The video game industry has done a stellar job of creating content that manages to offend the general public. Of course, they don't usually offend the video game customers--just everyone else who doesn't buy the games.
The Halo series for Microsoft's XBOX and XBOX 360 fueled the firestorm of adults who believe that kids are exposed to too much violence. The latest Grand Theft Auto game takes it a step further with the clever addition of stealing, pimping, running over people and all sorts of extra curricular activities. I've got to be honest with you, I'll join in on the protests over that one. There's just no reason for a game like this to exist--and even if it's rated for adults only, kids are playing it (probably more than the adults). Seriously, I know parents that don't pay attention to the games their kids play. They just buy them and let them have at it. It's sort of like it used to be with cartoons. Years ago, it was assumed that if a television program or movie was a cartoon, it was safe for kids. That's not the case today with cartoons or video games.
So, the latest, and most bizarre, game to garner the media's attention is called Fat Princess available exclusively for PlayStation 3 (darn, I don't have one of those). Here's a description of the game from the PlayStation site:
Frantic and fun, Fat Princess pits two hordes of players against each other in comic medieval battle royale. Your goal is to rescue your beloved princess from the enemy dungeon. There’s a catch though: your adversary has been stuffing her with food to fatten her up and it’s going to take most of your army working together to carry her back across the battlefield.
What's not to love about a game like this? Well, I can tell you that some feminists groups are not too happy. Plus, what was Sony thinking when they approved this idea? Can you imagine a bunch of Japanese business men wearing suits (they still do) and sitting in a board room somewhere in Japan (that's just my assumption) talking about this game? It reminds me of a bad Japanese game show. But from what I've been able to attain online, it was developed here in the states with a woman as the "Senior Producer".The sad fact is that this game shouldn't be this controversial. Is it a dumb idea? Yes. But we live in a time where just about everything is controversial for some reason or other. This could have been a Saturday morning network TV kids cartoon twenty five years ago and no one would have noticed. It probably would have gotten canceled--and I doubt that anyone would have even known about Fat Princess until it became media fodder.
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3 comments:
I found myself laughing out loud at the description of the game. On a purely sophomoric level, it’s hysterical. What I cannot understand is why someone thought there was enough material there to create an entire video game. It is, at best, a cheap one-liner. Saturday Night Live has been making a living off of stuff like this for years, building a five-minute sketch around one joke.
You did get me asking myself, “What kind of video game would make a feminist happy?” It would need a strong queen ruling a country so well that she would not need the assistance of any of the men in her country. She would be paid as well as, or better than, the kings ruling in countries near her. Her army would consist of all of the women from Octopussy’s circus, but they would be unneeded, as the superior ruling skills of the queen would ensure peace for all. There would be only one game button needed to play this game. After turning on the game and viewing a serene, tranquil, Camelot-esque country, the player would hit the “off” button.
As much as it is politically incorrect to be over weight today and all the society is doing to make Fast Food joints serve more healty food choices- How does a game like this even get on the market??
While I laugh at the description of the game, I totally agree with Arby
You didn't tell me about this game! You know I don't know about video games unless some male tells me! But I gotta say, the Grand Theft Auto game is just SO WRONG, but this game is just SO UNBELIEVABLY STUPID. Seriously, I'm still shaking my head in disbelief.
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