[holbrad]

"Microsoft's choice of codename for the console project – Midway – was a deliberate statement, one that may seem problematic in a more enlightened age, referring as it does to the World War II battle in which US forces defeated the Japanese. "

Hard to believe someone wrote that non-ironically...

[ReactiveJelly]

Actually it's super-easy to believe, barely an inconvenience.

Wikipedia tells me 3,000 Japanese soldiers died in the Battle of Midway. [1]

If I gloss over the fact that they were soldiers and not civilians, and ignore the injuries, in terms of one-day death toll, it's the same as 9/11. Sure, the Japanese military was the aggressor in WWII, but it seems rude to mention 3,000 human deaths for a cheap "take that!"

I mean, the Confederates sure don't like it when we remind them that they lost the American Civil war. They were in the wrong, but they're still real sensitive about losing. In polite company I wouldn't mention it. [2]

As an optional fun fact, Midway Games was probably using the same allegory when they picked their name. [3]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_midway

[2] The Internet, of course, not being polite.

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_Games

[mattnewton]

> As an optional fun fact, Midway Games was probably using the same allegory when they picked their name.

Really? I always thought this was because they were founded in Chicago, near Midway airport. (The airport itself was named after the battle though). Midway games got started in video games licensing games from japanese companies Taito and Namco, so I never thought about an adversarial explaination of the name.

[dfxm12]

Yeah, there's no weight to this.

Midway started in the 60s. They weren't competing with Japanese companies back then. American arcades were filled with American pinball machines, Computer Space or Pong. Japanese games like Space Invaders and Pac Man wouldn't take off until the late 70s.

In addition to the airport being a source for the name, in the 40s, the Chicago Bears were nicknamed "Monsters of the Midway" and there is also a park known as "the Midway" in Chicago.

[LanceH]

The midway is the line of games at the fair. I've always assumed it had something to do with that.

[some_random]

Most of the world doesn't think like that, and referring to a major battle the US won in what is probably the single most justified war in US history as "problematic" make you sound like a nazi.

Edit: specifically the line "referring as it does to the World War II battle in which US forces defeated the Japanese."

[distances]

Using such a term when your direct competitors are Japanese will evoke some mental imagery. Very, very tasteless in my humble opinion.

[some_random]

You're right that it's distasteful, but it's not _problematic_. Certainly not because 3,000 Imperial Japanese serviceman lost their lives furthering their nation's colonial ambitions.

[Bakary]

When the words 'problematic' or 'enlightened' are used in a sentence without a trace of irony, the end result is rarely promising. It's like a litmus test for a certain kind of censorious attitude to life mixed with condescension.

[disgrunt]

It's sad that political correctness is mistaken for enlightenment.

[silentguy]

And, Manhattan Project was the codename of DirectX. Relevant comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25431199