Comments on: The homophobic dilemma with Shadow Complex on XBLA

By: hazelam

hazelam — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:37:15 +0000

it would be so much easier to boycott the game if it wasn’t so good.
still along with the price card’s views make me less inclined to want this game.
if it was on disc i might get a preowned copy.

By: spotticus

spotticus — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:56:28 +0000

First, I am not that big of a gamer, it is more of an occasional recreational distraction for me. That said, if I know that my money is going to a known homophobe, then no, I will not spend my hard earned cash rewarding some jerk. If the game does well in the gaming community, then fine, good for all the hardworking employees of the game creator, but my conscience is clear. If I don’t know that I am buying a game based on work by a homophobe, then if I find out later, I will have to kick myself, and avoid spending on those games in the future. Same goes with all non-gaming purchases. I will avoid giving positive reinforcement for bad behavior as much as is possible. If you have already bought the game, you might as well enjoy it, if it is any good. But I think that you absolutely should bring up that by purchasing the game, you may be lining the pockets of a homophobe.

By: phoenix0879

phoenix0879 — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:43:13 +0000

@ Lucass
Or, as put forward by one of the writers on another gay gaming site I frequent, buy the game and also give the same amount of money to a pro-gay charity/organisation of your choice, such as Stonewall, to offset giving some to Card.

By: Xanadugrrl

Xanadugrrl — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:23:56 +0000

True, there may be other gamer developers that are just as homophobic as Card, but since I KNOW he is that way and supports laws that make me a second class citizen, I refuse to give him an ounce of my gay money. MS may not do the best job of stopping homophobia in the gaming world, but the company itself is pretty high up there on the Equality Index (I believe it scored a 100 last time).
I voice my opinion both through my voice and through my wallet- and as good as the game or the book may be, and I know that it’s also punishing the other workers on the game, but my thought is this: When everyone stands up to say that something is wrong, or a company is wrong, and refuses to buy their product or service, it either forces the company to change or to go under. The Anti-gay groups have been doing that to the gay-friendly companies for YEARS- so why can’t we do it also, except to make good changes?

By: Lucass

Lucass — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:38:26 +0000

So Chair should suffer because this prick is the premise. I read somthing the other day that said Chair cleverly tilted Cards story anyway.
If you think a lot of other games aren’t based on or made by homophobic hatemongers then you are fantasizing, the only difference is you don’t know about it. MS do a dandy neato job of helping to perpetuate homophobia in the gaming realm, are you all boycotting the xbox?
It’s a good game, buy it or don’t buy it, or buy it and let loose thy venom about the book it is based on because the more people that know what Card is the better.

By: Tzivya

Tzivya — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:52:04 +0000

It’s hard, but in this case, it’s a game I would not buy.
I do not buy nor read his novels anymore, because of his views. But this isn’t a novel, and there are a tonne of other people involved in the process, some of whom are, yes, likely to be GLBT.
That said… It’s directly based off his work. Promoting this is promoting him. So for me, I won’t. But, I don’t ask anyone else to do this, nor do I advocate ‘boycotting’. Just do what is right for you.

By: Colista

Colista — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:36:04 +0000

There are plenty of games to choose from so I don’t need to support the one that doesn’t support me. For my conscience, I’ll just stick with all of the other games that are available.

By: Thefremen

Thefremen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:01:31 +0000

Consumers vote with their dollars. When you buy “Glenn Beck Teaches Typing” even if it’s the same program as “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing” with a white power hatemonger on the cover when you buy the product you are re-inforcing negative behavior.
Same thing here, if you buy Orson Scott Card’s Shadow Complex you are telling developers that it is a great idea to attach the name of a bigot to their product and that such an act creates sales.
Case in point: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 was an awesome game, so was Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell. Now there are at least 2 dozen Ubisoft games with Tom Clancy’s name which have sold millions upon millions of copies. Gamers have told Ubisoft that they enjoy the stories told by Tom Clancy and the way he envisions the world (where an international team of mixed race/mixed sex super agents solve terrorist problems rather than Blackwater) so they’ve acted accordingly.
If Shadow Complex sells well, be prepared to see a lot more from OSC based games.