(CBS/AP) CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - Upcoming shoot-em-up video game "Call of Juarez: The Cartel" has angered officials in the violence-plagued border town of Ciudad Juarez. Chihuahua state legislators said Sunday they have asked federal authorities to ban the game, which is based on drug cartel shootouts in the city.About 6,000 people died in drug-related violence in Ciudad Juarez in 2009 and 2010, making the city, located across from El Paso, Texas, one of the deadliest in the world.
The website of game developer Ubisoft Entertainment SA says the title is due for release this summer for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3 gaming systems. Screen shots from the game show three characters armed with a pistol, an assault rifle and a shotgun ready to open fire on a city street.
The game's promotional slogan urges players, "Take justice into your own hands and experience the lawlessness of the modern Wild West."
Ricardo Boone Salmon, a congressman for Chihuahua state, where Ciudad Juarez is located, said the state legislature unanimously approved a request this week asking the federal Interior Department to ban the game.
"It is true there is a serious crime situation, which we are not trying to hide," Boone Salmon said. "But we also should not expose children to this kind of scenarios so that they are going to grow up with this kind of image and lack of values."
State congress leader Enrique Serrano said the main concern was the potential effect on children in Ciudad Juarez, some of whom have already been taught to "duck and cover" if firefights erupt outside their schools.
"Children wind up being easily involved in criminal acts over time, because among other things, during their childhood not enough care has been taken about what they see on television and playing video games," Serrano said. "They believe so much blood and death is normal."
It is not the first time city officials have been angered by references to Juarez's problems.
In 2010, the New York-based MAC cosmetics company abandoned Mexican sales of a makeup collection that raised hackles because it featured pallid, ghostly hues said to be inspired by deaths of women in the city. The collection of lipstick, blushes and other cosmetics used names like "Juarez," ''Bordertown," ''Ghost Town" and "Factory."
More than 100 women were abused and murdered before their bodies were dumped in Ciudad Juarez's desert between 1993 and 2003. Many of the victims were factory workers.
In 2004, the city's then-mayor called for a boycott of the song "The Women of Juarez," by Los Tigres del Norte, one of Mexico's top-selling bands. It blasted Mexican authorities for failing to solve the killings of women.
From the song:
The bones in the desert tell the truth, The dead woman of Ciudad Juarez are a national embarrassment.
Are these people stupid? Do they actually think banning a video game will help stop the violence, or what do they think they will accomplish. Get your priorities straight and combat the real life problem not some stupid video game.
ReplyDeleteCall a spade a spade guess it should be embarassing for Mexico to see what reputation it is getting, but then the Nexican govt is impossible to be embarassed or feel guilt, Juarez has been out of control for many years,not just the drug war.
ReplyDeleteIs the game stupid and riding on something horrible? YES. But there are bigger things to deal with. I love how Mexican politicians bitch about insignificant things, but under the table they are getting millions from bribes and illegal drug sales (abajo de la mesa)..
ReplyDeleteThis will absolutely work. Look at how good the Mexican govt is at keeping illegal guns, drugs, and counterfeit items out of the hands of the people.
ReplyDeletetan todoz meks x piensar ezo.. Ponganse pilas ez un juego
ReplyDeleteBanning it won't help, the damage is done once its made... Someone recently pointed out to me that banning "El Infierno" only resulted in the cartels pirating copies of it and selling them... So Luis Estrada prob LOST money on that project, which is a shame because I would buy a few legitimate copies and give some away to friends if I could...
ReplyDeleteMy point is this: banning the movie El Infierno only resulted in lining the pockets of criminal organizations. It would be a shame if it had the same effect here.
It was a bad idea to begin with that is only being made worse, at this point they may as well release it.
I strongly urge the developers to consider this issue with compassion in their hearts instead of their bank accounts on moinds and MAYBE donate a large portion of the proceeds to Humanitarian organizations in Juarez.
What I'm really against is anyone profiting off the violence in Juarez without consideration for the victims that have died in horrendous and terrifying ways, just so these game developers can have a "cool storyline"
The game itself isn't the issue; its the cheap exploitation that makes it offensive.
How well would Call of Libya: The Fall of Tripoli be received if it was released today???
why didn't Mexico move to ban 6 days in fallujah way more people died
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Days_in_Fallujah
or games like Grand Theft Auto
seems like people in Mexico need to be more educated to whats going on in the rest of the world. but its not the people of Mexico's fualt thier gov. is panzy asses who let corruption run wild and let thier street gangs devlope into world class organizations and dont educate the people
im rooting for a better Mexico
VIVA Mexico!!
I WANNA PLAY IT!!! WHEN EXACTLY DOES IT COME OUT???
ReplyDeletehttp://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17481802
ReplyDelete3 relatives of slain Mexican activist Josefina Reyes found dead
Associated Press 2/25/2011
From the song: The bones in the desert tell the truth, The dead woman of Ciudad Juarez are a national embarrassment.
It's easy to see why Mexico might be sensitive about this game, since it is kind of like having a game centered around the 9/11 attacks perhaps would be seen in the US. It would be seen as beyond just being bad taste.
ReplyDeleteHere from todays El Paso times is info about the negative effects of drug war violence on the Valle de Juarez region...
...According to the report, employment in Praxedis G. Guerrero fell by 43.6 percent between 2005 and 2010; in the same period the population also plummeted, from 8,514 to 4,799. Five years ago, Guadalupe had 9,148 residents, compared with 6,458 in 2010, or a 30 percent decline.
"Out of 700 established businesses in Guadalupe, 75 percent of them closed their doors to the public," the report said.
Officials compared Valle de Juárez, an important agricultural community, to the Mesilla Valley in New Mexico.
"It's impossible to know whether reality has surpassed the official statistics," the lawmakers' report said. "You have only to travel through the streets of these villages to see the desolation and abandon."
The report also noted that JEMCO de Mexico, a U.S.-owned maquiladora, left Guadalupe after operating there for 18 years. A Coca-Cola company also shut down its office after 25 years in the Valle de Juárez, along with the Lechería Zaragoza (dairy) that ceased operating there.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/business/ci_17475882
You guys are all pendejos! Pinche bola de babosos estupidos. I have been reading BB for about 6 months and have NEVER posted or commented on this site until now. This is pretty pathetic and disrespectful to the people of Juarez. This is just wrong! How the fuck would you like it if some fucking company came up with a game about learning how to fly a game, bypassing airport security and then flying planes and crashing then into buildings? Sounds pretty cool huh? Let's call it "Al Qaeda Mission: Operation Terror". Bet you would like that huh fuken Morrons.
ReplyDeleteGood. After last weekend I thought about this again, with 72 murders in Juarez, and a fucking video game being released? 72 people, families, kids, women, disgusts me on every level. I'm going to freak out on any of my idiot video game playing friends I see playing this.
ReplyDeleteits not the game its the currpt police and military, and politicians that is the problem in mexico the game pendejos para que se acen
ReplyDeleteUbisoft (a FRENCH company, by the way) has said that the characters in the game WILL FIGHT AGAINST THE CARTELS, but carry on whining anyway.
ReplyDeleteI see it's not front page news now that the plotline to the game has been revealed. How shocking.
ReplyDeleteThis is a disgusting game and who ever came up with it is just as gross. I have lost family and friends on both sides in the past two years. It is heart breaking. I no a video game isn't at fault for what is going on but who the fuck get's glory out of reality. And who ever is for this game, shame on you. People are loosing their life's this ain't a fucking game it's real.
ReplyDeleteA thing which causing some terrible problem should be banned.
ReplyDeleteAwesome game
ReplyDelete