Wednesday, 10 June 2009

• 65 Years Is More American Than 25 Years!

     Well, I thought I had my entry for the day, but I was viewing the Escapist Magazine forums, when I stumbled across this thread. Actually, I was watching Yahtzee blithely discuss Saints Row 2 on Zero Punctuation, and happened to chance across the thread by the following title: "Google Criticized as 'Anti-American' For Tetris Logo".
  
      Obviously, my interest was piqued, and I scrambled (i.e. right-clicked) to have a look. I was met with the following article, written by Andy Chalk:
  
  

  Google Criticized as "Anti-American" for Tetris Logo

  Andy Chalk posted on 8 Jun 2009 4:28 pm

  Filed under: andy chalk, anti-american, d-day, google, tetris

  

  Google has been criticized as "anti-American" for using a Tetris-style logo to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the famed videogame rather than marking the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy.

  Political leaders gathered in France this weekend to mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in history that set the stage for the eventual end of the Second World War. Google, however, chose to commemorate a somewhat more nerdy birthday that just happened to fall around the same date: The 25th anniversary of the creation of Tetris, one of the most popular and enduring videogames ever made.

  But Google's whimsical choice has left some observers unhappy. "Here we are on June 6, 2009 and, in its inimitable way, Google has decided to memorialize the important occasion by adding an image on its homepage depicting... the computer game Tetris," conservative columnist Warner Todd Huston wrote on NewsBusters.org. "Yes, it's far more important to Google to celebrate the anniversary of the invention of the video game Tetris than to memorialize D-Day. It just warms the heart, doesn't it?"

  "I have to say, though, that this is no departure for Google, a firm that finds it nearly impossible to post images celebrating any American holidays or important milestones in American history," he continued. "So, what we have here is just one more example of Google's essentially anti-American policies."

  Google also took heat from WorldNetDaily writer Drew Zahn, who said that Google has "a history of ignoring major American patriotic and religious holidays." He further noted that while company representative Sunny Gettinger said in 2007 that the special logos "tend to be lighthearted and often scientific in nature," Google has in the past used poppies to mark Remembrance Day and honor the war dead of Canada, Australia, Ireland and the U.K.

     After reading over this article, I couldn't help but feel nauseated by the blatant ignorance displayed by the two mentioned columnists. This got me thinking about the concept of "holiday priorities". Should we really have a preference over what is honoured/celebrated/remembered? Is it wrong to show a preference? Or, more specifically, is it wrong in this case that Google chose to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Tetris, over the 65th anniversary of a bloody battle in France? For me, it might be a little obvious where I stand; but my reasoning is simply thus:
  
     For 64 years, we have honoured those who died and fought on D-Day. We've remembered and given thanks. But Google has decided to show the same respects to a Quarter Century celebration of a game that was a landmark in the entertainment/gaming industry. It's not only a game, but an evolution in personal, group, and international socialisation. It was one of the cornerstones of the gaming industry's Genesis (along with Pong and Space Invaders).
     That isn't to say that D-Day is not important. Au contraire. D-Day marked the beginning of the turning of the tide during World War II. The success of the entire operation opened the doors for the Allies to begin their triumph over the Axis forces; and serves as a keystone of the entire war. But, is it really un-American to "skip out" on ONE year of "celebration" in favour of another milestone?
     Are the achievements Tetris made really that much beneath American history that it absolutely MUST be shoved to the back in favour of an American "holiday"? Especially one that celebrates death and destruction (albeit important and vital to the stability of the world at the time)? Are there more "important" achievements as per each "holiday" or "celebration" or "anniversary"? What are these qualifications to make one meritous of acknowledgement over another? Or even at all?
  
     It seems to me that this isn't so much about being "un-American" as it is more of an egotistical need to have everything about our nation's history at the forefront. See, Tetris is actually a RUSSIAN video game. The authors' words, to me (while it being a very Strawman correlation), seems to imply that the real conflict isn't so much the denial of a major "holiday", insomuch as it is a denial of American culture over a foreign (Russian) culture (despite that culture actually reaching well into the international forum).
     Coinciding with it also being about a video game versus a global conflict, makes the entire thing feel even more insulting. There's also the insinuation (subtle as it may be) that video games are "unimportant" to national, or even international society. Despite the obvious connectivity that the internet and online gaming has not only supported, but helped prosper, it seems that some people are still in the mindset that games are "wastes of time".
  
     This is also despite the fact that games such as Unreal Tournament, Halo, Half-Life, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and even oldies like GoldenEye and DOOM have created flourishing international conventions, gaming tournaments; and each having their own subculture; modding, followings, and updating alike. Or the many psychological studies that have proven correlations between motor-skill advancement, and increased brain functionality with Video Game usage (1; 2; 3; 4).
  
     Another irksome aspect of the quoted articles are the accusations of Google passing over "American Holidays", without the similar displays given to Tetris. I believe the columnists easily forget the images Google has used for Halloween, Christmas, and even THANKSGIVING: AN AMERICAN ONLY HOLIDAY! This just makes no sense to me. Why would you conveniently leave out facts like that? That begs the question as to whether or not either columnists' opinions are even valid, or reliable.
  
     When are people going to finally recognise the power, potential, and benefits of video games; both socially and economically?
     And when are Americans going to stop shoving our damn history down other people's throats? We're really not that great. But we sure are that arrogant.
  
     After all, Google is INTERNATIONAL. Not strictly American. Isn't it?
  

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