PS2 incites African War?

[mailman187666]

http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/playstation-2-component-incites-african-war/1231745

it sounds kinda of far fetched to blame Sony I think. Did Microsoft pay to have this article made?

[namzep]

I read that earlier today. Since it sounds like alot of electronics actually use parts made with that stuff I find it odd that Sony is the only name really mentioned in the article. I know the PS2 sold alot but I'm sure there are more CD-players, computers, etc out there that use parts made out of coltan.

[Atari 5200]

Well, I guess I'm selling my ps2 on the African ebay.

[Oobgarm]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119787

[dsullo]

I swear as I get older - I realize more and more how uninformed or news media is and how they report on "crap" because they have nothing else to say.

[mailman187666]

didn't know this thread already existed, sorry about that.

[ooXxXoo]

Even though, I'm not the biggest Sony fan out there, It is completely ridiculous to blame them for this none sense BS......Tantalum has been used in billions and billions of electronic devices since way back before the PS2 was even think of.....
Tantalum capacitors among others are great and required for several purposes....

[MrSparkle]

wacky waving arms inflatable tube man!

wacky waving arms inflatable tube man!

wacky waving arms inflatable tube man!

wacky waving arms inflatable tube man!

SENSATIONALIST BULLSHIT NEWS STORY!!

[Sanriostar]

:above me:

[TonyTheTiger]

All things considered, it's a plausible story. Nothing about it screams sensationalist to me outside of singling out the Playstation. There are rare metals. Or at least rare enough to give them some value. Platinum, anyone? Even gold and silver are a wee bit higher than bargain bin prices. So the idea that a metal needed for constructing electronic components causes the price of that metal to soar thereby inciting violence in a place like the Congo is a pretty believable story. Of course that begs a question. What do you do about it?

Do you start mass boycotting electronics? Perhaps. That might eventually cause manufacturers to find alternatives. But that's like cutting off a wart. It's just going to grow back because the infection is deeper in the skin. Even if Sony did stop using that metal, it won't do much to solve the real problem because the people in that area of Africa will look for anything to fight over. They'd kill over peanut butter if it's price went up. So where do you start if your goal is to stop the violence?

[rbudrick]

wacky waving arms inflatable tube man!

wacky waving arms inflatable tube man!

wacky waving arms inflatable tube man!

wacky waving arms inflatable tube man!

SENSATIONALIST BULLSHIT NEWS STORY!!

Pff, lolz! Took me a second. Funny as shit! HAHA! :D

-Rob

[diskoboy]

A war in Africa!!??


Wow! They're such peaceful people! Especially in Darfur. [/sarcam]

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

A war in Africa!!??


Wow! They're such peaceful people! Especially in Darfur. [/sarcam]
Almost as peaceful as us Americans, eh?

*drops bomb on Iraqi wedding*

Oops.


...word is bondage...

[diskoboy]

Almost as peaceful as us Americans, eh?

*drops bomb on Iraqi wedding*

Oops.


...word is bondage...

This country was founded through violence.

America, fuck yeah! (Sorry. Been watching Team America...)

[badinsults]

I have some serious issues with what happened in the Second Congolese War, which was largely funded by the illegal mineral trade. Most western countries turned a blind eye as they got their minerals for cheap (and yes, tantalum was one of the main things). Over 5 million people died in that war, which ended in 2003, but its effects still linger. In fact, I still think there should be a boycott of minerals from Congo until things are more stable. I recently quit my job, because there was a very good chance I would have had to go there to do geophysics, and I refuse to go there.

[Press_Start]

All things considered, it's a plausible story. Nothing about it screams sensationalist to me outside of singling out the Playstation. There are rare metals. Or at least rare enough to give them some value. Platinum, anyone? Even gold and silver are a wee bit higher than bargain bin prices. So the idea that a metal needed for constructing electronic components causes the price of that metal to soar thereby inciting violence in a place like the Congo is a pretty believable story.

The PS2 name dropping in the title is evident of society's long list of "What to blame video games on".

While they're at it why not spin these titles:

"Sonic Games Leading Cause for Obesity in America"
"Lunatic Shoots JFK After Playing 72 Hours on Halo"
"President Bush Says He Grew Up with Video Games"

[TonyTheTiger]

The PS2 name dropping in the title is evident of society's long list of "What to blame video games on".

While they're at it why not spin these titles:

"Sonic Games Leading Cause for Obesity in America"
"Lunatic Shoots JFK After Playing 72 Hours on Halo"
"President Bush Says He Grew Up with Video Games"

The difference is that none of those stories are true. The connection between Sonic and obesity or Halo and the JFK shooting is nil. Whereas in this story it's probably accurate. The Playstation probably does require that metal. And the price of that metal probably did increase. And that price increase probably did lead to violence. The story isn't necessarily sensationalist. It's just unfairly singling out the Playstation brand. I'd imagine TV sets, DVD players and other game consoles require the same material. But just because they're pointing the finger at one participant instead of all doesn't make it a bullshit story.

The irony is that if the story went something like "Electronics incite warfare in Africa" then it would sound even more sensationalist because of the universal nature of the topic. The problem is that even if the Playstation is a major contributor to the price increase and thus vicariously connected to the violence, what does that mean? That Sony is evil for selling an electronic device? That we are evil for buying it? That we should stop buying anything made with that metal?

[SegaAges]

This country was founded through violence.

America, fuck yeah! (Sorry. Been watching Team America...)

America, fuck yeah!
so lick on my ass and suck on my balls

Sorry, that part cracks me up everytime I hear it

[Icarus Moonsight]

The story isn't necessarily sensationalist. It's just unfairly singling out the Playstation brand. I'd imagine TV sets, DVD players and other game consoles require the same material. But just because they're pointing the finger at one participant instead of all doesn't make it a bullshit story.

Playing with the facts to make a statement like this article obviously does? That is the very nature of sensationalist journalism and is very much bullshit. The writer is obviously attempting to play on the emotions of the reader rather than appeal to their rationale. All the actual good they may have done was betrayed and wasted by the writer when they decided to go this route and 'make a splash'.

In order for one to benefit one must suffer? Yeah, greed breeds suffering, that's life. It's like pinning the global poverty issue squarely on Bill Gates... it's complete crap.

[TonyTheTiger]

No, no. I'm not saying that the end goal of the report (whatever that may be) is something to jump into head first. But the sheer facts themselves don't have to be bullshit. Playstations require the metal. The metal is a source of violence. Where's the bullshit? If something is true then it's true. You can't start denying facts because they aren't exactly fun and happy.

Frankly, though, I think that even if this metal weren't being used the people over there would find something else to kill over. Maybe next year we'll read a story that talks about how rubber bands cause death and destruction. The real issue is how far we take the but-for logic. After a while, you have to stop somewhere and just say "Yeah, it's fucked up. But we can't start laying the blame on Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo/Toshiba/Samsung/etc. because they sell electronics."

So if the article is just reporting a fact, then no bullshit there. If it's suggesting that we stop buying anything electronic in hopes of stopping the violence...well...that probably won't happen nor would it do much good considering they'd fight over a lump of shit in that region of the world.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Human greed is the source of violence in this case. If not to mine a metal then something else. Scapegoating only detracts from the real problem. If they cared at all they would realize this. Turning the focus on Sony only further distracts people and actually makes it easier for the practitioners of this crap to get away with more of it. It's shameful, it's vile and it's a lie. The best of which are built around truth to better pass themselves off as genuine. In short, I agree. ;)

[Press_Start]

The difference is that none of those stories are true. The connection between Sonic and obesity or Halo and the JFK shooting is nil. Whereas in this story it's probably accurate. The Playstation probably does require that metal. And the price of that metal probably did increase. And that price increase probably did lead to violence. The story isn't necessarily sensationalist.

True, but all had the same underline, "Blame video games for everything". It's the same sensationalist twist no matter how accurate it is, and every pain-staking bend leads to mind-numbing misdirection and falsebound outcry.

When it was revealed the shooters heavily played Doom and Wolfenstein, the media went crazy and distorted in a way that the industry was satan incarnate. Soon after, parents cried in outrage worrying their little angels be brainwashed into some trigger-happy Postal. While the ignoring the FACT that Klebold and Harris were picked on and harassed constantly in school and nobody in the world gave a damn about them was most likely (and often overlooked) underlining cause that has lead such a tragic event.

Bottom line: Poor choice of words. The web publisher/editor/author should be ashamed themselves for lack of judgement in allowing such a thing to put on and feeding more to the propaganda mess that we as gamers as still trying to clean up after.

[TonyTheTiger]

Eh. Frankly, I think it's just par for the course. Why get so bent out of shape over it? People wanted to crucify Elvis at one point for singing Satan's music and now he's such a legend that everyone still sees him everywhere. Everything gets a turn to run through the gauntlet and it never changes anything. If you replace "Playstation" with "Blu-ray Players" the story could be exactly the same and equally true and perhaps equally sensationalist. But I doubt anyone here would be so angry about it if that were the case.

Besides, it's too short of an article to really gather much out of it as far as a purpose goes. I think that you guys are reading it with a predisposition for seeing attacks on video games. If that's what you want to see then that's what you're going to see. But maybe the writer grabbed one of the most successful electronic devices as an anchor with little regard to it being a game console.

After all, a Playstation is just as good for playing a Spongebob game as it is for playing Grand Theft Auto. And the Playstation brand has sold hundreds of millions of consoles. So perhaps the article is more generally activist in that it wants people to stop buying a notably successful device to curb the violence in Africa. Is the connection factual? Probably. Is it sound? Probably not. As I said, these people will kill each other over rubber bands. But in the end, for better or worse, even if a boycott of Playstations would solve all of Africa's problems, nobody is going to do it. Whether that makes us good, bad, or neither is up in the air.


It's the same sensationalist twist no matter how accurate it is

You know, I'm envisioning a situation where someone goes on a killing spree and says very clearly "I did this because I play Grand Theft Auto and thought it would be fun. And it is very fun."

At some point, you have to concede something. In this currently fictitious case, you could try to argue that the video game had nothing to do with it but that seems like a pretty thickheaded thing to do. Clearly the game did have something to do with it. But it's important to work past the bumper sticker ideas of "Video games are always evil" and "Video games are never the source of wrongdoing."

At some point you have to find that middle ground where a person who might already be predisposed to malicious behavior is given ideas from external sources. Now that doesn't have to mean that said person would not have done wrong if he didn't play a video game. But the playing of the game might have helped shape his...creativity...if you will.

Of course that doesn't mean that Rockstar should be sent to the gallows because a nutjob interpreted a work of fiction in a bizarre way. Just like how a baseball bat manufacturer should not be put out of business because some lunatic beat a guy to death with a Louisville Slugger. But if said beating did happen, it wouldn't be sensible to deny that the baseball bat was the weapon of choice. And in the former case, it would be foolish to deny that the video game was the source of inspiration.

I think it's possible to enjoy a medium and not feel obligated to defend it to the death each and every time something goes awry.

[Press_Start]

I think that you guys are reading it with a predisposition for seeing attacks on video games. If that's what you want to see then that's what you're going to see. But maybe the writer grabbed one of the most successful electronic devices as an anchor with little regard to it being a game console.


"Playstation 2 component incites African war
Console war reaches past the couch and into the Congo, claims report.

Has the video game industry dug up its very own blood diamond?"

After reading the first few lines, how can you not?

Politics and video games are like alcohol and flamethrowers. Two things that should never go together, cause details will be blurred, mistakes will be made and we end up getting burned.

[badinsults]

"Playstation 2 component incites African war
Console war reaches past the couch and into the Congo, claims report.

Has the video game industry dug up its very own blood diamond?"

After reading the first few lines, how can you not?

Politics and video games are like alcohol and flamethrowers. Two things that should never go together, cause details will be blurred, mistakes will be made and we end up getting burned.

Yeah, and to put the blame on the Playstation 2 release is retarded. The Second Congolese War began in 1998, and there was more to it than tantalum. The Congo is probably the richest country in terms of mineral wealth behind Canada, Australia and South Africa, and Rwanada and Uganda wanted it all. Though a relative peace is there now, I think that things will erupt again, because there are so many bad governments in Africa.

[s1lence]

I like how Japan wasn't mentioned in the article......


I guess they didn't play the PS2 at all????

[smork]

there was a very good chance I would have had to go there to do geophysics

As a fellow geophysicist, I wonder how one "does geophysics"...

Though I must admit the Congo is pretty far down the list of places I'd like to be posted as well...

[Icarus Moonsight]

As a fellow geophysicist, I wonder how one "does geophysics"...

My guess: You grab a rock and a painting of Newton and start gettin' jiggy with it. ;)

[G-Boobie]

Bah. Tantalum is used in almost everything with a circuit board. This is another example of the media using the terrifying specter of video games to get views.

[s1lence]

But Video Games are scary...


(Goes back to killing Aliens on my American PS2)