Video game controversies: justified or not?

Two video games have been caught up in minor controversy this week, making me wonder whether in the case of one of the complaints many groups just don’t have anything better to do except complain.

I read this week that EA’s next Medal of Honor game, due out in October, has raised the ire of some of the military community in the United States over the fact that players can choose to fight alongside the Taliban if they want.

The story quoted Karen Meredith, the mother of a US soldier who died in the conflict, who told Fox News in the US: “Right now we are going into a really, really bad time in Afghanistan … this game is going to be released in October so families who are burying their children are going to be seeing this.” 

The gaming industry, though, has defended the release of games covering topics such as the war, saying other entertainment media such as films also commonly depict conflicts as they unfold. That’s true. There have been numerous movies based on recent  military conflicts and recently TV One broadcast the HBO series Generation Kill, and I didn’t hear protests about it.

The other controversy I read this week was over 2K’s Mafia 2. UNICO National, an American group that represents Italian Americans, has moaned to Take 2, 2K’s parent company, that Mafia 2, which is released next week, should be delayed because the game portrays the Mafia as Italian Americans.

Andre’ DiMino, president of UNICO National  said Mafia 2 was “racist nonsense” and “Why would Take Two foist a game on their targeted audience of young people wherein they will indoctrinate a new generation into directly associating Italians and Italian-Americans with violent, murderous organised crime, to the exclusion of all of the other ‘mafias’ run by other ethnic and racial groups?” 

“Take Two is directly, blatantly and unfairly discriminating and demeaning one group to the exclusion of all others. We are demanding they halt release of the game and cleanse it of all references to Italians and Italian-Americans,” said Dimino, who hasn’t played Mafia 2.

Here’s my two cents: Mafia 2 is based in 1940s and 50s America, dealing with Italian American organised crime, so of course it’s going to feature Italian Americans. The game’s not based on the Yakuza – we’ve already had games from Sega on that one and the Yakuza didn’t seem to mind. To me, UNICO’s complaint seems weak.

In response to UNICO’s claims, Take 2 charman Strauss Zelnick said: “Mafia II tells a compelling story about organised crime in America – a subject that for decades has been featured in movies, television shows and novels. Neither UNICO nor any other organisation purporting to represent Italian-Americans has seen or played Mafia II.” 

What do you think about the latest complaints about video games – is either of them justified? In the case of the Mafia 2 complaint, do you think video games have a poor history of portraying ethnic stereotypes?

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Source: www.stuff.co.nz

Google movie in the works

The story of how Google went from a garage start-up to earning almost US$25 billion a year is heading to Hollywood, hot on the heels of a feature film about the tortuous early days of Facebook.

Goundswell Productions has teamed with producer John Morris to acquire the movie rights to Googled: The End of the World As We Know It, which was written by New Yorker media columnist Ken Auletta.

Deadline.com reported that the crew will use the book as a blueprint for a feature film telling the story of the rise of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and the juggernaut search engine that made them billionaires.

Michael London, of Groundswell Productions, told Deadline the film would focus on how Brin and Page tried to hang onto their ideals of making money without doing evil as Google became a global titan.

“It’s about these two young guys who created a company that changed the world, and how the world in turn changed them,” London told the site

“The heart of the movie is their wonderful edict, don’t be evil. At a certain point in the evolution of a company so big and powerful, there are a million challenges to that mandate.

“Can you stay true to principles like that as you become as rich and powerful as that company has become?”

But London said the intention was “to be sympathetic to Sergey and Larry”.

Auletta’s book focuses on the destruction of traditional media industries, now battling to make money off news, music, video and books in a media landscape that has been turned on its head by Google.

David Fincher’s The Social Network, which centres on the founding of Facebook, is set for release in Australia on November 25.

Written by Aaron Sorkin and adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires, the film features a strong cast including Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake.

The film has been controversial even before its release, as leaked scripts showed it portrays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as greedy, immoral and driven by a desire to meet girls.

The release of the trailer of The Social Network inspired a legion of parody offerings.

There’s “The Twit Network“, which centres on Twitter, “The Other Social Network“, about the rise and fall of MySpace, and “The Video Website“, a highly dramatised account of the creation of YouTube.

Google Australia did not respond to a request for comment on the Google movie deal.

Source: www.stuff.co.nz