What has the world been up to? War in video games has already surfaced outside the microchips and memory box of Playstation 2. War has been brought to the Democratic Republic of Congo and it's all because of Coltan.
Coltan is a rare unrefined metallic ore which is necessary in the manufacturing of Sony's Playstation 2 game console and other electronic devices including cell phones and computers. Its name is derived from the contraction of columbium-tantalite, the scientific nomenclature.
It has ignited and heated up a brutal conflict in Africa specifically in Congo. Why Congo? The eastern part of the country holds 80 percent of the world’s reserves of Coltan. It is a heat-resistant mineral ore widely used in cellular phones, laptop computers and video games.
There are reports that prisoners-of-war and even children are forced to work in the mines caused by the increasing demand for Coltan. It has even incited Rwandan military groups and western mining companies to ransack hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the rare metal.
Oona King, an ex-British Parliament Member, said that kids in Europe and America kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms while kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die.
Having sold through over 140 million units, Playstation 2 indeed is the current best-selling video game console of all-time. But is it worth the buy when you know that there are kids in other part of the world that suffers while you enjoy?
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