Viewing Thread:
"Vice City and Hitman2, Withdrawn?"

Today at work, I was sitting in the canteen having lunch, and a couple of guys were sitting talking, one was reading the paper and was reading, aloud, a section about Hitman 2 and Vice city being withdrawn from the market. Does anyone know if this is true or is it just papers jumping to conclusons again?

Just to clarify - from what I've read on the net so far (haven't seen the TV news coverage), it doesn't appear that anyone has actually mentioned the word "racist".

I find it odd. They say it is racist to kill them due to the fact they wear turbans.
Then surely killing anyone in any game could be deemed as racist. I found out about this when I was channel flicking and newsround had a bit on it. Dare I say but it seems we can kill the average white man but try to kill an other race and thats fair.

mafia has you shoot it out in a church whats different about that? It is a touchy subject, None of us will want to make comments that could be deemed racist themselves so we have to choose words carefully but to me it seems people seem to claim things as being racist as and when it suits them.

Belldandy wrote:
> And, as someone pointed out, why is it racist to kill a sikh in a
> game, but not another ethnic origin ? Saying it's racist implies that
> only white people will play Hitman 2, which is in itself racist. I
> think the real racists are those who claimed this game is racist in
> the first place !

Well, I personally don't see it as a racist game. I don't own it, but as far as I know, you kill many races/religions/nationalities in it.

To be fair, no-one has yet gone as far as overtly calling it a racist game. It's basically considered a 'simulation' of the events of 1986. If they did label it racist, I would consider it a nonsense argument, as you kill such a diverse range of people in it.

I believe the sore point is not so much on race issues, but the fact that it's close to a real-life event. The reaction is comparable to what I'd expect from ourselves if a Muslim softco in Pakistan were to release a game resembling the events of September 11th.

As bad as that would be, I don't think Rockstar would care. They've already sold too many copies.

They're selling more quickly than they're being made.

:-D

WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> Hitman 2 - Silent Assassin allegedly imitates the 1984 Golden Temple
> massacre in Amritsar, when thousands of Sikhs were killed in an attack
> by Indian troops.

---

I don't see why people are taking it all so seriously. Of course, if you're a Sikh, you've got a right to be... well, slightly offended, but it is only a game, after all.

Belldandy wrote:
> And, as someone pointed out, why is it racist to kill a sikh in a
> game, but not another ethnic origin ? Saying it's racist implies that
> only white people will play Hitman 2, which is in itself racist. I
> think the real racists are those who claimed this game is racist in
> the first place !
>
> ~~Belldandy~~

Yeah, I agree with that, I said that somewhere else too.

WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> I think the reason it's a touchy subject is because 900+ Sikhs were
> killed in a temple in 1986, very similar to the level in the game.

Rainbow Six - Eaglewatch on the PC featured a similar mission where your team entered this famous temple place - can't remember the name- and took out Indian terrorists who - horror of horrors, wore turbans and, in a few cases, traditional stlye clothing, plus you could spray the whole temple with bullets, including the holy statue things.

No one complained about that, and anyone who thinks this Hitman 2 level is racist would be better off spending time attacking really racist things, instead of a game.

Where will it end if it starts eh ?Conflict Desert Storm 2 will see your team taking out "people of no nationality or ethnic background, but dressed to look like the Iraqi military, but they aren't, honest" enemy soldiers !

And, as someone pointed out, why is it racist to kill a sikh in a game, but not another ethnic origin ? Saying it's racist implies that only white people will play Hitman 2, which is in itself racist. I think the real racists are those who claimed this game is racist in the first place !

~~Belldandy~~

I just watch a thing on TV and it said Woolwoth’s and PC World are to stop selling it and also that Eidos have no plans to recall the game, only that they will be more careful in the future.

From Ananova.com...

-----

Computer game withdrawn over Sikh massacre similarities

A top-selling computer game is being withdrawn from shops after religious leaders raised objections about its content.

Hitman 2 - Silent Assassin allegedly imitates the 1984 Golden Temple massacre in Amritsar, when thousands of Sikhs were killed in an attack by Indian troops.

Copies of the game have been recalled by London-based Eidos Interactive, which made the game, and replaced with a new version, says the Evening Times.

Eidos said: "Eidos is pleased to confirm that it has reached an amicable position with the Sikh Coalition in relation to the changing of certain images and references depicting Sikhs within the game Hitman 2 - Silent Assassin which is on general release.

"In recognition of the concerns and sensitivities that have been raised, Eidos and the developers, IO Interactive, have responded in both a socially and commercially responsible manner by removing from the Hitman 2 website all relevant images and content.

"We have taken steps to amend the game on all existing platforms and adapted the next edition of the game due out for the GameCube platform. Eidos and IO Inter-active would like to stress that no offence was intended but would like to apologise to the Sikh community and other persons for any offence taken."

Cartel Thug wrote:
> Ive got both of these titles, but I was just wondering why they
> would
> withdraw them.

MADMAN wrote:
> it would be great if they were withdrawn then. the copies everyone has
> would go up in price

I dont think I would sell them anyway, I like the idea of having 'rare' originals.