UPDATE: To the ones who would minimize the offensiveness of this game, especially with ignorant comments, be gone. You probably weren't offended by the "gunned down chimp" news story either.
This game was released in June 2008, a few months before Obama was officially elected. Even if it were initially about Bush, it would STILL be offensive NOW. How can a country thrive without respecting its leadership?
The reality is that given the continued racism in this country and the FACT that blacks have been portrayed as "CHIMPS" and the FACT that we now do have a black president, this game IS offensive and should NOW be pulled from distribution.
Having my young BLACK son looking at the game and ask, "Why are they showing President Obama as a CHIMP is IMPORTANT to ME!!!!! If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it IS a duck.
As an avid game player who buys video games on a weekly basis, I have NEVER seen this game in Gamestop, BestBuy, or any other store that sells games until recently. Why would there NOW be a stack of the games at a local store NOW, especially given the nature of the race relations in this country.
I actually thought it was a cruel, insensitive joke. I looked around to see if this was part of a hidden camera show....No camera crew was there....
When I got home, I discovered that it is an actual game being sold across the nation. If you don't believe me, check out this link to the game on the amazon.com website.
Everyone (as least those who are "educated") knows the history of blacks being portrayed and dehumanized as monkeys.
Now I am not one of those "hypersensitive" blacks who cry racism every chance I get....But damn, this is so obviously racially insensitive and/or downright intentional mockery of our black President Obama.
This is how the game is described:
Name: Crackers the Monkey
Home: Congo [Africa]
Bio: Crackers was the right-hand monkey to the King Lion before he was ousted from the throne. Rumor has it that Crackers' whole campaign is a ruse designed to restore his old boss to the throne, ensuring a cushy lifestyle for his favorite monkey.
Taking political humor and satire to new levels, at least for a video game, Hail to the Chimp also features its own news coverage, the GRR News Network. Hosted by anchor Woodchuck Chumley, not only does GRR keep track of player standings in the election and broadcast candidates victory speeches direct from the podium, it also holds a wealth of additional game content regarding the candidates and their platforms. This mix of TV smears ads, talk show segments and commercials are in part available immediately on entry into the game and unlockable as the game progresses, providing relentless humor and hours worth of additional play time to a game destined to become a hit in every state whether red or blue.
Home: Congo [Africa]
Bio: Crackers was the right-hand monkey to the King Lion before he was ousted from the throne. Rumor has it that Crackers' whole campaign is a ruse designed to restore his old boss to the throne, ensuring a cushy lifestyle for his favorite monkey.
Although this is the animal kingdom's first attempt at democracy it doesn't take these candidates long to figure out that the goal is to win at all costs. With that in mind players are free go at it alone or team up with competitors to gang up on the rest of the field. Each combination of characters creates a different special move that unless stopped, can decimate opponents, dashing presidential hopes and making an election year debate look like a tea party.
The GRR News NetworkTaking political humor and satire to new levels, at least for a video game, Hail to the Chimp also features its own news coverage, the GRR News Network. Hosted by anchor Woodchuck Chumley, not only does GRR keep track of player standings in the election and broadcast candidates victory speeches direct from the podium, it also holds a wealth of additional game content regarding the candidates and their platforms. This mix of TV smears ads, talk show segments and commercials are in part available immediately on entry into the game and unlockable as the game progresses, providing relentless humor and hours worth of additional play time to a game destined to become a hit in every state whether red or blue.
Quick History Lesson
Excerpt from an article posted by the ScienceDaily website:Discrimination Against Blacks Linked To Dehumanization, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Feb. 8, 2008) — Crude historical depictions of African Americans as ape-like may have disappeared from mainstream U.S. culture, but research presented in a new paper by psychologists at Stanford, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California-Berkeley reveals that many Americans subconsciously associate blacks with apes.In addition, the findings show that society is more likely to condone violence against black criminal suspects as a result of its broader inability to accept African Americans as fully human, according to the researchers.
Does anyone remember last year's new story about the OBVIOUSLY racist T-shirt in which Obama was depicted as a monkey?
Does the "Hail to the Chimp" video game offend anyone else? Please comment and share your thoughts.
4 comments:
It just brings to light the ignorance of todays society. That is why I love Obama so much because NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE HIM! I can't believe that Amazon.com has it for sale. Important post!
No, it's not an important post. Did you play the game? Did you do even the simplest research on it before jumping to the conclusion that you did? No, you didn't. When the game was announced no one had ever heard of Obama - everyone assumed the Chimp was Bush, which was also wrong. What's annoying is, it would take all of 5 minutes to find this out for yourself, but you didn't bother.
To: Anonymous - If you feel so strongly about your opinions then you should state your name. Obviously you are the ignorant one in this situation, just as ignorant as the ones who created the game. Fact of the matter is, as black people we have been compared to apes etc. and Obama has specifically more than once during this whole presidential election, race etc. So a game like this is VERY offensive and it is very sad to have to explain something like this to a young child...let alone an adult. Get a clue and wake up that there are white people and people in general in this country who are STILL racist and don't respect our black people, nor our country's leader even in 2009!
I'm one of the 3 designers of the game. One of the other designers is an African American man who lives, like me, in Chicago. We trademarked the name Hail to the Chimp, in 2006, when no one had an inkling that Barack Obama would even be a candidate, let alone win the Presidency. I voted for Obama, as I'm sure did most of the people who worked on this game. Hail to the Chimp is a reference to The Simpsons, not to racist slurs on African Americans.
Making a racist tshirt with a monkey on it is very cheap and easy. Making an Xbox game takes many years of work and many millions of dollars, and Microsoft has to approve it before it ships. Microsoft will not approve any game that is racist, as it should.
All I'm saying is, your conclusion about the meaning of Hail to the Chimp is understandable, but mistaken. While it has some flaws, it's actually a pretty good game, and has nothing to do with human politics.
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