Slashdot Mirror
Violent Video Gaming Comes To the Wii
TuringTest writes "In an attempt to bring the Wii closer to the hardcore gamer's taste, Sega is preparing to release MadWorld, a violent 'hack and slash' game. This has brought attention from family-conscious lobbies: 'The decision to release a violent game on a console which has based its reputation on family fun has shocked anti-violence pressure groups. Mediawatch-UK, Britain's longest-running pressure group campaigning for decency in TV, films and games, said MadWorld will "spoil" the Wii.' The game features black & white cel-shaded graphics, except for the blood blobs which are in brilliant red. MadWorld is announced to be released in early 2009."
Did they get Frank Miller to direct?
1) are Hitman and Manhunt non-violent games?
2) I want this
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
This will be quite a change from the very non-violent and family friendly Wii games like "Resident Evil 4", "Alone in the Dark" and "Bully".
How could such a thing happen?
slice dice and blood splatter with a goofy lightsaber, and you have to "jerk off" the wiimote to rebuild your charge? I think adult on wii has already been done.
meh
WII Release Date: Nov 13, 2007 (US).
If this doesn't qualify as violent, I'm not sure what does...
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Here's a crazy idea: so then they don't have to buy it.
I mean, it's not like they were tricked by some game presented as "Princess Peach Pony Adventures" rated E and discovered a secret level which involved skinning people alive. They know from the start it's a violent game, Sega makes no secret about it, and if their console is really for "family fun" and they have kids... don't buy it.
Crazy talk, I know.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Clearly they missed the (re)release of RE4 for the Wii last year, where one can be beheaded by a chainsaw, among other family friendly things.
Come on people. Really?
I can't wait to see what can be done with vibrating and location-sensing functions of the controller once I strap it on a little differently from usual.
How dare they attempt to make more money by attempting to appeal to a different segment of the market! Just because all of the games released up to the now have been family-friendly, does not mean that there were NEVER any plans to release any other type. That sort of thinking will limit your income possibilities.
Bearded Dragon
Oh, wait. That's what puberty did.
Just wondering, do 'controversial' companies sponsor these lobby groups (and maybe even help write the press releases) as a free publicity stunt? I'd be somewhat surprised if they didn't.
It's not like there aren't other games rated M on the Wii. No More Heroes is the first that comes to mind. There's also the Resident Evil series, I think Godfather and Scarface were ported over, etc.
From the video, the only unique thing about this game is the decision to make everything black and white but for the blood, which is bright red. Fewer colors is now a feature!
Overall, a pretty lame publicity grab. "Our game is so hardcore your mom won't let you buy it!" What they don't say is "Our game is so boring you won't play it after the novelty wears off and you've shown it to all of your friends."
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
Porn has been made, now my DVD player is ruined... RUINED!!
If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
This is not TV. This is not even a cable channel that comes as part of a premium package. It's still a game that must be purchased separately. I don't see what the big deal is.
The thing is, who cares? We can piss-off these anti-violence people all we want, and what are they going to do about it?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?
it was causing genuinely violent thoughts in my head.
against the devs for making such a terrible game?
Heck, I can buy Viva Pinata for my 360 period, and then call it a family friendly console. Hypocrisy is the name for this "debate".
Viva Piñata? Where you beat crying animals to death and get rewarded with candy, confetti, and cheers? That's family friendly?
Oh, you must mean the part where you can breed piñatas with their siblings and parents with their children.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Violence isn't even a problem. Sex and violence is a problem. Horror and violence is a problem. Violence with a graphic, realistic portrayal is a problem. (When I say problem here, I'm talking about it being a problem for some people, not necessarily meaning that it is a problem per se or that I personally have a problem with it.)
Just violence though? Please. My Wii came with a boxing game. Boxing is a violent sport. Super Mario Galaxy? You kill things by jumping on them and hitting them. How is that not violent?
Strangely, violence and disturbing content is not always a problem though: see any SpongeBob game.
Yes, I am one of those dirty filthy casuals that plays games to *gasp *horror* *shock* enjoy them. I tend to like the games that have innovative and fun gameplay. Unique visual audio styles are a plus.
Perhaps I'm just too old for the current definition of hardcore games and hardcore gamers but what I don't really get is how the number of pixels pushed or the volume of blood makes a game for the hardcore gamer.
I'd expect the hardcore gamer to want intricate and complex yet responsive control schemes that reward having faster-than-framerate reactions. Requiring six liquid cooled video cards just to render the game on its lowest setting or requiring a TARDIS built into the circulatory system of every mook to handle the amount of blood they spray when killed doesn't mean its "hardcore" to me. It generally says its cheaper to hire graphic designers than it is people capable of putting together a solid game.
Just like letting gays get married will somehow ruin marriage for everyone else. Having a violent video game on Wii will ruin it for everyone. (as if Manhunt 2, Call of Duty 3, etc weren't already on the Wii).
There is a certain personality type that wants to "protect" the lifestyles of other people by projecting their own values onto the rest of the world. And they believe they cannot be happy until everyone else shares their world view.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Imagine the Wii hardware addons that might come out of this:
Wii Truncheon
Wii Dagger
Wii Battle Axe
Wii Whoopass Stick
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
Overall, a pretty lame publicity grab.
If anyone's making a publicity grab, it's the Daily Mail. The last we saw them on Slashdot, they had come up with a dubious iPhone Nano rumour. They're making a reach for online marketshare by coming up with nonsense and starting storms in teacups, basically taking their approach to newspaper sales but applying it their website. This is a publication which runs features demonising games at random intervals because it gives them something other than Jews, gays and foreigners to attack. They are the ones who probably egged Mediawatch into it in the first place.
Publisher-mandated coverage of the game in the UK peaked a few months ago when it was an Edge cover story. If they are deliberately courting controversy, they've done a poor job of it.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
I'm not a big Wii fan and part of that is due to the fact its games don't interest me. However, I don't like that hardcore gaming is being equated with violence (and inevitably, sex). The Wii does come across as sort of a child-centric system to me but adding titles with blood won't necessarily make me think of it as more mature and won't make me think of it as 'hardcore'.
Personally, I don't think it gets more hardcore then Civilization. There's very little, if any, blood in the game but it's the complexity of the gameplay and the dedication one has have for it that makes it something of an elite gaming experience. If we 'hardcore' gamers don't demand complexity and innovation in games then all we're going to get is Halo/GTA clones.
While I do not enjoy violent games the notions that this game will "ruin" the wii is absolutely absurd. Will users of the wii be forced to play the game? Of course not. If you dont like the game dont play it.
...my thoughts exactly
Collector's Edition
In an attempt to bring the World closer to the hardcore warmonger's taste, Lockheed Martin is preparing to release new cluster munitions, a violent 'hack and slash' type of bomblet loaded with shrapnel and high explosives. This has brought attention from family-conscious lobbies: 'The decision to release a violent weapon from a nation which has based its reputation on family fun has shocked anti-violence pressure groups. Mediawatch-UK, Britain's longest-running pressure group campaigning for decency in TV, films and warfare, said Lockheed Martin will "spoil" the World.' The weapon features drab steel casings, except for the bomblets which are in brilliant yellow. Cluster bombs are widely available, but new ones are announced to be released in early 2009.
link FTW.
To MediaWatch-UK, you bunch of lack-witted, thumb-sucking buboes...
Point 1:
Just because the sensationalist hacks at the Daily Fail run a story about your latest bout of whining does not lend any credence to your crusade against the right-thinking portion of the British populace and their desire to be able to decide for themselves what is or isn't appropriate entertainment for themselves and their families.
Point 2:
I have a DVD player. When I have children, they can watch Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen's back-catalogue, High School Musical and Bambi to their hearts' content. I can use it to watch Oldboy, Battle Royale and Cannibal Holocaust. It is up to me to control who watches what. It is my choice. If someone has the money to purchase a Wii, and then to purchase games for it, and yet is too fucking stupid to make an informed choice about the games they buy then there is no hope for humanity. If things have become *that* bad then "Campaigning for decency and accountability in the media" is just polishing the brass on the Titanic. Seriously, you'd be far better off doing something useful like chemically castrating these bozos.
Point 3:
Following on, Nintendo markets the Wii on its main strength, family-fun and party games. This is not out of some altruistic desire to promote family values, it is because it cannot compete with the 360 or PS3 when it comes to graphical content. Nintendo play to their system's strengths which are a unique and novel control system and a large catalogue of party games. I enjoy playing Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz but I also enjoy playing Red Steel and Call Of Duty 3. Both of which were available ON THE DAY OF LAUNCH.
Points 4-8:
This is not the first game to be released for Wii that I would consider inappropriate for the whole family based on violent or sexual content...nor will it be the last. Games already released which Alone In The Dark - Survival Horror
Bully
Call of Duty 3 - World War II First Person Shooter
Shooting people, throwing grenades, shooting flammable barrels next to people to incinerate them. While not graphic, this is a war-themed game that was available at UK release, and which I wouldn't let children play.
That really burns my biscuits! You mean Sega is going to force games containing content unsuitable for my impressionably proginy onto my Wii, strip the parental controls, and then force my kids to see them, with me in handcuffs so I can't properly supervise what they're doing?
What's that you say? I'd have to buy it? On purpose? And you're sure the disc won't jump out of its case and load itself up? And I won't be prevented from setting the parental controls in the wii, nor from monitoring my kids?
Huh.
Speaking of how violent Super Mario Galaxy is, did you ever notice you win by asking the star people to commit mass suicide? Or would you call that a suicide-genocide since they all died...