(Credit:
EA)
Electronic Arts's certainly not afraid of controversy. In fact, the company seems to be embracing it with arms wide open.
At a recent "Naughty or Nice" event in New York, we had the opportunity to play Dante's Inferno hands-on. The Xbox 360 and PS3 video game, which recasts the epic Dante poem as a God of War-type journey through nesting levels of hell, is certainly wearing its M rating on its sleeve (Note: while the ESRB hasn't officially rated this game yet, it's pretty clear there's no other rating it would achieve). The producers brazenly showed the Lust level of the game, with some eye-popping (and incredibly disturbing) animations, including an enormous bare-breasted demon boss who births termite-like knife-handed demon-babies from her nipples.
Therefore, it's no surprise really that this news item emerged about one of Dante's Inferno's "achievements." The International Nanny Association is up in arms about an achievement called "Bad Nanny" that triggers when the game's protagonist kills unbaptized babies.
Having played the game, we're pretty sure the babies being referred to are in fact demon-creatures in baby form, but this still seems like a controversial and offensively described event to flaunt with GamerScore points. Shockingly, however, the nanny organization seems mostly upset because the achievement casts nannies in a bad light.
Is this as bad as Hot Coffee, or simply PR steam? Admittedly, this is a game set in hell--but is there such a thing as too much? Also, how exactly did the International Nanny Association get wind of God of Hell's--we mean, Dante's Inferno's--achievement lists, we wonder?
(Source: Game Politics via Joystiq)
(Credit:
Activision)
Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band II are the two most wanted games for the 2008 holiday season for 8- to 17-year-old boys and girls, according to a holiday gift survey by gaming retailer Game Crazy (conducted by Weekly Reader Research). These are followed closely by Mario Kart and Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II.
I'm having a hard time swallowing these results, mostly because these all seem too "family friendly." Game Crazy, after all, is owned by Hollywood Entertainment and could lose customers if the results were more "adult." The participants consisted of 965 qualifying respondents (owning at least one video gaming system), made up of 488 boys and 477 girls aged 8-17. The only difference between the genders: the boys want Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, while the girls don't.
With several shooter sequels coming this fall, including Gears of War 2 and Far Cry 2, and the massive global conflict fun of Tom Clancy's EndWar, where's all the blood and guts and destruction in these games? Surely kids still want to shoot and blow stuff up, right?
A more complete breakdown of the survey results are as follows:
... Read more
(Credit:
Simon & Schuster)
Two Harvard researchers have concluded that there's no data to support the notion that violent video games cause the kids who play them to act out violence in real life, contrary to the vast majority of media outlets that would have the public thinking otherwise. The $1.5 million study, which began in 2004, closely examined 1,200 children after bouts with violent games like Grand Theft Auto and not-so-violent titles like The Sims.
Psychologists Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson found that for most kids, playing these games was nothing more than a stress reliever. Sure, some children displayed a playful aggressiveness after hours spent with a violent game, but this was no different than what children experience after seeing a martial arts action movie.
Some researchers, including the Harvard psychologists, even suggest that video games have a positive effect on the brain. Steven Johnson explores this concept in his book Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter.
Kutner and Olson have documented their findings in Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games, where they stress the importance of parental education and awareness. In a society where children who don't play games are considered to be socially inept, it is important for parents to understand what their kids are playing. In addition, they need to be able to block out the seemingly endless attacks on the video game industry and use the scientific evidence available to make judgments for themselves and their family.
(Source: TG Daily)
(Credit:
Rockstar Games)
There can be little doubt that the midnight Tuesday release of Grand Theft Auto IV will be one of the biggest events of the year in video games, both from a business and entertainment standpoint--and from the perspective of politicians, organizations, and individuals seeking to derail the game due to what they expect to be an overabundance of violence and sex.
But after sifting through all these press releases, e-mails, statements, and demands that the world's retailers and parents run screaming from GTA IV, it's striking that none of the people behind these missives have seen the game, and thus couldn't possibly know its full contents.
(Read the full report examining the controversy on News.com.)
More anti-gaming garbage
(Credit: Gamespot)According to a new study that will be featured in the Journal of Adolescent Health, "Exposure to violent electronic media has a larger effect than all but one other well known threat to public health." And what exactly is that threat, you ask? "Cigarette smoking."
According to L. Rowell Huesmann of the University of Michigan, "The research clearly shows that exposure to virtual violence increases the risk that both children and adults will behave aggressively."
And yet, Mr. Huesmann and the gang only cite their proof from a collection of studies performed over the past 50 years. And while this may prove to be somewhat helpful in maintaining their fight against "violent" video games, I think it has everything to do with a fear of change. After all, movies and other forms of media were cited in his study, and yet Huesmann focused on video games.
Invariably, the fight against video games always comes down to a discussion on children and what the future of this world will look like if children stay in constant contact with interactive violence. But unfortunately for these anti-video game zealots, the numbers don't back up their arguments.
Simply put, these people have no clue.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
(Credit:
Hammacher Schlemmer)
If nothing else here at Crave, we're all about finding new ways to disrupt your workplace with various toys and robots, especially on a Friday afternoon. And though we generally prefer items that can fly, crawl or jump on command, there are a few more traditional forms of juvenile gadgetry that can draw equally amusing results. To wit: the "Animated Robotic Power Trio."
Armed with a tiny guitar, keyboard and drums, your own personal band will play in sync with any MP3 player to the certain dread of any cubicle mate within earshot if its product literature is any indication: "Each robot has articulated arms, torso, head and feet that move in unison with each note, chord or beat played; heads bob, feet tap and torsos sway to the music." It even comes with a music mixer that can loop the same nine songs, ensuring the development of nervous tics if not workplace violence.
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