In yet another example of games being given “special” treatment over all other forms of entertainment, Sonia Alfano, a member of the European Parliament, is calling for the banning of Mafia II (which has been out for four months already, by the way), due to “fresh wounds” relating to the 17-years-ago murder of her father.
Alfano reportedly lost her father to organized crime in 1993, and she’s been waging war on the mafia throughout the course of her political career. Her Wikipedia says so, and for lack of a better source, that’s what we’re going to cite.
We’re not saying that mafia violence doesn’t “really, really hurt” the victims and their families, as Alfano put it, but should a video game be targeted because it deals with subject matter that might be sensitive to some people?
Yawn. This is the same argument we’ve heard a thousand times, applied to a thousand different games, for a thousand different reasons. Thankfully, Take-Two has decided to make no apologies when it comes to Mafia II backlash:
“Mafia II tells a compelling story about organized crime in America – a subject that for decades has been featured in award-winning movies, television shows and novels such as The Godfather and The Sopranos,” said Alan Lewis, Take-Two’s VP of corporate communications and public affairs. “We fully and completely stand behind our creative teams and products, including Mafia II.”
Should Need For Speed be banned because someone was in a car accident? We’re willing to bet The Godfather didn’t come up against this kind of pointless opposition – though if it did, we sure as hell don’t remember it today, if that tells you anything.
As the great Roger Ebert once said, “I was a fool for mentioning video games in the first place.” There are a good many people in the world today who should take this admission to heart.
