Controversy

In Real Life

Lawsuit Dropped With "Jew Or Not A Jew" IPhone App’s Removal

7:00AM November 27, 2011 | Owen Good

If someone was going to sue over an iPhone app called “Jew or Not Jew,” I would have expected it to be an infringement claim coming from Saturday Night Live, or Al Franken, the Minnesota senator who wrote a sketch by that name which aired in 1988 here in the U.S. Instead, it was an action brought under France’s anti-racism codes by groups offended by the quiz game, regardless of the fact a Jewish man coded it. More »

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The Tube Terror In Modern Warfare 3 That’s Freaking Out The Brits

2:00AM November 10, 2011 | Brian Crecente

Depictions of terrorist attacks on London’s Tube are just one of the ways military shooter Call of Duty courts controversy in this year’s blockbuster Modern Warfare 3 game. More »

News

Dutch Broadcaster Admits ‘Slavery: The Game’ Trailer Was Viral Ad

8:00AM September 8, 2011 | Owen Good

The trailer for “Slavery: The Game”, suspected to be a fake, is in fact so. Dutch broadcaster NTR made it as part of a viral campaign for a documentary series about the nation’s history in the slave trade. More »

News

GameStop Apologises For Deus Ex Coupon Removal With Gift Cards

5:55AM August 27, 2011 | Mike Fahey

Hoping to assuage customers angry over having their games opened and rifled through prior to purchase, GameStop is offering everyone that purchased the regular edition of Deus Ex: Human Revolution for the PC a $US50 gift card and a Buy Two, Get One Free used game purchase. All better now? More »

News

GameStop Pulls PC Deus Ex: Human Revolution From Shelves Following OnLive Debacle

9:30AM August 25, 2011 | Mike Fahey

After getting into hot water earlier today for opening new PC copies of Square Enix’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution and removing codes for a free OnLive version of the game prior to sale, video game retailer GameStop has pulled the games from its shelves pending recall. More »

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Dress Up Your Xbox Live Avatar Like A Confederate On July 4

5:00AM July 4, 2011 | Owen Good

While I don’t read any statements or endorsements of historical viewpoints behind this, Microsoft had to figure someone would notice that it’s now selling a Confederate Army uniform for your Xbox Live avatar’s virtual dress-up and call it out as a borderline offensive gesture. One of our readers saw it, and did. More »

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Suprisingly Competent Blackwater Kinect Title Could Be It’s Own Greatest Victim

8:40AM June 9, 2011 | Drew Cohen

This week was the first time we heard of publisher 505 Games’ Blackwater, an FPS that would cast you in the role of Blackwater Worldwide mercenaries. More »

Nintendo

The Ending Of Conduit 2 Is Worth At Least Twenty-Six Cents

12:30PM May 21, 2011 | Mike Fahey

Developer High Voltage Software is currently embroiled in some controversy over their reaction to Joystiq’s Conduit 2 review. How could a game that ends this brilliantly get such a low score? In case the title didn’t tip you off, spoilers. More »

News

One Man Stopped Square-Enix From Letting Gamers Kill Yahweh

9:20AM April 23, 2011 | Drew Cohen

The attempt to include overt references to Judeo-Christian figures in the classic role-playing game Xenogears caused a few translators to quit – they feared a violent backlash – and prompted a change in the name of the game’s final boss, according to one of the people who brought the game to America. More »

PC

Hyper-Violent School Shooter Mod Pulled From ModDB

8:00AM March 24, 2011 | Michael McWhertor

The intentionally, unabashedly offensive School Shooter: North American Tour 2012, designed to be “the most realistic student slaughtering modification ever made”, has lost support from its former host. ModDB, original host of the Half-Life 2 mod – and hundreds of other mods – has pulled School Shooter from its site. More »