Jump to content
The Dark Mod Forums

Macsen

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2082

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Macsen

  2. Better not use any real cathedrals in TDM!

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    Video games are abusing the mentally retarded now! Have they no shame? :angry:

     

    A video game which uses a term abusive to people with disabilities is being pulled by its manufacturer.

     

    MindQuiz, a brain training game for the Nintendo DS handheld console, was released in the UK by French software giant Ubisoft in March 2007.

     

    However, poor performance in one section sees the player labelled in an offensive manner.

     

    The company has apologised "to anyone who was offended by the game" and said it will withdraw it.

     

    "As soon as we were made aware of the issue we stopped distribution of the product and are now working with retailers to pull the game off the market," a spokesperson said.

     

    "The game was developed in Japan, and we unfortunately did not pick up on the offending word in our quality assurance. We are currently working with the developer to find a way to rectify the issue."

     

    The problem emerged after a Belfast woman contacted BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show.

     

    Nicola told the show she had been playing the game - aimed at ages three and above - to pass the time while in hospital giving birth to her baby son, Austin, four weeks ago.

     

    It was a fraught time for the young mother, who had lost her other son, Logan, just before Christmas.

     

    The three-year-old - who suffered from cerebral palsy and was severely brain damaged - passed away after contracting pneumonia.

     

    Nicola was shocked when she had performed poorly at one part of the game and it rated her efforts in a manner derogatory to the disabled.

     

    "I thought it was absolutely appalling that a word like this should be used to describe someone who has not achieved very well," she said.

     

    "My daddy also has cerebral palsy and he is in his mid-50s and this is a word that really offends my dad."

     

    Japan eh?! That explains it! :angry:

  6. First Game Banned in UK in 10 Years

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    The point is, it's not difficult to think up a scenario in which you can justify any kind of behaviour, since in a game, the creators are making up the rules as well as defining the gameplay.

    I think you just disproved your own point with that forced and ridiculous made up 'scenario'. Having to kill an enemy to protect your clan has been going on since the dawn of man - no one has ever had to rape someone, be racist or abuse a child to 'save the day'. Setting your game in such a forced scenario as 'you belong to an obscure religion which states that you first have share intimate bodily fluids with someone before killing them' just wouldn't be believable, has nothing to do with 'saving the day', and shows why killing is accepted in video games while rape is not.

  8. First Game Banned in UK in 10 Years

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    Yes, oDDity, but the point is that the kind of killing and violence seen in video games isn't 'murder' as society sees it. I can't think of a game (besides Manhunt and Manhunt 2, above) where murdering people is the sole purpose of the game. In pretty much every game we're told that the player is the force of 'good' against 'evil' - we know killing can sometimes be right (fighting the Nazis in WWII for example) - and it is in this sort of situation that the player frequently finds himself in a video game.

     

    If they were just murder simulators most people would feel morally uncomfortable, and probably bored, just as they would with a child abuse simulator and rape simulator. So these aren't 'murder simulators', they're 'saving the day' simulators. :) It lets you enjoy the violence without feeling morally wrong - like punching Hitler! There's also a measure of skill that comes with these games that many people find appealing.

  9. First Game Banned in UK in 10 Years

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    It's about the morality of putting players in the position of enjoying violent behaviour.

    As far as I'm concerned, the enjoyment of violence in games is no different than the enjoyment of simulated rape, child abuse, racism or whatever. It's all behaviour that is not tolerated in real life, and should not be simulated in games for cheap amusement.

    Pfff... you're as bad as the religious nitwits you claim to loathe. Violence comes naturally to animals and there's nothing wrong with enjoying it. Of course it can't be allowed in real life but if you can simulate it what exactly is the harm?

     

    Is this forum as an 'argument simulator' a bad thing just because you wouldn't be as rude as you are to people here in real life?

     

    In fact the whole reason people enjoy violent games and films is that they can get their animal urges out of their system so they don't feel inclined to do it in real life. So in a way playing violent games probably makes you less violent. How come Japan has less censorship... yet almost no crime? Compare that to very religious ststes in America where they suppress everything and the murder rate goes through the roof.

  10. First Game Banned in UK in 10 Years

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    My point was that if violent, dumb games were banned Thief would never have been given the green light, because that's what it was before it morphed by accident into a stealth game.

     

    And what would be next? Ban sports because it's dumb to run around in shorts kicking a ball into a net?

  11. First Game Banned in UK in 10 Years

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    Making video games wouldn't be a very profitable exercise if 90% of what your produce is likely to be banned. You can't always plan a good game - Thief is a good example of a game that was meant to be a dull hack-n-slash game, but changed at the last moment beacuse the swordfighting didn't work and just happened to be any good.

  13. First Game Banned in UK in 10 Years

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    Is oDDity on the BBFC board? :)

     

    A violent video game with "an unrelenting focus on brutal slaying" has become the first to be banned in Britain for a decade.

     

    Manhunt 2, a sequel to the original and controversial game Manhunt, has been condemned by authorities for its "casual sadism" and "unremitting bleakness".

     

    The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) rejected the game after finding it "constantly encourages visceral killing".

     

    The ruling means the game cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK.

     

    David Cooke, director of the BBFC, said: "Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly.

     

    "Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the board's published guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2, this has not been possible."

     

    The original Manhunt game was given an 18 classification in

     

    2003 and was later blamed for the murder of a 14-year-old boy.

     

    Stefan Pakeerah was stabbed and beaten to death in Leicester in February 2004 and his parents claimed the killer, Warren LeBlanc, 17, was inspired by the game.

     

    At the time, the BBFC described the game as being "at the very top end of what the board judged to be acceptable at that category."

     

    Issuing a certificate to Manhunt 2 would risk the possibility of "unjustifiable harm" to adults and minors, the BBFC concluded.

     

    "Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing," said Mr Cooke.

     

    "There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.

     

    "The game's unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying and the sheer lack of alternative pleasures on offer to the gamer, together with the different overall narrative context, contribute towards differentiating this submission from the original Manhunt game."

     

    Manhunt 2, made by Rockstar Games, is designed for PS2 and Nintendo Wii consoles. "To issue a certificate to Manhunt 2 on either platform would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks within the terms of the Video Recordings Act," said Mr Cooke.

     

    The last game to be refused classification was Carmageddon in 1997 but the BBFC's decision was later overturned on appeal.

     

    Rockstar Games now has six weeks to submit an appeal.

  14. Paris Hilton goes back to jail

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    The car has to go from A to B first, that's right, but on the other hand, as soon as it reaches you, she is already under medical care.

    They wouldn't operate on a persons appendix on the way to the hospital. The operation takes about an hour and is done under anesthetic.

     

    If you go to the wrong hospital, it might happen that they can not take you mother because they may not be equipped to deal with it. A rescue car can already determine where she should go.

    It's the only big hospital in the area. And they removed my brother's appendix last year so I knew they could do it.

     

    If you have a crash because you are emotionally involved, you get even more problems.

    It was 5am and there weren't any other cars on the road (this is rural Wales remember) so a crash was unlikely. You can't go over 40-50mph on those roads anyway.

     

    Rescue cars have special grants, so the can pass over red lights and people have to move to the side and let it pass through in jams, which you also can not do.

    There weren't any people to have to move aside at that time of morning or traffic lights to obstruct me on the way there.

     

    The hospital didn't offer to send an ambulance over so it seems that they agreed with me.

  15. Paris Hilton goes back to jail

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    How long does it take to call an emergency car? Driving your mom yourself is probaly not scuh a good idea for all kind of reasons, and i wonder if you get faster treatement if you drive yourself anyway.

    Well if I call and 'emergency car' they have to go from A to B then back to A. But if I drive I just have to go from B straight to A. Unless they go twice as fast as I do, which is unlikely on narrow roads around here, I shall win the race.

  16. Paris Hilton goes back to jail

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    My opinion of having a car has see-sawed in the last two days. On Saturday I had to pay £1600 to get my car back on the road, and was thinking 'why the hell do I own a car?'.

     

    But yesterday my mam's apendix exploded and I had to rush her to hospital at 5am. So now I'm thinking 'thank God I own a car'.

  21. Better not use any real cathedrals in TDM!

    in Off-Topic

    Posted

    You don't want the Church of England complaining that you've inspired thieves to break in to their buildings! :laugh:

     

    Cathedral row over computer game

     

    The Church of England is considering legal action against entertainment firm Sony for featuring Manchester Cathedral in a violent Playstation computer game.

     

    The Church says Sony did not obtain permission to use the interior in the war game 'Resistance - Fall of Man.'

     

    The game, which has sold more than one million copies, shows a virtual shoot-out in the cathedral's nave in which hundreds of soldiers are killed.

     

    A Sony spokesman said that permission had been sought where necessary.

     

    However, the Church said Sony did not ask for permission to use the cathedral and it has demanded an apology and the removal of the game from shop shelves - otherwise legal action will be considered.

     

    Sony has not returned calls from Church officials.

     

    'Beyond belief'

     

    The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, has described the decision to feature the city's cathedral as "highly irresponsible" - especially in the light of Manchester's history of gun crime.

     

    "It is well known that Manchester has a gun crime problem," he said.

     

    "For a global manufacturer to re-create one of our great cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have guns battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible.

     

    "Here in Manchester we do all we can to support communities through our parish clergy. We know the reality of gun crime and the devastating effects it can have on lives. It is not a trivial matter."

     

    The Dean of Manchester Cathedral, The Very Revd Rogers Govender, also hit out at Sony's decision to feature the cathedral, claiming it was "undermining" the work of the church.

     

    "We are shocked to see a place of learning, prayer and heritage being presented to the youth market as a location where guns can be fired.

     

    "This is an important issue. For many young people these games offer a different sort of reality and seeing guns in Manchester Cathedral is not the sort of connection we want to make.

     

    "Every year we invite hundreds of teenagers to come and see the cathedral and it is a shame to have Sony undermining our work."

     

    No-one from Sony was available for comment.

     

    However, David Wilson, a Sony spokesman, told The Times newspaper: "It is game-created footage, it is not video or photography.

     

    "It is entertainment, like Doctor Who or any other science fiction. It is not based on reality at all. Throughout the whole process we have sought permission where necessary."

×
×
  • Create New...