Nazis: I hate those guys!
We try to keep up to date with all forms of Indie-development, so were paying close attention to Traveller's Tales' forthcoming Lego Indiana Jones game. However news reaches us, via the C&VG chaps reading their latest copy of the looming-black-obliesk of the games press, Edge, that the game will actually sidestep the Nazi issue by excising them completely. "Lego having already replaced them with an anonymous genocidal, occultist, trenchcoat-wearing master-race", they're quoted as saying.
Whatever to make of this?
Well, there's several takes. Throwing the obvious white-washing of history card is an easy one, but - I think - probably a tad too much. It's a kids' videogame. I can entirely understand how a satirical videogame that features funny Nazis is kind of beyond the pale, and should be sidestepped. Amusing Hitler-devotees as family entertainment kind of went out with 'Allo 'Allo, and so any game with Nazis for the pre-teen isn't really going to happen.
Conversely, since that's true, you have to question why on earth would you think making a Lego-Star-Wars-esque game based around the Indiana Jones films was a good idea in the first place. Much of the charm of Lego Star Wars was how faithfully they deconstructed the films, with a mixture of celebration and welcome irreverence. You can't do that if you excise part of the film. So as cute and charming as it looks, it's not going to be able to do what Lego Star Wars managed so elegantly.
That said, my biggest disappointment is that we couldn't use the title "Lego Blocks Nazis" for this post, because despite the pun, it's clearly libelous as we don't really know who decided not to do this. This makes me sad. I cry for the death of a pun.