If anyone remembers a while ago when Hitman 2 was first released (may I say without complaints), the only criticism it should of received was the lack of stealth A.I., such as the lack of elimination using stealth rather than guns.

If you dont, check out these links, these contain the story from the BBC as well as comments from youngsters.  Some are very dumb (not surprising) but quite a few, particularly from the English were intelligent.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sci_tech/newsid_2440000/2440713.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sci_tech/newsid_2500000/2500199.stm

Then, not too long after its release, the BBC UK (yes, the BBC are known for these silly things) decided to report that Sikhs were unhappy that they were portrayed as terrorists and the enemy to kill.  In other words, seen as the bad guys.  Without hesitation, Eidos and the developers instantly removed the game, apologised and removed any references to Sikhs as terrorists.  Now, I actually bought the game first before the controversy and in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with someone creating a game where you are supposedly a good guy and kill the bad buys (who are terrorists).

Agent 47, the bald man with a barcode on the back of his head and the character you play, does the sign of the Cross at the first level.  This is the same man who kills a lot of people and may unfortunately involve killing some good guys.  Does it offend Christians that you take control of this man and kill people, even when its against the religion itself?

Let me remind everyone of how the fanatics in Deus Ex 2 are portrayed, they are seen as Christian terrorists (the Knights Templar, die hard Christians) who commit mass murder.  Was there a peep from anyone?  No, because its only a bloody game for Christ's sake!!

I have bought many wargames and had it up to here:!: with people winging about this and that.  In the recent wargames like Call of Duty 2, we shoot, blow up and even use gun butts to kill Germans but do you see Germany coming onto us like a ton of bricks?

If people want to relate to sensitivity, always use Hitman 2 as a good example, there is no such thing in Hitman 2 where the objective states "kill as many sikhs as possible", it only states to "kill the terrorist leader" or eliminate "individuals who are criminals".  So what if a game came out saying kill the iman at a mosque who preaches hatred against the west, do we have to keep our mouth shut and remove it so we refer to the iman as a nutcase who preaches in some obsecure temple?  Not in my name.

The cartoon controversy got out of hand, I  only present this as a reminder that this is not the first time we have had such experience.  Believe me there is more to come...

Next blog.... wargames on why we need them, my thoughts on what wargames present not only to our generation but also to our kids.  Yes, theyre fun but why be it fun killing human soldiers?  Thats not all there is...