"Shocking racial insensitivity in videogames both began and hit its very peak at the same time with the release of Custer's Revenge for the Atari 2600. You know, that game with the priapic general negotiating a field of raining arrows to repeatedly rape a naked Indian maiden tied to a post. Really, that's pretty damn hard to top. So this time, we're going to look at sheer quantity of racial caricatures rather than simple ability to offend.
- 5. Spanish for Everyone
- Every bit as important as educating children in other languages is teaching them about other cultures, and it just makes sense to do both at the same time. And by "teach children about other cultures," we mean, "instill in them a deep and abiding fear of foreigners." Spanish for Everyone gets off to a great start, with your Hispanic friend accidentally stealing your DS and taking off in a shady-looking car that's being chased across the border by police cars. Thankfully, a sultry, innuendo-spouting señorita will give you a lift as far as Tijuana, and along the way she "can teach you many things, and Spanish is definitely one of them." Edutainment is awesome! It only gets weirder from there. Your second lesson is taught by a talking bull, who eventually departs to "fight in the coliseum of man against the evil red devil." Followed by a trip to a ramshackle town full of foreboding music, where you are next aided by an "exporter" who has business with the people who own the cop-chased car from the intro. When you finally catch the kid who took your DS, he apologizes for the misunderstanding and happily gives it back...but meanwhile your exporter friend has left you with a mysterious package and a plane ticket to France. Hm. It's far and away the least offensive game in our lineup, but something about all that definitely gives us the willies."
System: DS | Release Date: 2007 | Publisher: Activision
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