Publisher Take Two Interactive has announced that it is to remove several contentious phrases from future copies of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, following an ultimatum from New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg became involved in a debate over the portrayal of the Haitian community in the game following protests at New York's City Hall, with Haitian-Americans - spurred on by sensationalist media reporting - claiming that the game encouraged racist violence.
The main objection of the groups is to a mission in the game where the central character is instructed to "Kill all the Haitians" - a statement made in reference to a Haitian drug cartel, rather than Haitians in general, but which has been taken entirely out of context by both the US media and the Haitian community groups.
Matters reached a head earlier this week when Mayor Bloomberg threatened Take Two with legal action if it did not remove the phrase from the game, stating that "if I don't get a decent response, we are going to do everything we possibly can."
gamesindustry.biz
Bloomberg became involved in a debate over the portrayal of the Haitian community in the game following protests at New York's City Hall, with Haitian-Americans - spurred on by sensationalist media reporting - claiming that the game encouraged racist violence.
The main objection of the groups is to a mission in the game where the central character is instructed to "Kill all the Haitians" - a statement made in reference to a Haitian drug cartel, rather than Haitians in general, but which has been taken entirely out of context by both the US media and the Haitian community groups.
Matters reached a head earlier this week when Mayor Bloomberg threatened Take Two with legal action if it did not remove the phrase from the game, stating that "if I don't get a decent response, we are going to do everything we possibly can."
gamesindustry.biz
