| madskillz said: Look, I stated that the location, especially N.O. (and most folks hear Metarie and think N.O. because you don't know where N.O. stops and Metarie starts), and skin color, in some games could be perceived as racist. Seriously - I said there seemed to be racial undertones - which, unless I don't understand the term means below the surface - coming in video games. Folks cried bloody murder with RE5 - L4D2 will - mark my words - will remind folks of Katrina and the horrors - and folks will definitely jump on this bandwagon. All I was doing - in my opinion piece - was telling devs to be careful with things that could appear to be racial. That's it. While you may not see the racial aspect with some games, other folks do. That is all I am stating. Never once - anywhere - did I state the game was racist. Folks read it - saw race - pissed in their pants and posted away. The simple fact that Kotaku, Destructoid and even this forum - and the tons of fan e-mails and the like (including phone calls) show this op-ed piece really, really touched a nerve with a topic that is very important and needs to be discussed in a civil manner. Did I expect this kind of attention from this blog post? No. A few angry e-mails over my Rebel flag statement, but guess what? It's one man's opinion that's making the rounds around the Web. @ Mafoo - yes, my real name is Willie Jefferson. I got my nickname Mad Skillz from some peeps. EDIT: Sorry for bumping this thread. I am on vacation and was just responding to a post - without reading through all the posts. Sorry - won't happen again, folks. |
People saw it and got pissed off because it seemed frivolous. The nerve you have touched on is people's hatred of random accusations of racism. How you see that as a good thing, or even something supporting your cause boggles my mind. You realize that the nerve you touched is completely divorced from the point you are trying to make right? This fact is not lost on you I hope.
The horrors of Katrina have come and gone. Is everything super peachy keen and fine? Absolutely not in some areas. Most places though are back up and running as per normal. Protecting the city because of this tragedy will hurt it more than help anything. So long as people link Katrina to New Orleans they are less likely to visit here. Anything that helps put that takes New Orleans off that sacred cow status is a good thing. We are a tourist city. No tourists means our economy suffers very badly. The more people feel ok with using it as a setting liek it used to be, then the more likely people will just think of it as another great party city. That is the best thing that could happen right now.
