Is Pocket God Racist?

If you are an iPhone owner who hasn't heard of Pocket God by now, it is about time you check it out.  The game has been at or near the top of the top paid applications list at the App Store basically ever since it has been released.  Being in the limelight definitely has its perks, but as always, it also has its drawbacks.  According to Pocket Gamer via Brisbane Times, Pocket God is now being labeled as racist game by some groups. Pocket God allows you to be "God" to a group of islanders.  You are able to manipulate nearly every aspect of the island, including the villagers themselves in a variety of ways.  You can feed them coconuts, strike them with lighting, or even feed them to the sharks.  It is this behavior along with the depictions of the islanders that has some people all fired up. Elaine Howard of the International Pacific Women's Information Network has sent a complaint to both Apple and Bolt, saying the game is an "arrogant slap in the face to our people."

"How do you think people would react if you created a game where you were God and you could create and kill as many Mexicans as you wanted? Or Asians?" wrote Howard, who lives in the US.

"People would be outraged."

It's not just Howard who is offended by the game, Dr. Malakai Koloamatangi who is a Pacific academic from New Zealand's Canterbury University agrees with her, stating that he found the game to be "totally degrading."

"To claim they are not Pacific islanders is ridiculous. Everything about them is Polynesian," said Koloamatangi. "How can they justify encouraging the torture of a race in this way? It's disgusting."

The developer of the game, Bolt Creative, has taken the time to respond to the claims stating that they apologize for any offense taken, "but insist that such offense is misplaced."

"The fictional characters in Pocket God do not directly or indirectly represent any human nationality, race or cultural people," they wrote. "Bolt Creative does not intend and has never intended to offend or marginalise any nationality, race or culture in any of its video games, including Pocket God."

So what do you think?  Is Pocket God racist?

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