Holly Green writes: Our country is at a time where gun violence, economy and employment issues, foreign wars and a myriad of social issues have dominated political rhetoric, divided the nation, and driven it to vitriolic hive mentality. In a time like this, when video games are being attacked as the root cause of various ills, you would think that we as gamers could present a united front that demonstrates the maturity our hobby has developed over the years as its audience has grown into adulthood.
Only problem with that? Not all of us are adults, as illustrated by a new petition to hit the official White House website. Entitled "Get Ninja Theory's DmC: Devil May Cry pulled off the shelves" it reads in full:
Dear Mr. Obama: As a consumer to the Video Game Industry there is one Video Game that has caused a lot of controversy over the past few month's.
The name of the game is DmC: Devil May Cry made by Ninja Theory and Capcom. A majority of gamer's are aggravated that this game has changed so much from it's past predecessors and the game actually insults the consumers in-game.
We, as consumers did not want nor need this reboot and we believe it violates our rights to have a choice between the original's or the reboot. This game is violating our rights as a consumer and we believe it should be pulled off shelves from game stores due to it's insulting nature and the fact that it violates our rights.
Please Mr. Obama, look into your heart and make the decision that will please us Gamers.
The stench of entitlement wafting off the games community these days is disgusting. By most accounts DmC: Devil May Cry is a fantastic game with few flaws. The only complaints thus far have been the framerate, which critics and players have said doesn't really affect the gameplay, and Dante's hair. Given that so called fans were complaining about Dante's hair long before release, I'm inclined to believe it has more to do with that than any technical issues, real or imagined.
Even if the game were an absolute atrocity in terms of meeting both fan expectations and industry standards, writing a petition to Obama wouldn't even be the way to deal with it–the Better Business Bureau likely has more authority on DmC: Devil May Cry's presence on retail shelves than the president does.
To the petitioners, if you're reading this: one day you're going to grow up realize that the mere existence of a video game is not the worst thing that is ever going to happen to you. That having an option is not the same thing as having a right taken away. That entertainment in and of itself is not a right, and that creators are not obligated to succumb to your every childish whim. You'll have to learn to live with disappointment, and to adapt to change. And then and only then will you understand why your petition has only been signed by 11 people thus far.
***
Original post reads below:
A man, one “R.J” from Franklin, VT, has created a petition on the White House’s We The People website to petition President Barack Obama to get DmC: Devil May Cry pulled from the shelves. The petition has since been signed by eight individuals, including the creator.
The recently released game, produced by Ninja Theory, is currently the subject of controversy among fans of the original series of games. These irate fans argue that the new DmC failed to remain faithful to the originals. They have gone to various lengths to besmirch the game’s reputation on review aggregators like Metacritic, where the game currently enjoys a 4.1 user score based on approximately 600 ratings, in contrast to its 86+ Metascore from critics who’ve actually played the title.
A user named charlie1234, who rated the game a ‘1’ out of a possible ’10’ wrote: “dmc devil may cry is a shameless reboot to a great franchise,this game has obscene violence and even a sex scene in it. ninja theory claim its a shakespear-esk game but in reality its a pitiful game.” (Spelling errors have been preserved.)
Returning to the petition to the White House, its grammatically challenged creator demands that the game be pulled on the grounds that it “actually insults the consumers in-game” and that “it violates [their] rights as consumers” [sic]. Read it and weep:
This surely isn't the last we've heard of this debacle.
