designislaw:

Kirk Hamilton, Erik Kain, Benjamin Popper, Michael Abbott, and hell, the rest of mainstream games journalism out there, stop embarrassing my race. You fucks, you sick fucks. I’ve never been more disgusted with games “journalism” and “criticism” in my life until lately, with the release of…

Agreed! The first thing I thought when I heard about the stupid racist bullshit in this game (that isn’t even really addressed in the plot line… at all!??!?) was: WHY? Why is this necessary? The thing I enjoy about Bioshock (1), is that it shows the downfall of, literally, rich white people. It forces a white man to confront the fact that rich white people tried to make a world where they were free to be as racist and sexist and gross as they wanted, and it was super fucked up and fell to pieces around them. Do I wish there were more games like this that actually featured the triumph of POC? Yes, of course. But the subtle (and not-so-subtle) deconstruction of the oppressive white majority’s obsession with “freedom” was really powerful in Bioshock, and Infinite just sort of… falls flat in comparison.

Plus, really, eugenics, is this really necessary? Must we use Nazi beliefs to create our villains? It’s the easiest way to make white people hate a villain without actually making them face the truth: that white people are the oppressors and can be evil without being OVERTLY evil. Non-action can be just as devastating as action. A white person ignoring the plight of the oppressed is just as awful as throwing baseballs at an interracial couple deemed unworthy.

Do I think Bioshock: Infinite is needlessly violent? Yes. Do I think the violence is what makes this a bad game overall? No. There are plenty of shooters that manage to make you question your understanding of the status quo (in my mind, Bioware games do this well, although they are not without issues, of course). Infinite is a superficial game that lets white people feel good about themselves. It’s like slacktivism. It’s the Tumblr slacktivist version of a video game. And the fact that it’s being hailed as a work of art is just sad.