GameCrate's Senior Editor Nick Scibetta Disapproves of the Label "PC Master Race"

[AlexTechFix]

 

Today at 12:00 pm PST Newegg's Facebook page had a link to an article on GameCrate's website. It was written by their Senior Editor Nick Scibetta about the potential offensiveness of the label of "PC Master Race." It read:

 

Update: We’re adding a very clear “opinion” label to this article to avoid any potential confusion. If you would like to express your disagreement, please do so respectfully in the comments.

 

I am really sick and tired of the “Glorious PC Gaming Master Race” garbage. It needs to stop.

 

Not the idea that the PC is a superior gaming machine — that’s not the part I have a problem with. I totally agree with that. I am primarily a PC gamer. Always have been, and probably always will be. Though I do own a PS3 and PS4 and enjoy playing some games on consoles, the vast majority of my gaming is on my PC. I fully embrace most of the pro-PC “propaganda” that can be found throughout the gaming internet, and I think it’s true that PCs are superior to consoles in most ways worth mentioning.

 

But can we please stop using the term “PC Master Race” and all the associated variations?

 

For those of you who are blissfully unaware of what I’m talking about, the “PC Master Race” thing is a meme that first came about back in 2008 with the following Zero Punctuation video from Escapist Magazine (warning: like all Zero Punctuation videos, this one contains a lot of profanity):

 

[embedded link to

in question]

 

Now, you may be wondering how a single quick line in a single video could have exploded to the point where it’s now a Facebook page with over 10,000 fans as well as a wildly popular subreddit (significantly more popular than the generic PC Gaming subreddit, in fact). There are a variety of reasons, as there are for any online trend, but a significant portion of the explanation is due to the fact that many PC gamers out there don’t understand that the original line in the video was intended as a joke, and have instead embraced the term “PC Master Race” as the default go-to label for any and all arguments dealing with PC superiority.

 

I know, I know, I’m sure you understand that the term is a joke, and you are only using it ironically…but can you be so sure about all these people?

 

Now the use of the phrase “Glorious PC Gaming Master Race” is ubiquitous, and all of the satirical humor that was once part of it has been sucked dry. Now we’re just left with the words themselves…and the words are problematic in a couple of key ways.

 

It’s offensive

 

It should go without saying, but the phrase “master race” is inextricably tied into Nazi ideology. Maybe that was fine in the context of the original, humor-filled video, when the phrase was clearly being used as hyperbole for comedic effect. But now you have thousands of PC fans all over the web talking about their connection to the “master race” every single day, and it’s often unclear if these people understand the original joke (or are even aware of the historical origin of the phrase) and it all just ends up feeling really unpleasant.

 

I’m the kind of guy who can easily be drawn into stupid online debates about console vs. PC gaming, but I don’t want to be on the same side as a bunch of kids talking about the superiority of the master race.

 

It misses the point

 

I’m sure there are many PC gaming advocates out there who will say they don’t personally find the term “master race” offensive and so don’t see the problem with it, but I would hope that those same advocates care about the strength and accuracy of their chosen label. “Glorious PC Gaming Master Race” completely misses the point of what it means to be a dedicated PC gamer.

 

A race is something you’re born into. You don’t choose it and you don’t convert to it. PC gaming, on the other hand, is something people come to at various points in their lives. Some of us have been PC gamers from a very young age, while others may have gotten their start on consoles before embracing the PC as the superior gaming platform. The point is, no one is born a PC gamer. Calling it a “race” is a really lousy metaphor.

 

PC gaming has much more in common with a religion than a race. It’s a philosophy. A way of life. The label we use to refer to the PC gaming lifestyle should reflect its true nature.

 

“The PC Gaming Enlightenment” is my personal choice for a much better label for PC gaming advocates. It’s a term that paints PC gaming in its proper light, as a choice for informed and educated gamers. It can be a meme and propaganda goldmine, for those that enjoy such things, and will help make console vs. PC debates a lot more metaphorically consistent. Now instead of “joining the master race,” which doesn’t make any sense, people can “see the light of PC gaming” (which will undoubtedly be a glowing LED).  The term even has a positive historical association instead of a negative one!

 

Even if my “Enlightenment” label isn’t the one to replace “PC Master Race” (though it totally should be), something needs to. “PC Master Race” is a term that never should have caught on, and which is now being overused by people who don’t understand the satirical or historical connotations of the phrase. And perhaps even worse, by being a twisted and inaccurate metaphor for PC gaming, it’s undercutting the very argument it’s supposed to support.

 

PC gaming is the superior choice. It deserves a better phrase as its call to arms.

 

Four hours later after many negative comments in response to Nick's article, It was pulled down. It seems that Nick opened up a can of worms. Was Nick right in that "PC Master Race" has a negative affect on the community of PC gamers, or is he taking political correctness too far? Let's have a discussion in the comments (and possibly in the WAN show).

 

Edit: Also, Newegg's Facebook post was removed

Edit 2: Now readable in night theme with hyperlinks intact

Edited July 18, 2014 by AlexTechFix

[Wferr]

Well we are the pc masterrace..

[Katsu-K1L]

There is no PC Master race, there is GabeN followers and Not GabeN followers.

[RelentlessAF]

It doesn't have a negative impact, people shouldn't be so sensitive about what gaming platform they play on. If someone says Xbox sucks, deal with it. You aren't being personally insulted they are insulting a product, not you. People are too sensitive these days.

[Covalent]

He went too far. People need to understand that this is a joke for us, and to not take us too seriously and assume we are being offensive just because the way the joke happens to be worded.

[NInety]

[BonBon Scott]

Some people really need to get a backbone. People are becoming soft and they get offended far too easily.

[AlwaysFSX]

Master Race.

[THE NVIDIA FANBOY]

"It’s offensive" seems to me that he is already part of the PC master race - the Politically Correct master race that is.

[Dietrichw]

pls fix dark text on night theme, I suggest that people use the options on the editor in the top right (gear with red screwdriver) and click paste as plain text as defualt so anything you copy paste uses automatic text color

[Misanthrope]

The "master race" term arguably goes further back to Nietzsche and his Übermensch concept. The fact that what started as a joke at the expense of PC gamers got adopted as a tongue in cheek joke should tell you a lot about it: Yes Yahtzee used it as a joke to make fun of what he perceives as overly complicated game mechanics but it's not without merit: There's a very long history of RPGs, Strategy games and so on that did tried/try to have a higher level of complexity. There's also a lot of truth to the fact that Console games are often a lot more streamlined and have virtually no access to mods and such. 

But overall it's an in joke within a community that's constantly under open attack by the very people that try to make money off them: game publishers and their "Resolution it's just a number" "I challenge you to tell the difference" "We prefer a filmic look at 30 FPS" and "Your vastly superior machine will have to play intentionally nerfed games so the console versions don't look TOO dated"

Honestly even if you do find the PC Master Race stuff offensive, what the fuck do you expect? To have all of just just sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up and watch our hobby being relevated to second class citizens when sales numbers proves it's exactly the opposite?

[Accursed Entity]

So now we are Nazis? K den...

[AlexTechFix]

pls fix dark text on night theme, I suggest that people use the options on the editor in the top right (gear with red screwdriver) and click paste as plain text as defualt so anything you copy paste uses automatic text color

 

Thank you for the tip. I don't post often here.

[ForsakenLive]

So now we are Nazis? K den...

No, it's not tied to Nazism, it's much older (XIX Century).

[Priller]

"Nazi ideology".

 

I guess someone doesn't know anything about history.....

 

 

What's next? In order to buy a PC you need to have blue eyes and blonde hair..........

 

Idiot writer.

[Derangel]

Like many things involved with various named groups of different fandoms the term "PC Master Race" is eye rollingly stupid, but it's not offensive. It can be used both firmly tongue-in-cheek or seriously, the former being more true to the original intent. I've never seen anyone take any serious offense to the term, though it is a term that speaks volumes about people that take it seriously. It is a term I will never use and roll my eyes towards people that do, but whatever it is what it is.

[Accursed Entity]

No, it's not tied to Nazism, it's much older (XIX Century).

 

I am well aware, it was sarcasm.

[AlexTechFix]

pls fix dark text on night theme, I suggest that people use the options on the editor in the top right (gear with red screwdriver) and click paste as plain text as defualt so anything you copy paste uses automatic text color

 

Fixed!

[LePawel]

Butthurt.

Like Domestos up the crack.

PC Master Race is there for a reason, and he simply makes it another 'NAZI! boooo!' psychological engineering bullshit like that Timon & Pumba were gay thing...

Attention whoring 101.

[daemonowner]

In recent news, someone whos opinion nobody cares about disagrees with something...

[Echodamus]

I agree. Now, before you all berate me for this, let me explain. 

 

First off, it all started as satire, and it should have stayed that way. Then it caught on, went viral, and people missed out on the joke. I like what it has done for the industry, I have no doubt it has helped revitalize the market. But its going too far now, we are making ourselves look bad (I say we because I personally don't understand why anyone would choose a console over a computer, I just don't affiliate myself with the master race because I come off as an asshole the second I do). So does that mean all of the PCMR are a bunch of assholes? Not at all, just like not all console gamers are. But when a vendetta is formed against someone just because the use a console, that just too far, its stupid, and whoever is holding that grudge really needs to get a life. 

 

Now, I think consoles are bad for the market (just look what happened to Crytek after all) as a whole. I would rather they not exist, or be more cohesive with computers, but that won't happen, making the former of the two the only option. But, just because a friend/roommate/family has a console doesn't mean I will put tons of propaganda in their face just because they are using a console, it wouldn't achieve anything. 

[IPCharger]

Really? This is the internet. If you don't like the term PC Master Race then don't go to its subreddit or read Youtube comments. I guess some people don't know how to handle a joke.

[The Crazed Child]

It's just a joke between PC gamers. It doesn't matter.

[Poofu]

fuck you PC MASTER-RACE!

[Kamina]

I don't think a lot of people take the PC Master Race all that seriously. It's just to mock the the console kiddies so they can throw ignorant comebacks.