When we first brought you the news last month that a game based on Beer Pong would be coming to WiiWare many of you had a good laugh at the stupidity of it all.
Lisa Lombardozzi of the Greater Herndon Community Coalition is not laughing however. In fact she is outraged! Her concern is that this game will encourage kids to play the college drinking game for real. It is easy to see her point, the ESRB rating is T (13+) yet you have to be 21 years old to legally drink in the good old US of A. Quelle contradiction! She told the Fairfax County Times:
The game encourages younger kids to emulate the patterns of college-age kids.
Not to be left out General Arthur T. Dean of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America had his two cents of free speech on the subject as well:
Beer pong is an activity that normalizes and encourages heavy binge drinking, shows blatant disregard for the dangers of alcohol poisoning, and can cost lives and result in injury.
Furthermore, promoting the video game Beer Pong in the Frat Party Games series under a Teen rating ignores the fact that many youth involved in fraternities on college campuses are not of legal drinking age and that youth as young as 13 can purchase the game under this rating.
JV Games' spokesman Vince Valenti did not take this protest lying down however:
I think it's kind of funny. The game promotes the sport of beer pong. We are not advocating drinking any more than watching cartoons or watching the TV show 'Cheers,' or even going bowling or to a baseball game... if anything, you're going to be drinking less. Because you are too busy playing the game, trying to beat your opponent, to be constantly picking up a beer and drinking it.
So there you go, this game is actually going to help you drink less supposedly! I don’t think that there is too much to worry about anyway, kids are quite savvy these days - they wouldn’t be caught dead playing this stinker for a moment!
Source: Game Politics
1. AlexSays
12 Jun 2008, 20:31 BST
well MADD will be all over this.
but this game just screams shovelware.
i'll pay people not to buy it.
2. tehub
12 Jun 2008, 20:31 BST
Digital drinking games are for geeks and okaku.
3. poggydude
12 Jun 2008, 21:04 BST
@Super Mario
Send check and money order to...
4. ttplayer92
12 Jun 2008, 21:14 BST
@x.SuperMario.x
After you give me Dr mario, I am going to save money just for this game, unless you gift me a game that is the same price as this one.
5. Damo
12 Jun 2008, 21:20 BST
This is so funny.
6. ICEknight
12 Jun 2008, 21:21 BST
Just rename it to Rootbeer Pong, and problem solved.
That's what they did with Tapper, back in the day.
7. AlexSays
12 Jun 2008, 21:21 BST
@ tehub- agreed, those are the same people that want hard drives.
@ poggydude- haha
@ ttplayer92- keep dreamin. Dr. Mario is all you'll be gettin.
8. Kingston
12 Jun 2008, 21:23 BST
1. You can easily play games like that on the internet for free. 2. Who cares if it involves alcohol? "Use of alcohol" is something that contributes to a "T" rated game. Dragon quest, Okami, Bully, and many other Wii games are rated "T" for Alcohol use. (among other things.)
9. TomMc
12 Jun 2008, 22:00 BST
The game doesn't interest me at all! And not everyone is easy influenced to drink every day! (;
10. Chipmunk777
12 Jun 2008, 22:45 BST
@tehub
hahaha
This game sounds retarded, btw
11. Starwolf_UK
12 Jun 2008, 23:42 BST
@Kingston. I think what the concerns are is the game glamorises drinking alcohol (and lots of it...allll at once) rather than the fact it involves it. If all the media did that (and I mean everything) how does one tell this behaviour is right or wrong?
On another gaming note I wonder if Solid Snake is safe. Think about what Cigarettes do in those games if you don't get what i'm aiming at. I wonder if hes been under fire for those
12. Demonic S+33V
13 Jun 2008, 00:06 BST
Personally, I'm boycotting the game just because it advocates alcohol abuse.
Throwing ping-pong balls at poor defenseless beer. I mean really, what did that beer ever do to you? How'd you like it if someone pelted you with ping-pong balls?!?! It's practically a hate crime!
13. Wiireview123
13 Jun 2008, 00:44 BST
well this gonna be fun to see on the news!
14. Objection_Blaster
13 Jun 2008, 00:52 BST
@Demonic
Personally, I'm boycotting the game because it advocates crappy game-making.
15. Jupiter Adept
13 Jun 2008, 01:15 BST
I still don't even know what Beer Pong is. :_
16. StarDust
13 Jun 2008, 04:28 BST
I drank 20 beers at the Real Pickle (a local pub in my town) and got a free T-Shirt. However, I drank those 20 beers over a period of two months time. People who binge drink until they hurl or pass out are retarded.
But then two, people could also claim that stomping on rodents and kicking turtle shells is cruelty to animals.
But yet this deplorable violence is what spawned the greatest video game franchise, ever. 
Does that mean that Super Mario Brothers deserves an "M" rating because of cruelty to animals? PETA, eat your heart out! 
17. StarDust
13 Jun 2008, 04:33 BST
@Jupiter Adept: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_pong
18. Hyperfludd
13 Jun 2008, 04:58 BST
Don't knock on a game till you try it...thats my philosophy.
19. Bensei
13 Jun 2008, 07:21 BST
Increasing the rating wouldn't help really, kids who like the diea would still buy it if the parents don't install the Mature break
20. neuzd
13 Jun 2008, 12:47 BST
Why is it keeping so long to developers to let out a game called "GTA: the Jack Thompson clones" or "MADD rising"?
Really let us learn how to get rid of stupid people who aren't able to educate their sons by themselves
(I hope no one really takes this seriously, though I'd buy both titles).
If you can't let your kid be a kid, you should consider getting back to your planet....
Doesn't this woman realize that in this way she's exposing her total lack of common sense? I mean, fantasy is children's playground and we all exploited it to pretend being someone/somewhere else because, well just because that's all what fantasy is about.
And she's telling you that your children arent' able to discern fantasy from reality, I guess she has never been a child, poor lady.
21. DEMON212
13 Jun 2008, 14:15 BST
And playing Mario makes kids eat strange Mushrooms and special Flowers. Dr. Mario makes them take pills. Manhunt gets them to knife people.
And recent studies show that it's all bull!
And when will these retards learn, THAT BAD MOUTHING IT IS A SURE FIRE WAY TO GET KIDS WANTING IT!
I remember when GTA 1 hit, no one I knew played it because they liked it. They played it 'cause it was taboo.
These people are just morons.
22. Roboto
13 Jun 2008, 18:56 BST
all the kids wanna some beer!
23. SmaMan
13 Jun 2008, 19:05 BST
That woman needs to spend less time bitching about it and more time teaching her kids about the dangers of binge drinking. GTA doesn't encourage me to commit crime. It gives give me an environment where I can vent my anger on humanity that's not part of reality and thus nothing really happens.
24. KnucklesSonic8
13 Jun 2008, 19:30 BST
This alleged "stupidity" has more truth than most would realize. I'm in agreement.
25. ChocoDK
13 Jun 2008, 19:47 BST
Here we go again with more people bitching about video games. Why don't we bitch about all of the horrible things being shown on TV and in the movies then? Isn't it easier for kids to access the internet and see inappropriate things?
26. Junichi
14 Jun 2008, 11:08 BST
Yep, your right, ChocoDK. Thankfully it is quite easy to access inappropiate things on the internet
.
27. Peznaze
15 Jun 2008, 01:57 BST
Ah... It got ESRB Rated T for Teen... So it's more than just "announced", now... Moreover, they say it's coming to the US "next week"
28. Bensei
16 Jun 2008, 08:47 BST
Watch out, JV Games! Depressed Mum's are watching you!
29. Vortex99
22 Jun 2008, 17:34 BST
Wait until the Byron Report sees this...
30. strade32
22 Jun 2008, 20:14 BST
as a 13 year old, i can safely tell all of you that this game does not promote drinking. if anything, it tells kids not to drink. they play it and find out how crappy beer pong is and then pray to god they never have to see another beer again.
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