This has been out a year

[Titan]

And people are just starting to complain about racism in Vice City? This is pretty stupid. Get over it, its not descriminating against anyone.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php(que)id=99337

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php(que)id=99432

EDIT: can\'t get in without registering. Here\'s what one says.

WAL-MART DEFIES ANTI-GTA PROTESTERS

The pile-\'em-high, sell-\'em-cheap megamarket refuses to take GTA off the shelves

12:02 Despite the continuing furore over alleged anti-Haitian racism in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, powerful US retailer Wal-Mart has pledged that it will continue to stock the title.

"We have no plans to stop selling the game," said Melissa Berryhill, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart. "We feel we\'re meeting the needs of our customers and selling this item in a responsible manner. We focus on our customers and offer products we believe they want."

Haitian residents in Boynton Beach are expected to protest in front of Wal-Mart, with Haitian community members organising further pickets in front of retailers Blockbuster, Circuit City, Target and Wal-Mart in the coming weeks.

Haitian community leaders and a state representative in South Florida have called for retailers to quit selling the game because of a mission objective in the game that tells the player to "kill the Haitians".

As has been endlessly explained, this game objective refers explicitly to a gang of Haitian criminals, rather than the people of Haiti as a whole. If there\'s a problem here, it\'s one of semantics rather than racism.

With an absurdly over-the-top reaction to something that\'s a misunderstanding at best, and yet another example of people needlessly scapegoating videogames (what about the actual racism found in popular music lyrics?) it\'s heartening to see Wal Mart sticking to its guns on this one - and disappointing, in a way, that Rockstar has actually apologised for something it didn\'t even do.

Don\'t these people watch The Sopranos? It\'s like Ralphie and Johnnie Sack all over again.

Steve Colton

The other:

US OUTRAGE CAUSES SHOCK GTA CLIMBDOWN!

Welcome to GTA: Nice City! Take Two apologises and promises changes as Haitian pressure groups and New York mayor attack "racist" game

14:22 The Grand Theft Auto games have never shied away from controversy; with action that revolves around - and rewards - excessive violence and car crime, this was never going to impress certain sections of society, but now publisher Take Two has finally been moved to apologise for the latest outing, GTA Vice City.

Over a year after the game\'s initial release on PS2, there has been a furore in New York City from Haitian groups there who felt that a scene in the game where you were ordered to "Kill all the Haitians" was racist and could incite violence against the community.

Members of New York\'s Haitian ethnic group complained to NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Bloomberg took up the case, demanding the phrase be removed from the game, stating: "If I don\'t get a decent response, we are going to do everything we possibly can."

This ignores the fact that Take Two has provided a reasoned response, making the point that the phrase needs to be read within the context of an indiscriminately violent game and should obviously not be taken literally.

Whatever, Take Two yesterday issued a statement promising to take the unprecedented step of removing "the objectionable statements from future copies of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," going on to apologise for the "hurt and anger" Haitian-Americans had experienced.

So then, political correctness gone mad, or a work of the devil finally getting its come-uppance? Stay tuned for more developments...

Steve Colton

Eh. This one, if any was the least racist. I dont see how it is so towards hatians. I think they are just a bit more sensitive. I mean GTA3 was 5times more racist if you could say that and not too many people complained.

Meh.