Upcoming free-roam action game Mafia II has been getting its fair share of controversy lately, but it doesn't stop there. UNICO National, an Italian American service organization in the United States with the aim of promoting and enhancing the Italian-American community, have decided to challenge publisher Take-Two Interactive regarding the portrayal of their people in Mafia II.
UNICO president Andre' DiMino called the game a "pile of racist nonsense" and openly attacked Take-Two, saying they're "directly, blatantly and unfairly discriminating and demeaning one group to the exclusion of all others. We are demanding they halt release of the game and cleanse it of all references to Italians and Italian-Americans."
He also sent a letter to Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick requesting a meeting and advising against using Italians and Italian-Americans in Mafia games, because it furthers the "denigrating stereotype of organized crime being the exclusive domain of Italians and Italian-Americans."
Zelnick responded to UNICO, telling them that the Italian-American gangster genre is "a subject that for decades has been featured in movies, television shows and novels. Neither UNICO nor any other organization purporting to represent Italian-Americans has seen or played Mafia II."
Take-Two refused to give in to UNICO's demands. Zelnick concluded saying that he "fully and completely stands behind their creative teams and products, including Mafia II."
Source:Gamasutra
Sections:Microsoft Consoles, Console Games, PC Games, Sony Consoles
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1 thumbs!Sakuraba Neku
since May 2008 | 1 day 6 hours agoI might have to buy this game now.
1 thumbs!chautemoc
since Mar 2008 | 1 day 6 hours agoYou may be disappointed as there's nothing in there in terms of depicting Italians that there isn't in other films and games of the genre. 2K handled it quite tastefully, I thought. It's going to be great besides, though.
0 thumbs!Dutch Oven
since Sep 2008 | 1 day 4 hours agolol UNICO is obviously bored with having nothing to whine about,saying that a game about La Cosa Nostra shouldnt feature italians is like saying Yakuza shouldnt feature asians.
0 thumbs!Noraf45
since Sep 2008 | 1 day 3 hours agoquote"denigrating stereotype of organized crime being the exclusive domain of Italians and Italian-Americans."So if they threw in a handful of other ethnicities it would be fine to have Italian mobsters?
0 thumbs!Shadow of Death
since Feb 2003 | 1 day 3 hours agoHahahahahahahaha XD
Sounds no different than the other silliness in the media that's directed at video games. Making mountains out of rural anthills XD Sure, it's a stereotypical portrayal, but stereotypes are present in all media, like that Zelnick fella stated.
0 thumbs!sprkidjar
since Apr 2008 | 1 day 2 hours agoi think UNICO should be more worried about jersey shore.
0 thumbs!Honor
since Jan 2007 | 1 day 1 hour agolmao bloody idiot I remeber reading it on the 2k forum I guess he never heard of the italian mafia or people like Al CaponeAdd your comment:
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