Beyer worried about Wii
John Beyer, head of the slowly-declining anti-smut lobby group Mediawatch-UK, has received a bit of a publicity boost this week because of comments he made to The Daily Mail about an upcoming shoot-em-up game for the Nintendo Wii.
Gamers across the net have been writing about the Massah’s remarks all week. They appear to be under the impression that Beyer is an influential voice, rather than the tabloid press’s go-to guy for ill-informed, inelegantly expressed prude-bites.
MadWorld is due for release in 2009, and is rather violent. Here’s what the Sage of Ashford has to say about it:
This game sounds very unsavoury.
I hope the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will view this with concern and decide it should not be granted a classification
Because Beyer, never having understood the distinction between cause and correlation, thinks that playing violent video games or watching violent films makes people violent. Violent film and games exist; violence occurs in society; therefore violent films and games cause violence.
We need to ensure that modern and civilized values take priority rather than killing and maiming people.
Sic.
It seems a shame that the game’s manufacturer have decided to exclusively release this game on the Wii.
I believe it will spoil the family fun image of the Wii
Haven’t you missed the tortured syntax and ambiguous phrasing? We’ll miss Mediawatch-UK when they’re gone.
UPDATE: (Aug 15) The gaming news site Spong were so surprised that anyone should have such strong opinions about a game they have not seen that they wrote to Beyer to make sure he hadn’t been misquoted. He replied in his customary style:
Mad World (sic) has yet to be classified and so no one should have seen it.
Fortunately, there is enough information about it in the public domain to enable judgements to be formed. This is sufficient for anyone to express concern about the self proclaimed and stylised brutality the game contains.
Self proclaimed and stylised? Wow, that is bad.
It will be up to the BBFC to grant or refuse a classification and whether or not they listen to our concerns or give in to the demands of the industry.
Sweet Jesus, won’t someone put that sentence out of its misery?
(His arguments have been shot down enough times. So let’s just concentrate on making fun of his grammar.)
Looks a fun game. The black & white cartoon graphics look like…black & white cartoon graphics. Give it an 18 certificate and let well adjusted rational adults play it. Obviously not Beyer as he believes fictional book characters are real so we wouldn’t want some one of his low mental capacity playing it. Possibly give him a U certificate game.
“It will be up to the BBFC to grant or refuse a classification and whether or not they listen to our concerns or give in to the demands of the industry.”
Pure arrogance! The notion that the BFFC should ban a game on the whim of mediawatch-uk is ridiculous.
Oh by not doing what mediawatch-uk say the BBFC are “giving in to the demands of the industry”! Maybe they are siding with video game fans in believing they should make their own choicies over what games they play and not be dictated to by Beyer and his cronies!
“We need to ensure that modern and civilized values take priority rather than killing and maiming people.”
Fair enough. so that’s why they spoke out against the illegal invasions of Iraq. Oh, wait they didn’t. The only mediawatch comment on Iraq (and I’ve just searcehd their site) related to their desire to ensure that the pictures from Abu ghraib weren’t used by broadcasters as an excuse to broadcast shocking images.
“It seems a shame that the game’s manufacturer have decided to exclusively release this game on the Wii.”
Why? Surely he’d want it on as few platforms as possible. Not that he’s an intellectually inconsistent fucktard or anything.