Once again, the less intelligent amongst us confuse a console for the games it plays. Yes, the Wii system can and does play such family-friendly fare as Wii Sports, Mario Everything, and Endless Ocean. That doesn’t mean it somehow can’t play games that gleefully splatter blood into your living room like Resident Evil 4, No More Heroes, and now, Madworld.
Madworld is a video game about a reality show, in the kind of reality where people with chainsaw arms go about slaughtering in a terrorist-controlled city for cash prizes. There are all sorts of stylized and over the top touches set against a Sin City-esque black/white/red palette but really, you either heard the term “chainsaw arms” in that special hidden little place in your heart, or you didn’t.
In a move about as stunning as the sun rising, the sort of people with nothing better to do than complain about stuff they’ll never actually buy or even see have come out of the woodwork to complain. Dr. David Walsh, a professional crybaby, said about the whole affair, “In the past, the Wii has successfully sold itself as being the gaming console for the entire family and a way to bring family-game nights back into people’s living rooms. Unfortunately, Nintendo opened its doors to the violent video game genre.”
Which, of course, makes us wonder how he missed all those other Nintendo games, ever since the original console, that use violence as their major mechanic. Oh, and also why he thinks that a game somehow reflects and tarnishes the console it’s played on. Seems to me that if you don’t want to spray entrails about the screen, you could just, I don’t know, maybe a guess here, not buy it? Stick to Super Mario Galaxy, maybe? Great game, that one. Spend your time with Wii Fit? Frolic about in Animal Crossing or pass the seasons by with Harvest Moon?
Once again, these useless and toxic Parent Councils miss the point, which is parents, not Parent Councils, make the decision about what’s appropriate for their children. If parents don’t want their kids spending six hours a day wading knee deep through the virtual dead, the solution is as simple as hooking up their game system of choice to a TV in the living room or other common area. Problem solved. It’s called parenting, and the revelation that seems to forever elude these foot-stomping little tinpot censors is that every parent has their own ideas on what raising a child means.
I suggest the folks in any sort of advocacy group that has “Parents” or “Family” in the title take a look for something else to do with their time, something more important. I’d suggest One Laptop Per Child.
Totally getting this game!