'Heil Hitler' car auctioned in Forza 2, exposes kink in user-generated gaming

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jul 3rd 2007 at 7:57PM }

Microsoft and Turn 10 might be determined to seek and destroy acts of hatred and discrimination plastered on Xbox Live, but the publisher and developer of Forza 2 couldn't act fast enough to prevent a 1957 Mercedes 300SL, defaced by pro-Nazi symbols and sentiments, from being offered through the game's online auction mode. 360-gamer recently pointed to the unsettling item, criticizing the moderators for their inability to keep this kind of content off of the Xbox Live servers; or at least promptly remove it (apparently the car's been Live for a while).

Whether adolescent mischief or true delusion, a small percentage of user-generated content is always going to incite "discrimination, hate, or violence towards one person or a group." While Microsoft clearly defines the boundaries of condemnable content in its Online User Policy*, the company fails to suggest how it might protect its users from being victimized by such content. Probably because it can't.

With Sony on the verge of going all "Game 3.0," Microsoft may soon give up the lead in online console gaming (unless it adopts broader user-generated content support). But it's a delicate balancing act for sure. Unlike the sprawling, autonomous PC modding communities, Microsoft (or a competitor) will have to bear the heat of the spotlight when one of these offensive acts is eventually picked up by our sensationalist mass media and spirals into hysteria.

[Thanks, PacoDG]

*While researching Microsoft's Online User Policy, we were particularly alarmed by the usage of the term "homosexual status" in place of the more common and balanced term "sexual orientation." The policy states that users may not "publish, distribute or disseminate any topic, name, material, file or information that incites discrimination, hate, or violence towards one person or a group because of their ... homosexual status." This statement assumes there's such a thing as "homosexual status" and implies that a gay person, who presumably is filed under this 'special' status, is free to deride a heterosexual player, but not vice versa. Sounds like reverse discrimination. So ... um ... time for a policy update, guys?

Tags: 360, forza, forza 2, Forza2, game3.0, microsoft, nazi, ps3, racing, turn 10, Turn10, xbox, xbox live, xbox360, XboxLive

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Guy- @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:02PM

Does this surprise anyone. I cant even count how many times I've been called the N word while playing on Xbox Live.

Chris Putnam @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:06PM

This calls for a reasonable, well-balanced response.

Like changing the game's rating to an AO.

icemorebutts @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:07PM

Minus the "white power" part, I think it's pretty cool. I'm really sick of everybody on this website taking these things so seriously. Some guy just made a Nazi car, this is the internet this ALWAYS happens. Get over it. And just to be clear, we defeated the Nazis in 1945 can we please find something else to hate?

Mastaglach820 (Xbox MVP) @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:07PM

If anyone finds anything like this, or worse, please use the report feature via the Xbox rating system ("File a complaint"), as well as reporting the user via Forzamotorsport.net.

You have to sign in, but you can find it here:

http://forzamotorsport.net/about/abuseform.htm

Phil Nelson @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:10PM

"the company fails to suggest how it might protect its users from being victimized by such content. "

Did the fake car rape someone?

Rubang B @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:15PM

Wow, "homosexual status"? That's not even an awkwardly out-of-date insult there; MS is just that out of touch. It also fails to mention "bisexual status" anywhere in their policy, so I guess if somebody's bi you can still call them all the horrible shit you want, right?

pman @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:15PM

icemorebutts,
You think a symbol of hatred is pretty cool? That's why I feel sorry for our society.

Ialwayschangemyname @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:18PM

The car itself may only be a symbol of hatred but people should still be willing to attack such symbol. The death of millions of people should not be taken lightly, sadly as time goes on people are getting more light hearted towards the issue. Thinks about it this way in 9/11 only a couple thousand people died and it was the biggest deal in the world for 5 days. During the holocaust millions died, I think people are justified in being a little touchy on the subject.

Rubang B @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:19PM

Remember icemorebutts, every Nazi on the planet disappeared in 1945, and there hasn't been a single Nazi or Neo-Nazi or white supremacist of any kind for 62 years now, so this is all just for shits and giggles.

SYN @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:19PM

and this the major problem with user generated content appears, the users.

this is the exact reason we will never have a Utopian society, the single flaw preventing it: human nature.

can't we just accept that people suck, and move on. a man can walk into a movie theater with swastikas tattooed all over his arms, this is different? people suck, and are going to suck no matter where you go, no matter what form of media its related to. here they are trying to remove those people who suck, but you can't boot somebody for something they are about to do.......until tom cruise sets up pre-crime in real life and microsoft brings it to xbl.

anybody else watch minority report lately?

Negativecool @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:21PM

Not to play devil's advocate here or anything there Phil Nelson #5, but someone can be "victimized" without being raped. Hence, people got their panties in a bunch when a mod was made putting digital titties on the girls in Oblivion.

I for one got a chuckle out of it. I can't wait to see what other disturbing images will be pasted on to cars.
Custom paint on cars is really nothing new, and putting inappropriate statements in the paint job is nothing new either. I don't remember which NASCAR game it was, but back in the Windows ME days my brother's favorite past time was making crude paint jobs for his cars. My favorite was with a big "F--- You!" on the back and had a middle finger drawn on the hood...it was frickin classic.

fawazr @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:22PM

After playing on Live for some time now, I'm not surprised by this. In fact, I'd be surprised if Klan/hate meetings didn't take place on Live.

Quakeulf @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:23PM

As my duty as a troll I would love to bid for that "Whitemobile".

Seriously, get over it. It's just a fucking digital car.

DJTommy @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:27PM

its what they teach at schools, so why is it so shocking? maybe when they stop teaching us history then maybe it will shock

Cartman86 @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:32PM

Oh god who cares. This car isn't being sent to you. Why do people even care about this? Its actually funny how much people care about this stuff.

GodisaMyth @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:32PM

The car looks nice. All Nazi punks can fuck off and die. It is just a car. I do not like it. But it is just a virtual car in a videogame.

Why this is a big deal is beyond me. So fracking what if it has SS and other Nazi writing on it.

So this is what Microsoft worries about. Not, millions of systems crapping out but what someone sells on thier game.

Nazi punks Nazi punks Nazi punks.....Fuck off. Dead Kennedys

Singard @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:39PM

Huhm, a lot of my fellow XBOX 360 gamers have been kind enough to fill me in on my "homosexual status" on numerous occasions.

As a matter of fact, they also fill me in on my religion and my race, as well.

Very helpful guys on XBOX Live.

ZippyDSMlee @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:41PM

Nazi car not offensive,White power car offensive, next.

felixlighter @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:43PM

So a developer decides to add a feature to a game that allows user created content. An ignorant racist user creates some offensive content and the developer/publisher is blamed?

Do you think developers will continue to add these types of features if they get burned every time some ignorant user creates something offensive? If your offended report the user but making it a federal case just makes the feature more of a headache than its worth. We lose all that great user created content due to a couple idiots? I'm sure Microsoft doesn't want these things showing up in their game anymore than the rest of us but moderating these things can be overwhelming when they're so popular.

Imadogg99 @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:56PM

That's some nice work by the Nazi dude, car doesn't look too bad. We should tell him that Hitler is dead though.

Are there any porno cars out there? I wanna see some.

Flangus @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:57PM

The media says Microsoft should be more open to PC-like mods. Isn't it hypocritical then to blame M$oft when something like this happens?

DudeGuyMan @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:08PM

Before I filed a complaint against this guy, he had "x_C@@N KILLA_x" for his Gamertag Motto. I even emailed Major Nelson. I had to quickly add him to my friends' list and then file a complaint. This ain't cool. I'm not paying for online play to be playing with these ***holes.

Hater3000 @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:23PM

Just apply the BANHAMMER.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYvZnTFpip0

I mean the guy obviously knew what he was doing so why not just Ban him?.Also each time a xlive user is banned an Angel Gain its wings.

Gavin @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:27PM

Where is the hello.jpg car? I expected to see a goatse car by now but it seems likes the internets have let me down. Are they clogged up in the tubes?

Shogan @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:29PM

People are just way too sensitive. It's not really hurting anyone, and I'm pretty sure there aren't many WWII or Holocaust survivors out there having a panic attack over a make-believe car. I'll make a Gay Pride car and see if there's any outrage over that. Take that Straight People!!!

Gildenov @ Jul 24th 2007 6:44PM

Too late, the gay pride rainbow car is already up. While I'm not gay nor do I agree with the lifestyle, to each there own, to achieve happiness however. No matter my beliefs it was a really nice paintjob. We can't ban everything we don't agree with, it's called freedom. People all claim to want freedom then in the next breath they want to squash those of others. I'm not one for tolerance of ignorance myself but look at all the "publicity" that we've all given the asshole who made the white power car, you don't think that's what he wanted? The best way to protest these people is to ignore them.

Shogan @ Jul 24th 2007 8:25PM

Yeah, I'm sure the guy wanted attention and he got it. Besides, it's just a car... well not even a real car. It's not hurting anything at all. I just think people have become WAY too sensitive these days.

GodisaMyth @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:30PM

DudeGuyMan,

Even if you are offended by a gamertag...so what. It is just a gamertag. If he wants to be a biggot then why let it bother you? Chances are he is just an inbred chicken neck gap-toothed waste of life that has never left Alabama. (see, I can be a biggot too even if I am just pretending) My point is they are just words...until he starts threatining people just let him be an ethnist fool.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.
What happened to that saying?

Shogan @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:34PM

GodisaMyth,

That saying doesn't apply anymore. Now men are more outraged over words that hurt their feelings than bullets that can kill them. This generation is WEAK!

Imadogg99 @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:35PM

I agree with GodisaMyth... I mean if he does all this, he probably really is a white supremest, but better having him playing Xbox Live than being out attacking jews and blacks...

Mr Khan @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:38PM

Personal opinion: This is what you get when you give users free reign to do what they will, they should live with it

Oddly enough, i don't find it all that offensive, and i'm usually the first one to fly off the handle about issues of racial and religious discrimination...

zwarrior @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:41PM

I don't know who to be ashamed of, the person who made this, the person who might have bought it, or the people who take it so seriously to get ofended by it? Move on, this kind of crap still exist because you give it too much attention, Stop giving those people attention!

Jon @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:56PM

I find it very interesting to contrast the reaction to this with the "Manhunt 2" news. Why are gamers and the gaming press so vehement about free speech for simulated murder, and yet equally vehement about suppressing speech that is politically incorrect?

Almost every argument that could possibly be used to support Manhunt 2 applies equally to _this_ content. So the question is: do you believe in free speech, or don't you?

synce @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:56PM

I bet Dreamer61 isn't too happy about all this exposure.

raquor @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:56PM

1.) Welcome to America. Where you have the right to say anything you like. Anything at all.

2.) That is a damn fine paint job, I may not agree with the content, but I know I couldn't manage a paintjob like that.

3.) It's a game and you don't have to buy it or ever look at it again. Therefore...Shut the Hell up.

Hikaru @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:02PM

This is user-generated content, so..the user can do whatever the hell he wants do do....if you don't like the car...don't buy it, you can even tell him politely that you find it offensive...isn't this a free country? Isn't the internet more FREE than FREE? So..if i "adore" the nazis, it's my effing problem, I can do whatever I want in MY game...damn!

Hikaru @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:05PM

BTW I don't adore the Nazis...just saying....people like to spin things...

Dan @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:06PM

"Microsoft may soon give up the lead in online console gaming"

I offer my condolences for your terrible loss... I can't imagine how upset you must be that you no longer have a brain.

Natasha @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:22PM

When ideas like this are put out in the word and they are not challenged then they are validated.

Those of you who aren't bothered by this car probably have a few things in common: you are not Jewish, you are not Asian, you are not black. Put yourselves in the shoes of a Jewish person who's ancestors had been executed during the holocaust. The car would make you feel physically sick with disgust and outrage. Why should such people have to experience that just so some idiot with nothing to contribute to the world can voice his valueless ideas?

For those who use the First Amendment as a defense, I'll remind you that free speech and hate speech are two different things. One is protected by the Constitution. The other is not.

How can Microsoft deal with the problem? Have all cars submitted to public viewing be given a once-over by a moderator. Simple.

Salt Water Taffy @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:31PM

just report the gametag and he'll get banned. This stuff is against the rules anyways, so it's just an issue of bringing it to the attention of the proper people. I've seen all kinds of morons driving cars with crudely painted 666 and racial slurs all over them. They want to get a rise out of as many people as possible.

Only XBL Gold members can sell cars and race online, so just make them get banned. I'd rather have a few nazi cars float around while still being able to get all of the other great works of art people have been able to do.

I play Forza 2 way too much, and you only see a small number of nazi cars anyways. This will work itself out.

Kalroy @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:34PM

I find the National Socialist theme disturbing and disgusting. Granted, I find it less so than say a Soviet Socialist, or a PRC theme. But then the Nazis couldn't hold a candle to those guys. Oh, and Cameron Diaz promoting a regime that murdered 78mil of its own citizens was pretty disturbing too.

Kalroy

Patrick @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:38PM

Not to but in at all, but the swastika used to be associated with good intentions. And not that you would see me sporting the car, but arent we digitally segregating people by doing this? I mean, I could a middle ground where miners are put into a "restricted" section of live where custom paint jobs were not viewable. I mean I, as an freethinking adult can plainly see that someone who uses this is just an ignorant person who has the wrong idea. Does it affect me? No. Now when they crash into me causing me to lose and say thy did it because they hate my people, then it is a problem. A problem for which there is a solution, file a complaint to make him an avoided player.

finbad @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:44PM

Someone needs to counter this car by making the Buddha Beetle.

Shogan @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:46PM

I'm glad all you people wanting this banned for being offensive aren't Conservative Christian Republicans... because as a gay man, I'd hate to have you guys deciding what is and is not free speech.

I'd buy that car for the sole purpose of supporting free speech online. Then I'd delete it.

Patrick @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:52PM

@37, im not jewish, your right, but my people were murdered by the millions in the Armenian genocide, about 25 years before the holocaust. But no one knows it happened, ask 100 people if they know what the holocaust was, youll get 100 correct responses, ask 100 people what the Armenian genocide is, about 99 of em will give you a blank face. So that pisses me off, but if i saw a car with a 1915 turk flag on it which said "d0wn wit teh Aremianz" then i wouldnt be upset, id be pissed and beat him to prove him to be a bitch.

raquor @ Jul 3rd 2007 11:04PM

@#37: Natasha-

Hate Speech is protected by the first amendment along with all other forms of speech.

Educate yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech#Legal_aspects

Not that wikipedia is the end all be all, but it sure is a good place to start.

ComradeTrotskii @ Jul 3rd 2007 11:20PM

Oh good god. How many of you (not just people who have posted, all you people reading) think this should be banned/censored whatever? How many of you who said yes to that disagreed with the recent decision of the BBFC to ban Manhunt 2 in the UK and its US equivalent too effectively do the same thing.

Think about that for a second.