exposed to, is perhaps even more dispicible.

He was a pretty crappy boss too.

[RemyC]

As ignorant as that sounds...in my area there is a decent number of bullies, and wannabe thugs, that cause trouble for no reason, and they just so happen to be coloured...thus profiling themselves the way the media portrays them.

Is "coloured" not considered a racial slur up in Canada? I ask because, while it does not reach the level of "nigger", it is generally considered rude among non-old folks down here in the US. Except when one is referring for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).

"Coloured" IS the politically correct term in Canada. African-Canadian doesn't really work, because the coloured(Black in this example) person you are referring to may not actually come from Africa.

Extreme example:
Does playing mario make you want to go out and kill a bunch of turtles?
I use Mario as an example, because his games are the games that the entire world has played. If video games do breed violence, then we would have had some horrid turtle massacre by now...but we haven't. Mario is a video game, and video games breed violence...where's the turtle massacre?

[lordofduct]

As ignorant as that sounds...in my area there is a decent number of bullies, and wannabe thugs, that cause trouble for no reason, and they just so happen to be coloured...thus profiling themselves the way the media portrays them.

Is "coloured" not considered a racial slur up in Canada? I ask because, while it does not reach the level of "nigger", it is generally considered rude among non-old folks down here in the US. Except when one is referring for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).

"Coloured" IS the politically correct term in Canada. African-Canadian doesn't really work, because the coloured(Black in this example) person you are referring to may not actually come from Africa.

Extreme example:
Does playing mario make you want to go out and kill a bunch of turtles?
I use Mario as an example, because his games are the games that the entire world has played. If video games do breed violence, then we would have had some horrid turtle massacre by now...but we haven't. Mario is a video game, and video games breed violence...where's the turtle massacre?

But we haven't really said that videogames in general breed violence directly.

It isn't the act of hurting some type of "enemy" in a game that is what is the problem really. Most games have some enemy to hurt, but not all have some majour influence.

The issue is that the game portrays a relevant and serious social issue that is going on right now in the world. The game itself reflects the current situation in the world. As a member of a larger group of information being fed around in public, this can make it more influencial then if it wasn't a general topic.

For instance Mario kills turtles, but at the dinner table mom and dad aren't going on about the security of our nation is being threatened because so many plumbers are being attacked by rogue turtles.

But the child instead is spending his day killing iraqi soldiers in his make believe world. Then he sits down to dinner in the real world and his make believe world is thusly made real in front of his eyes when the nightly news is going on about insurgencies and dad is talking about how we need to 'support the troops' and his big brother got shot over in Iraq.

Thusly the bleed between make believe and reality causes the boundary between the two to fade.




In my opinion this has been a problem in the past. In time of war it is very common for both government and media to demonize the enemy in some manner. I understand why too. But is this really a good thing?

We demonized communists during the wake of the cold war and subsequently we blindly sat by during the McCarthy Witch Hunts
We demonized Japanese during WWII and then stood by again while we locked up enormous numbers of Japanese families in internment camps

But children tend to be left out of such prejudice because their media outlets aren't really talking about it. Transformers wasn't cameoing satirical charactures of Sadam Hussein during the Gulf War... Their make believe didn't bleed over to reality. There was a clear distinction between what was "fun" and what was "serious".

Is this a big deal in my book? YES! Our childish fear allowed for the rights of our citizens to be taken away in a country that is in theory supposed to be free. I believe in freedom, and thusly abhour the idea of such horrible things as the internment camps.

In the same right, as I already stated. The company has the right to make this videogame. Because freedom says they can. But that doesn't mean parents around the country should turn a blind eye when their child is screaming "sand nigger" in their living room while blowing the head off some digital reenactment of what is actually going on just over the Atlantic Ocean. It's the parents choice of course, but hey parents... don't keep shrugging your shoulders and asking "I don't know how he turned out like this" when your angry racist little kid turns out to be some shitty adderall munching cock head. It's YOUR fucking job to raise your kid proper.

The sickest part is some of these parents are the same parents who don't allow their kids to listen to anything but Christian music because Marilyn Manson is going to make them blow up their school. Where is the rational?

[lordofduct]

A good example, I was just talking to my mom about this very topic. She is very interested in my love for videogames as she knows I am a programmer and want to break into the videogame design field.

She tells me how her good friend lets his 4 year old daughter play Halo and Gears of War 2 on his Xbox 360 (yes she knows the games, cause my mom paid attention).

My mother frowned at her friend and said, check this all you retro gamers, "why the hell are you letting your daughter play that? Why don't you let her play something like Link, or Ecco, or Toe Jam!?"

"Well she likes the games, and the Xbox only has violent games anyways"



Really? Are you kidding me? I own a lot of non-violent games on my 360. And that's besides the point.

I did love her nod to Ecco and TJ&E!!!!