Ugh.. So some blog decided to mess around with the Scribblenauts dictionary and...
Well, using "Sambo" ends up creating a watermellon. Dude freaks out and lets J-----q (are we not allowed to use that name here still?) know. They smell a click-generating story and fire off a little piece titled 5TH Cell: Scribblenauts' scandalous-looking 'sambo' item is a misunderstanding wherein we learn that "sambo" can be a racist term (I already knew this personally but thats irrelevant) but can also mean, and is used primarily in game to substitute, "fig leaf gourd" a major component of a common Ecuadorian dish.
Were that the end...
Alas, enter Kotaku and yet another BREAKING! story.
The big K goes much less subtle with their piece and thus my rage is born
Racial Term in DS' Scribblenauts?
From where I'm sitting, Ashcraft and Totilo have put together a completely sensationalist piece for the hell of it (well, for the traffic). Obviously Kotaku wants to drive traffic to their site and nothing (besides review scores mabye) drives traffic like controversy.
A desire for business isnt a bad thing in and of itself, but its the trite and offensive way they've decided to do it that grinds my gears.
We'll overlook the article title entirely, you need a good buy line to get the clicks.
They proceed, after a 1-line introduction to Scribblenaut's core game mechanic, to this
There is no lead in explaining the historically racist usage of the term in America, no discussion of alternate usage or even how this term was discovered in game. All that is saved for later in the article - instead the two hit the reader with a conclusion in the first paragraph "this is a racist term, period, and there better damn well be an explanation for it!"
The rest of the article is filled with 5th Cell's explanation for why the term is in the game (fig leaves) and why it spawns a watermellon (they look alike). Theres a quote from the creative director where he says he didnt even know about the racist connotations until Kotaku explained it to him.
Then we get a Kotaku American culture history lesson about the term Sambo and about racist imagery in the 19th and 20th centuries. All of it ends with this choice line:
Fuck.
First and most obviously, that connection has entered "the world of Nintendo's DS" thanks to Ashcraft and Totilo themselves. Their somber musings over the plight of the black man in America vis a vi videogaming is, for me anyway, disgusting in its self serving nature. Am I the only one that finds this more "offensive" than the actual issue theyre supposedly covering?
Secondly, and more to the discussion end of things, the majority of this piece is spent explaining a uniquely American appropriation of a word (one that has passed out of common verbiage) and why, because it offended in America, it is offensive.
As a non-American, I have a real difficulty with pieces that purport to 'expose' or 'educate' on these matters universally when they are doing so from an American focused perspective.
Obviously this isnt the first time (see: "clearly no one black worked on this game") and we all do it from time to time. But, I'm wondering how we can purport to enjoy an international hobby, have global developers and a (generally speaking) multicultural take on things and then get caught up in American hand-wringing worrying over offense, or even worse, people digging around to find something offensive.
Why arent more developers able to say "No, here in Japan no one considered your nations particular history with slavery when making our zombie game. We just made a zombie game. Play it, discuss it from every angle, but dont try to paint us for what comes out of it" or "Yes, the song does use quotes from the Quran - it does so with respect and in aide of creating a beautiful sound. We stand behind our developers choice."
Why do we as consumers allow this petty shit to continue? Is there even anything we can do about it?
Finally, while I am not a member of the "lol games journalism" camp by any means - I think writers in the field do themselves a disservice writing like this, but how can they get past it? These are the big ticket stories that get the mainstream coverage they need and paradoxically move them towards "legitimacy".
All I know is, personally speaking, I'm done with Kotaku for a while.
Please to discuss?
EDIT: They dont deserve the clicks, its true.
Well, using "Sambo" ends up creating a watermellon. Dude freaks out and lets J-----q (are we not allowed to use that name here still?) know. They smell a click-generating story and fire off a little piece titled 5TH Cell: Scribblenauts' scandalous-looking 'sambo' item is a misunderstanding wherein we learn that "sambo" can be a racist term (I already knew this personally but thats irrelevant) but can also mean, and is used primarily in game to substitute, "fig leaf gourd" a major component of a common Ecuadorian dish.
Were that the end...
Alas, enter Kotaku and yet another BREAKING! story.
The big K goes much less subtle with their piece and thus my rage is born
Racial Term in DS' Scribblenauts?
From where I'm sitting, Ashcraft and Totilo have put together a completely sensationalist piece for the hell of it (well, for the traffic). Obviously Kotaku wants to drive traffic to their site and nothing (besides review scores mabye) drives traffic like controversy.
A desire for business isnt a bad thing in and of itself, but its the trite and offensive way they've decided to do it that grinds my gears.
We'll overlook the article title entirely, you need a good buy line to get the clicks.
They proceed, after a 1-line introduction to Scribblenaut's core game mechanic, to this
There is no lead in explaining the historically racist usage of the term in America, no discussion of alternate usage or even how this term was discovered in game. All that is saved for later in the article - instead the two hit the reader with a conclusion in the first paragraph "this is a racist term, period, and there better damn well be an explanation for it!"
The rest of the article is filled with 5th Cell's explanation for why the term is in the game (fig leaves) and why it spawns a watermellon (they look alike). Theres a quote from the creative director where he says he didnt even know about the racist connotations until Kotaku explained it to him.
Then we get a Kotaku American culture history lesson about the term Sambo and about racist imagery in the 19th and 20th centuries. All of it ends with this choice line:
Fuck.
First and most obviously, that connection has entered "the world of Nintendo's DS" thanks to Ashcraft and Totilo themselves. Their somber musings over the plight of the black man in America vis a vi videogaming is, for me anyway, disgusting in its self serving nature. Am I the only one that finds this more "offensive" than the actual issue theyre supposedly covering?
Secondly, and more to the discussion end of things, the majority of this piece is spent explaining a uniquely American appropriation of a word (one that has passed out of common verbiage) and why, because it offended in America, it is offensive.
As a non-American, I have a real difficulty with pieces that purport to 'expose' or 'educate' on these matters universally when they are doing so from an American focused perspective.
Obviously this isnt the first time (see: "clearly no one black worked on this game") and we all do it from time to time. But, I'm wondering how we can purport to enjoy an international hobby, have global developers and a (generally speaking) multicultural take on things and then get caught up in American hand-wringing worrying over offense, or even worse, people digging around to find something offensive.
Why arent more developers able to say "No, here in Japan no one considered your nations particular history with slavery when making our zombie game. We just made a zombie game. Play it, discuss it from every angle, but dont try to paint us for what comes out of it" or "Yes, the song does use quotes from the Quran - it does so with respect and in aide of creating a beautiful sound. We stand behind our developers choice."
Why do we as consumers allow this petty shit to continue? Is there even anything we can do about it?
Finally, while I am not a member of the "lol games journalism" camp by any means - I think writers in the field do themselves a disservice writing like this, but how can they get past it? These are the big ticket stories that get the mainstream coverage they need and paradoxically move them towards "legitimacy".
All I know is, personally speaking, I'm done with Kotaku for a while.
Please to discuss?
EDIT: They dont deserve the clicks, its true.
