A thought struck me the other day and it goes like this. The past few months have been very political in this joint. And with joint I mean website. Just so you know. I wasn't aware of that (let's call it blindly staring into the void called politics) untill a few weeks ago. One of the students @ Inholland brought this to my attention when he was pitching a communication plan to us he and his fellow students had written as an assignment. Whatever happened to pop culture? Why not use that, he asked us? The guy had a point. So: the time has come to chat about that.
He used the example of a game that wasn't released very long ago: Fallout 3. It takes place in post-apocalyptic Washington DC round 2213. As you can guess the city has been torn to shreds by war. It turns out that the game also features a nuclear bomb. A bombs called 'Fat Man'. Right! Just like the bomb that fell on Nagasaki in World War 2.
Is that unfriendly towards the Japanese people? In this article it is stated that one quest - the one which features the bomb - was altered for the Japanese market. The developer removed one character which doesn't leave the option open to detonate the 'ol Fat Man:
"Developer Bethesda has made changes to the Japanese Fallout 3. The side-quest The Power of the Atom has been changed. Non-playable-character Mr. Burke has been taken out of this side-quest, removing the option of detonating the nuclear bomb. That's not all, the name of a weapon was changed as it was deemed "inappropriate" for Japan. Smart money says the weapon is mini-nuke launcher "Fat Man" for obvious reasons. The online reaction from the Japanese users seems to be largely disappointment to these edits. Fallout 3 goes on sale in Japan this December."
Source: see the link above
I personally don't think that people who might take offense to this are in the target group. It also seems that Japanese fans are disappointed because of the edits. So: was that the right thing to do? Food for discussion if you ask me.
Same goes for games such as Bully aka Canis Canem Edit. As the name suggests; bullying is an an important part of this game. Is that something your - AHUM - parents would approve? You playing such a game? Is such a game ethical? More food for thought bro!
Hit us up if you have any ideas for discussions on topics such as these (and others of course.)
Last but not least: my personal favorite.
