Homeless Crime Game Sparks Outrage in France
Homeless Crime Game Sparks Outrage in France
September 1, 2009
A free, online game which parodies homeless people has prompted protest from French advocates.
UK newspaper Telegraph reports that Clodogame, which translates to "Trampgame," puts the player in control of a homeless character with the goal of dominating the mean streets:
Users are invited to progress from being a penniless homeless person in Paris to becoming "king of the streets", the most "talented tramp in Paris" and eventually move in to the Palace of Versailles.
Players are invited to "attack other homeless people", become a "peerless pickpocket", steal from sweet machines, public toilets and laundrettes. They need to learn to play an instrument, choose a pet liable to increase their begging skills, and keep control of their alcohol intake.
Not surprisingly, advocates for the homeless were outraged. Red Cross spokesman Jean-François Riffaud commented:
It's a disgrace, it's degrading, it's humiliating to make the homeless the butt of derision. The image portrayed is exactly the one against which we've been trying to fight.
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Posted 11/22/09 at 09:45am
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I think doc phill is still sout about the break up with his wife he dose not fill holes as much as make them bigger these day
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I think doc phill is still sout about the break up with his wife he dose not fill holes as much as make them bigger these day
Posted 11/22/09 at 12:06am
JDKJ: You should get Phil McCraken to help you spackle those banisters.
JDKJ: You should get Phil McCraken to help you spackle those banisters.
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:57pm
ZippyDSMlee: Oh in the pirate hunter article I need my song ieda heckled DS,JD,Beemon sic im !!!
ZippyDSMlee: Oh in the pirate hunter article I need my song ieda heckled DS,JD,Beemon sic im !!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:56pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:no I am tried from prepping the banisters for painting , worked on them from 12 to 4 and 6 to 8...after I got back from the store...got up early got ready...blah...been up all day..I need a nap...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:no I am tried from prepping the banisters for painting , worked on them from 12 to 4 and 6 to 8...after I got back from the store...got up early got ready...blah...been up all day..I need a nap...
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:42pm
JDKJ: No. You gonna stay up late tonight soldering?
JDKJ: No. You gonna stay up late tonight soldering?
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:41pm
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:Don't you mean Mctite?
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:Don't you mean Mctite?
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: @Zip: Neil, Bob, and Lik McTaint. The McTaint brothers. LOL!!!
JDKJ: @Zip: Neil, Bob, and Lik McTaint. The McTaint brothers. LOL!!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:44pm
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:41pm
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:38pm
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: mentor07825:Well Brittan dose deserve it....
ZippyDSMlee: mentor07825:Well Brittan dose deserve it....
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:33pm
ZippyDSMlee: Alyric:I don;t hasliburton having to pay back billoins... don;t you love it when the rich roll over the goverment without a care?
ZippyDSMlee: Alyric:I don;t hasliburton having to pay back billoins... don;t you love it when the rich roll over the goverment without a care?
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:32pm
mentor07825: I say we nuke the whales, for the benefit of both mankind and the environment.
mentor07825: I say we nuke the whales, for the benefit of both mankind and the environment.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:28pm
Austin_Lewis: I say we try Al Gore too. I always said he was in on the racket.
Austin_Lewis: I say we try Al Gore too. I always said he was in on the racket.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:16pm
Alyric: The leaked information proves these organizations knowingly defrauded governments (i.e., taxpayers) out of billions of dollars. Yet there will probably never be a trial.
Alyric: The leaked information proves these organizations knowingly defrauded governments (i.e., taxpayers) out of billions of dollars. Yet there will probably never be a trial.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:15pm
Flamespeak: working on other things makes me angry. I might have had a jet pack by now. :p
Flamespeak: working on other things makes me angry. I might have had a jet pack by now. :p
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:14pm
Flamespeak: Just thinking of all the time and manpower wasted to try and make things emit less CO2 emmision that could have been spent
Flamespeak: Just thinking of all the time and manpower wasted to try and make things emit less CO2 emmision that could have been spent
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:07pm
Alyric: @Zip: FYI, the construction of solar panels puts out more pollution than any form of energy production. To say nothing of the toxic components of the panels that cannot be recycled.
Alyric: @Zip: FYI, the construction of solar panels puts out more pollution than any form of energy production. To say nothing of the toxic components of the panels that cannot be recycled.
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Comments
facepalm.jpg
There are people who just don´t get it when it comes about opinions or parodies. Everything has to be "nice" for them.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
The bright side here is that the people being made fun of will likely never see the game.
Yes, I'm terrible. >.>
Is there much that does not spark outrage in France?
I'm just saying...
They're not exactly the most apathetic people, are they?
But I suspect this is less within the sense of mass rioting outrage and more within the 'media points out online game to rights group/lobby/watchdog, watchdog replies, newspaper reports reply as outrage' kind of outrage
I would have thought that the best thing to fight against with homeless people was the fact that they were homeless in the first place? Then you wouldn't have to stop the stereotype?
Much as I respect the Red Cross, can't help thiking they are, to mix metaphors, tiliting at windmills whilst Rome burns here...
Let them be outraged.
Like almost always in such cases, the offended group has a right to be outraged, and the rest of the humanity has the right to ignore them.
Well, I'm not surprised that the Telegraph emphasized the "criminal part". In France, mainstream media remained largely neutral in the treatment of the information. They mainly talked about the whole content of the game, and about the various reactions, including a member of French government who asked for a ban of this game.
As far as I know, most of the readers who left comments in the French newspapers' and newsmagazines' websites find this controversy stupid. They either support the game's right to free speech, or slam their government for wanting to ban a homeless game instead of fighting the situation that real homeless people endure in real life.
About stupid cultural controversies that involve French politicians and government members, you should take a look at Orelsan : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/arts/27iht-rap.html
It's quite scary that nowadays, when something hurts the sensibility of one group or another, the only reaction these people can think about is to call for a total ban.
It’s just how society feels about homeless people. The only way to change that is to work on the family level. Editing out video games or getting mad at video games won’t change anything.
And now we have porn actors who are both actors and doing work for sex, and also those celebrities that got their fame through making amateur sex tapes. People like Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian should be on the porn star circuit- what are they doing rubbing elbows with mainstream Hollywood stars?
Maybe it's the idea that Sarcasm is lost when translating to text, but I can't tell whether or not you are complaining about Porn stars being actors, the celebs getting famous through thier sex tapes, or both?
I donno. I agree with your question about why those celebs who "leak" a sex tape are considered celebrities. Then again, I never liked Paris Hilton or the Kardashians anyways.. Maybe I'm biased.
Porn Stars, on the otherhand.. I can respect some of them for what they do. Believe it or not, quite a few of them are actually pretty smart individuals. They do what they do because they know they can, and are comfortable with thier bodies.
That being said, some porn stars are dumb as rocks, as well. Those are the ones who I can't respect. Same goes for celebrities. Honestly, the way this country elevates all of these abysmally stupid people up to celebrity status just pisses me off. Look at Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. They are the dumbest mother****ers I have ever seen in my life. Why are they famous? Because they were born to wealthy families in the right part of the country and happened to be born pretty.
Meanwhile, there are millions of smart, hard working people in the country who barely make enough to live, let alone save for the future. Whoever said hard work will lead to success was full of shit. Nowadays, aside from a few exceptions, its all about being born into the right circumstances and knowing the right people..
Edit: Wow.. yay for offtopic rants. Apparently, I'm feeling a bit pissy towards the end of my workday. LOL..
Who the fuck are Heidi Montag or Spencer Pratt? Never heard of them until I read this.
---
He was dead when I got here.
They are the couple with the lowest combined IQ in the world.. The two dumbest people you will ever hear about. I'd tell you to youtube them, but I'd fear for your immortal soul..
Its just a game why not adress the real problems of homelessness then banning a free flash video game
Never underestimate the power of idiots in large amounts.
Because that would take actual work, and would force some people to admit that the problem lies with their personal contributions to society. We live in an age where we want to do less work and take less blame.
What a bunch of idiots. Again. It's a damn parody game, a call to ban it makes you look like a moron. Especially since...exactly what jurisdiction would France have over banning the game? The internet is a fluid entity, it has no nation, who would you ask to ban it?
Not to mention the game is probably hosted on at least 50 different websites by now, good luck with that.
All these proposed game bannings are based on the slippery slope fallacy. I know France is different on their Constitution but we should all hold fallacious laws on the same level as unconstitutional laws....they shouldn't be enforced. And man, we have a whole lot of laws that were passed based on fallacy.
France:Land of entitlement.
Any english verison in the works?
Found it:
http://www.dossergame.co.uk/
My new reference link if you want to help a poor (virtual) hobo in need:
http://change.dossergame.co.uk/change_please/4147973/
My first thought when I read the description was "That sounds like fun." It didn't seem like something to take seriously. Now that I've played the game a bit, I don't really see how it could be that insulting. The alcohol and thievery aren't the whole game (they don't even become a factor until you've gotten yourself established), and your character has plenty of legitimate ways to earn money. Of course, likely none of the people reacting have actually played the game, and are just reacting to a partial description. It'd be nice if people would take the time to form a decent first impression before passing judgement.
I'm sure GTA agrees with you. ;)
Be fair, there's no mention of banning of anything here.
As far as I can see, what we have here is a bunch of groups who disagree with this game telling people how much they're outraged by it - which is exactly the right thing to do in a free society when someone says something you don't like. There are so many knee-jerk calls for censorship these days that when someone merely criticises a game, we do tend to assume they're trying to have things censored...
Maybe if they got off their asses, they could actually find a job and wouldn't be homeless.
When Jack Thompson runs his mouth, does anyone really care what he has to say anymore?