Greenpeace Down on Games Industry, Logic Flawed?

Earlier this week Greenpeace went after the games industry a bit, coming down on hardware manufacturers for poor environmental practices. Nintendo and Microsoft in particular got poor scores from the organization. Ars Technica's Opposable Thumbs blog notes, though, that their methodology is a bit odd. It's not so much that Nintendo's environmental policies (say) are all that bad - they're just not readily available on a website. "The research in general appears lazy. Nintendo's failing grade appears to be based entirely on this entry in the corporate FAQ, which briefly summarizes some of the steps the company has taken to protect the environment. Anything that's not covered there is simply rated "No Information." Similarly, all of the information on Microsoft originates from press materials and corporate statements on the company's web site. Clearly, Greenpeace did not perform an exhaustive evaluation of chemical use through the manufacturing pipeline."

Whu

[goldaryn]

Similarly, all of the information on Microsoft originates from press materials and corporate statements on the company's web site. Clearly, Greenpeace did not perform an exhaustive evaluation of chemical use through the manufacturing pipeline."

Yeah, there was a lot of drugs involved in the design of ME

Re:What???

[krog]

I know it! Next thing you know, PETA is going to be ham-fisting their objectives too. Hell in a handbasket, I tell you.

Re:What???

[Malevolyn]

I believe you meant tofu-fisting.

(shock)

[argStyopa]

Hairshirt-wearing, veggie-sprout-yogurt-eating, deeply earnest, obsessively-focused, humorless young leftists might be considered to simply be anti-fun?

-1, Unsurprising.

Hell, from having Best Buy deliver a giant resource-consuming TV in a giant gas-wasting truck only to come pick it up again 3 days later, to eating the delicious flesh of a number of animals no doubt injected with hormones and raised in horrible, inhumane conditions, to the dumpster afterwards filled with enough wasted food to feed the entire (remaining) population of Darfur for weeks, I'm going to pretty much guess everything about my entertainment plans for Superbowl weekend would get the big "thumbs down" from that bunch of whingers...to say NOTHING of my collection of game consoles.

In those famous words coined so brilliantly in 2005 (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article515384.ece) : "Sod off, Swampy."

A Useful Methodology

[UESMark]

Given that this is what Greenpeace considers a legitimate methodology I sent an email to [e-mail] (the contact email address listed on their website) inquiring if they use child labor and asking for a list of employees with their birthdays as proof of their adherence to international child employment standards. Since to date they have only sent me an automated response to my question I am giving them a 0/10,000 score on my child labor survey, earning them the rank of exploitative slavemasters(tm). Please feel free to re-publish this survey result.

Re:So Nintendo is Crap over the PS3? I doubt it!

[Headcase88]

Hey at least they have a bigger selection meaning the Wii and the Xbox360 compared to the PS3!

But that's the point. Less games = less game packaging = Less environmental damage.