Criticism: Historical Inaccuracies Noted in Civilization IV Game

I play Civilization IV sometimes to wind down. I mostly use it for some mindless fun. However, the last game I started paying attention to the content of the game and I was shocked to find some very big historical inaccuracies. Here is a few representative examples of problems I found with screen shots for proof:



I played the French civilization. According to Wikipedia, Paris didn't have a permanent settlement until around 52 BC and Paris didn't become a capital until 508 AD. In the screen shot, it shows Paris being founded in 2840 BC. Also, another troubling thing to notice is that Ronald Regan is the leader of the French. That's just straight up sacrilege.



During the game the birth of a famous person is announced periodically. In the above screen shot it says that Xi Ling Shi was born in London in 1060 AD. According to Wikipedia, she lived in the 27th century BC. Duh!



Of all the errors I saw in my game. The screen shot above shows the one that might make a French person most angry. If you look closely, you can see that in my game the Eiffel Tower was built in Kansas City? That's insane.





My game was filled with anachronisms (or at least things that were out of place in time). The previous two screen shots are comical examples of this. In the first one a swordsman is fighting an Apache helicopter. In the second one, it's a knight on horseback going after an Apache. That never happened. Not even on the set of Apocalypse Now.



The previous problems I pointed out were bad. However, things are about to get a lot worse. In my game, the French nuked London. That's crazy. The French use nuclear technology to power their country. They don't lob ICBMs around.



This is probably the most disturbing error of all. The French did not earn a "Domination Victory" over the entire world in 1979. I don't even have to check Wikipedia on that one.



Here we see a French soldier planting a flag in victory. That doesn't even happen in French movies. What gives?



Here you see "French Stuff" spreading across the globe. That never happened.



Here you see a graph of the France's "power" over recorded history. That's just not what happened.

So, to make a long story short, I'm writing Sid Meier and demanding my money back. I'll let you guys know how it goes. It's no wonder kids don't know history with games like this on the market!

Criticism: "Baby Needs a Hug" by Frida Bing

I'm not hugging that baby. Nobody is hugging that baby. Why does it have fangs? Is it a vampire or some sort of werewolf-type creature? Why draw a baby like that for a book meant for children? What were they thinking, really?

Criticism: "Just Me and My Dad" by Mercer Mayer

This is the first blog post in a series of posts in which I criticize things that need it. I do this without pity, without mercy, and with an unblinking eye.

This image is part of the last page of the children's book mentioned in the title:



Notice anything amiss? Look closely at the moon. Two stars are shining through where the unlit portion of the moon should be. Does the "artist" (and I use that term loosely) not know that the moon is actually a spherical object? It's not shaped like a banana.