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Polaris of Enlightenment

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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https://nordictimes.com/culture/sony-cancels-politically-correct-video-game/

Culture

Sony cancels politically correct video game

Cultural revolution in the West

Published 6 September 2024
– By Editorial Staff
The character "Bazz" in the game Concord is based on LGBT and trans activist Mila Jam (Jahmila Adderley).
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Sony has decided to shut down its new video game Concord just two weeks after its release. Despite years of development and millions of dollars invested, the game has received a cold reception from gamers who say political correctness and high costs contributed to its failure.

Concord, a five-on-five shoot-em-up game from Firewalk Studio, has become one of the gaming world’s biggest flops in record time.

Despite expectations of success, the reception from both critics and gamers was far from what Sony had hoped for. In a statement on the PlayStation blog, it was announced that the game’s servers would be shut down on September 6, meaning the game didn’t even last two weeks on the market.

“We have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6, 2024, and explore options, including those that will better reach our players

Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC.

If you purchased the game for PlayStation 5 from the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct, a refund will be issued back to your original payment method

We’ll keep you updated and thank you again to all the Freegunners who have joined us in the Concord galaxy”

The money back

For the few players who did invest in the game, rumored to be fewer than 25,000 people, their money will be refunded. This is hardly likely to ease the disappointment of the game’s sudden closure.

“Is Concord the biggest flop in gaming history?”, many ask, and there are many indications that this may be the case.

Even in the beta stage, it was clear that the game would face challenges. While some players appreciated the game’s shooting mechanics and map design, there was also strong criticism of the game’s balance issues and political correctness.

The majority of players express their dissatisfaction on social platforms by calling the game, for example, “mediocre woke garbage” and pointing out that the company behind it “even imposes pronouns in the game for no reason”.

Identity politics

The criticism reflects a broader dissatisfaction among players who feel the game places too much emphasis on identity politics at the expense of game quality. One of the most controversial features of the game was the introduction of ‘Bazz’, a black trans woman as one of the 16 playable characters.

The black LGBTQ and transgender activist, whose real name is Jahmila Adderley, shared the news in an Instagram post where she revealed that she had given her voice and image to the character “Bazz”.

– I had to go for a walk because I just don’t like it when PlayStation wants to turn me into the baddest, knife-wielding assassin in all the land. That’s right, yours truly as free-gunner Bazz in PlayStation’s new multi-player video game Concord.

Critics see the character as an attempt to push a political agenda, rather than focusing on the core of the game – having fun.

Too expensive

The price of the game has also been a contributing factor to its failure. In an era where competing games like Overwatch and Valorant are free to play, many have questioned Sony’s $40 pricing.

Research analyst Rhys Elliott summarized the situation to gaming site IGN.

– Sadly, making a fun, high-quality shooter is not enough in the oversaturated live-service space these days. A tight-knit group of players might be willing to take a chance on a new game for free, but paying $40 (£30) is a big ask in today’s climate, he argues.

With hundreds of millions of dollars invested and eight years of development behind it, Concord now stands as one of the biggest failures in gaming history.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/world/books-published-before-2008-are-being-cancelled-in-canada/

World

Canadian school district cancels books published before 2008

Cultural revolution in the West

Published 8 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
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Schools in Ontario are removing books published before 2008 to make school libraries more “inclusive”. Among the removed books are the Harry Potter series and The Diary of Anne Frank.

This year, Canada’s Minister of Education issued a directive to make school library collections more inclusive. The Peel District School Board (PDSB), one of Ontario’s largest school districts, responded by distributing guidelines to schools.

“The Board shall evaluate books, media and all other resources currently in use for teaching and learning English, History and Social Sciences for the purpose of utilizing resources that are inclusive and culturally responsive, relevant and reflective of students, and the Board’s broader school communities”, the directive reads.

Books published before 2008 were to be reviewed and removed as necessary.

When Takata, a student at Erindale Secondary School, returned after summer break this fall, half of the library’s books were gone.

– This year, I came into my school library and there are rows and rows of empty shelves with absolutely no books, she told CBS.

Anne Frank removed

Takata is one of many students and parents concerned about the extensive book removals. Critics argue that some libraries have removed books solely because they were published before 2008. Takata believes students should have been asked which books should be saved.

– No one asked for our opinions. I feel that taking away books without anyone’s knowledge is considered censorship, she said.

Books removed from the library include the entire Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games. Additionally, The Diary of Anne Frank and the children’s classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar have been removed from other schools, according to teachers.

“Causes Harm”

The new book removal process involves several steps, where quality is defined as “resources that promote anti-racism, cultural responsiveness and inclusivity”. Books are to be removed if they “cause harm”, either due to poor condition posing a health risk or because they are “not inclusive, culturally responsive, relevant, or accurate”.

All libraries remove books to some extent every year, but Takata worries that the new, more extreme directives deviate from the norm and risk erasing important history.

– I think authors who wrote about Japanese internment camps will be erased, and the entire historical development of Japanese Canadians will be removed. That worries me a lot, she said.

“Rolled Out Incorrectly”

The group Libraries Not Landfills, formed in response to the new directives to protect school library collections, shares Takata’s concerns. The group, which supports traditional book weeding, consists of parents, retired teachers, and other community members.

– Who’s the arbiter of what’s the right material to go in the library, and who’s the arbiter of what’s wrong in our libraries? That’s unclear, said Tom Ellard, a parent and founder of the group. It’s not clear to the teachers who’ve provided us this material, and it’s not clear to me as a parent or as a taxpayer.

David Green, chair of the PDSB board, admits the new book removal process was “rolled out incorrectly” and that the goal was never to remove all books published before 2008.

– We have asked the Director [of Education] again to make sure that if that is taking place, then that is stopped, and then the proper process is followed, he said.

It remains unclear if books that may have been mistakenly removed will be returned to the affected school libraries.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/europe/bbc-nominates-man-for-list-of-inspiring-women/

Europe

BBC nominates man for list of inspiring women

Cultural revolution in the West

Published 6 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
The BBC named Colombian biologist Brigitte Baptiste, whose research “explores the connection between biodiversity and gender identity through a queer perspective”, one of the most inspiring women of the year.
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The BBC’s decision to include a biological male in its prestigious list of the year’s most influential women is facing fierce criticism. Opposition to the nomination is based on the accelerating trend that the definition of femininity no longer has to do with biology but more with what individuals feel like identifying themselves as.

The BBC’s taxpayer-funded 100 Women list aims to recognize women of significant influence around the world. However, this year’s edition has provoked strong reactions.

Among the names included is Colombian biologist Brigitte Baptiste (born Luis Guillermo Baptiste), a biological man who now identifies as a lesbian.

The BBC describes Baptiste as a “trans woman” whose research “explores the connection between biodiversity and gender identity through a queer perspective”.

Baptiste’s research has been criticized in the past, including for claims of “transsexual palms”. A theory Baptiste presented in 2018 that questions the concept of “naturalness” in nature.

BBC: “We pride ourselves”

The BBC has faced criticism for its decisions in the past. Earlier this year, the corporation awarded Zambian professional footballer Barbra Banda the Footballer of the Year award, despite organizers excluding Banda from the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations due to borderline testosterone levels.

BBC Barbra Banda
Barbra Banda. Photo: facsimile/BBC

Fiona Crack, founder of the BBC’s 100 Women initiative, defends the choice of Baptiste and other controversial nominations.

– We pride ourselves on shining a spotlight on exceptional women – from celebrities to those whose remarkable contributions often go unrecognised, she says.

Critics say decisions like this undermine the purpose of the list, which is to highlight the achievements of biological women. Some observers also see it as an attempt to change established definitions and social norms, which they say could threaten the recognition and protection of women’s rights.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/culture/norwegian-publisher-pulls-selma-lagerlof-classic-citing-racist-content/

Culture

Norwegian publisher pulls Selma Lagerlöf classic citing racist content

Cultural revolution in the West

Published 18 November 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Selma Lagerlöf's Kristuslegender (Christ Legends) was originally published in 1904.
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Selma Lagerlöf is widely regarded as one of Sweden’s greatest writers of all time, with classics such as Gösta Berling’s Saga, Jerusalem and The Wonderful Adventures of Nils.

At the same time, Lagerlöf’s texts are considered highly problematic and inappropriate by today’s politically correct cultural elite. Now, the Norwegian publisher Verbum has announced that it will stop selling her book Christ Legends – on the grounds that it is ‘racist’.

Originally published in 1904, the short story collection Christ Legends describes how three men meet Jesus, who performs miracles and cures them of ailments.

The first man is old and becomes young again, the second is a leper but is healed by Jesus’ blessing – and the third is a black man whom Jesus transforms into “a beautiful white man”.

It is the latter description that is said to be extremely racist and unacceptable. Verbum’s publishing director Fredrik Berentsen deeply regrets that the book was not censored.

– What happened is probably that the editors in 2002 did not pay attention and thought that it was already a quality-assured text, he says, promising to stop selling the book immediately.

– The latest edition has sold 1,500 copies and nobody has complained to us about this. But it’s clearly our responsibility that this has been left behind, so we just have to regret that we have done too bad a job. But we will stop selling the remaining 400 books of the edition immediately.

“A punch in the stomach”

The reason the publisher stopped selling Lagerlöf’s classic is that parts of the Norwegian cultural establishment – including library researcher Anne Kristin Lande – condemned the book’s content.

– It goes without saying that this happened in the 1950s, but that Verbum Publishing thought it was okay to publish such racist texts in 2002 and 2013 is incomprehensible, she says.

– When I came to the sentence that he was transformed into a white man, I felt it like a punch in the stomach, says Halvor Moxnes, professor emeritus of theology.

Literary scholar Kari Løvaas argues that the book was written “in a racist age” – but that the publisher should write a “contextualising preface” to avoid offending the country’s students, rather than stop selling the book altogether.

The fact that older works are either censored or not reprinted at all is not unique to Lagerlöf’s works, but is now almost standard procedure when allegedly sexist or racist passages are found – with Femböckerna, Pippi Långstrump and Ture Sventon being just three of countless such examples.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/tech/microsoft-criticized-for-politically-correct-language-review/

Tech

Microsoft criticized for politically correct language correction tool

Cultural revolution in the West

Published 4 November 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Words like “mom” and “dad” are examples of words that the Inclusiveness Checker would like the Office Word user to replace.
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Microsoft’s Inclusiveness Checker language tool, in its Office Word software, has sparked debate about the tech giant’s role in regulating word choice and language management. It flags terms and expressions with the aim of suggesting “inclusive alternatives”, which critics say is a form of censorship.

Since its introduction five years ago, the Inclusiveness Checker has become part of Microsoft Word and other programs such as PowerPoint and Outlook.

The tool is designed to detect words with possible gender, age or cultural nuances in meaning, and then suggests alternatives that are considered more inclusive.

Users can choose to disable the feature, but when it is enabled, it will suggest, for example, “parental leave” instead of “maternity leave” and “postal worker” instead of “postman”.

The feature has been heavily criticized by free speech activists who see it as an interference with linguistic freedom. Toby Young, head of the UK-based Free Speech Union, warns that the feature is reminiscent of a dystopian future similar to that in George Orwell’s novel 1984.

– It’s as though there’s a censor in your computer scolding you for departing from politically correct orthodoxy, says Young.

Musk: “Microsoft now scolds you”

Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has also expressed opposition to the tool. Musk states that he was recently flagged by the feature when he typed the word “insane“, and questions whether Microsoft is now trying to dictate users’ language choices.

– Microsoft Word now scolds you if you use words that aren’t “inclusive”, he comments.

The checker is currently only available to customers who subscribe to the Windows maker’s $7 a month Microsoft 365 subscription plan.

The Inclusiveness Checker is part of a broader trend of tech companies introducing “inclusive language” features, which critics say pose a risk to both freedom of expression in general and self-determination in personal writing.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com