Nintendo Wii Fanboy

There is a popular viewpoint pushed by those who campaign against the likes of Manhunt 2, and it runs a little like this: motion-controlled on-screen violence is more likely to corrupt players than that which is played through pressing buttons. Senators have used this argument in the past, as have journalists, but they're both wrong. Gloriously, wonderfully wrong. Who says so? Science says so, that's who.

A new study from the labs of Villanova University has revealed that swinging a Wiimote and pressing a button generated the same amount of "hostility and aggressive thoughts in" 118 college students (68 female, 50 male). The participants played either Manhunt 2 or Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008, with each individual having their levels of "psychoticism" tested before and after play. Nobody completely flipped out, and whether flailing with a controller or pressing a button, levels of hostility remained even -- and thus another anti-gaming myth crumbled.


[Via Game|Life]

Censors, be damned! That's more or less the attitude of House of the Dead: Overkill developer Headstrong Games, which has said it won't be compromising the amount of gore in Overkill.

"Sometimes we've gone 'ooh, we shouldn't really do that'," producer Neil McEwen tells CVG, "but then we've gone 'no, hell yes we should'." McEwen reasons that, as nobody is getting exploited, then buckets of claret are justifiable: he suggests the gore will be as "extreme as possible." He also plays the tongue-in-cheek card, though that didn't help MadWorld when the Daily Mail came knocking. Even if censors have already ensured the game won't be released in Germany, we salute McEwen and Headstrong for this carefree attitude. If only other developers and publishers were as bold.

The brewing controversy around MadWorld may seem similar, after the Manhunt 2 media debacle, but at least one person is concerned it may have a deeper effect on Nintendo and the Wii's future library of games. Or maybe it's more accurate to say that writer and advertising student Thom Dinsdale thinks the Wii market will be driven by the "Wii Sports generation," and that there will be little place for riskier games like MadWorld. On the face, it sounds like the oldest argument we've heard about the Wii: that the large casual focus is going to somehow damage gaming.

Well, Wii gaming, anyway.

Dinsdale seems to think that Nintendo is attempting to ride two horses at top speed, and is uncertain the company can balance the casual appeal with games like MadWorld. While he grants the fact that the publications lambasting the game are known for sensationalism, he also reluctantly admits that they're read on a daily basis by millions in the U.K., and he worries that other third party developers will look at the controversy and shy away from future Wii exclusives.

We can only hope he's wrong, and have the system's history with Manhunt 2 on our side, but we certainly don't want to see MadWorld toned down ... and we'd rather it not negatively impact future third-party releases, either. Dinsdale's arguments are well-reasoned, but we're keeping our fingers crossed on this one. After all, things are looking up for non-Nintendo releases on the system, and that's after the last major controversy.

[Via GoNintendo]

Britain's most hysterical newspaper and preferred litter tray liner the Daily Mail has caught wind of MadWorld -- and it wants us to know all about it. For our children's safety. THINK OF THE CHILDREN.

In a piece entitled "Parents horrified as most violent video game ever to launch on 'family friendly' Wii," the newspaper illogically huffs and puffs about the forthcoming Platinum Games project, which it claims has "shocked anti-violence pressure groups." Near the top of the article, the Mail quotes a spokesperson from MediaWatch-UK, while a retort from Nintendo is relegated to the very bottom of the article. Little has changed from the Mail's previous coverage of videogames, with the familiar, outraged tone and Luddite views present throughout. The paper also ignores the imminent release of Manhunt 2, and conveniently forgets that MadWorld will almost certainly be granted an "18" certificate.

Most absurdly of all, the Mail suggests that MadWorld will "dramatically transform Wii's image," as though the game is likely to sell in the tens of millions. Seriously, if the Wii is synonymous with MadWorld (and not Wii Sports) two years from now, we'll eat the hat of everybody reading this.


[Via MCV]

The controversy that was whipped up over Rockstar's naughty Manhunt 2 may be more far-reaching than we originally thought; for example, it's pretty much scared Volition right off the idea of producing a Saints Row game for the Wii.

Volition's Dan Sutton thinks that a Wii iteration of the crime epic would create little more than an unwanted hoo-hah, particularly with motion controls thrown into the mix. "With games like ours you get much more controversy when you add motion controls like you saw with Manhunt 2," remarked Sutton to CVG, before going on to explain how motion-controlled chainsaws and satchel charges probably wouldn't win many friends in the various regulatory bodies.

So where do Wii-owning, virtual-hooker-killers turn now? Take-Two has already played down the idea of a Grand Theft Auto game on the Wii, and now one of the next best alternatives has been emphatically ruled out. Ooh, how about a True Crime game? Actually, just not caring sounds like a better option to that.

It's official: Beer Pong was way too controversial for the family-friendly Wii, and the forthcoming lulzworthy WiiWare game has undergone a name change. Beer Pong: Frat Party Games is now Frat Party Games: Pong Toss. What, like taking the beer out of the name takes it out of the frat party? That will certainly work. Next up: Frat Party Games: Quilting. You know how those boys at the chapter house like to fight over the best remnants.

Here's the thing: in this case, it really did work. Not only is Beer Pong now operating under a different title, but all the references to alcohol have been removed, too. Publisher JVGames already made the change (in response, we assume, to previous protests), which resulted in the assumed rating being dropped down to E. Now, a whole new argument has arisen, thanks to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who feels that, despite the lack of beer anywhere in the game (it's juice in them there cups), an E rating will encourage underage drinking. Blumenthal wants an AO-rating, which just ain't happening -- liquor references in games rates teen, per the ESRB.

The ESRB is having none of it, though; they smartly responded with a racing game analogy: if you pulled the same stunts in real life as you do in a racing game, they'd certainly be illegal. However, as they noted, many racing games are rated E. So why give this one, with no overt alcohol use and no illegal behavior whatsoever, a restrictive rating?

From the screenshots, we can't help but think people should have not only left this one alone, but also be celebrating this game as a PSA. If drinking makes everything look like this, we're taking the first train to sobertown.


[Via Game|Life]

While a lot of people here may have spent hours rawking out and pulling buffoonish poses to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, it's safe to say that country rock musician Charlie Daniels wasn't quite as enthusiastic. Firstly, the guy is 71, and if performing high kicks and the splits is beyond us flexible twenty-somethings, it's probably going to be unrealistic for anyone who qualifies for a free bus pass. Secondly (and a lot more relevantly), he's not too chuffed about how one of his songs, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," has been presented by Legends of Rock.

According to an entry by the musician on his blog, the song in question is "a lighthearted novelty about a fiddling contest between a country boy and the devil and the devil always loses," but try telling that to Guitar Hero III. Instead, the game has players competing on the song with old Beelzebub himself, in a face-off which the devil can win. Insert outraged gasps here!

Anyway, this is the main sticking point for Daniels, who accuses developer Neversoft of "perverting my song," and huffs that he's "disgusted with the result." He also describes the game as having "a dark side, complete with grotesque monsters on stage with the band, strange, eerie lighting effects and all manner of weird things popping up on the stage," and reckons it's "not the healthiest thing in the world for young, impressionable minds to be exposed to."

As it happens, Daniels' complaints look set to fall on deaf ears, because he sold off the publishing rights to the track. Nevertheless, his diatribe is worth a read, if only for a chuckle.

[Via Kotaku]

The New York Times called this one -- a slimmer, sleeker, and we can only guess happier Manhunt 2 will hit shelves, appropriately enough, on Halloween. The ESRB issued a new rating for the game, lowering the Adults Only tag to Mature, which clears the game for release.

The game's fate in Europe, where it was banned in several countries, is as yet unknown, but we expect to hear some news on that front soon.

The entire debacle, though cleared up, is still disheartening. With the number of adult gamers increasing all the time, and comparisons between game and film content demonstrating the vast difference in standards, we hope that someday, something in the system will change. For now, however, it seems publishers and developers, and indeed, all of us, are at the mercy of the ESRB and the standards of Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft.

[Via Joystiq; image found here.]

We take it back -- Manhunt 2 is in a more dire situation in the US than we first thought, because Nintendo will not even license or allow playback of the controversial title with an AO rating. Looks like Pachter was right: Rockstar is going to bleed money over this title, because they're either going to have to scrap the game altogether, or simply edit Manhunt 2 down until they can wrangle another rating.

It's not just Nintendo, either -- Sony's taken the same hard line on Manhunt 2. Looks like poor Daniel Lamb and Leo Kaspar are at risk from more than just the Pickman Project.