Political Correctness

[VideoGameCritic]

Jerry Seinfeld spoke out the other night about how political correctness is hurting comedy. People can't take a joke any more. I think this problem reaches in all parts of our society - even game reviews. The Internet and social media plays a big role. If you say something that's not PC, people will come down on you hard. You can't just voice your opinion any more, even if you are only joking. Instead of disagreeing or having a meaningful conversation, people will label you a bigot and drag your name through the mud.

It's a mob mentality and a form of group-think. If you've ever read the comments on sites like Slashdot or ArsTechnica, you only see the comments of those taking the PC side. The others have been down-voted into oblivion. It really stifles meaningful conversation.

When I first started writing reviews they tended to be pretty down-to-earth and often politically-incorrect. Some of my comments may have been immature, but they were never meant to be mean-spirited or derogatory. Over the years however I was forced to water-down my reviews to make sure they were inoffensive. Some may say that's for the best. Others might say may reviews are more bland and less interesting because of it.

This even reaches into the digital download vs physical media debate. There are those who lash out at me for suggesting that digital downloads are inferior, even though I think I've stated my reasons quite clearly.

It's ironic how this wonderful means of communication (the Internet) is having the effect of censoring people instead of facilitating ideas and conversation. People can no longer speak their mind. It's like society at large has become the big brother we've all feared.

Your thoughts?

[ptdebate]

I say stay the course and don't worry about what anyone else thinks.

One of the benefits of running a not-for-profit site is that you don't depend on how many people you have subscribed. Write however you want! If that drives some people away, so be it.

I disagree with your general stance against purchasing digital games simply because I think there's a lot of good stuff out there that's unfortunately not available on disc. But that doesn't mean I don't love reading your site and visiting the forums on a daily basis.

I've personally never read anything on your site that I found offensive or derogatory. What was the substance of the complaints?

[Rev]

I think you are correct that people are very sensitive about how things are presented nowadays... I train at a call center and I see hundreds/thousands of people a year in my classes and I have had to learn how to filter my thoughts before I just blurt them out. I like how I can still talk without a filter to my close friends but otherwise I'm constantly on watch to say things in a way that won't be taken offensive. I think there are a few exceptions to this rule- such as comedians (which goes against what Seinfeld said). I've found quite a few comedians who stand against this rule and will say things that can be considered highly offensive. Comedians like Amy Schumer have made a name for themselves by not holding back and I think that they're great. I've always found Seinfeld a pretty boring comedian and if he's holding back, he should really drop it because the ones that aren't are getting the best exposure these days.

I think political correctness has it's place. I like how people are more open-minded (or at least pretend to be) about certain things. I am completely out of the closet and I know that even in Kansas I'm pretty safe living that way. I have never minded people saying things like "that's gay," or anything like that as long as it is obvious that the intent behind it isn't directed in a hateful manner. I think writers should listen to their gut more and write how they want. I agree with ptedebate that I have never found your writing offensive and if you are really worried about people taking offense than maybe you should take another look at why you created this site in the first place. You aren't a writer at Gamespot, IGN, or anything like that. This is your site and you have a lot of fans so don't be afraid to write the way you feel. Have fun with it.

[Sonicx9]

A great exapmple of what you said is the Carolyn Petit GTA 5 review controversy: http://systemwarsmagazine.com/2013/09/1 ... her-fired/

I also remember you getting flack for your Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U aka Super Smash Bros. 2014, where you give the Nintendo 3DS version a better grade over the Wii U version, despite the popular opinion is the Wii U version is better, but unlike other reviewers, you took the time to explain the differences between the Wii U/3DS edition, in witch the GameSpot reviews/other reviewers of both 3DS/Wii U editions do not do a good job explaining the differences, dispite the 3DS version is outselling the Wii U by a great margin!

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/super-s ... 0-6415883/

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/super-s ... 0-6415976/

3DS version has sold 6.75 million worldwide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_be ... ideo_games

Wii U version has sold around 3.65 million worldwide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_be ... ideo_games

Thoughts/Opinions Critic about of what I just wrote?

[NX17]

I'm not really sure what you mean without examples. It depends on are you saying you have to be PC because you want to many an unfunny comment towards a group of people? I think a good general rule is you cannot say "all X people a Y." And I think that's a fair statement. Stand up comedy is intended to be offensive a lot of times, so I can see where Seinfeld comes from, but I don't think it's applicable a lot of times on the situation.

I think a lot of problems come from the labeling type of rationalization. If you label something you can just dismiss that group of people or ideals because it's easier to do that than discuss the merits of the argument. You see it all the time in videogame discussions like, this console is a failure, this game bombed, this game didn't sell. There's no numbers, facts, or explanation of what the criteria is to mean what they're staying, so it become a constant back and forth flame over these labels.

[David]

The only things I can think of that people found offensive were your use of "gay" and "homo" in your reviews. I don't find them offensive, but I do think they make you sound like an idiot. I agree that there's a large degree of PC-ness that's very prevalent now, at least with the majority of people who participate in internet message boarding (younger people). At the same time, if you (not you in particular) can't find a different adjective to use other than "gay," that doesn't exactly speak volumes about your ability to communicate.

This is your website, so you should just do what you want. No one is forcing anyone to read what you're writing.

Also, how many times have you been called a bigot on the internet? Have you been dropping some racial slurs casually in conversation?

[jon]

I do think it's a huge problem. Celebrities probably can't even say anything controversial in private or it'll go viral, careers have been ruined. I think it's unfortunate but if you can't say the word that comes to mind, if something is ridiculous or whatever, you have to go with a backup word, and it sucks. It seems like the video game websites are basically advertisements for the big companies. When Gamestop has like 5 games, this is getting a little ridiculous. I bet these writers are just phoning in their reviews.

[Hardcore Sadism]

I like how we went from "too violent for the children" to "you're a racist bigoted neckbeard manchild" over a satirical indie game. It's like the hard left whores are doing a reversal on what they said about the hard-right soccer moms and their uptight morals. We've been racing to the cold, hard ironic bottom in the mainstream media and the emotionally weak have managed to take over.

I'll admit, this pop culture generation needs to grow a pair of balls and work against a global whiner delegation no different than our FOX or Huffington Post. These justice jocks are as greedy and hateful as the burnt out twenty year old suits pretending to know a damn thing about the industry. Anita? Good god she's such a cow for the media attention, it's Kanye and Kardashian for the gaming public, give them a lick of attention and she's the only child that her teachers forgot.

No, this is a lonely woman that slept with all of her co workers and is upset that one of them broke the news of the deed onto Facebook. My my who knew unprofessional employees existed? Men are evil sh*tlords and so are gamers, you can get too close to them and they talk about that first kiss as if it were a misogynistic gesture. That's only their doing, I have no reason to take responsibility for any of this. She got too close and then convinced a bunch of entitled she-devils of no particular origin to chap their thighs about how men treat them, as well as the whole population of insular hipsters (boys and girls, in case that offended you) that never had a sense of humor.

These keyboard warriors don't even develop video games and are dictating their message to society. Reverse racism and misandry are our next 'dark and gritty' lore for *insert generic 3D puzzle*, people, get used to it. Might as well wear neutral because you can't even pick the colors of your clothes without hurting an ethnic group or anyone outside of the Western World.

[jon]

And it's not just video games. In music, I've seen some absolutely atrocious albums get good reviews, albums I think are some of the worst of all time. And in film, a movie like No Country For Old Men was so ridiculous with unbelievable plot holes. The main character, after stealing millions from the scene of a drug deal, goes back and gives a dying drug dealer a jug of water. And then he didn't even count the money for days and so he didn't discover the tracking device. And it got 4 stars across the board. Once the ball started rolling, I bet everyone had to give it 4 stars. I've seen a handful of movies the last couple years that got great reviews that were just plain awful. It used to be that if a film got great reviews you knew it would be good. I guess it's because people are scared of losing their jobs by giving an honest review, it doesn't mean they're not pathetic.

[VideoGameCritic]

A few of you are saying I should just write what I want and not worry about what anybody thinks. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. With social media people can take your quotes out of context and present you in a really bad light. I'm not a celebrity but people can still embarrass me. It's scary but that's how the Internet is right now. You're allowed to express you opinion only if it's the right one ("progressive"). And if somebody calls you a bigot, people will actually believe it whether it's true or not.