As an editor of mine says, gamers want people to take videogames seriously, until people start taking videogames seriously. How's this for taking videogames seriously?

...I have never been fully comfortable approaching the Prince of Persia games simply as a diversion, and it has been difficult over the years for me to let the series off the hook for invoking a specific real-world culture so cavalierly.

The New York Times' Seth Shiesel takes Prince of Persia seriously enough to wring his hands for several paragraphs, hemming and hawing about how seriously we should take the fact that the game doesn't raise cultural awareness about Persians. Which it doesn't. But is there any reason to expect it should?

There are plenty of games that can be called out for how seriously they do or don't treat their subject matter. Assassin's Creed, for instance, and the historical realities of the Crusades. Far Cry 2 and Resident Evil 5 and the political situation in modern day Africa. Grand Theft Auto and the cultural divisions in the United States. Call of Duty 4 and the implications of modern warfare. Colonization and the European treatment of native populations. Some of these games do a great job living up to their subject matter, and some should be called out for not doing a better job.

But calling out Prince of Persia? A whimsical platformer set in a fantasy world? I can't help but think the word "Persia" appearing in the name has more to do with alliteration than culture.