Daily Mail in 'videogames are evil' shocker

Posted 13.08.2008 5 1961

Now Playing: Random DS puzzle games
Now Listening to: Turin Brakes
Now Watching: Olympic Games

No shiznay. The Daily Mail have taken a break from scaring impressionable into thinking that a load of Polish immigrants are going to eat them in their sleep to take a quick bash at the gaming industry.

The paper was one of many mainstream outlets to throw pointy sticks at Manhunt 2 when it tried to get a release in the UK and now it has another target.

MadWorld is being published by SEGA, exclusively for the Wii and is due out sometime early in 2009. The rather glorious looking gore-fest got the Wii hardcore salivating with delight when it was unveiled at E3 2008 as one of the genuine high-points of the show for the Wii. Personally, I think it looks great and has a really interesting and hopefully playable premise behind it. It has a style that nods and winks to the world of the graphic novel and the slightly mad hack and slash feel to it certainly has something of Ubi's XIII thrown in with a bit of Tarantino.

Put simply, I'm really excited about it. The Daily Mail are somewhat less excited. In what must have been a slow day for Madeline McCann sightings and black people doing naughty things, the paper turned on gaming...

A new computer game tipped to be the most violent ever is being released exclusively on the so-called 'family friendly' Wii console.

Nintendo will dramatically transform Wii's image with the release of ultra violent video game MadWorld which, 'revolves around the themes of brutality and exhilaration', according to its creators.

Players in the 'hack and slash' game, which is due for a UK release in early 2009, can impale enemies on road signs, rip out hearts and execute them with weapons including chainsaws and daggers.

The decision to release a violent game on a console which has based its reputation on family fun has shocked anti-violence pressure groups.

One comment on the story makes a pretty good point in reply to what is a pretty shoddy piece of journalism by the rag:

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil: 4, House of the Dead 1, 2 & 3, Alone in the Dark, Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop... just a few Wii games which come to mind. But of course they're not violent are they?

I'd advise the person who wrote that piece to go and sit in the corner and think about what they've done. Clown.

Read entry & Comment

Nintendo's Third Party Problem

Posted 16.03.2008 5 1862

Now Playing: Geometry Wars (Wii)
Now Watching: The Green Mile

During the N64 days, got something of a reputation. It was a reputation that stuck with the company right through the GameCube years and it is one, I believe, that remains with them until this very day. Third party titles always have, and always will, struggle to sell on systems. It has always remained something of an enigma. In the N64 era it could be blamed on expensive development costs and an unfashionable system, in the GameCube days similar problems remained but things did improve a bit. With the arrival of the Wii it seemed like this would all fade away, but seemingly, it hasn

Read entry & Comment

The Root of All Evil

Posted 24.01.2008 13 1912

Now Playing: Gemoetry Wars Galaxies (Wii)
Now Listening to: Turin Brakes
Now Watching: 24 - Season 3

Well, now we're staff blogging (much to Adam's general distaste) I've decided to kick off with a quick look over some of the negative press the gaming industry has been getting in the newspapers of late. Heck, wait, I'll rephrase. The negative press the gaming industry has been getting in The Telegraph of late.

The Tory broadsheet has been laying into videogames in what is now becoming an almost monthly event. Why? Well, I'd presume it is because they are a bit of an easy target. Not glamorous, no celebrities, a bit of a shite public image and a great scapegoat for why kids/young adults all over the UK are fat, lazy, socially inept murderers. If it isn't Manhunt 2 offending people, it is Bully and if it isn't that, it is the gloriously dubbed "Nintendo Wii syndrome".

The Telegraph claim that, and I quote:

The Wii, which allows people to mimic the movements of activities such as golf, bowling or boxing via a hand-held motion sensor, has been identified as the cause of thousands of minor accidents and injuries.

Osteopaths say middle-aged parents are most at risk from neck, shoulder and elbow problems brought on from playing for too long.

Indeed. I guess it is fairly obvious that if you need a hip replacement that waving yourself around a room whilst playing a videogame probably isn't the best idea. On similar logic, rolling around in a vat of peanuts and spreading peanut butter all over your genitals probably isn't the best idea if you have a nut allergy. Common sense, no? Apparently old people have been "playing Wii for up to 10 hours." And when you consider that's probably JUST Wii Sports, it is little wonder that they are hobbling about in pain. Good nes though...

"But it is not all bad," Mr Davies added, "One parent reported that his son had lost a stone in weight since getting a Wii for his birthday."

Why not shove in the headline "Wii cures fatness"? rather than the equally sensationalist lie "Spate of injuries blamed on Nintendo Wii". Curious...

Then there is perhaps the slightly more interesting (and important) case of Bully. It is such a big deal, even Keith Vaz is sticking his game-bashing nose in. The Labour MP, renowned for his campaigning against 'nasty' videogames has been chirping in with his views on this latest gaming misnomer.

"The idea that people should be glorifying bullying is just tasteless.

"It is hardly encouraging good social values for our children. Just the name Bully is going to attract young people to buy it."

Strange that, nobody ever jumps on book/films like Battle Royale...which surely glorifies bullying/violence/torture/neo-Nazism. What never makes sense to me, is that if these videogames are so inappropriate, why doesn't the BBFC step in and rate them 18 or just ban them? Bully is ELSPA 15+. When you consider that BOTH rating systems are based on public opinion it is always amusing when people start getting up in arms. That rating is on general concensous.

A wonderfully greedy sounding Rockstar spokesman told The Telegraph:

"It is a comedic romp. The last game sold fabulously in the UK and was critically acclaimed.

"It is not a game about playing a bully. It is about the trials and tribulations of a boy in his first year at school. He protects children against other characters. People have to be able to make their own decisions and to judge for themselves, with an open mind."

Touch

Read entry & Comment