Saturday 22 August 2009

food for thought

A gamasutra post on the subject of art made by people whose political actions (not just views) you disagree with.

One thing it doesn't bring up is the issue of big and small.

I don't think it's reasonable for me to boycott a big-budget game or movie because one person involved in the development of it is 'bad' in my view, because there are so many other people involved who may be near-opposites. If person A is on the board of evil corporation B but person C is on the board of good corporation D and they're both working together, boycotting the game is not going to send any clear message. (OTOH, raising a stink about it, making it public, and mailing the big decision-maker about your objection to evil might be a little more meaningful.)

... of course, if the movers and shakers behind the art have declared that all profits from the art will be donated to the cause of evil, then that's different!

1 comment:

Caro said...

That was a really good article. I don't think people should boycott it if they don't like the guy to avoid giving him cash. I think they should play through the whole thing and get angry if it angers them. If everyone boycotted it who didn't like it, then who will write a long review, exposing the game for what it is ( if it is spreading a hateful ideology)

I agree with you - that raising a stink is a much better idea. You have to smell it to see if it stinks.