Beer Pong Renamed To Pong Toss - *sigh*
Ok, so Australia might have us beat in prudeness by way of banning Fallout 3 but we’re not too far behind (America). One of the posts I put up yesterday was about a new Wiiware game coming out called Beer Pong. If you want a recap of what Beer Pong is about click here. Now onto the news about Beer Pong today, or should I say Pong Toss.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the change was demanded by a US senator. We don’t have Hilary Clinton or Joe Liebermann to lookout for this time, but a Conneticut senator by the name of Richard Blumenthal. Apparently Mr. Blumenthal wasn’t too happy to hear that a video game was coming out that was based around drinking beer. Well to be fair he was just upset that the game received a ‘T for Teen’ rating.
As much as I’m upset at Blumenthal, I’m just as or even more so upset at JV Games for giving into the demands. Instead of stepping up and protecting their property by trying to get a ‘M for Mature’ rating (because 17 year olds drinking is a little better than 13 year olds), they are changing the name of the game and removing all references to alcohol. So now instead of keeping what made the game so fun in the first place, we have a game that just involves throwing ping pong balls into cups. From a financial point of view, JV Games had a much better chance of selling their game if they fought this than just giving in. Scandal and political outrage can only fuel a game’s success (just look at the GTA series).
What’s funny is that the only person/company that did the right thing was the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The president of the ESRB came out and defended the original rating saying that alcohol played a minimal role in the game.
I don’t want anyone to think that I actually thought Beer Pong was going to be all that great in the first place. Beer Pong in real life can get quite repetitive, so there’s no telling how long it would take for a virtual representation of it to get boring. I just think it’s sad that video games keep coming under constant attack from politicians who are just trying to beef their resume so people will vote for them next term. If this Blumenthal really cares about teens and their consumption of alcohol, how about speaking out against Hollywood and the countless PG-13 movies that have people and sometimes minors drinking.
In somewhat other related news, there’s a rumor circulating that Jack Thompson might be fully disbarred. Thompson apparently sent out a mass email stating that the judge who was overseeing his disbarment case was seeking his permanent removal. Thompson was under review for tampering with evidence in key trials. This might shock some readers, but I’m actually kind of sad to hear this. I do believe that Jack Thompson is a few bricks shy of a full load. But I also think that Thompson really believes in his heart that video games are evil. Thompson had nothing really to win by his crusade against games, and I can respect that more than politicians using the fight as a way to make it seem like they “care about our children”.
I want to go ahead and apologize for bringing politics onto Wiiblog. I like to keep things as light and fun as possible, but when I heard this I felt compelled to share it and my views on the situation (after all that’s what a blog is for). I can promise you that in the future I will keep political views as far away as possible. So hopefully everyone will enjoy Pong Toss when it comes out later this year *sigh*.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I don’t know (or care) much about this situation for the most part, but there is one thing I think any discussion involving this needs to be aware of:
People that drink before they are 15 years old are 4 times more likely to have alcohol dependency issues after they turn 21.
That’s a serious statistic, that bears dealing with in the face of any discussions on appropriateness or not of a particular “attack”.
A few other problems from your article: -one wrong (alcohol in movies with PG-13 ratings, for example), doesn’t make another wrong right. Note I’m not actually claiming either is truly wrong or right, nor am I substantiating your claim about PG-13 movies (no idea if that’s actually true) - just pointing out a logical fallacy.
-How do you presume to know Blumenthal’s motives so well? (I sure don’t have any idea if this is for political gain for him or a real issue.)
-Equating passive (movie-watching) with active (a game that reportedly replicates a drinking game!!) is not even close to a fair comparison. I don’t see how one (consumption of media) could translate directly to another (involvement with media).
July 10th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I wasn’t trying to say that making alcohol a part of game is by nature wrong or right. I’m just saying that it seems games get picked on more in the entertainment industry than any other form. You never hear of music lyrics having to be changed, or certain parts in a movie needing to be cut out…I’m more upset at the bias than the act itself.. While I don’t 100% know his true intent, if he was adamant about fighting alcohol in entertainment the he should try and battle it on all fronts..even in different video games, as there’s all kinds of games I’ve played throughout the years that has had alcohol consumption and been rated T for Teen..and as for active drinking, going by the ESRB president, there was no consuming of alcohol at any time during the game…the only thing the game had ‘wrong’ with it was the name itself…and since when did a name ever hurt anyone.. But I can definitely see the points you’re making, and teen alcohol abuse is a serious problem… I just think a better solution would have been to re-rate the game as M for Mature than change the title.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I’ll start at the end of your comment and work up.
I have no idea what the “better” solution would have been, though my initial reaction agrees with yours. Changing the name makes an already lame title (IMO only) into one lacking even a vestige of meaning.
Didn’t know whether the game had references to drinking besides the title or not - if I were interested in it (I don’t drink so I’m guessing here) and I bought it based on the title, I would imagine being really ticked off if there were then no drinking references at all. Again just IMO, not something I really care about either way anyway.
Ah, the bias though. Actually, lyrics are changed and censored (though not necessarily on alcohol) - and movies are cut, censored, etc… it’s just those mediums have been around a lot longer so there’s not the hoopla now surrounding it. That is, these questions have, I think, been largely resolved (or the process to resolve them has been largely worked out) whereas these questions in the game medium are still new.
There’s also the question of targetting, where games are still presumed (especially by elderly statemen who don’t realize their 30-year-old constituents are gameres) to be mostly the domain of young’uns. Indeed, despite my status as an adult gamer, I’d say that’s still largely true (though continually less so every year). But maybe this targeting assumption is where your real concern lies?
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Thanks !