Is there a balcony in Rapture?

This week, Parris is riding solo and he is headed to the balcony. You asked for it, so now you are going to get the long over due rant about racism on Xbox Live, this is absolutely one conversation you do not want to miss!

There is also some game called Bioshock 2 releasing this week and I also have a conference call with the developers of the game from 2K Marin and Digital Extremes. I wasn't very excited for this sequel but after this conference call, I can't return to Rapture soon enough.

If you enjoy our show and would like to support us, please leave us positive feedback on iTunes so that we can reach more listeners. If you'd like to give us your comments on this week's show, you can email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or leave us a voicemail at 206-495-1732 (all long distance charges apply) and let us know what you think! You never know, you may hear your voice on a future episode of UncleGamer Radio!

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Comments (20)

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TinPanAlley said:

... Great freaking episode. Saying what needs to be said... Hope it gets to the right people.

February 07, 2010

Blackflash said:

... Great show Parris, and i must say that this is exactly why I am still reluctant to renew my Xbox Live subscription, I kind of got tired of all the racism. I'm really glad you put this out there and let's hope someone is listening.

February 07, 2010

ooopy said:

... Parris you have said something that needs to be done. I don't play online in multiplayer rooms without my friends, as a female I don't like the abuse. As you know when I first started out on xbox, I was part of the same community as you and I never ventured out and played with the general gamer. I was lucky I had a friends list that was always full, however I left that community and went out on my own and what a difference. I saw the racism and the gender abuse etc. I agree something needs to be done on this. I know one problem with your solution though is when you said 10 unique complaints it really has to be complaints from people that aren't connected. If I was in a room playing MW2 and the other 15 in the room were all friends, if they put a complaint in on me I would be in trouble, or if they told their friends to file a complaint on me. Some people would be inaccurately attacked however I know that there is something that needs to be done. I know when I was at PAX 2009, it was told to me that they are hoping to come up with a way to break down the reports so if they racial, sexual harassment etc. I was also informed that every complaint that goes into xbox is handled by a person and not by machine so I know with it being done that way more staff is needed or a change of how to spot things will have to change. I look forward to seeing the change. I'm glad you brought this up, its truly an important item. I know grown men who have especially with the sexual/homo comments have started to act the same as others. They go into a room and smart ass comments are being made to them by strangers and instead of muting them, they act the same way and the room can change from a fun playing room to a room of who can insult and be more disgusting. Soon as the players who joined the lobby leave, the room goes back to just playing and having fun and no out of place comments. So I believe the circle is growing as people aren't muting but fighting back with the same talk which makes it grow.

February 07, 2010

Aggravatedman said:

... I will never forget when my 12 year old son told me that while playing the game Skate online he immediately heard the comment "look at the n*gg*r on the skateboard!" I think you were right about the fact that the people with the power just don't get it.

February 07, 2010

Valagas said:

... I traded MW 2 after constant racial slurs. The kicker was a guy rapping the 'n word song' with music blaring in the background. I logged out, beat the campaign, then headed to the gamestore.

February 07, 2010

sheppy said:

... It finally came! *downloaded and on my flash drive, will listen first thing tomorrow morning*

February 08, 2010

LUStew2009 said:

... Parris: As a white guy who graduated from a historically black college/university, I think that you hit the nail on the head with your rant. I also believe that it is not a matter of white vs. black, but a matter of ignorance. It is my personal opinion that since the people who run your service of choice (Xbox Live) aren't aware of minority issues in online gaming, they are less reluctant to do anything about it. Unfortunately, I'm not able to game online with my 360, because I live in an area where broadband internet access isn't yet accessible. However, I do remember when I used to play online via a dial-up connection last console generation with my PlayStation2. I would play ranked matches on Madden, NCAA Football and NBA Live online, and when I entered the lobby in one of the ranked areas, some jackass created a matchup room called, literally: "NO N(word)S!" From that room, nobody even wanted to play against each other in Madden, because everyone was IMing each other and talking $#!* using the racial, sexist and homophobic slurs that you made reference to. But, whereas you said that 30 unique reports in a 3-strike system/3-week period would be sufficient, I think that the aforementioned system may be a bit too lenient. This is what I would propose Microsoft & Steam do. (I don't think Sony would take it into consideration, since their service is free, and you also mentioned that Nintendo has adequate protection with the friend codes.) OVER A ONE-YEAR PERIOD: If offender is caught making five unique racial/sexist/homophobic slurs (via unique reports); offender is subject to: A. A lengthy warning via email/telephone call from moderators warning that Microsoft will not put up with degenerative social behavior. If offender is caught making five additional unique slurs via unique reporting (within said year period); offender is subject to: B. INSTANT SIX-MONTH BAN Additionally, the ban would be followed up by an additional email and/or call to once again reiterate stance against degenerative gaming. If offender makes ten more slurs over course of remaining time period in said year (after 180 day ban), Microsoft would be subject to C. BAN USER FOR LIFE The three week system sounds nice, but it would give repeat offenders too many opportunities to spew their garbage again. Other than that, I think that there needs to be a bigger initiative that takes place on the part of gamers who would be willing to sign some sort of online petition to support an active system that encourages equal-opportunity and family friendly gaming.

February 08, 2010

The Dutch Don said:

... Glad to hear you address this Xbox live problem Parris. I sincerely hope MS will try to figure things out and do something about it. Until they do, I will play with friends only and mute everyone else. I won't trade in games like someone else said they did, because that's letting the idiots win.

February 08, 2010

Camrock34 said:

... great job, Parris! thank you for opening the door of discussion on a topic that has been swept under the table by many others. your really hit the nail on the head with the point about the people in a position to make changes not seeing that there is indeed a need for change. no other podcast that i listen to has had the guts or even reason to delve into this problem that bothers a great many of us. thank you

February 08, 2010

Paradise555 said:

... The way i go around this is that i listen to my i pod to podcasts like this PGR TARers(Talking about gamers) and others.

February 09, 2010

detbadboys8990 said:

... I hope this episode gets heard... something truly needs to be done. Great show with an important message.

February 09, 2010

sheppy said:

... I'm sure part of it is racism but I'm much more apt to call it ignorance. After all, I have a bit of a high voice and a slight lisp and I get called the N word as well. Frankly, I want to blame the problem as a whole on the self-entitled mentality of Americans (yes, Americans.. S Korea and Japan doesn't HAVE this issue) and the decline of local multiplayer. Ironically blaming the bad conditions of online gameplay on online gameplay itself. Sound ridiculous? Allow me to elaborate. Remember local multiplayer? That ONE guy in the group who took things too personally, snapped, started cussing, throwing controllers, or spending most of the night talking about the many ways he'll boink your mom? Yeah, he's still around. Except over a match of Halo, Mortal Kombat, or Goldeneye, someone would sit up, tell him he's going too far, and he'd either leave or stew angrily. Point is, he went too far and SOMEONE locally had to keep him in check. Well, local multiplayer, sadly, is dying. Check your favorite 360/PS3 games and do a quick 4 player splitscreen check. You might discover, like I do everytime I have friends over to play, that it's a rapidly dying feature in far too many games. So in the setting where the douche alerts would keep these people in check, that's not happening anymore. Instead, these people go online. And stew and cuss and fume and be jerks. Only this time, the reaction isn't to put these people in their place, to shut them down for being an jerk, but instead to ignore/mute them. I'll admit I'm guilty of this too. But the people who don't mute/ignore them instead feed off the ignorance and try and outdo the nastiness. I've heard it first hand. So instead of getting environment where this behavior is frowned upon, it becomes an open challenge to do better. In the end, since nobody is putting these people in check, it only gets worse. And to what ultimate end? People who love gaming get chased away, people who are new to gaming get turned off, and all because we DO often turn a blind eye.

February 09, 2010

Cruithne said:

... Thanks for the show Parris, and thank you for speaking out on this issue. I'm just sorry that it had to be an African American within the gaming community who stood up and said enough is enough. as a parent I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to pay for a service and yet be afraid to let your children use it because you don't want them to know how much people hate them for no other reason than their skin colour, that's just some seriously f*cked up shit right there. I wish I had some answers but I don't.

February 09, 2010

Parris said:

... it's a subject that NEEDED to be addressed, it was everyone sending emails and vmails every week talking about it that made me decide to finally do it.

February 09, 2010

RolexDPracer said:

... Great show Parris. I agree wholeheartedly that something needs to be done. I guess the $100 question is what is best to do it in a way that is fair to everyone. If you give too much power to the end users; what is going to kept that same type of person a peer report system was put in place for from getting innocent people banned from the service? That solution becomes a slippery slop. Get a group of your friends to target someone and and that person will be banned in no time; guilty or not. That being said; Microsoft XBL department has some talented and creative people there. If there is enough public outcry, I'm sure they'll put more effort into a solution. I don't think Microsoft is the only one accountable here too. We as USERS should be more proactive as well. I see so many people post on blogs and forums about how annoyed they are with all of the "isms" occurring on XBL (and PSN to a lesser extent). Yet; when we're all in game listening to this garbage no one says anything? If those Troglodytes are so embolden by the amenity of an online personae, why are we as equally afraid to confront it head on as it happens? I hope this discussion gains some traction, and we as a community take a more active roll in confronting this. Thanks Parris. You're OK for a Lakers fan.

February 09, 2010

vicjohusmc86 said:

... I to heard the rant and I agree that something needs to be done. Microsoft has heard all these complaints since day one and have continued to do nothing. And I believe they will continue to do nothing. Just like in the real world there are people out there who think that racism and sexism is not a problem. They only way the people are gonna do any thing is to cancel your account. They only care about the money that there bringing in not about some stupid people out there acting like idiots. So as a gamer myself does, either play without a mic or mute the idiots. We gotta quit sitting around waiting for microsoft to do something because its obvious that there not. Major Nelson will continue to have Steptoe on his show and act like they give a damn and do nothing. They know we are gonna continue to give Microsoft our money and continue to complain about the idiots on Live.

February 10, 2010

Lazarus Vector said:

... I'm so glad to see someone finally publicly address this. Don't get me wrong, I'm a 27 year old white male so it doesn't affect me like it affects others but that doesn't mean that it outrages me any less. I do hope that Microsoft can come up with some kind of three strike system for these ignorant/racist activities. The day I don't have to listen to this kind of ignorance while playing online will be the true next generation of gaming.

February 10, 2010

GarenM said:

... Parris - thanks for another great podcast. The problem you so correctly identified is so pervasive that I have basically stopped playing online using headphones. I don't want to spend my hard-earned free time listening to people hurl abuse and invective against me or other people they don't know. This problem has also caused me to prohibit my two kids from playing on Live, for fear that they would be subject to abuse that they are too young to understand. Frankly, I'm not sure I understand it. If these folks reflect our current culture, then I truly fear for our future. Fortunately, for every moron, there is usually someone willing to stand up and say enough. I think the solution to the problem rests with the people who disagree with the racist/sexist comments, but who remain silent. They/we need to speak up and humiliate the racist who hides behind the anonymity of the Live service. When you hear someone engaging in hate speech, react as you would in life - call them to the mat, remind them that their comments are not only ignorant but could lead to a username ban. We should also consider taking enforcement into our hands by creating a list of gamertags who engaged in racist/sexist comments, and forwarding that list to the powers that be outside if the Live reporting service. Perhaps we can start a forum topic on gamertags who engage in pervasive abuse and periodically forward the list the Microsoft. We wouldn't tolerate this behavior anywhere else, and we shouldn't tolerate anyone who attempts to turn our gaming environment into a hostile one.

February 11, 2010

oldschoolgamer said:

... thanks for the voice paris like so many others i have not allowed my young and preteen kids play on xbl with the exception of scene it because the racism and the bs is ridiculous .unfortunately its so hard to change because that would require someone has to give up something for microsoft it would mean customers for us ,if we stood up as one and refuse to participate in xbl and relentlessly emailed and or called them we might gain the respect we deserve .i refuse to believe they cannot configure a better network than what exist today.maybe we can start a "stop the madness day" right here on tag so we can all call or sign a petition or create stopthemadness gamertags .. thanks again for the voice

February 12, 2010

o iTz x Josh o said:

... Very well said GarenM. I agree with everything and I really would like to see Microsoft step in and help out in the situation. I think Parris said we shouldn't be subjected to the racist/sexist comments because we DO PAY $50 for this service.

February 27, 2010