If you haven’t been paying attention, you may have missed the whole brew-ha-ha about the new beer pong game for the Nintendo Wii.
The video game formerly known as “Beer Pong”, now known as “Pong Toss”, has gotten Senators and politicians, church ladies, university faculty, the media and soccer moms’ collective panties in a wad. The video game is beer pong , but with the Wii controller. There are so many parties involved in this video game brew-ha-ha, I really am not sure who to name as the beer nut .
The game developers
The Nintendo Wii has the reputation as a family-oriented game console. What were the developers and designers at JV Games thinking? “Hey guys, there’s this game system that’s popular with families. Let’s make a drinking game for it!” Brilliant.
After media pressure and citizen uproar about the game, they decided to change the name to “Pong Toss”. Their reason, JV Games VP Jag Jaeger explained, is “Since we never had any drinking in the game, we elected to change the name from 'Beer Pong' to 'Pong Toss' to better reflect its true contents and cater to a larger audience.” OH RLY? No alcohol? Then why did you name it beer pong? It wasn’t called “Water Pong” or “Pepsi Pong”.
The ERSB game rating board
So who on the game rating board said, “Oh a game with beer, 13-and-older rating should do it”? For a game with alcohol in the title, it really should have received an “MA” rating. Some nut at the ERSB rating board really dropped the ball on this one. I have no argument with anyone who believes the rating was inappropriate.
The politicians and soccer moms
Ok, world, let’s get over it. Beer pong is just a video game. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the label was "absolutely inappropriate" and promoted underage drinking. I think the rating was inappropriate, but what soccer mom beer nut is going to buy this game for her kid--the same ones that buy “hot stuff” cut-off T-shirts for their 5 year old daughters presumably.
When I was in college I had a mom come into the Software Etc. I was working at, angry that our store sold her kid Mortal Kombat 2. She demanded to speak to the manager. I’ll never forget the manager’s response. Where did you kid get the $60 to buy the game? Parents should be a bit more involved when their kids are buying video games and make sure the game is appropriate. A game with BEER in the title would clue me in, hey maybe this game isn’t appropriate for my 6 year old.
If the ERSB changes the rating to “MA”, I have no problem if the game contains pixilated boobies and sorority girls doing tequila body shots. It’s another Leisure Suit Larry game. Big deal. The rating is enough.
The Media
I have a Google Alert for anything with “beer” in the title. In the past week, I’ve had tons of alerts about this non-story. With InBev fighting to take Budweiser , Miller joining Molson-Coors, the hop shortage, rising beer costs, etc you’d think this story would be buried. Nope. This stupid game with poor graphics is dominating the beer news. I guess the media can’t report about Paris Hilton doing something slutty this week, so they need to report about this game ad-nauseum. Oh wait. I’m writing about this stupid game too. I guess I fall into this beer nut category.
The players
Who is going to buy this game? Is it really more fun to stay at home and play with your Wii? I’d rather go out with friends and play a few rounds of beer pong in a more social setting. And how does this work? “Pause the game I have to drink cup 3, or is it 4? I can’t tell with the crappy graphics on the Wii.”
To those of you thinking of buying the game, here’s a suggestion. Don’t. Save you money to buy beer, and invite some real friends over to play beer pong . You’ll enjoy it more.
Conclusion
This story screams “beer nut” but I’m not sure who really earns the title. In the end it is just a video game hardly worth the coverage it is getting. The game should be rated “MA” and that should be the end of it. In a week after release, you can buy a copy of it for $9.99 USD from the bargain bin - just for kicks. Who do you think deserves the beer nut title?
Related Articles
- 10 drunkest people ever
- Drunk Willow-wannabe threatens to go Dark Phoenix on cops
- Woman drives through store for beer
- Passing a breathalyzer after 12 beers
| ||||
