Twitters to the Editor: BCFx is the most racist game
ever

In games writing you have to be very cautious when bringing up the race card, particularly after the lynching of Resident Evil 5's orginal art direction (see what I did there?). I'm the type that would rather see people discuss their racial baggage out in the open, so I thought I'd publish this brief note from a reader in response to Black College Football the Xperience, a PC game that's now coming to the Xbox 360.  Alex (aka some white guy) writes:

"Are they serious? I could only imagine the outrage that people would be crying if this game were to be called White College Football instead?"

Chew on that for a sec while I go off-topic. I was at CVS about a month ago buying my usual fare of liver-melting energy drinks when I noticed a peculiar issue on the free stuff rack.  It read "Divorce Magazine." I'm serious. Divorce Magazine? I couldn't stop laughing. Not because divorce is funny obviously, but because I'm used to seeing hobby topics like sports fishing or sluts on cars. I guess "Coping with ya Broken Marriage Mag" is less catchy. Still, the name isn't poor per se, it just has a strong, polarizing effect. You'll either be drawn to it or repelled by it.

It's easy to raise an eyebrow about a game called Black College Football because, true to his point, there aren't any games called White Man's Frizbee or whatever. Race-related? Sure. Crap name? Maybe. But not racist. BCFx  is perhaps as racist as a 1900's baseball tribute game might be, but you bet it would cause a stir if that game was called White Baseball Season. I think that's what Alex is getting at, anyway.

Was it smart of developer/publisher Aspyr to run with this name?  More specifically, had they marketed it as something like "HBCU Campus Football" would it have been better received? Sold wider/Less niche? Non-issue?  Discuss!

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