salarta

Both comics and games suffered from marketing and advertising types coming in and saying “Hey, there’s fighting and killing in this thing, we should market it exclusively to boys.” That’s why Wonder Woman started out in the Justice League as their secretary (seriously, an icon of female empowerment as the secretary of macho men), and all the ads for games in the late 80s and early 90s stressed the idea of them as a boys’ club kind of interest.

I think what it ultimately comes down to is that whenever a medium is in its early days, it’s pretty open to any comers. But once it starts making big bucks and developing into a cultural phenomenon, you get people coming into it that insist on injecting social biases against women in the misguided idea that it’s where women “belong.” We’re getting a lot of that idiocy lately toward women in the indie scene for saying a single criticism against the “typical game” as some see them.

Before I end off, I just want to say that I place a divide between fanfiction and official work. In fanfiction, I’d be cool with stories where Wonder Woman acts as the Justice League’s secretary, and I might even do some bizarre writing of that idea. It’s just fanfiction, after all. It’s different when it’s the official product a company puts out, meant to be the defining representation of that character.

fucknovideogames:

Note: this post has been extensively updated based on feedback from our readers. This may not show up in reblogs sourcing earlier versions.

“​Hatred“ is an independent PC game by ​a group of Polish developers. In order to set it apart for promotional reasons, the developers have stated that they are committed to "pure gameplay”, claiming that mass murder of civilians by an angry disenfranchised man is more “honest” or somehow free from political narrative, unlike other modern games.

Hatred is not apolitical. In fact, the opposite is true – it’s a game about glorifying violent racism and white supremacy. Consider the game’s trailer, which conspicuously lingers on the white protagonist brutally murdering and mutilating people of color.

In this photo of the development team, we can see that one of the developers wears a shirt depicting a controversial anti-Communist military group. Though the  Żołnierze wyklęci guerilla movement is remembered as heroes by national institutions, they are also frequently lionized by right-wing politicians and activists in modern Poland.

• CEO and Animator Jarosław Zieliński has prominently displayed an endorsement on his public Facebook page of the Polska Liga Obrony: an established nationalist Islamophobic, anti-immigration hate group.
• Gameplay designer Jakub Stychno is a supporter of the fascistic Obóz Narodowo Radykalny, as well as the homophobic, nationalistic Młodzież Wszechpolska.
• FX artist Marcin Kaźmierczak is also a supporter of Młodzież Wszechpolska, and of several anti-social justice, anti-gay Facebook pages. (Including a right-wing boycott of a Polish boxer who supports gay rights.)
• Level designer and lighting artist Cyprian Listowski has another job as a tattoo designer; two of his original designs include symbolism commonly associated with right-wing groups. One depicts a sonnenrad, a sunwheel symbol popular among Neo-Nazis. The other incorporates a słoneczko (an Early Slavic variation on the swastika appropriated by nationalists) and an “othala rune”, framed within a larger “life rune”.

Despite using registered marks held by the ESRB and Epic’s Unreal Engine attempting to legitimize their project, there is no working relationship between the studio and either organization. In a statement provided to Gamespot, Epic Games stated that “the video is using the trademarked Unreal Engine 4 logo without permission from Epic, and we’ve asked for the removal of our logo from all marketing associated with this product.”

Journalists and commentators alike do the industry a disservice by obfuscating the developer’s racially charged political hate in deference to the otherwise well-trod issue of violence in games. In doing so, they are playing into the exact type of controversy its developers have sought to capitalize on.

This story is a submission from one of our readers. If there’s an issue you think FNVG should cover, you can find our contact information on the About page.

Update: I have expanded this post to include right-wing connections among other Destructive Creations staff. In addition, the tip originally sent to FNVG stated that the “cursed soldiers” were associated with the Freikorps, a German military volunteer force. While the Freikorps were certainly active in post-WWI Poland, the group was purged by the Nazi Party in 1934. The mistake in the original submission may arise from the fact that the term “Freikorps” has been used to refer more generally to volunteer military units, including anti-Communist paramilitaries. I must apologize for this oversight, and for oversimplifying this situation.

fuckyeahwandamaximoff:

Who am I bullying, anon? Giant, billionaire corporation, Disney/Marvel? You should find yourself a dictionary – making a peaceful stand against capitalist giants is the opposite of bullying anyone.

My best guess is that this anonymous person is referring to holding Brevoort accountable for things he says when he says them. That’s not bullying, that’s pointing out when he’s being terrible.

I’ve seen nothing from you so far that constitutes “bullying.” If this anon wants to see some real bullying, they should have a rollicking good time checking out all the awful shit that’s happened because of “GamerGate.” Doxxing, death threats, women chased out of their homes, talks canceled due to bomb threats, almost non-stop rape threats and dog-piling harassment of outspoken women for every word they say even when they’re dealing with their dog dying, and an insane number of wild and ludicrous conspiracy theories that take stuff like the placement of speakers to be a sign of faking threats. All of that is REAL bullying.

This stuff? This is just calling a guy out for something stupid and awful taking place. He’s in a position of power, he aspired to that position, and he has to take responsibility for what he does with that power. He can’t have his cake and eat it too.