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Midway's Slugfest, Ballers Inappropriate For Kids?
Thanks to ABC News for its article discussing controversy over the content of Midway's officially licensed baseball and basketball videogames, as the story explains: "Nine-year-old Stephane Safar likes to play MLB Slugfest, a video game rated 'E', that is, for everyone 6 years old and older... But then he played it in front of his mother Amy, and what she saw went well beyond real-life baseball, as players punched and kicked each other during the course of the game." Amy explains: "Does he know that that's not really how Barry Bonds acts out on the field? Does he know that Nomar [Garciaparra] can't punch somebody?" Midway's NBA Ballers also comes in for criticism, with Kimberly Thompson of the Harvard School of Public Health complaining: "I think the message that kids take away from NBA Ballers is, it's all about money... Women are objects in this game."
Saying women are "objects" in Ballers is an understatement. They are actually purchased in the game, just like a house or car. And the NBA endorses this. Lakers legend Jerry West was slated to have his likeness in the game, and he backed out once he saw the content.
Funny that the "it's all about money" comment is in relation to the NBA, and not MLB.. Yeah, they're probably both guilty of it, what with the crazy black-out rules, and insane endorsements for everything from chewing gum to credit cards...
What the heck, I suppose I'll take a Karma hit for this...
I guess I must have missed something. With all of the endorsement deals, players being paid so much that only one team can afford to pay them, tales of sexual conquest (a-la Wilt Chamberlain), and the inconsistent enforcement of the rules, isn't this an accurate representation of the NBA?
I quit being interested in the NBA as players like Dennis Rodman became more and more common. I miss the general good-natured playing of Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Bring back that level of sportsmanship and finess and I might change my opinion.
There's so little difference between politics and jihad lately...
Does he know that that's not really how Barry Bonds acts out on the field? Does he know that Nomar [Garciaparra] can't punch somebody?
Tell that to my black eye!!! Damn that Garciaparra...
Oh, and, how does Barry Bonds act out on the field, if you would be kind enough to explain?
--TheOrangeSquid Is it any wonder things seem so awry? We swim in a sea of confusion and don't have to think to survive
I think the message that kids take away from NBA Ballers is, it's all about money...
Whereas in real life, they do it for the love, plus a small stipend for meals and cab fare.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
but Pedro
knows how to handle himself.
------ Work is so much easier when you don't
i seem to think that acceptable content for a little kid do you all recall the three stooges? I do. Saying this game influences kids to act violent while playing sports is like saying that when your friend calls you a knuckle head you poke his eyes out and hit him with a 2x4 maybe they should just include a "v chip" type apparatus in consoles that blocks out all the badness, who knows who cares, violence is here to stay
Women are objects in this game.
That only proves they used good encapsulation.
If you don't think that the game is appropriate for your kid, don't buy it. Professional sports is a scummy business... maybe kids wouldn't be affected by the portrayal of athletes if we didn't program them to idolize athletes.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
Does this mean parents assume anyhting sold with a "g" label is what they consider appropriate? Last time i checked they were guidlines for parents. Anyone who lets there 10 year old kid play a game they have never even seen before shouldnt have them :)
Seriously, you dont have the 10min it'll take to watch your kid play the game when you get it for them?
I think far to meany people are blaming there kids behavior and influences on media,school,tv,games, etc. instead of on the fact that parents spend allmost no time with there children anymore, but then again im only 20 years old what do i know :)
-=Hinkey=-
Barry Bonds is not in the MLBPA (MLB Players Assoc). Therefore, he is not "bought" along with all the other players when EA buys the rights. In fact, in one game (MVP Baseball?), instead of buying Bonds in addition to the MLBPA, they made a charachter with Bond's exact stats, and he's some white guy on the Giants with some generic name. It's the biggest rip-off since "Mr. Dream" was the double of Mike Tyson in "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out" in all ways except he was just some no-name with Mike's former abilities :)
Ray lewis gathering his crew up for a night on the town knifing people and then going to work the next sunday while driving his Escalade and his fur coat and tackling the snot out of quaterbacks.
I wish they made a game where you could combine sports and GTA, that way you can truely act like the thug that players in all 3 of the major leagues are becoming.
Anyone remember Dalls of the 90's? Raiders of today? NBA for the last 5-10 years? Thuglife has come home so let's fire it up on my PSX!
Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
If it detects a boob or two is rated A+ (until a bribe by the publisher is collected)
If it detects any red liquid or "pooty mouth" language is rated M (Mario was rated M for "magma" until a big N cheque was collected)
If any guns are detected is rated T
Anything else is rated E.
So is easy to spot why the system didnt detected prostitution. Now all we have to do is to tell the developers to get the girls topless and offer a handy cheque to the ESRB and the game will be rated "M" plus a huge sales boost.
I just love the smell of the game industry in the morning!
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
Midway has been forced in the past to leave a lot of stuff out of games like Slugfest at the request of MLB (surprisingly, at least in slugfest 20-03 it was mostly stuff said by the commentators, the only "violent" image removed that I know of was when someone charges the mound, the camera would cut away to somewhere else on field and you just heard the beating taking place.)
I wouldn't be surprised if later versions of slugfest or any others drop the MLB or NBA or whoever endorsement altogether, so they can put whatever they want in.
How convenient, I'm an object-oriented programmer. ;)
-- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I wanna know. That kid was 9 years old right? Who in the hell bought the game for him in the first place? Is she such a bad parent that she can't grab a Gaming magazine or pull up a sysnopsis of the game online? I don't care if it's "Let's play with the Muppet Babies" the game gets my ok before my kids get to play it.
Since when is a watchdog group or a rating on a box by a censor board better than my judgement for my child? When you take the advice or the opinion of someone else lady, make sure their opinions are the same as yours. What you think is wrong or exploitive others may find absolutely apropriate. I grew up playing Street Fighter -> Street Fighter OMG We are sick to death of it. Well I never Axe kicked anyone because Guille did it in the game. Why because it's just that a game. Teach your kid right from wrong, don't rely on someone else to look and decide if it should be apropriate. If you do then the only one to blame, is yourself. I think you need to be more into your sons life than to let a 9 year old play video games. Make his ass go outside and physically play baseball. Thats what he needs to be doing anyway. My kids are allowed to work on a computer. Notice WORK. They are under age 9, and are very astute programmers for their ages. Neither ar ein 5th grade yet. When it comes to video games at my house, there are two people to ask. Me and God, and I'll tell you at my house God ain't gonna do a thing to get a video game that I haven't ok'd.
Don't wait till your kid goes apeshit and becomes a mass murderer in an afternoon and then expect to blame it on a game, because it's that a game. If you have taught them well then they know the difference so lighten up move on, cause we have.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!