Actual City of Juarez Wants Videogame Juarez Banned

[Marble Dragon]

I don't know about a ban on the game, but I do see the reasoning in this situation.

OK, I live in Mexico and lived in Tijuana for a while the situation was horrible and I went away and Juarez right now is way worse so I think this is in TERRIBLE taste, if it had something useful to say about the situation I'd say let them be but it does not seem like the kind of game that would try to make a political viewpoint or criticize of course I could be wrong and it could be a pretty smart game but I doubt it.
Now I'm not asking that they cancel it but it is pretty distasteful and I hope it does not sell well.

And that's why. I can't claim to fully understand what's going on in Mexico right now, and I don't have any intention of moving there, but I'm sure citizens understand.

Yeah, the game is in incredibly poor taste. "It's just art! They're anti-art!" But will this game really be art? Will it have a message to send about the violence in Mexico? I highly doubt it. Maybe in a world where developers could be mature about such topics, that would apply. But here and now....yeah, probably not. I don't think the game should be banned - if we start banning games, when will we go on to censoring classic books and ruining their messages? (Okay, that's actually come up in the recent past, which I think only supports my point.) But I understand the desire to ban it, and I wish it bad luck as well.

Don't complain Mexico, if you can't stand seeing games made off of the Cartel, kill the Cartel, don't disrespect someones hard time and work into a video game!

You're talking like the Cartel problem is just a thing sitting in the corner, and all you need to do is stab it and it'll die forever. Really, it's more like...say...a hydra. You cut off a head, and two more grow back. Besides, so much of the government is corrupt that it's difficult to get anything positive done, let alone eliminating the cartel problem. In short, if you're going to suggest solutions, educate yourself about the problem first.

 

[Kae]

Look guys as I said before I do not think they should ban the game but instead of acting so immaturely and saying stuff like "kill the cartel" and all that you must at least try to understand that the people are getting offended for not only the theme, but the fact that it seems to glorify the cartels I mean the stupid tag line is bad enough "experience the lawlessness of the modern Wild West", I mean there are people living in this situation and it's not as simple as just killing the drug cartels since you can't, I mean they are more heavily armed than the Mexican army. So please try to understand the situation before saying this kind of stupid comments.

 

[Andy03]

Wha? Video game news IN MY AREA? Well thats fun. And I see I got fellow El Pasoens on the Escapist as well. But as BehattedWanderer said, it has sorda calmed down.

 

[AlternatePFG]

While I don't think that the game should be banned, it's still in pretty bad taste.

 

[Dango]

It seems like a perfectly reasonable request to have the game banned in Juarez. I don't really agree with what those two men in the article said, but I don't see anything wrong with banning the game from that one city.

Basically it comes down to this:
Incredibly stupid game in horrible taste vs. 2 arrogant men

I'm excited to see who the winner is.

 

[sleeky01]

I think if you can portray Vietnam, World War I & II and other past events then you should be able to portray current world events as well.

Why? How on Earth can you justify this? People will die every week, and they want to make a game, entertainment, based on this. Not even just "based on", but using the actual place. That just defies good taste, hell, it's morally questionable.

It's just disgusting.

Yet there were alot of supporters on this forum who were opposed to the removal of playable Taliban in Medal of Honor in multi-player.

I don't understand what the difference might be. Distance?

 

[toadking07]

Like the politician guy Enrique Serrano said, "Children wind up being easily involved in criminal acts over time, because among other things, during their childhood not enough care has been taken about what they see on television and playing video games, they believe so much blood and death is normal."

Basically, these kids will end up playing this game at too early of an age and it will make them think things are just the way they should be. I mean, I don't believe that violent video games will make me a violent person, but little kids shouldn't be playing violent video games or watching violent movies until a certain age. Once they develop mentally and can tell right from wrong, and once they understand that their actions have consequences.

 

[TheDoctor455]

but children aren't supposed to be watching/playing this game in the first place!

That's almost exactly what I was going to say.

Here's how I'd have put it:
"Uh... Mexico... the game isn't for kids, its for adults. So stop whining."

 

[El_Ganso]

As a Mexican I can tell you that Mexico has never really been a country for Political Correctness, and toys/games are usually on the bottom of the list of "shit we should worry about", because you know, it's just a toy.

Now, what these mexican politicians are doing may be political grandstanding, but it does come during a time where Mexico is trying to change something that has been part of many people's culture at a basic level, and that's the idea of glorifying the cowboy/bandido/modern day narco, especially on the parts of Mexico where people are most poor.

This video game has not been the first media to glorify drug cartels, artists in many parts of Mexico have made a good living out of writing songs, movies and even books depicting these drug dealers as folk heroes. Hell, some of the more renown Mexican musicians have been honored to go play at a Capo's parties.

Ever since the government's crack down on the cartels started this view of the hero narco has been slowly changing and I believe these politicians don't want that progress to take some steps back. So in a sense, I can see where they are coming from.

With that said, I don't support censorship.

 

[Kae]

Do they not have rating systems in Mexico?

No, no we don't

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Has everyone IN THE WORLD chosen this game as a target?

What the hell?

 

[TilMorrow]

All games should be banned! They make people rapists, murderers and jaywalkers!

OH NOES ITS A FOX REPRESENTATIVE!!!! :O jks

All I can say is not again.

 

[Baresark]

Hard fact, Juarez is the central point in which all drugs from south of the border make it into this country. I mostly feel bad for the folks in El Paso. It's so controlled by the drug cartels it's almost actually funny. Though, the border patrol guys are completely bad ass when it comes to tracking those guys down. There is just sooooo much trafficking.

In spite of all this, I have one question, is it ever a good time to make such a game about any area anywhere? The point that there is such out of control crime in that area is what gives the game the hard reality edge. It's all the more believable because of the current situation there. It doesn't matter if it's true, or not. You could make a game like this about Juarez, and someone is going to be upset. If you make a game like about a place that this doesn't happen, it's less believable and your probably going to still upset someone.

 

[Kae]

Will this make the cartels in Mexico be more active in their criminal activity? Probably not. Will the civilians who suffer the chaos and violence on a daily basis be drawn into crime because the game really made a good point? I'd be dubious.

Look, you don't live here, there is already tons of propaganda for this cartels, last thing we need is a game glorifying the issue, I mean it's not like games don't have any influence on people after all one of the reasons my cousin joined a cartel was the way it was glorified by the media and more specifically GTA: San Andreas, I've lost count of how many times he's been in jail, I mean I don't even know where he is right now, so please people understand that if a game that takes place in a fictional setting can do this (although not on it's own as there were a lot of other factors, but these factors are currently here), can you imagine how much more impact will have one that is set here, with real Cartels on it?
Please try to understand guys, this is much more serious than it looks like and it's not the same as what was going on with Six days in Fallujah.

I don't care if the game is terrible, in bad taste, offensive, or if it blatantly claims every person from Juarez is an illiterate child molester. In countries with freedom of speech you can't ban a game because some people don't like it, no matter who they are or how many dislike it.

If Mexico wants to ban it I don't really care that much because I don't live there, so their laws are up to the people who do. But the rest of North America shouldn't even consider such a thing.

Censorship is bullshit, if you don't like it, don't buy it. If nobody buys it they lose money and will get the message. But for anyone who does want to play the game they have the right to, and others should not be able to stop them based on their own opinions.

It's not just about it being offensive, it's about the fear of it making propaganda for the cartels, I mean I think this is a pretty legitimate reason to want the game banned.

 

[Xanadu84]

They are wrong, but honestly, I can see where they would be a little sensitive. Don't mess with my right to play the game, and I won't jam it down your throat.

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

snip.

I agree. Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row have done the same thing but with fictional places and fictional events. This is on an equivalent scale in regards to lacking of subtlety or reason, but taking a real place and using it's actual crime and violence to base a game around in which you help cause the suffering. I never like to see any piece of work "banned", it implies it's something we can't be free to discuss or depict, and if you want to you should be allowed to do so however you wish with any situation, it's a sometimes dark but necessary side to freedom of speech, but the developer is being tactless; it could have been created under pseudonyms and retract association with the current difficulties of the region, rather than directly monopolize on them.

Would it make a difference to you personally if they made game wide changes to the context and environments to dissociate itself with Juarez and Mexico?

I know the Getaway depicted crime in London, but London isn't constantly at internal conflict with drug lords and the main character spent the whole game trying to get revenge on people who killed his wife and children.

 

[FangShadow]

I can't support the ban as I never condone censorship. But in this case I can understand the logic.

I agree with this. I'm not sure the game should be banned, but I can see how if the roles were reversed I wouldn't want to see a game about a horrible situation that I'm currently living in

 

[Kae]

snip.

Would it make a difference to you personally if they made game wide changes to the context and environments to dissociate itself with Juarez and Mexico?

Well it would make it's punch softer but as I said a game in the setting of a fictional city and in another country influenced the decision of my cousin to join this cartels, so it would still be a big problem for me.
Now if it had something intelligent to say about the situation instead of just capitalizing on it I would welcome it, even if I did not agree with it's viewpoints

 

[jawakiller]

this is rediculous, he may as well be saying ALL violent games should be banned.

Well its already been established, bulletstorm does in fact, make you a rapist and is fucking awesome... So this not that different an argument.

 

[Tdc2182]

but children aren't supposed to be watching/playing this game in the first place!

Yeah, because telling kids what not to do always seems to work.

OT: You know what, I'm particularly all for this. I think the producers/developers should discontinue this game. It would be like... making a Gabrielle Giffords murder simulator the month after she was shot.

It's just poor decency that these people are basing this game off, and a total controversy sell out.

Maybe its the fact that I live relatively close to these things that are going on, but making a game about something that is very very real is just totally bad taste.