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Do you consider your personal politics when purchasing games? That's the question Gamasutra's Christian Nutt posed. (Full disclosure: Christian is a great friend of mine.) As a gay man, Nutt was conflicted about Shadow Complex. He loves the genre, but resents Orson Scott Card's anti-gay views. He said:
"When Shadow Complex was announced, I personally was torn. I'd already long since made the conscious decision to not support Orson Scott Card directly with my money. I also would like nothing more than to play a new game developed in the vein of some of my personal favorites -- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Super Metroid, the game's two biggest influences."
Nutt used his Shadow Complex example to bring up other situations with touchy politics. Dragon Quest's Koichi Sugiyama has staunch right-wing views, going as far as to deny the Rape of Nanking. He broadens the discussion to include Whole Foods CEO John Mackey writing an op-ed against President Obama's health care reform. Should a gay man boycott Shadow Complex because of Card's views on same-sex marriage? Should a Japanese gamer that leans left not play Dragon Quest because of Sugiyama's political views? Should a consumer not shop at Whole Foods because they support ObamaCare?
It's an interesting and thought-provoking look at how personal politics may or may not impact purchasing decisions. (It's also one of the best gaming editorials I've read all year.) Let's go back to the question I first asked at the beginning of this article: do you consider your personal politics when purchasing games?
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Comments
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KilferMF
Don't let the opinion of one person, impact your decision on purchasing a quality game.
Shienberg
Personally I am a fan of the enders game series and I am dissapointed to hear that Card is so close minded.
My 2 sense: If Card is active in politics that attempt to limit the rights of the gay community and he draws a check from the sales of shadow complex, then absolutely in no way should anyone who supports gay rights buy that game. But if he's just a guy with an opinion you disagree with who happens to be apart of creating that game...
Im sure there are plenty of people whom I don't agree with who contribute to creating the games that I play but if they are not actively attempting to outlaw my lifestyle or anyone elses freedoms then I dont really see why I wouldnt play these games.
EliteBAMF
Kinda silly to not buy the game just cause the person whose ip it is thinks you do nasty things. Oh boohoo, this one guy vaguely involved in the game thinks what I'm doing is wrong, I'll show him
LogicalCooper
Honestly, I think it's too late to boycott Shadow Complex--and I don't think that a boycott is necessarily in order, either. What I hope this topic accomplishes is that it help developers become aware that there are consumers who do care about larger issues.
Fiddytree
The only factor for me when purchasing a game is level of fun versus price.
thesilentmole
So long as the anti-gay message isn't passed along through what so far is an amazing game, I'm fine. If you didn't want to read/play/watch material by people with anti-gay opinions, than you pretty much shouldn't read anything from before 1950 since gay people were generally abhored by then and odds are they would look down on homosexuality. That includes H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft, or Edgar Allan Poe... Okay so now you know what kind of books I like to read. I'm just saying being torn on the game sounds like a pretty ridiculous, overdramatic thing to think. This is coming from a gay man, if it matters.
joer22784
@ MissChief, Awesome comment and actually makes alot of sense. Although being anti gay is not really the same as being a terrorist but it's still a good point. Shadow Complex is an awesome game though
MissChief
It's not about art, it's about giving my hard earned money to someone who is pursuing an agenda that is against me or people I care about. Would you buy something from a terrorist?
Taboo5289
Not buying a game because someone who made it has an opinion opposite of yours makes no sense, unless the game featured the makers opinion then I'd understand. Video games are made by many people with many different opinions.
Her0icPlane
Why can't people keep politics out of gaming.
Very few developers go into a game expecting people to make something political out of it. Regardless of whether I agree with whatever political issue a person cooks up or not out of a game I still hate it. Its a game. I hate politics as it is, so I don't want people turning a game political when there isn't a reason to.
PushStart
Orson Scott Card didn't make the game, he licensed the rights from ChAIR to write the books. He's under "Very Special Thanks" in the credits, it's not like he was the lead designer. If you're even vaguely interested in Shadow Complex and you don't play it because of OSC's political beliefs you're really missing out. Who even knows what Donald Mustard's or Cliff Bleszinski's political beliefs are? They could be totally contrary to OSC's. That's why politics don't influence what games I play, because generally it takes more than one or two people to make a high quality game, and they can have all kinds of beliefs.
If there was a game with only one or two developers and they shared some ideal that I was strongly against, and it came through in their game of an otherwise high quality, then I probably wouldn't play it. I doubt that will ever happen.
WhiteWolfAssassin
I think David has a good point, but I think he should recognize that people's personal beliefs and politics are rarely reflected in the products they make. I don't think your directly or indirectly support anyone's politics if your buying their product's. I understand that David disagrees with Orson Scott Card's political views, but I think he should realize that we don't buy these products because of the minds behind it. You buy the product simply for the product and that's all that should matter.
Ladyrixx
I hadn't really thought of politics in games until I was trying to play Luminous Arc. I'm a witch, and that game was just so anti-witch, even when you had one in your party, that I returned it.
On the other hand, I've played most of the Dragon Quest games, and I would never have guessed that the creator has any sort of extreme political views. He at least has the good sense to keep it out of his work.
So I suppose it would really boil down to if the OSC game pushed his homophobia or not. Either way I don't think I'll buy his books now.
Platformermaniac
I try not to let others' political views effect my purchasing decisions. If you think about it, one could choose any person in the world and there is bound to be at least one political issue they butt heads on. Considering games are made by hundreds of people and bought by millions, there is a huge pool of vastly varying life views at play here. If I refused to buy games from people who think differently from me, I would never buy anything from anyone. I think some of us need to learn to "respectively" disagree with one another. This means interacting in a positive and mutually beneficial manner even with those people whose life views we know and dislike. I must admit though, ignorance is bliss, as I do find it harder to bring myself to deal with organizations when certain behaviors and political stances of theirs become public.
Wozman23
I don't think I've ever even considered politics when buying a videogame, or any other art form. If its good, its good. I've never been a political person. People throw around the terms like conservative and liberal and those two sides of the wing thingys, and I honestly have no clue what they're talking about. I have no clue where my views even fit into society. And I don't care.
The same follows for religion. I could count the number of times I've been to church on one hand. And I only went because my family was invited. I have my own ideas, but I don't think I have to congregate with like-minded individuals.
George Carlin once said, "People who see life as anything more than pure entertainment are missing the point." That's how I view the world. Because I find everything else, like politics and religion, just lead to people fighting.
dante_diaz
I feel that politics can really damage games and it is in the best interest of developers in the industry to avoid trying to push their agendas and focus on the product.
I can tell you that if I get shadow complex or dragon quest it will be through illegitimate means. Just as I don't help fund the republican party, I won't fund those that fund the party.
And besides. Everyone knows that Whole foods' food isn't always as organic as they lead you to believe, so why pay an inflated price?
BlackulaTheHNIC
Who cares what anyone says about anyone? Can any of you, myself included, ever say they did not have a negative/racial/hateful thought towards someone? Just because something is said out loud it doesn't necessarily have more impact then what is muttered under your breath
groggy
i think i'm going to make a conscious effort to offend someone today. just for the hell of it.
BONERJAM
I say "who cares?". Personaly those types of things dont bother me too much. I would consider myself to be more of a conserative but I watch shows like 30 Rock and Weeds that are clearly liberal and make it very obvious at times but it doesn't bother me. I also listen to System of a Down and Rage against the Machine even though I dont agree with their views. Art is art and it should not be judged on the art, videogames in this case not what the artist's opinions are. To be honest I could really care less what any actor/artist/musician thinks about ANYTHING.
liason
People in America have a tendency to confuse entertainment with real life. When Prince was getting popular, people everywhere started going ga, ga, over him. I for one never have and never will like him, though his music apart from his singing is fabulous. When i would tell people that i didn't like him, they got offended and took it personally! As if they "knew" him on a personal level!! The same is in this case. Entertainment is to be enjoyed by whomever. The makers personal views have nothing to do with the acceptance of his work! Either you like it or you don't. Simple as that. Whether it's music. movies, video games or any other means of entertainment, it's up to each individual to decide for themselves what they don't or do like. Nobody ever questioned the founders of Mcdonalds if they were anti gay, yet zillions of burgers have been consumed on this planet!!
So buy the game, play it and judge it on its own merit as a game!! And because you live in America, you can play Shadow Complex and be gay at the same time. Don't ask, Don't tell.
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