Hindus Upset Over Asura's Wrath

[Fishyash]

I personally don't think religion is sacred from something like this.

However, I do like how they are offering game developers a way to become more informed. I actually hope someone takes up on their offer, since it could lead to very interesting results.

 

[shemoanscazrex3]

The funny thing about Zed's, "religion is sacred" bit is that none of these religions that have problems with their religion being "slandered" ever comes to the aid of other religions. Once that happens I'll believe it, till then you're just butt-hurt for no reason. Although if a good game can come out of the exact Hindu story I'll gladly support but I think the creators were intentional with their story.

 

[Cogwheel]

For the love of your deity of choice. This. 3000x this.

This one quote should be absolutely supported by everyone in this forum. He, a religous figure, rather than ranting and raving and declaring our medium the origin of all sin, wants to -support- the industry.

And the knee jerk response is 'This guy is getting his panties in a bunch'.

This guy is a freaking hero, I really hope that most people replying in this topic didn't actually read the post and just had a gut reaction to the headline. At least then I'd be able to maintain a little faith in this community >.>.

Pull yourselves together guys.

While I'm still a bit baffled by the idea of anyone being offended by Asura's Wrath (I assumed they would all be too busy either laughing, giving the screen a dumbfounded stare or shouting), yes. Definitely yes. I mean, "who wants a free consultant?" is an amazing response. He's reacting to a misstep from the industry - or at least, something he sees as such - by offering help. That is incredible. I'm curious as to his experience with - or at least knowledge of - the medium, though. Something about this makes me wonder if he knows more than most, or possibly less given his sadly optimistic offer.

I personally don't think religion is sacred

Nothing to add here, but this is pretty amusing out of context.

 

[Savryc]

Y'all are missing the important part.

Refreshingly, he did not threaten an international boycott of Capcom, Sony, Microsoft or anyone else; instead, he said that he or other Hindu scholars "would gladly provide genuine seekers from [the] videogames industry the resources they needed for their study and research regarding Hinduism."

I want someone to take them up on this offer.

Seriously, Hinduism is fascinating. I'd love to see a game made that gets the mythology right.

For the love of your deity of choice. This. 3000x this.

This one quote should be absolutely supported by everyone in this forum. He, a religous figure, rather than ranting and raving and declaring our medium the origin of all sin, wants to -support- the industry.

And the knee jerk response is 'This guy is getting his panties in a bunch'.

This guy is a freaking hero, I really hope that most people replying in this topic didn't actually read the post and just had a gut reaction to the headline. At least then I'd be able to maintain a little faith in this community >.>.

Pull yourselves together guys.

I know right? You're all shamefully letting the side down here. I think you all need to sit down and watch Movie Bob's latest Big Picture (Not Okay) until you can repeat it word for word and realise it isn't just sexism that gaming culture has to fix within itself.

 

[Cogwheel]

I know right? You're all shamefully letting the side down here. I think you all need to sit down and watch Movie Bob's latest Big Picture (Not Okay) until you can repeat it word for word and realise it isn't just sexism that gaming culture has to fix within itself.

I'm particularly impressed by the implication that including Hinduism in games, regardless of the context, is actually perfectly fine as long as the details are preserved. While the industry needs to be a bit more careful in getting things right, I also wish we could see more people like this. They exist, obviously, but rarely in any position of even minor authority, so this is really nice to see.

As an added bonus, they'll maybe stop endlessly recycling ancient Greek/Norse stuff for a bit (with a brief few moments for Egypt now and then). Good as it is, it gets old eventually.

 

[Scrustle]

If this guy is so against any faith being "trivialised" in games then where was he when the controversy over the Taliban in Medal of Honor happened? Or what about Assassin's Creed 2 in which you punch the pope?

It's all okay until your religion gets put in a game. It isn't even that disrespectful, the game doesn't try to pass itself off as anything near an accurate portrayal of Hinduism. I thought those guys were a bit more mature than that, but it just goes to show how idiotic religion can make people act.

 

[SamuelT]

I seem to remember Extra Credits once touched on the subject of tangental learning. A way was to sprinkle little tidbits of a subject through a game so that people will learn on their own if it interests them. Won't this give many people a first touch of Hinduism that could develop to a larger understanding, rather than trivialise Hinduism?

 

[Vault Citizen]

I think all faiths (and their collections of stories) are up for grabs. I can't fault his approach though, he is being very reasonable, he isn't trying to ban anything, merely bring forth another point of view. I hope that his words are met with the maturity they deserve.

 

[Autofaux]

Let's not encourage the crazies. Make more games with heavy religious imagery. ANOTHER XENOSAGA!

 

[flamingjimmy]

This guy's right, all faiths deserve respect.

Nope, absolutely not.

As a Viking descendent I was greatly offended by Too Human.

That's pretty petty. But it's fine: be offended all you like, write a song about it, paint a picture, whatever.

You don't have the right to not be offended.

 

[ciancon]

Wait, Asura's Wrath has come out? Why hasn't it been reviewed yet!?

 

[CentralScrtnzr]

Let the religious groups remain offended; they deserve no special treatment and could also use being knocked down a peg in their particular brand of completely arbitrary beliefs.

 

[Casual Shinji]

He's allowed to take offence against his cherished believes being used for simple entertainment, but if he saw it from the other side he would notice that it's actually a compliment.

Even if you absolutely hate religion, you can't deny the wealth of stories it has to offer. And developers are very much aware of this, too.

 

[CentralScrtnzr]

Y'all are missing the important part.

Refreshingly, he did not threaten an international boycott of Capcom, Sony, Microsoft or anyone else; instead, he said that he or other Hindu scholars "would gladly provide genuine seekers from [the] videogames industry the resources they needed for their study and research regarding Hinduism."

I want someone to take them up on this offer.

Seriously, Hinduism is fascinating. I'd love to see a game made that gets the mythology right.

Hinduism is not monolithic and has no unified cosmogony.

 

[Stalydan]

So they're not upset that the game was bad?

Either way, don't tell them about Digital Devil Saga, they'll have a breakdown.

Are you kidding? Persona 3 had Jesus and that slipped right past the Christians fanatics. If we can do that, we can certainly hide the lesser known SMT games.

 

[tzimize]

This guy's right, all faiths deserve respect. As a Viking descendent I was greatly offended by Too Human.

Everyone was.

 

[Dandark]

Glad to hear he was actully civilised and polite about this and simply voiced that his displeasure with it rather than delclaring it the source of all evil.
Thanks to this, Hinduisim just gained some respect from me.

Although it is inaccurate the game could get some people interested in Hindu lore or at the very least will introduce them to some ideas of it.

 

[Azuaron]

I'm not particularly religious, so I always find it odd that some people who are get so easily offended about it. By this I mean that there are things that I hold in high regard but I don't really care if other people dislike them or disrespect them. But it seems that people are especially touchy when it come to matters of belief.

So you don't care if, for instance, people disbelieve evolution and use public funds to open young Earth creationist museums?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Cultural appropriation is always a bit of a sticky issue.

As I understand it, the issues with such things aren't just that someone has borrowed bits from someone else's culture, it's that someone has clumsily borrowed bits of a culture they don't properly understand, for the benefit of an audience that also doesn't properly understand it.

If they'd had a thorough understanding of it, or if the audience did, wouldn't have been such a big deal. You can be a lot more careless when dealing with the mainstream, because everyone supposedly knows what the real thing is like anyway.