Gaming and Social Issues

[Mendon]

I found a story on GoNintendo about a group called "The Enough Project" which is involved in raising awareness about conflict minerals. I followed the link in the story to the original CNN article:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t2

 

 

The following is from the comments section within the story on GoNintendo and sort of explains the situation:

 

"The Congo is in a state of war, and the minerals (specifically tin) from Congo can fuel that war.

 

The Enough Project is a division of the Center for American Progress, a public policy research and advisory organization, that aims at working to end genocide and crimes against humanity.

 

According to the International Rescue Committee, an estimated 5.4 million people have died from war-related causes in central Africa (this includes starvation, disease, and murder) since 1998, with this tin and minerals trade playing a part in the reason for this happening (mostly the indirect funding of this). They aim at stopping the money reaching the hands of warlords, armed forces and groups (many of which have and abuse slaves for labor), and corrupt government leaders, and to make the technological industry not one founded on the backs of war (and thus create a sort of "war economy").

 

Many companies (Intel, Dell, Microsoft, Apple, etc.) have gotten wise, and have found ways to "trace" the sources of their trade partners to make sure none of it goes towards waging war. According to the Enough Project, this has made the trade "less bloody" in their words. The Enough Project claims that these companies have done their due diligence basically to make a clean profit without any blood on their hands.

 

However, Canon, Nikon, Sharp, HTC and Nintendo have received criticism from the Enough Project for not taking enough steps to make sure that their involvement in this trade hasn't resulted in bloodshed. Nintendo got the lowest possible rating, a zero, for in the Enough Project's eyes for refusing "to acknowledge the issue or demonstrate they are making any sort of effort on it," according to Enough Project senior adviser Sasha Lezhnev.

 

Nintendo, to counter this, is stating that their production partners (basically, who they buy the material from, who are the people who buy it from Central Africa) are in charge of buying the materials, and knowing which sources are "clean" and which sources are not. Nintendo also stated, "We nonetheless take our social responsibilities as a global company very seriously and expect our production partners to do the same." This (from my perspective) is a sign that they are about to stop doing business, at least to a certain extent, with some of these companies.

 

Based partially on legal changes, legal enforcement, and the technology industries' growing desire to know who and what their sources of trade are, armed groups have made 65% less money over the past 2 years.

 

 

I read the CNN article and realized that for me, this is the first time a social issue of this magnitude has been raised regarding a hobby, video gaming, that I indulge in. Yeah, there have been arguments about violence, sex, profanity, etc within games, but I don't think those issues are on a comparable level to what the CNN article and Enough Project are discussing.

 

At this point, moments after reading the article, I'm not sure what to think or how to respond.

 

So I'm curious:

 

Would an issue like this affect your decision at all when it comes to making a purchase?

Or would an issue such as this inspire you to write a letter to a company?

Or perhaps we should just leave issues out of gaming because we all need a place to escape to in order to get away from "reality"?

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or comments.

 

 

Mendon

Edited August 16, 2012 by Mendon

[Reaperman]

Nope, doesn't really factor into my opinion of them. I'd do the same.

Grab the least expensive source for manufacturing and have them build a product. Let them worry about any moral issues because I would owe it to my shareholders to make the most money possible.

 

As a side note, when I was growing up, I did kind of dream of one day becoming a conflict diamond runner. It still sounds like a pretty awesome job. For a while netflix had a documentary on them which I really enjoyed. There was also that james bond movie with a conflict diamond plot.

 

Conflict tin seems pretty lame by comparison, though.

Edited August 16, 2012 by Reaperman

[Hyper_Eye]

Unlike the debate over whether or not violence in gaming causes violence in people, etc. this is an issue that is indisputable. We have long known that a lot of these minerals from the Congo were coming from violent groups responsible for thousands of deaths. In many cases we know the workers are slave labor. Many many cell phones, laptops, and other gadgets were made using these resources. It wasn't until enough noise was made that companies started doing anything about it. The changes that resulted from that attention have had a measurable affect.

 

So it is really up to you what you think the proper course of action is now that you are aware of this issue. Some people really don't care about stuff like this. Then again some people don't care about anyone but themselves. If you feel strongly enough that you want to write Nintendo about it go for it. For me, if I knew one company was making a product using these materials and another company that purposefully avoids these materials was making a comparable product, I would choose the latter product.

[cimerians]

"We nonetheless take our social responsibilities as a global company very seriously and expect our production partners to do the same." -- Nintendo

 

Hahaha.

I remember since the 90's they have been pretty brutal on social/environment issues. One sample:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/report/2010/1/nintendo-guide-to-greener-electronics-14.pdf

[Rex Dart]

I'd rather not worry myself silly about where every last bit of every last component comes from. Sorry, Congo!

[godslabrat]

The immediate knee-jerk reaction to seeing something like this is to say "I don't want to support these awful people, and if Nintendo isn't going to change their ways, I'm going to boycott them so that I can feel like I'm making a difference!!!" It's an understandable, even logical reaction, but with issues as global and complex as this, I've learned that it helps to step back and look at the big picture.

 

First, how far does Nintendo's chain of responsibility extend? Like they said, they buy from suppliers, their primary concerns should be the fitness of their supplies compared to the price. Sure, Nintendo probably should verify that their suppliers are conflict-free. But it doesn't have to end there... what about the working conditions of their workers? Are they buying from countries that oppress women/minorities/gays/midgets/carny folk? Could their supply chain in any roundabout way fund terrorism? These are all controversial topics which have been used to call out companies over the past few years, and while none of them are unimportant, at some point you have to expect a global corporation to just say "Look, we need six million widgets by Tuesday. Who can deliver?"

 

Second, conflict minerals are one very narrow issue. Sure, you can boycott Nintendo in favor of Sony because they're "greener" on that, but how hard do you have to look at Sony before you find an area where they fail just as badly? It's like the old argument "Paper bags vs. Plastic bags", do you consume fossil fuels or cut down trees? Neither option is ideal but you still need to get those groceries home. You can skip Nintendo in favor of Sony, but I guarantee they have some area where they fail... not because they're an evil, heartless corporation (and they are) but just because it's a complex world, and there are few perfect solutions.

 

So if you read this, and you can't buy Nintendo stuff anymore, I respect that. I just don't think issues like this are ever that simple.

[SlowCoder]

I was thinking just that, godslabrat, but I had no idea how to spill it. Great job!

 

War is hard to deal with. Most of the time it's due to someone getting bothered by a hair up their butt, and having nothing better to do with their day. Other times, it's useful, such as the establishment of human rights.

 

On top of that, I don't think this really affects the gaming hobby in any special way. Sure, Nintendo was named, and they make games, but I could say the same about cameras and cell phones.

[Hyper_Eye]

The answer is reusable cloth bags. They are sturdier than both anyway. Of course issues like this are complex and there are always going to be other issues. If everyone looked at every issue and decided they shouldn't worry about it because there are undoubtedly other issues that are just as much of a concern, these things would just pile up and none of them would be dealt with. The point is to target the things we are aware of and get better by correcting them as they become known. Nintendo has a profit motive but I don't. I can hold them responsible for dealing with suppliers that are providing them with conflict minerals. When enough people hold them accountable that lost profit outweighs cost savings then even the shareholders will agree with attending to the problem. That is a very difficult thing to achieve but that doesn't mean I should throw my hands in the air and forget about it. On the other hand I don't consider people who are unaware of these issues or unconcerned by them to be irresponsible. That's their choice.

[GodzillaIsMyCopilot]

It won't affect my buying decisions, as long as this is followed through on:

 

Nintendo, to counter this, is stating that their production partners (basically, who they buy the material from, who are the people who buy it from Central Africa) are in charge of buying the materials, and knowing which sources are "clean" and which sources are not. Nintendo also stated, "We nonetheless take our social responsibilities as a global company very seriously and expect our production partners to do the same." This (from my perspective) is a sign that they are about to stop doing business, at least to a certain extent, with some of these companies.

[GKC]

I support Nintendo's War of Terror!

[Schizophretard]

You could buy used Nintendo products.

[Vic George 2K3]

How about social issues IN videogaming, how some games tend to mirror current social issues right in the games themselves? Like how Bioshock seems to point to the combined result of unfettered capitalism defined by Ayn Rand and atheism working together, or Dragon Age II dealing with racial and religious issues with great divides forming over who's supporting who.

[ninjarabbit]

I might as well start boycotting almost every major company in the world and be a caveman living in a cave because almost every major company in the world has done something questionable at some point in its history intentionally or unintentionally.

[Protoplasym]

I might as well start boycotting almost every major company in the world and be a caveman living in a cave because almost every major company in the world has done something questionable at some point in its history intentionally or unintentionally.

 

truth ^ You have my vote

[Hyper_Eye]

Sure let's pretend like all things are equal. After all, it would be too hard to exercise judgement or to utilize our ability to engage in critical thinking.