On May 16th, we reported that the name Hitler had been banned from Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii online community. In short, if you were playing under a Mii with the word Hitler anywhere in its name, you would not be able to connect to Mario Kart WFC.
We're not debating Nintendo's decision to not allow Hitler on their network. It's the their network and it's their decision. However, is it fair to single out Hitler? Surely, he is not the only mass-murdering dictator in history, or even the 20th Century. What about the others?
TheFeed did some investigating and decided to test out some the 20th Century's other more infamous characters and see how the Mario Kart online community would welcome them. Here are the results of our test:
STALIN
Perhaps the biggest killer of the 20th Century. Poor record keeping in the Soviet Union during his rule has lead to wildly varying reports on the number actually dead as a result of his order. Conservative reports put it as low as 3 million, but the most liberal reports put it somewhere between 20 to 30 million. On average, most scholars agree that the number is somewhere between 10 to 20 million. Despite almost assuredly killing many more people than that little German fellow, Mario Kart WFC welcomed Stalin with open arms.
Death Toll: 10 to 20 Million
Mario Kart Status: ACCEPTED
POL POT
As leader of the dreaded Khmer Rouge through the mid to late 70s, Pol Pot was responsible for the deaths of some 1.7 million of his countrymen (26% of the national population of Cambodia at the time). His horrifying acts are recounted in the award winning 1984 film, The Killing Fields. He died under house arrest in 1998. He came third on Moo Moo Meadows yesterday.
Death Toll: 1.7 Million
Mario Kart Status: ACCEPTED
IDI AMIN
Unlike his portrayer, Forest Whitaker, in The Last King of Scotland, Idi amin really did kill people out of paranoia and downright madness. Convinced that the world was against him, he ordered the deaths of between 300,000 and 500,000 people. Personal accounts say he was a very nice man with a hearty laugh. They also say he was the craziest motherf***er on Creation. He also drives a mean dragster.
Death Toll: 300,000 to 500,000
Mario Kart Status: ACCEPTED
KIM JONG-IL
The current leader of North Korea currently has no official bodycount to his name that we can verify. We can say he made a pretty sweet villain in Team America: World Police. According to his Wikipedia page, he has also composed two operas. We felt obligated to include him only because his Mii is just so darn cute.
Death Toll: no official record
Mario Kart Status: ACCEPTED
CHARLES MANSON
The mastermind behind the Tate-LaBianca murders and head of the so-called "Manson Family". This guy gives Idi Amin a serious run for his money, and is sometimes referred to as "The Craziest Motherf***er this side of the Mississip". He prefers the standard cart when maneuvering through Sherbet Land.
Death Toll: 8
Mario Kart Status: ACCEPTED
OSAMA BIN LADEN
Currently the world's most wanted man, we felt certain that if any other mass-murderer aside from Hitler were not allowed into the glowing, child-like innocent world of Mario Kart, it would be Mr. Al-Queda himself. Turns out we were wrong. Bin Laden quickly took the track and even managed a 2nd place finish. Too bad; we were hoping he'd lose the race big-time after being hit by million red-shells and lightning bolts.
Death Toll: 3000+
Mario Kart Status: ACCEPTED
While we agree with Hitler being kicked out of the Mario Kart Wii clubhouse, TheFeed does find it odd that these other nefarious men, guilty of some of the most horrific atrocities of the 20th Century, are allowed to roam free throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. What do you guys think? Is it wrong to exclude Mii Hitler or is it wrong to include these other evil bastards?
