You people are getting mad that people might choose to give to those in their own community? The ones complaining here probably have given nothing to those other countries. US citizens give a huge amount of aid by their own choice all over the world. Instead of griping and whining, try giving more yourself to people in need.
I'd help those in my community in this manner before the others, because I prefer to donate to overseas operations and centers that I know are trustworthy and will spend the money well. It's smart to research who you give money to, and what will happen to it. Not tough to be even semi-informed in the information age.
Furthermore, picking an option probably doesn't mean 2K is required to give to that place.
No, its a more complex issue, it's about a gaming company that ignores their own communities that they live in and decide to give a hand out to communities that are extremely far away, likely because it's better press.
And yes, I volunteer several times a week and I have a history of volunteering as well, I have helped my community as much as I can, but that's besides the issue. This was obviously a PR stunt (it certainly wasn't annonimous) and I feel that there are smarter ways to give back to the world. You don't have go all the way to Africa to help, or just give out a large amount of money to prove you are very good. You can provide a steady amount of little help back, Firaxis for example volunteers work hours back to maryland, something that we can all agree is less "adventurous" but that provides far more help in the long run.
Corporations (and remembering that a corporation is made for personal profits without personal responsability) often do this sort of thing when they've grown extremely wealthy. Mcdonalds, BP, Brittish American Tobacco, Wal Mart, etc. They all "self regulate" themselves in this sort of way. They run businesses with extremely unprofesional tactics to then wash away it all away by stating that they are "giving back to their community". It's akin to an extremely irresponsible father taking their kids to Disney once a year (we need you to be responsible all year long, not just try to make up for it once a year).
Firaxis and 2k just released an extremely buggy game for a price that was probably not the true price of the game. There was probably some shady business tactics in releasing this game (probably EA style tactics), to get it release by the Holiday seasons, to get more bang for the buck. So when then they prompt you to choose a generic charity to give back, I just really can't buy it, you guys are not good, you guys are evil, don't use charities to try to wash this away!.
That this is also for "education" doesn't really make it better, Civilization is a game that celebrates Military History to it's fullest, which makes it weird and unusual that they would be trying to give back in this way. To put it in another way, it's borderline psychotic:
to rush an overpriced, buggy, war game made in one of the worst areas of the United States and to make it all up by giving back 250k to the needy.
It basiclly boils down to the interpretation that I give to this PR stunt, I felt that to give players just 4 options under the cryptic guise of "for education" is just half assed. I do not see my opinions reflected in any of those 4 choices (and it's kinda cruel to run a sort of contest about it too). I really really wish that 2k and Firaxis, if they decide to be socially conscious, please do so by making your day to day work as a corporation being responsible : pay decent salaries, give back to the places you guys work in, release games in a responsible manner and don't try to make it all up by just giving back peanuts to Africa.
2k and Firaxis don't have to travel too damn far away to find starving illiterate black people. Try Maryland, it's crammed with them, you guys work there!. Why does it make more sense to them to help black people far far away than to help black people here? (There are billionaires in South Africa and Pakistan as well, they are not entirely helpless, most of the countries have the same socio economical issue of inequaltiy in distribution of wealth).
