May 21, 2010, - 2:36 pm
Google, Pac-Man, and 9/11
If you tried to use Google today, you probably noted that the site/company/internet behemoth is celebrating the fact that today is the 30th anniversary of the video game, Pac-Man. The Google homepage also has a cool online version of the game, and I admit I played. I had very mild “Pac-Man Fever” back in the day and still enjoy playing it on the rare occasion I’m in a place with the retro video game. Still, is this really cause for celebration? An old school video game’s anniversary? Who cares?
I contrast this celebration by Google with the fact that, as I noted back then, the site/company/internet gorilla did NOTHING–absolutely nothing!–to commemorate the 8th anniversary of 9/11, last year. Competitor search engines, Bing and Dogpile, did commemorate the day and remember the attacks on Americans. Apparently, to Google, remembering the invention of a passe video game is far more important than remembering Islamic terrorist attacks, which murdered 3,000 Americans on U.S. soil. Why? Ask Google. No one is asking for a game, just a somber photo in good taste, as Bing did.
And please don’t tell me this is because Google doesn’t recognize countries or ethnicities and their holidays. Google had a giant green design celebrating this year’s St. Patrick’s Day. Do you think they thought twice about offending Irish Protestants who wear orange on that day? Apparently, not.
But recognize one of the most violent–if not the most violent, in terms of lives taken–days in American history, nah. Google can’t offend Muslims and the politically correct forces that be.
So, let’s focus on more important stuff . . . like the invention of a game most people haven’t played in two decades. Influential pop culture is one thing. But Pac-Man’s influence is long gone. The most famous “Pac-Man” today is a thuggish NFL player who owns a lot of guns and throws money in the air at strip clubs, putting people permanently in wheel-chairs. And history should trump pop culture. How sad that to Google it’s the other way around. A sad reflection on America’s current and more-rapidly escalating downward state.
Happy Birthday, Pac-Man. I liked you. I still do. But 3,000 Americans’ mass murder is more important than you are.
Tags: 30, 30th, 911, anniversary, Birthday, Google, Pac-Man, Pacman, thirtieth, thirty
Well I’m torn by your thoughts on this.
One half says that pacman was a huge deal in terms of videogaming history, and was the first icon of videogames. And by the way, many people STILL play it.
But the other half says that it’s sad that we are supposed to care more about a videogame than the most horrfic act commited against america since pearl harbor.
Now with that said, google has no business even celebrating this. Leave it to the videogame media and people like me.
Squirrel3D on May 21, 2010 at 3:16 pm