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Midway's Slugfest, Ballers Inappropriate For Kids?

Posted by simoniker on from the i-wish-i-was-a-little-bit-taller dept.

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."

2 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Hrm.... by Hank+Reardon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What the heck, I suppose I'll take a Karma hit for this...

    I think the message that kids take away from NBA Ballers is, it's all about money... Women are objects in this game.

    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...
  2. Re:Ballers by pudge · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You're conflating the sporting event with the people who participate in it. I can go to movies without knowing or caring about the lives of the actors. And, in fact, I do.

    Anyway, since when does the fact that something really happens justify its inclusion in entertainment? Saying it happens in real life is a non sequitur.

    Further, the things you speak of are not endorsed by (e.g.) the NBA, but the NBA does endorse this game.

    And besides.. IT IS A FUCKING GAME.

    A game that is rated E for Everyone, and contains prostitution. This is really more about the rating of the game than anything else. If it were rated M for Mature (not that I think it deserves such a rating), there would be far less of an outcry.

    Personally, I think the ESRB has a big gap between T and M. M is a bit of a stigma and implies explicit content, whereas IMO suggestivity, as exists in Ballers, is not appropriate for T and not explicit enough to warrant an M. Regardless, an E rating for this game is just stupid.