Random Thoughts on Police Brutality, Metal Gear Solid 5, and Slave Tetris

I’ve been watching live streams of Metal Gear Solid 5 lately and I have one recurring thought all the time… how is this military shooter treats it’s enemies with more regard for life than our actual police (I’m speaking about American cops, that’s my lens).

In MGS 5, it is more valuable to keep your enemies alive by Fultoning them than killing them because the enemy troops can help you at your base. Snake has an unbelievable amount of non-lethal options at his disposal, everything from knives that stun to various tranquilizing guns. Snake even has an assault rifle with rubber bullets. Not killing is an important function of the game, why can’t our police force do the same?

Also Slave. Tetris. My least favorite thing and my favorite thing combined. Not quite a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup but it’s a combination none the less. I don’t want to comment about how offensive the Slave Tetris mini-game is. It got pulled from Steam and for good reason. What I think is interesting is what Slave Tetris was trying to accomplish. Slave Tetris wanted to educate people about slavery through gaming. That’s a novel concept.

How would you make an educational game about the slave trade or other controversial topics? I imagine an adventure game, with less action and more of a narrative driven experience…but I also see the value in forcing somebody to become a slave owner and enact the awfulness by their own hand. Red Dead Redemption but in slave era USA. What about a game where you are a slave traversing through the underground railroad. This era seems like a great setting for a powerful educational gaming experience. I feel like people are afraid to make games like this because if you make a risky game that doesn’t come across as intended everyone will vilify you, the risk is not worth the reward.

Assassin’s Creed III Liberation dabbled with the time period but didn’t take the issues head on. Becoming a slave was basically a gimmick…put rags on, fit in, rags off blend into another group. It was a good “passing” simulator but not what I was looking for.

Just thinkin’… Thanks for Reading!

Random Thoughts on 7/24/2015: Why Do They Keep Killing Us Edition or Has life finally become Grand Theft Auto?

You know how in Grand Theft Auto games where you can barely graze an officers car and end up getting gunned down in the street? That is basically the black experience right now.

University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing shot Sam Dubose.

Here is the sad part,in GTA you have to initiate contact with the cops to prompt a response (or commit a horrible crime) but in real life cops can pull you over and kill you for not having a front license plate (Sam Dubose, RIP) or an illegal turn signal (Sandra Bland, RIP).

Sandra Bland was murdered in her jail cell….potentially.

In Grand Theft Auto I always blamed the Police actions on poor A.I. but what is the excuse in real life?

The narrative about games and violence is that playing GTA will lead to more mass shootings and violence but in reality it looks like it has normalized the police use of excessive force.

Never have i feared more for people then when they get pulled over or stopped by the police. It doesn’t take much to escalate a situation and the police are armed. I know people who work as officers. They are good people. I have worked with police very closely during my career, they were very professional and as caring as they could be. BUT there is a cultural and systemic issue in our current police culture and black people are dying because of it.

Just my thoughts…..Peace