The wildly popular iPhone app Pocket God, a game that encourages humorous torture of cartoon islanders has come under attack by Elaine Howard from the international Pacific Women's Information Network who has forwarded a complaint on to developers Bolt Creative stating the game is an "arrogant slap in the face to our people". What she means by 'our people' is specifically Pacific islanders. But US creators Bolt Creative argue the game does not depict any particular nationality.
"How do you think people would react if you created a game where you were God and you could create and kill as many Mexicans as you wanted? Or Asians?" wrote Howard, who lives in the US.
In Pocket God, the user takes on the role of an "all-powerful god ruling over a miniature tribe of primitive islanders". This $.99-cent juggernaut which has sold over 850 units since it's launch on January 9, 2009 has been heralded by the iPhone Savior as "One of those fantastical ideas that opens up a world of new possibilities for iPhone users." Daily downloads of 7,000 to 8,000 units from the iTunes App Store after almost four months has proved our earliest assessment to be true.
I've always thought of the island characters as cavemen rather than Polynesians. Pocket God has helped me renew that feeling of childlike wonder again. I find nothing disgusting about that. Taking offense to Pocket God is little more than a knee-jerk reaction at best, needing to be tempered by a healthy sense of humor.
Pacific academic Dr Malakai Koloamatangi, from New Zealand's Canterbury University, wasted no time abandoning his own sense of humor before stating that he found Pocket God "totally degrading".
"To claim they are not Pacific islanders is ridiculous. Everything about them is Polynesian," Koloamatangi said. "How can they justify encouraging the torture of a race in this way? It's disgusting."
He said the game only strengthened the stereotypes from which Pacific people around the world were trying to break free.
The Pacific Women's Information Network has complained directly to both Apple and Bolt Creative, with a reply from the developers at Bolt apologizing for any offense taken, "but we insist that such offense is misplaced".
"The fictional characters in Pocket God do not directly or
indirectly represent any human nationality, race or cultural people," Bolt Creative wrote.
"Bolt Creative does not intend and has never intended to offend or marginalize any nationality, race or culture in any of its video games, including Pocket God."
I've had the pleasure of speaking to Dave Castelnuovo from Bolt Creative on several occasions. In our most recent conversation Castelnuovo referred to Pocket God as having "a prehistoric theme" like he's said in past interviews. Almost anything these days can be seen as offensive to someone when viewed through a microscope. In my opinion, being offended has practically become fashionable.
Get over yourself people! Pocket God is a game that's beloved by almost a million cult of iPhone fanatics for a reason. Because it's brilliant not racist!
It's truly unfortunate that a few cranky individuals have found a way to suck the joy out of the room by labeling this game disgusting and degrading. That kind of overreaction is a travesty of a mockery of two shams no matter what race you are.
I hate paganism ... What the hell Pocket God?
Posted by: Disfuncion | August 13, 2010 at 02:10 PM
The game's creators defended the game, saying "it depicts no specific race or nationality." Pocket God's programmer Dave Castelnuovo got in touch with one of the original Pacific Islanders and came up with some compromises: The islanders would be called Oogs instead of Pygmies, and the Moai statue would be replaced with a statue of an Octopus God.
Posted by: NFL Jerseys | July 26, 2010 at 06:53 PM
Honestly, this is just a game...I don't know why people are screaming at it
Posted by: teeshirt mafia | June 24, 2010 at 08:13 AM
To Chenjerai: sure, if you look close enough you can find problematic stuff anywhere.
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Posted by: online coupons | May 17, 2010 at 07:13 AM
Thanks for the information. I have played the game and I liked it. Yes, the cartoon character is being tortured, that I really feel bad about.
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The game's creators defended the game, saying "it depicts no specific race or nationality." Pocket God's programmer Dave Castelnuovo got in touch with one of the original Pacific Islanders and came up with some compromises: The islanders would be called Oogs instead of Pygmies, and the Moai statue would be replaced with a statue of an Octopus God.
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Hello there, I'm having problems viewing your blog on my iPhone, the comment form isn't showing properly for me. (Just thought you might want to know, I'm typing this from my laptop.)
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No that is not true..
Americans are good people..
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I guarantee you that these people were or are going to look into some kind of lawsuit. It's the only thing Americans know how to do these days. Everyone HAS to find a problem with EVERYTHING
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Next they're probably gonna sue call of duty 4 for having people from russia in it!
Posted by: Razor | October 18, 2009 at 11:01 PM
I hate this crap! first, cheerios is accused of being a drug, and now this! all the idiots that are doing this can go sue brat dolls for looking like they use lip plumpers!
Posted by: U SHOULDN"T CARE | June 17, 2009 at 12:46 PM
other than that your right and sorry bout that "u fukin retard" part my freind is tryin to be kool
Posted by: Justin | June 01, 2009 at 08:00 PM
Hey yukio I wouldn't be talkin your complainin about other peoble complainin you fukin retard... And yes I know I'm complanin about you complanin
Posted by: Justin | June 01, 2009 at 07:55 PM
IT ISN'T RACISM, IT IS JUST OFFENSIVE PERIOD. WE'RE NOT FINDING IT TO POINT IT OUT, IT ALREADY IS.
WE WEREN'T CONCERNED AFTER IT FELL, IF IT WAS AN OFFENSIVE FROM THE BEGINNING, IT'S STILL A DAMN OFFENSE.
FOR THE FACT THAT PEOPLE WON'T EVEN ACCEPT THAT IS IT OFFENSIVE, AND WON'T ALLOW CASTELNUEVO TO ACCOMMODATE FEATURES TO UNDO THE WRONG FROM THE BEGINNING.
Posted by: DEZ | May 11, 2009 at 12:13 PM
You r totally right RacismisAStupidConcept... people just about find racism in everything. it is totally misplaced. In the words of Yahtzee: "A world where everybody can make a joke about another person and everybody laughs and doesnt go off on you, that is a perfect, racism free world...".
Posted by: Jack Steele is great | May 08, 2009 at 07:20 PM
To Chenjerai: sure, if you look close enough you can find problematic stuff anywhere. Such as... why is this page's background white? Why can't I set it to black? That's an insult to people of any other color than white. Give me a break. Enjoy the game, or don't. Nobody HAS to like it. You are FREE to not pay for it and not play it if it offends you.
Posted by: RacismIsAStupidConcept | May 06, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Have any pacific islanders actually complained, or was it just ignorant Americans, who just want a lawsuit. It's not like it makes you wanna go and torture some polynesians anyway.
Posted by: Fuckoffpocketgodsgreat | May 02, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Wow. Its interesting to me that nobody can look at the images in pocket god and acknowledge that their might be some problematic content their. God forbid anyone's fun be interrupted in order not to offend people.
Posted by: Chenjerai | May 02, 2009 at 08:35 PM
people dont get mad over gta series. get over it people who are babies
Posted by: william | May 02, 2009 at 07:01 PM
Notice that these people didnt call PG racist when it was at the top of the charts. They waited until it had fallen to a lower place and then attacked it hoping that less people would defend a less popular Pocket God. They were obviously very wrong. Pocket God has more supporters than ever and the people trying to hit PG while it is a little lower than it used to be are complete jerks.
Posted by: Okie Pride | May 02, 2009 at 09:02 AM
It is so stupid to call Pocket God racist. I'm sure that every app in the iTunes store could be considered racist when it is looked at from the viwpoint of a douche.
Posted by: Peja | May 02, 2009 at 08:56 AM
Honestly, I have to agree. This is such a horribly critical thing to say. I can understand trying to defend their nationalities and whatnot, but anything that has an animate object in it probably incorporates some kind of stereotype. I'm half Asian and half German, and the fact that someone can't handle a bone in a cartoons hair or a statue annoys me, considering how often people joke about communists and Nazis around me. I'm not complaining, why are you? Anyone can play the racist card, but if something really offends you, try using your words instead of throwing around meaningless phrases that once represented the image of violence and hatred. It's human nature to give something a label. No matter how tolerant you are, you still think about rice and slanted eyes when you think of Asians, and you think of Hitler and Nazis when you think of Germans. I'm not saying that racism is ok, I'm just saying, let humans do what's natural to them, this warped idea of racism is just a natural way of organizing and dealing with change.
Posted by: James Mou | May 01, 2009 at 05:30 PM
What is the world coming to. Pocket God is a disgrace to mankind?...Look who's talking. These people degrade society into thinking that everything will be ok as long as sewing prevails over any moral stance of any race, religion, colour, background etc. These kind of people make me sick and should be ashamed of themselves for making mankind fear moral stances. I mean what happened to the good old days where people crowded round an iPhone just to watch generic islanders on a generic island be burned or eaten alive by ants?! As for the Moai statue or whatever don't even get me started. Ban the use of that and bang goes almost every Monopoly game ever made I mean it's not as if it is copyrighted or anything! Moral stances have been thrown to the trash and left for greed and false belief to decompose slowly and painfully. If a petition has to be signed so help me God I will fly from Scotland just to sign it. If my use of God in that last sentence offended anyone don't hesitate to email me at [email protected] but don't expect a reply because your exactly the kind of person I have been talking about this whole time.
Posted by: Littlewiiguy | May 01, 2009 at 03:47 PM
I guarantee you that these people were or are going to look into some kind of lawsuit. It's the only thing Americans know how to do these days. Everyone HAS to find a problem with EVERYTHING. And the racism card is by far the easiest one to play.
I agree with the author. Get over yourselves, and start enjoying life, rather than finding reasons to be pissed off.
I think the article should have a link to these two people for the public to write in and kindly and gently tell them how childish they're really being.
Posted by: Yukio | May 01, 2009 at 03:02 PM
some 'people' really have nothing better to do than trying to surmount their own utter insignificance by taking this kind of thing personally.
Posted by: Doremi | May 01, 2009 at 05:10 AM