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No political influence in Manhunt decision says BBFC
The BBFC claims there wasn't any political influence in today's decision banning Manhunt 2 from being sold in the UK. The board's Sue Clark tells GI.biz that past incidents involving Bully (oh, sorry, Canis Canem Edit) Dead Rising and the original Manhunt had nothing to do with the decision today. Clark says, "We are independent of government and independent of the industry and we reached this decision based on our guidelines and our concerns and not on any other basis at all." Clark even pointed out that negative press surrounding games actually encourages sales. But, she puts it quite simply, "We've rejected this game so you can't buy it legally in the UK."Whether you agree with the BBFC's decision or not, it's interesting to watch the saga of these ratings boards. We don't know if movies like Hostel or the other hardcore horror movies have been banned in the UK, but if they haven't, that feels like a double standard.
iPod blamed for stealing the thunder from contemporary art
If you've been yearning for controversy, why not meet Mr. David Hockney? Commonly know as "Britain's best-loved living painter," Hockney has suggested that the proliferation of the iPod has been a primary contributor to the recent "fallow period of painting." He insists that today's society is "all about sound," and even mentions that people are turning off their eyes and ignoring contemporary art whilst "plugging their ears." Put simply, he believes the modern "decline in visual awareness" rests heavily on Apple's own cash cow, and further stirred the pot by insinuating that it led to "badly dressed people" who cared not about lines nor mass. As expected, a spokeswoman for Apple Australia refuted the claims, and while we certainly have seen no shortage of brilliant creations since the iPod explosion, there's always two sides to the canvas.
10 things that Sort of Mildly Displease PC World about Apple (and why PC World thinks Apple is Doing Well)
In the beginning there was 'hate', or more specifically "10 Things We Hate About Apple". And PC World's Harry Mccracken resigned from his position when former Macworld CEO Colin Crawford supposedly put the kibosh on the article. Questions raged throughout the blogosphere as to whether Apple was exercising undue editorial pressure as an advertiser--questions, which as far as I can tell, did not raise a definitive answer one way or another. Today PC World lays everything out on the table--well almost everything; they never mention whether Apple played a role or not and don't discuss the resignation directly--posting about the controversy which involved short pieces written by staffers Alan Stafford and Narasu Rebbapragada. The articles, they write, were meant to be light-hearted conversation starters, not "weighty journalism". You can read both articles today at PC World's online site, both the ten things they hate about Apple and the ten things they love. The "hate" list includes many on-target items including that Apple is "more secretive than Homeland Security" (hah!), that they blame others for the worm that shipped with iPods last year, and that the Mac is crap at gaming. The less focused "love" list includes "sublime designs", Jobs calling for the end of DRM, and that Macs run Windows. In the end, now that we've gotten a chance to check both lists out, it seems like a whole lot of fuss was made over not very much. And if I had to spike one of the two lists? I'd kill the "love" list first.Thanks, Chris Tutor.
Jack Thompson responds to Rocca as we Zen on Take Two
After the break we have a video of Jack Thompson responding to IGDA Director Jason Della Rocca's quote about him being a "massacre chaser." Particularly choice moments are when Thompson calls Della Rocca an "idiot" and "jackass" on national television. The anchor concludes the piece, "Clearly on a campaign, we appreciate your sharing, attorney Jack Thompson."Something worth thinking about as this Thompson "jacklash" continues, we sorta passed over a major event this week: Thompson can't mess with Take Two anymore. This was part of a settlement reached between Take Two and Thompson following a string of lawsuits going back to the Bully case. GamePolitics has the terms of the settlement in a handy PDF download. The big question is if Thompson can't go after Take Two's GTA IV or Manhunt 2, the VT Massacre angle isn't quite going his way, then what is there left to go after? Any violent game Thompson could decide to take on would probably pale in comparison to the carnage in either GTA IV or Manhunt, which he legally can't attack anymore.So, take a deep cleansing breath and ponder: Without the ability to go after Take Two anymore -- what can Thompson do?
DS Daily: The democratic process
Well, it looks like the next Presidential campaign is already well under way in the good ol' U.S. of A., so it must be time for us to ask a preliminary election question: how big is the issue of videogame legislation to you? For those of you who will be voting, is this one of of your major issues when evaluating candidates? In a time of war, this may seem like a small issue to some, but it's one that affects us pretty much every day. So, what we want to know is how you feel about candidates who support heavier regulation of video game content?
Slamdance left "half empty" over Super Columbine controversy [update 1]
Smatbomb co-author Heather Chaplin attended the Slamdance Guerrilla Game Maker Competition for the New York Times and reported on the "half empty" rows of folding chairs and "uncomfortable quiet" that permeated the whole proceeding. The cause of this melancholy, of course, was the decision by competition president Peter Baxter to remove finalist Super Columbine Massacre RPG from the competition, leading six other finalists to remove their games in a show of support.. Baxter told Chaplin that he doesn't personally find the game immoral, somewhat contradicting an earlier statement to the Rocky Mountain News that "there are moral obligations to consider here with this particular game." The Times article also mentions "outraged phone calls and e-mail messages [Baxter had] been receiving from Utah residents and family members associated with the Columbine shooting," as a reason for the game's removal. In the end, the remaining attendees voted not to award any prizes at this year's competition, implicitly supporting director Sam Roberts' contention that the competition had been compromised. Whether or not the stain of this decision will last into next year's competition remains to be seen. [Update: Fixed a typo In Ms. Chaplin's name. Sorry Heathen ... I mean Heather.]
Ars Technica defends Left Behind, industry grows up a little
Recently Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica was interviewed about Left Behind: Eternal Forces on NPR's All Things Considered and found himself "defending the Christian right." He says Left Behind is being unfairly "demonized," the same way Bully and GTA have been, "We can't pick and choose our fights based on whether or not we agree with what a game says; we must fight for the game's ability to say anything it wants to." And that sound you hear is the industry getting just a little older.Religion, sex, politics and everything else we've heard "don't belong in games" will be -- or already has been -- incorporated into titles that'll sell millions of copies. As the industry gets older and the average demographic playing them does as well, complex ideas that may offend or challenge will start to pop up. What's thrilling and horrible at the same time is we have to defend the games with messages we agree with as strongly as those we don't. Like movies, music, theater, literature, television and other art, we shouldn't stop the message from being said, just make sure to vote with your wallet on what games you want to see more of. See also: Metareview -- Left Behind: Eternal Forces Political groups angry over Left Behind game Islamic groups want Left Behind off Wal-Mart shelves [Via Game Politics]
Boston Herald created GTA controversy, politicians followed [update 1]
The Political Game piece by Dennis McCauley of GamePolitics helped highlight a little story from Boston this week about controversial advertisements on the MBTA public transportation system, known as the T, for GTA: Vice City Stories. As a Boston native and resident it behooves me to give a little more context to the T and, more importantly, The Boston Herald who hyped this story.None of the organizations or politicians demanding the T pull the ads have a leg to stand on without admitting to massive hypocrisy. GTA: Liberty City Stories, released last year, had advertisements all over the T and nobody said anything about it. There is also a profusion of liquor advertisements and far more potentially "objectionable" advertisements on the T. The head of the T, Daniel Grabauskas, promised to begin the process of amending the MBTA's advertising guidelines to prohibit M- and AO-rated games in the future. How are liquor ads promoting something that can only be purchased by someone 21+ appropriate for the public transportation system, but games for 17 year-olds and older inappropriate?A little context probably needs to be given to how this story got to this level. The Boston Herald and their reporters pander to the lowest common denominator and have been the ones pounding the drums of war on this issue. The Boston Globe may initially report on a story, but The Boston Herald sensationalizes it. If you live in a two newspaper town you know there is typically one standard paper (The Boston Globe) and one white-trash yellow-journalism fear-mongering newspaper (The Boston Herald). The Boston Herald is dying, having laid off most of its staff, and in its death throes hypes trash to gain attention, attempting to sell bundles of newspapers nobody will buy, which are then given away for free on the streets to keep circulation numbers artificially inflated. As long as Boston politicians finally learn to ignore The Boston Herald -- the same way the readership and citizenry of Boston has -- then issues like this will not occur again. What's even better is for all their faux outrage now, in early November The Boston Herald said GTA: Vice City Stories and GTA: Liberty City Stories "may be the most entertaining games available for the PSP."(Update 1: Fixed a few minor bits of the grammar)
UK's Currys finds Bully too spicy
Oh bother, somebody didn't send the memo that Bully is tame to the British. After various U.S. press outlets, along with wire service Reuters and the pinnacle of print media USA Today, gave Bully a collective hall pass, it looks like a few people across the pond don't read those venerable institutions. The UK Sun is reporting retail store Currys is refusing to stock Bully's British version, Canis Canem Edit -- which is different in title only -- stating, "We're a family-friendly retailer. We don't think this game is appropriate for our stores and have decided not to stock it."The ESRB gave Bully a T rating in the U.S., which taking into account how puritanical the states are means Canis Canem Edit is kosher for the pre-teen UK set. Tipster Geoff says that Currys was, "One of the retailers who stopped selling Manhunt in this country, along with Woolworths and Game. All three retailers were stocking Manhunt again within three weeks of the 'ban'." Of course, this "family-friendly" retailer currently sells the 18+ game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. Bully being controversial is so passe at this point that the game may sell based on its merits rather than ridiculous pre-conceptions. Guess we'll find out how U.S. gamers feel about the game tomorrow, Currys has till the British launch Oct. 27 to decide if the mean Bully will hurt their bottom line.
Bully controversy gets thoughtful consideration
For those of you who weren't satisfied by last night's bluster-fest of an interview on G4, the Rocky Mountain News' FreePlay blog has an interesting summary piece on the controversy surrounding Rockstar's recently resurfaced game Bully.On one side are bullying experts and school board members who think the game will lead directly to an increase in violence in schools. On the other side, industry/social critics like Clive Thompson and Alice Taylor argue that these games are simply misunderstood by a generation that didn't grow up with them.The Rocky handles both sides with respect and thoughtfulness, and even throws in some good historical context -- after all, the classic novel Ulysses was once derided for its sexual content. Or, as Adam Sessler might put it, there was media controversy "before Pong."[via Kotaku]
Merc 2 rumored for 360, Venezuelans pissed
Another former "PS3 exclusive" looks like it's headed to the Xbox 360, but not without some geo-political baggage. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames from Pandemic/BioWare moves the action from North Korea to sunny South America where "a power-hungry tyrant messes with Venezuela's oil supply, sparking an invasion that turns the country into a warzone." As you might expect, the premise has drawn criticism from the Venezuelan media who are directing their indignation at an unlikely target: U2 frontman Bono, who just so happens to be an investor. Meanwhile, stateside fans of lefty hero Hugo Chavez are coming up with conspiracy theories involving CIA propaganda and the Military Industrial Video Game Complex (Wait until they figure out THQ wants to Destroy All Humans). Instead of getting upset about diplomatic sensitivities, save your sympathy for the PS3 fanboys, who now have one less exclusive title to help rationalize their credit card bill this fall.
Sony pulls controversial PSP ads
Depicting a white woman grappling with a black woman, a recent series of Sony PSP ads in the Netherlands have caused many to engage in some grappling of their own, mostly with issues and allegations of racism. After defending the images and claiming that they had "no other message or purpose" besides flaunting the white PSP, Sony has now confirmed that they have yanked the ads and banished them to a mysterious marketing misfire graveyard.A Sony representative informed Gamespot that the decision was made based on the global reaction to an ad that was largely aimed at a specific country. The representative goes on to say that Sony "further recognize[s] that people have a wide variety of perceptions about such imagery and we wish to apologize to those who perceived the advert differently to that intended. In future, we will apply greater sensitivity in our selection of campaign imagery, and will take due account of the increasingly global reach of such local adverts, and their potential impact in other countries."Interestingly enough, Sony claims to have only received a single complaint from within the Netherlands. It's unclear as to which is the more important lesson to be learned from all of this: Is it that marketers should wear gloves when handling potentially explosive material? Or perhaps it's that the internet always has a global eye on the moves of a large and popular corporation?[Thanks evilmax17!]
2K Games kicks its habit, drops Snow [update 1]
While not surprising (we haven't heard anything about the game since E3 2005), Take Two subsidiary 2K Games officially announced today that it has cancelled Snow, a drug-dealing strategy. In the game, you start out as some small-time pot dealers to a narcotics empire capable of taking out the competition (usually involving violence). Snow used cel-shading to give it the feel of a graphic novel.The content of the game, from glorified drug peddling to gang wars, was ripe with controversy; Take Two has enough controversy (Hot Coffee, Oblivion, and Bully) to deal with right now. Bully, in fact, has not been mentioned by Rockstar since December of 2005, yet has become a staple example of the "horrible games industry" by certain anti-game activists.You can check out some screenshots and impressions of Snow over at GameSpot.[Thanks, Joe and JC][update 1: it was cancelled only once -- typo fixed]
