Swastika spotted in Sonic Unleashed?
Posted by Graham. Filed under G, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3. Tagged with Holoska, Sonic Unleashed, Swastika.
German-based website, Sega Portal, has spotted something rather controversial in the Holoska level of Sonic Unleashed, a Swastika!
Even though the symbol in the picture is a little blurry (click for full size), it’s hard to deny that it looks remarkably like the symbol.
But, before everyone goes off raving about “Nazi’s” and “World War II,” you have to remember that the Swastika has been used for nearly 3,000 years in hundreds of cultures across the world, and the symbol has many different meanings, including; life, sun, power, strength, welfare, prosperity and good luck.
The Nazi party was not the first group of people to use the symbol, nor were they the first group to use the symbol in Europe, (depsite what some might think).
But of course this might cause some controversy. Despite still being used today as a “good” symbol, in many cultures (I was at a Hindu wedding earlier this year where they had decorative plates around the room with the symbol on them), in many western countries the Swastika is a pretty big ‘no no’ and does bring back bad memories for many European countries.
I’m guessing that the symbol is being used innocently in Sonic Unleashed, as the game does focus on Sonic travelling through many parts of the world and perhaps Sonic Team is trying to give the levels more character by using cultural symbols.
But I wonder if this game will now see a ban in any countries because of this? Or maybe Sega will just have to cut it out of the game, like Media Molecule did with one of the songs from LittleBigPlanet, because it made some references to the Qu’ran (even though it was performed by a devoted Muslim, and wasn’t offensive).
Then again there is always the chance that it’s not even meant to be a Swastika.
[Source: Sega-Portal]
[Special Thanks: Gregor]
Comments on this article
There have been 22 responses to this article.
Well even IF it’s a swastika, it’s not the stylized version the Nazi party used. That one was rotated 45 degrees (give or take). Here’s to hoping that this doesn’t turn into a big mess for Sega because of some ignorant idiots.
Volvagia
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 8:47 am.
its probably the manji A Buddhist symbol which the swastika was designed from (at least i think it was it may just look similar i don’t remember) its in a lot of Japanese things because of its Buddhist origin, usually edited out when brought to the US due to the likeness of the swastika.
I remember a character in Tengo Tenge had it on his eye patch and that is when i learned it was the manji.
Solace
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 8:55 am.
f*** this news story. it’s perfectly fine, the symbol has been around for thousands of years and has many meanings across the globe. if the US and UK are so euro centric that they ban the game for a small ? that has no context to the Nazi party, then the English world’s balls will have shriveled just a bit more. Btw, Barack Obama is the president elect. “But he’s a Maslem!!! ARGH!!!!”
Barry
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 10:08 am.
I tried to post a swastika symbol and it showed up as a “?”, the censorship has begun.
;)
Barry
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 10:09 am.
Place your bets, folks! How many days before Sega caves to the ignorant masses and removes it and/or publicly apologizes?
maxchain
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 10:39 am.
It is not an Asian swastika, those have slight curves on the edges. From the other symbols, I assume this is the calender swastika (each part represents a season of the year).
Kogen
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 11:00 am.
I would actually love to see Sonic take on the Nazi’s, Indiana Jones-style. :)
Barry
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 1:34 pm.
SWASTIKA SPOTTED IN TINY BIT OF ONE LEVEL. Action of PC groups to be announced, but Jack has said “it is encouraging more neo-nazis, those voodeo games are”. Californian state are reprimanding him.
In other news, IGN have said they’ll slam SU if the Werehog levels don’t get any funner. They also commented that the Wii version’s cutscenes get more awful as you get into the game.
These and other headlines coming up at the 6 O’ Clock News.
Pur
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 2:40 pm.
Well you can’t blame people too much for being a bit taken aback, the symbol does carry a few somewhat negative connotations with a lot of westerners.
But yeah, this is pretty much why Manji Maru wasn’t released here. (Which I bought the other day… and for the record is as generic as fuck).
Leaf
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 3:01 pm.
Well the corn palace did it and nobody complained!!!
http://msp.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/25/img_2890.jpg
Btw, Corn Palace would make a great name for a Sonic action stage.
Barry
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 3:15 pm.
corny
crackdude
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 3:19 pm.
looks like a texturing mistake. No other ice rock seems to have that particular texture on it, so im passing it off as an oversight from the QA team. Could possibly be from a different leel, or a placeholder, or simply a malformed UV on this particular model of the entity
Kyle
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 3:32 pm.
Hey,Barry. In case you’re retarded, Obama isn’t Muslim. Duh. You probably think America is fighting Iraq too.
RK Joker
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 5:36 pm.
@Barry
That’s only a slightly more retarded Zone name than Huge Crisis.
maxchain
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 5:41 pm.
@RK Joker: Der, I know he isn’t. I voted for the guy and love him (as a president). I had thought mispronouncing muslim would give the impression of dumbhickory like that lady at the McCain Q&A.
@maxchain: Agreed. I can see Corn Palace in more of a Conker-like game.
Barry
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 6:35 pm.
Day 1 buy for kogen!
Shadi
Posted November 18th, 2008 at 6:53 pm.
Barry, you love someone who supports infanticide? Read up on the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA) and Obama’s own words against it (that it would be a “burden” to abortionists).
Anyways… I doubt there is any conspiracy by Sonic Team to purposely place a swastika in Sonic Unleashed. Most likely it is a mistake or a reference to a different use of the symbol. I’m looking forward to playing the game. I don’t listen to reviewers either :)
segamon
Posted November 19th, 2008 at 2:45 pm.
the texturing is so weird I am tempted to say its fake
TOGGI3
Posted November 19th, 2008 at 3:00 pm.
Sonic kills babies.
Kogen
Posted November 19th, 2008 at 4:12 pm.
:/ watch out Jews, don’t buy Sonic Unleashed!
Snowcat
Posted November 19th, 2008 at 5:04 pm.
Oh great. I smell the biggest controversy of the season. I believe last season’s was Mass Effect? Then before that was GTA and Manhunt?
If anyone freaks out about this, they’re just plain insane.
Gamerschoice
Posted November 19th, 2008 at 11:42 pm.
That idiot Kogen probably came in his shorts when he read the title for this bit of news.
To me, it looks faked. Am I the only one who thinks that tat bit of graphic doesn’t even look like it belong on that hunk of ice? It’s very out of place, and looks very poorly placed. It continues to be flat while the ice rock curves downward.
Fake fake fake.
Don’t believe every image you find on some internet web site. The web is notorious for fake images. I can’t believe how this site jumped on something that looks so obviously bogus.
E-Day
Posted November 24th, 2008 at 11:50 am.