Some of my favorite Giant Bomb videos are where the crew plays bad, or even disappointing but ultimately inoffensive, games and is still able to wring entertainment from it due to their wit and enthusiasm. This video isn't like that. I wish it was.
Alex, my man, I highly recommend setting your gameplay speed to 175 or 200. Matches will go quicker, fights will look better, and you'll still be able to play normally. I just had to say it eventually. Other than that thank you for the quick look!
Viewing outright racism as a minor disappointment rather than a disgusting, disqualifying offense is going to be a black mark on Giant Bomb for years to come.
I like how the defense of South Park is either "it's incredibly smart, cutting satire that insults everyone equally" or "it's a show/game with this ridiculous fart gag, how could it merit political analysis?"
South Park is bad and this review and comment thread are disappointing.
+1
Just saw this review and this is the Beat Cop quick look all over again. Viewing outright racism as a minor disappointment rather than a disgusting, disqualifying offense is going to be a black mark on Giant Bomb for years to come.
Anyone else notice that black people are depicted with jet black skin and bright red lips, and once they're on the beat there's a black npc sitting on a stoop casually munching on some watermelon? This shit is pretty blatantly racist.
In case anyone thought he was joking. But we shouldn't take art seriously, I guess.
YIKES! One of my favorite Giant Bomb moments ever was when Ryan Davis in exasperation said a slur on stream, felt immediate regret, had the archived video edited, and wrote a blog post apologizing to the community. To do that without kicking and screaming showed me what a standup guy he was and what a good site this is. Another moment was this past GOTY during the "Hottest Mess" deliberation, when the mostly-presented-as-apolitical staff realized the sticky situation they'd found themselves in and Editor-in-Chief Jeff Gerstmann, sighing for the fact that Giant Bomb's apolitical nature would be left behind but realizing he must take a firm stance on such a serious topic, said, "There's no hotter mess than white supremacy." While I've been a fan of this crew for fifteen years, these were incredibly proud and validating experiences for me.
Though it's clear the forum community needs to be cleaned up ("I don't see what the problem is!" isn't acceptable if it exists to step on others's legitimate feelings and pain) it's also disappointing to see such a virulently racist game not be called out as such by the editors. I understand they'd rather focus on mechanics and show games in a vacuum, but to truly be objective and honest about the product would be to address the obvious hate-mongering and gross attempt at invalidating criticism. Giant Bomb needn't "get political" in terms of speaking on actual policy or politicians, of course, but race here isn't subtext. It's the text.
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