Ohio town spits fire over Mario question cube "attack"

Though you may be in a heap of trouble with your home town rag and residents, oh five teenage girls from Portage County, Ohio, we salute you and your April Fool's prank: dropping or suspending seventeen Mario Bros. question cubes around town. Now, granted, if we saw something like that on April first in our fair city of New York, it might seem a lot more commonplace than Ravenna, Ohio, but the point still stands -- if you think Al Qaeda ever played SMB, you've probably forgotten that those games inspire the good in people, remember? The controller smashing huffy puffy video game addicted 11 year old good in people, in fact. Unfortunately that didn't stop the HAZMAT and Fire Department crews from stepping in to defuse the situation, so to speak, and for it the five girls could face serious criminal charges. Too bad, because if those guys would have just jumped up and hit them from beneath they might instead have walked away with a sweet power-up (or an extra man).

[Via Joystiq]

[James @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:10PM]

You've got to be kidding about them being charged, while I can see the police and all getting all wound up about this, if they get charged the terrorists have indeed won already!!!

[Gareth @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:12PM]

that is truly awesome!

Shame about the possible criminal charges though.

[furtim @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:22PM]

Too bad it's not possible to counter-sue for lack of imagination and sense of humour. Fucking Hunter Thompson was right, we've definitely seen the Death of Fun in this country.

[gene @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:36PM]

wow, didn't think anything exciting happened here in ravenna, ohio. HOW DID I MISS OUT ON THIS?! @_@

[J. Me @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:41PM]

No good deed goes unpunished. Particularly in a conservative society. Because a good change is still a change. There's a reason places like Portage County, Ohio, are not the source of new gadgets. Or, pretty much, new anything.

It's too bad under modern conservative jurisprudence, mens rea is considered a quaint concept and stupid people in power scared of cardboard boxes with shiny wrapping paper expend taxpayers' funds on unnecessary criminal proceedings.

[Dull @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:42PM]

Well, if Saddam Hussein was gonna use PS2 to guide nukes to the US. I could see Al Qaeda using power up boxes, especially if they get a magic star.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/089/089251p1.html

[Tony @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:49PM]

Damn, I'm in Ravenna Ohio to and I didn't see these either...wtf

[lolersticks @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:50PM]

All right, let's nip this in the bud:

This is not real.

It was an april fools joke.


Please, stop this story from spreading.

[Chris @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:57PM]

You'd Think that Nintendo of America LTD would step in with some of it's legal staff and help smooth things over. This is probably the most interesting publicity stunt to assist them with the Revolution coming out.

[mike @ Apr 2nd 2006 11:03PM]

Yeah Chris.. that's it.. not, "hey guys.. use your 82 million DSes with the Revolution.. it's only $199".. no.. Cardboard boxes in Ohio is a much better idea.. brilliant

amazing how so many marketing geniuses are on engadget!

[Matt E. @ Apr 2nd 2006 11:10PM]

Anyone else who post after this, that this is a real story, IS AN IDIOT!

[Luigi @ Apr 2nd 2006 11:44PM]

Idiot here.....Here's the link

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/ohio/news/14239923.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

[Rus @ Apr 2nd 2006 11:44PM]

This is what the Evacuation Siren System looked like after Hurricane Katrina. It too is asking why?

[babbitblob @ Apr 2nd 2006 11:48PM]

http://www.qwantz.com/posterchild/

The story is on two actual news sites, you dorks. America is just plain paranoid.

[Saxon @ Apr 3rd 2006 1:04AM]

Well, the catch here is that the girls left them on peoples' door steps rather than decoratively strewn on phone lines. If I were older I might not realize it was a joke either.

I do think pressing charges is a bit extreme seeing as no harm was done or meant.

[Phydeaux @ Apr 3rd 2006 1:10AM]

I'm going to be sending a link to this article to Jack Thompson.

I'm hoping what happens as a result is that it gets blown up in the media nationwide and the girls get off scot free.

[Saxon @ Apr 3rd 2006 1:38AM]

"Super Mario," the turtle killing simulator, encourages the use of violence to solve problems. In addition, the protagonist consistantly uses "shrooms" to aid in the killing of said turtles. As was demonstrated in Ohio on April 1, five teenage girls were brainwashed into the terrorist act of leaving dangerous packages on unsuspecting peoples' doorsteps. This must not be allowed to progress further! What would come next? Wind-up bombs that just walk into your homes while your children sleep? We must stop this now!

[Chris D @ Apr 3rd 2006 1:51AM]

I find it totally rediculas that you charge 16 and 17 yr old people with Criminal charges for Leaving Empty Box's with Question marks on them around town.

Regardless that people might have felt uneasy with seeing these things all over the place.. the fact of the matter is I don't see any criminal charge they can be charged with other than Trespessing and perhaps littering.. Other than that this is complete BULLSHIT. I think that MARIO STYLE BOX's with Question marks on them are Funnier on April first than most of the tired jokes people do year after year.

How many times have you herd....

"theres a bug on you, your clothing, your food..
ect.."

"splat ' faaaarrrrtt" as you sit on a whoopeee cushion.

"dude your girl is cheating on you..."

All these and more... APRIL FOOLS..

Some accepted jokes that get recycled i feel are more harmful or SCARY than this...

I really don't see what the big deal is... The fact that some ASSHOLE called the bomb squad or emergency services shows how much of a redneck, lame, clueless some people are.....

Now if there were phone threats or a terror alert or something... OK I see how this can cause panic.. but hey empty box's with gold wraping paper and a Question mark on it... NO threats, no warning.. nothing... This isn't even Terroristic or could be mis construed as a terror action

Just looking at someething like that "knowing about mario bros game or not" Should make you laugh... not get scared... Even if you are 60+ and never seen mario or herd of Mario... Just a ton of Question marked box's is quite funny... I've seen more harmful senior pranks than this and they all got laughed at..

Sometime people go just a bit too far....

Threating or persuing legal action against these girls is just rediculas...Stupid and PLAIN WRONG

Tell them (the girls) they can email me.. I'll be glad to stand up in court and point out how obsered and Twisted it is to use Laws like this against them.

They did nothing wrong other than possibly leave 17 pieces of litter around town.... But hey .. people still staple dog lost signs to poles.. thats litter too.. Hang up decoration during holidays on pubic places. Tie Crap to a fence to Spell things like MADD or SENIORS RULE, or HAPPY HOLIDAYS, or EVEN WOrds that are INSIDE JOKES TO THE PEOPLE WHO DID IT. SO this was a Box with a ? mark.. is there really any difference?

OK they went onto Privte property Probibly to leave a few of these box's... OK trespessing... But then again.. People who leave periodicles and other UNSOLISITED material on my front porch... i don't call emergency services and demand they be arrested for Trspessing and or littering.

At most they should all have to do a few minutes (YES MINUTES)of community services (non legal binding - another wards.. a gentlemens agreement here.. nothing on paper from the country, govt ect..) and Perhaps write up an appology for alarming people... Thats about it.. but even that may be going too far perhaps...

I guess in a free land and a free country - comedy is a Crime... No matter how you slice it up Everything can be a crime.. I think the law is getting a little rediculas....

Fuck the OHIO Law people.
Fuck the people who didn't this this was funny
Fuck anyone who thinks there was something LEGALLY DONE WRONG HERE..

And FUCK YOU if you don't like my opinion...

Chris D

[Kibiyama @ Apr 3rd 2006 1:55AM]

Congratulations, Ravenna. You are now permanently burned into the internet's collective memory as one of the stupidest towns in America.

[Boynamedsue @ Apr 3rd 2006 2:52AM]

how is mario going to cope in a post april 1st world?

[wasabi @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:01AM]

serriously, the planning involved is worthy of praise.
If the autho-ri-tay get serrious we need to setup a fund raiser to get them off the hook.

[J @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:53AM]

This was done a while ago. I've seen those pics before, about 6 months ago.

[Atanas Boev @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:19AM]

It was probably the girls who needed an extra man ;)

[Chris @ Apr 3rd 2006 6:29AM]

This is a legit story. I live in Ravenna. One of the boxes was left on the steps of the church I used to go to as a kid. It was on the front page of the news. If someone saw pics of this 6 months ago, that was something else.

[Czo @ Apr 3rd 2006 6:42AM]

The Internet has memory?!?!

[education @ Apr 3rd 2006 7:36AM]

This is just a joke...

[AirBlock @ Apr 3rd 2006 7:56AM]

From the article--�In today�s day and age, you just cannot do this kind of stuff,� Police Cheif McCoy.

In all honesty in today's day and age, I'd be very happy if the idea of kids misbehaving in my home town was paying an homage to a non-violent twenty-year old video game. Instead, where I live (Durham, NC) we are trying to deal with the Duke University lacrosse team gang raping a woman while calling her racial slurs (I guess Duke was paying a homage to Grand Theft Auto).

[Dickson @ Apr 3rd 2006 8:12AM]

Seriously, lol some of you hillbillies crack me up - criminal charges for that?? That's like trying to prosecute someone for stinking out the toilets or something. Get over it inbred Ohio, they meant no harm, but obviously those in a position of power want to cause far more harm to a bunch of teenaged girls who were just being creative. seriously, this is what happens when you have neo-conservative christians in government. On a plus note, at least for my next holiday I know which state not to visit...

[soop @ Apr 3rd 2006 9:30AM]

Damn right. I sincerely hope that they don't get charged, and also that their excellent sense of humour isn't affected by "the right way to behave".

Girls, if you're reading this, I salute you.

[Your Mom @ Apr 3rd 2006 10:16AM]

Well I'm certainly glad I don't live there. Whomever decided that these girls should be criminally charged officially get to wear the Badge of Douchebaggery for the rest of the week.

[Lee @ Apr 3rd 2006 10:30AM]

Well, y'all can join me in emailing the mayor of Ravenna, OH... His Name is Kevin Poland and here's his email addy off their official website -- [e-mail]

Their website is at -- http://www.ci.ravenna.oh.us/

Let the People speak.

[D Headley @ Apr 3rd 2006 1:15PM]

I remember as a kid growing up, in Ohio BTW, that our CHURCH youth fellowship group and our high school amoung others used to have scavenger hunts for fun and fund raising etc. They would place things like these boxes all over the town and the person that solved the most riddles and found the most boxes was the winner.

Kind of makes me sad to know beyond a doubt that the US has lost the war on terrorism already. We have allowed outsiders forever change the american way of life in some many little ways and it can never be regained.

[Ben @ Apr 3rd 2006 2:36PM]

All of you are right. Police should not investigate mysterious objects being placed around town. It's not like public safety officials are supposed to err on the side of caution.

Out of place objects of unknown origin -- especially box-like containers -- are routinely treated as potential bombs. Is spray-painting a bomb gold and slapping a question mark on it is all that is required for it to be ignored by you people?

Although, I do appreciate the editorializing of this as a "dumb hicks afraid of Muslims" piece.

[Oozer @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:00PM]

Wow. Just wow. I should be used to the ignorance and stupidity that some people show in these comment sections by now, but this is just too much. "[I]nbred Ohio?" Oh yes, of course, how could I forget, a handful of moronic, humorless public officials do an entire state make. Though I must thank you Dickson, for one thing: you won't be sullying our great state with your foul presence. I especially love how quite a few people in the various comments sections of several blogs in this network have somehow made the connection "police overreaction to April Fools prank in small Midwestern town = Conservatives have ruined America."

Thankfully, there are still some people who know how to make a great comment. Saxon, your "turtle killing simulator" comment is a true classic. And Chris, I think that is an excellent idea, for Nintendo to step in and pay for any legal expenses the girls may incur.

Lastly, I must salute the girls who did this. Well, done ladies! And good luck with the authorities! May some of your good senses of humor rub off on them.

[Del Taco @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:36PM]

I see a nomination for a Dee Dee Dee Award.

Carlos?

Carlos Mencia? I have an article for YOU!

[Agent @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:49PM]

Ben:

I came home from work today to find a strange, brown box on my doorstep! Neighbors say some guy in a non-descript brown van just left it there! Should I call the police??

[Ben @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:36PM]

Agent,
You just blew my mind with that rock-solid logic.

What if the box had no markings indicating what it was or whom it was from, and no one saw it being placed by someone who appeared to be a UPS driver? Would your cynicism still prevent you from acting with caution? If not, you must be an inbred redneck stupid enough to think Osama was targeting you.

[Erik @ Apr 3rd 2006 5:19PM]

Now, I'm not one to look too favorably upon conservatives and/or the Midwest, but I don't think it's fair to equate this instance of persecution with either of those two things. Maybe it is a conservative town in the Midwest, but I think that most places would react in much the same way.

I certainly don't agree with the reaction of city officials/law enforcement, but I think that just about everyone everywhere has a serious case of vaginitis when it comes to anything that could be remotely interpreted as inappropriate, insensitive, or that even sorta makes some people think about terrorism.

I say "Huzzah" to those girls, and I hope against hope that the town will lighten up a little and decide not to make a huge something out of nothing.
Doesn't seem likely, though.

[Kevin @ Apr 3rd 2006 5:23PM]

WOW, this is way too funny! They called in HAZMAT!? THE BOMB DEFUSING PEOPLE? In Canada, we would have just hit it down with our shoe or something, notice there's nothing inside and carried on with our lives people. Its a fucking cardboard box.

[stingraze @ Apr 3rd 2006 6:55PM]

LOL.... MAN this IS Funny... but also very stupid.

[Blade @ Apr 3rd 2006 7:41PM]

Did one of the citizens of this @!$#% town read this article: http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Revolutiontendo ?? I think anything should be a freedom of expression. But hell this isn't a free country, right? Its America 100% dictatorship. *shifty eyes, the gov. is watching me...* And anything that happens on April Fools, should be treated as a joke. Period.

[William @ Apr 3rd 2006 9:38PM]

If you read all the articles, they state that the case will be reviewed by the PROSECUTOR'S office for POSSIBLE charges. What this means is that the police have NOT charged the girls, but that they will let the PROSECUTOR'S office decide if the PROSECUTOR wants to file charges.

Please stop and think for a second: you are a police officer or firefighter and you start getting calls all over your city for suspicious unknown packages placed in public places. It is YOUR SWORN DUTY to protect the citizens, so you would take the proper precautions and call out the experts. Thankfully we have police officers and firefighters who still realize that--GOOD JOB!

For the girls: I hope they do not get charged, and I believe they will not, or at least will not get convicted of anything. I do applaud them for coming forward immediatly and telling the police what happened--too many people would have never done that.

And for Kevin (#40): I do not believe, even in Canada, that they would NOT call out the proper authorities for unknown boxes placed in public places. To go up to a suspicious package and just open it is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of, even before 9/11.

[Bret @ Apr 3rd 2006 10:16PM]

#33, If someone wanted to place bombs all around the town, I don't think they'd wrap them up in shiny boxes and put them where people can see them.

[c.Lake @ Apr 4th 2006 12:54AM]

Terrorist would NOT blow-up a NOWHERE town in Ohio. New York, LA, Chicago. Places that people have ACTUALLY heard of. I think "Police Chef McCoy" and the other idiots who live there, seem to have what we call; "Delusions of Grandeur".

I think they've forgotten their place on the map of importance.

[Luigi @ Apr 4th 2006 1:57AM]

If you really care...Drop the Portage County, Ohio sheriff an email.

http://www.co.portage.oh.us/sheriff.htm

[Ken Walker @ Apr 4th 2006 10:43AM]

wake up Ravenna, this has international eyes glued to it... if you prosecute these girls you make fools of us all. Wake up and get a sense of humor. There is nothing wrong with having fun on April fools day, NOR DID THEY TRY TO REPRESENT THESE CUBES AS BOMBS OR HAZARDS OF ANY KIND. Any idiot would know what the cubes were supposed to be. Next you'll be getting fined for lude behavior for holding hands in public.

Makes you proud to be an american doesn't it!
Girls playing a harmless april fools joke get their life destroyed by having a criminal record. Not to mention, the legal expenses this will cost their families with. Yes, it's the american way!

Gamers unite, we need to get a fund raiser going for these girls to pay for their legal expenses.

[Ken Walker @ Apr 4th 2006 11:20AM]

By the way, kids... you did a really good job. The cubes look great!

[Jason @ Apr 4th 2006 12:46PM]

OK, why would Bumblefuck, OH, sorry, I mean Ravenna, OH be target of a terrorist attack? And what type of terror attack includes placing items of destruction in a tree or on phone lines.

Get a clue!

[brk @ Apr 4th 2006 1:33PM]

c. Lake -> Terrorists DO blow up a NOWHERE in a town no one has ever heard of. Al-qaeda might not be doing such attacks but that does not mean all terrorist groups don't. I live in Turkey and for 10 years we had terrorists bombing random places, leaving bombs in garbage cans, in public transport etc. The situation is back to normal now but if you forget your bag somewhere it is highly possible that a bomb squad will blow it. Also IRA did smillar things and HAMAS does such attacks.

However I do not remember a single event in which people were charged for such stupid reasons.

Agent -> If I had found a brown box left by an unidentified man on my doorstep I would just open it. 30.000 people died in Turkey because of terrorist attacks and there were thousands of attacks. However I do not know anyone who became as paranoid as you...

[Fait @ Apr 4th 2006 4:37PM]

These girls are my new idols...