UNICO: We ruined the Mafia II launch

By Robert Purchese Published 31 August, 2010

Italian Americans against "ethnic bashing".

UNICO, the Italian-American collective that recently accused Take-Two of racism, claims to have ruined the New York launch of Mafia II.

"I have no doubt our efforts resulted in the Mafia II Launch Party, at the 92nd Street Y's Tribeca Center, being a dismal failure," spouted UNICO leader Andre DiMino.

The launch, according to UNICO, was attended by "a sparse group of mostly young people", and no Take-Two executives were anywhere in sight - "least of all [Take-Two boss] Strauss Zelnick".

DiMino's organisation "pounded away" at the event's host location to "cancel the event as inappropriate" in the week leading up to launch. Take-Two was also harried for "demeaning and stereotyping Italian Americans".

"I believe the combined result of our activities was that, without acknowledging our efforts, both Take-Two and the 92nd Street Y became very hesitant to heavily promote ethnic bashing in this very public way," claimed DiMino.

"The lack of media coverage for the launch party is another indicator that they pulled back on promoting this event."

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • menage #1 2 years ago

    Feeling too self important are we. Some people really thinks the world revolves around them. Idiots.
    Edited by menage at 31/08/10 @ 08:52

  • Der_tolle_Emil #2 2 years ago

    I've never been to any of those launch events. Are they usually packed? I mean there sure were a lot of people looking forward to the game but I'm still surprised they even had a launch party. Not really convinced UNICO had anything to do with not many people showing up.

  • Razz #3 2 years ago

    Could've been Eurogamer's 4/10 review too :op

  • wayne040576 #4 2 years ago

    If it's any consolation, this is the same group that repeatedly caused problems for the Sopranos when it was first aired. I think at one stage, the actors in that show were told they wouldn't be welcome at the Columbus Day celebrations.

  • Shinetop #5 2 years ago

    Great job guys. Now you can go back home and feel like you've accomplished something, while the rest of us are enjoying Mafia 2.

  • LowEnergyCycle #6 2 years ago

    So, did Strauss Zelnick wake up next to a severed horse's head?

  • SYS64738 #7 2 years ago

    DiMino really is a little meano isn't he.

  • Phantom_Dynamite #8 2 years ago

    Take-Two should make them sleep with da fishes.

  • HisDudness #9 2 years ago

    I wonder what they think about Jersey Shore. That show has done far more damage than Mafia II could ever hope to do to Italian American stereotyping, and they are real people, unlike Mafia's two dimensional cast...

  • SAMagic #10 2 years ago

    There's a scene in the Soprano's where Dr Melfi lets slip that she's treating a Don (Tony Soprano). Her husband leaps onto his soapbox and decries the stereotype - and that five thousand Mafia members give a bad name to twenty million Italian Americans. I still say that scene works better at dispelling the myth than these UNICO idiots (Who I bet would have claimed victory no matter what happened).

    The first Mafia game didn't delve into anything deeply in a similar way, but it did start with the protagonist as a working taxi driver, before he's effectively seduced into the apparently easy and get-rich-quick life of the mafia. I've yet to play it, but based on that I'm sure Mafia 2 doesn't portray ALL of the Italian-Americans as gangsters.

  • metalangel #11 2 years ago

    Fighting negative stereotypes of Italian Americans... by turning up and intimidating people. BA DA BING!

  • MyPointIs #12 2 years ago

    lol @ metalangel :D

  • JayScott #13 2 years ago

    I love that his name is DiMino and that he's feeling a little...er...demeaned-o...

  • rodpad #14 2 years ago

    Pizza.

  • nuanimal #15 2 years ago

    They ruined Mafia II's launch? I'm sure it could've had something to do with the Metacritic scores...
    Edited by nuanimal at 31/08/10 @ 09:57

  • arcam #16 2 years ago

    I wonder what they think about Jersey Shore.

    They've spent a lot more time and effort campaigning against Jersey Shore than they have Mafia II to be fair.

    [link url=http://www.tmz.com/2009/12/14/unico-rips-remaining-jersey-shore-sponsors/
    ]http://www.tmz.com/2009/12/14/unico-rips...[/link]

  • azazel_fallenangel #17 2 years ago

    Damn you metalangel, Just as I was reading that article, I immediatly thought of posting up a comment around the lines of using intimidation techniques to clear a negative Italian American stereo type being a little hypocritical.

  • coolbritannia #18 2 years ago

    Just like a wop, always bringing a campaign group to a gunfight.

  • Reckless99 #19 2 years ago

    Accused of racism..lol Since when is someones nationality classed as race? Stupid people.

  • arcam #20 2 years ago

    Since when is someones nationality classed as race?

    Tell it to the writers - I don't see anywhere UNICO even referred to race or racism.

  • hana_fubuki #21 2 years ago

    As an actual Italian, I'll just say this: li mortacci tua, ma sete deficenti?!

    If you're that concerned about the perception of Italians abroad, I could suggest a few real world problems that are a crapload more harmful than a video game (starting with the whole effing Italian government - d'ya seriously think Mafia II does even a 1,000,000th of the damage that Berlusconi and his cronies do to the image of Italians all over the world?)...
    Edited by hana_fubuki at 31/08/10 @ 11:41

  • sneetch #22 2 years ago

    @Reckless99
    Accused of racism..lol Since when is someones nationality classed as race? Stupid people.

    Since when? For quite some time, actually. Your nationality is one definition of race. So if someone hates the French or the English they're being racist. If someone were to say that the French are "cheese eating surrender monkeys" they're being racist. If someone were to say that "all Italian-Americans are mafia thugs" they're being racist.

    [link url=http://www.answers.com/topic/race-1
    ]http://www.answers.com/topic/race-1
    [/link]

    1. A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
    2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race.
    3. A genealogical line; a lineage.
    4. Humans considered as a group.
    5. Biology.
    1. An interbreeding, usually geographically isolated population of organisms differing from other populations of the same species in the frequency of hereditary traits. A race that has been given formal taxonomic recognition is known as a subspecies.
    2. A breed or strain, as of domestic animals.
    6. A distinguishing or characteristic quality, such as the flavor of a wine.

  • Bluetooth #23 2 years ago

    So have they just woken up to the video game world like Liam Fox, as I'm sure the fat short high pitched "Let's-a go, Mamma Mia" stereotype of Mario has been around for over 2 decades? Or maybe he shares all the physical traits of their dear leader so have to grudgingly accept truth.

  • Bluetooth #24 2 years ago

    @sneetch

    But in practice that's just bollocks... are you saying that after WW2 all of a sudden the "German race" became split into two, but conveniently merged completely together again after the wall came down?

  • Nuada #25 2 years ago

    I guess DiMino made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

  • sneetch #26 2 years ago

    @Bluetooth
    But in practice that's just bollocks... are you saying that after WW2 all of a sudden the "German race" became split into two, but conveniently merged completely together again after the wall came down?

    No, I'm not saying anything of the sort. I just gave a definition. You seem to be reading more into this than I meant: they didn't magically change into elves and dwarves or anything. ;)

    If you want me to comment then I'll say that after the second World War they were still German: sure they became divided into two different groups, east and west Germans, based on geography for a while but they remained German. That said, a west German person could discriminate against someone based on the fact that he or she was east German, that would also be racism.

    Edit: "Scaling upwards", a German person could be considered (and theoretically discriminated against) as an East Berliner, an East German, German or European in the same way that a British person can be as coming from the East End, a Londoner, an Englishman, British or European.

    Basically, what I'm actually saying is that discrimination based on nationality, geography, ethnic group or skin tone is defined as racism.
    Edited by sneetch at 31/08/10 @ 12:54

  • Dolly #27 2 years ago

    Whensa your DiMino day?

  • dingo75 #28 2 years ago

    Hope they all paid their "barber fee" or else Vito will come and collect it.

  • butler` #29 2 years ago

    @Dolly i actually pissed a little reading that i dont know why

  • DDevil #30 2 years ago

    Mafia II? Hey fuggetaboutit.

  • StooMonster #31 2 years ago

    How did I get equated to Jeremy Clarkson? Nope, it wasn't a copper pulling me over for speeding.

    I was once involved in launching a game about crime in London. Of all the characters we created, artwork produced, etc. we carefully ensured that there was a fair balance of every colour and creed -- most of our protagonists were white geezer sorts, with few non-white characters sprinkled in for multi-cultural diversity.

    The result was that I was named-and-shamed as a preacher of hate and propagator of black street criminal stereotypes by one particular 'sensitive' organisation. Also on their list: JC is another offender apparently, as is Trevor Phillips OBE in his role as head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.)

    UNICO sound like a similar bunch ... so a game about the Mafia in the 1940s and 50s USA is going to be populated with whom exactly, if not with American Italians? Eskimos perhaps?

  • sickpuppysoftware #32 2 years ago

    I think the popping ad hell did more harm than unico ever could.

  • Lord_Gremlin #33 2 years ago

    Meh, the game is shit anyway.