Another game not meant for pacemakers

(Credit: IWantOneOfThose)

We don't consider ourselves squeamish at Crave, and we're open-minded about all lifestyles--even those of the sadomasochistic variety. But we can't help but feel a bit uneasy about what seems to be something of a trend we've noticed lately: games that punish losers with electronic shocks. It's one thing to buzz your opponent in battle-oriented play such as laser-tag tanks, but we're somewhat disturbed by this "feature" popping up increasingly in otherwise tame games.

Take the "Shocking Quiz," for example, a simple game of 600 general-knowledge questions. Since when is it necessary to get a physical jolt indicating a wrong answer? For us, the mere humiliation is bad enough.

We have to admit, though, that it's still not as bad as the "Shocking Duel"--at least it doesn't ratchet up the intensity every 5 seconds.