7 year olds playing Blackshot

Posted on May 24, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Parents shocked over bloody video games’, 24 May 2011, article in Insing.com (translated from LHWB)

A parent that recently visited a local LAN gaming shop has expressed shock and consternation over the violent and bloody games being played by young children.

The parent had noticed a small boy of seven years or younger engrossed in a popular video game known as “Blackshot”. The game allows gamers to carry out military missions by killing “enemies” on different battlefield scenarios.

…Enemies in the game spurt fountains of blood after being shot or stabbed before finally collapsing into death spasms. When the player gets injured, blood spatters can also be seen on the gaming screen.

The concerned parent says, “I’ve seen violent games, but the level of violence in Blackshot seems far more serious than previous games. I noticed many people playing this game in the LAN gaming shop. How can I not be worried after seeing a seven-year-old engrossed in it.”

There will be blood

It’s more likely that kids turn violent from watching wrestling where they can mimic actual finishing moves instead of being trained by the splatterfest that is Blackshot  into becoming instant assassins armed to the teeth with daggers and machine guns. Surely it’s easier to perform a body slam than to blow a man’s head apart, provided you could even find a gun first. There’s no clear correlation between a child’s immersion in a violent fantasy world and homicidal rage in real life, whether the anger is the withdrawal symptom of video game addiction as a whole or there is a pathological blurring of the lines between reality and playtime, though it’s no exaggeration to say that if violence in gaming were indeed a factor, then so is the suffocating stress that our kids face in school every single day which makes them dream dark fantasies of gouging out their teachers’ eyeballs with a screwdriver than concentrate on algebra.

Violent games which empower innocent minds with the death touch is nothing new, and the fear of shoot-em ups turning kids into trigger-happy psychotics has existed since the 80′s prototypes of the classic first person shooter (See below, Watch out! The TV shoots back in this new video game, 7 May 1988, ST). Despite claims that games like Blackshot glorify carnage and all out war with generous dollops of pixelated blood, one can’t shield our kids from brutal violence forever, and one might as well prepare them before they squeal like girls when the Army shows them documentaries of exploded corpses as part of the necessary numbing-down indoctrination process.  And even if you stop them from playing games that treat human lives with such gratuitous disdain, they would just turn their fix towards Animal Kaiser and become gambling addicts instead.

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Filed under: 1980s, 2011, Fun and games, Kids, Parenting, Video games, Violence | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Starcraft commentator’s Singaporean accent

Posted on March 6, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Game off for Asian accent’, 6 March 2011, article by Nicholas Yong in Sunday Times

A Singaporean commenting on one of the world’s biggest computer gaming leagues is getting flak for her supposedly incomprehensible pronunciation.

Ms Kelly Ong, 21, is the only Singaporean working in the GOMTV Global Starcraft II League (GSL),a large tournament-based league held on location in Seoul, South Korea. Her appointment had itself generated controversy, with numerous gamers protesting over her ‘thick accent’ and saying in various forums that she’s ‘difficult to understand’.

…One Singaporean poster even accused her of having a fake Australian accent.

…(BryanTan123, Singapore): I have no respect for u Kelly Ong. Your faux Australian accent is f***ing irritating. U haf no right commenting in Code A.

Ignoring the obscure technicalities of interstellar warfare, Kelly’s commentary is the kind of paranoid, corsetted Singlish that policewomen hosts put on for Crimewatch episodes, give or take the occasional grammatical error and upwards, bubbly inflexion at the end of sentences typical of American rather than Australian English. Naturally it’s hard for someone not trained to be a newscaster to appeal to the nerdy international gaming world, inevitably descending into a split-personality type accent whilst trying to keep up with an impeccable English commentator who gets all sweaty and excited over drones attacking a fortress as he would over football near-misses careening off crossbars. She’s also at a disadvantage since her co-commentator is able to speak in a relaxed, natural tone, but she has to pander to the vague standards of what an Asian accent should be, which is probably how Michelle Yeoh or Maggie Q speak (under scripted direction and practice, mind you) in the movies. Imagine juggling spontaneity with the pressure of being understood in a non-native tongue. It’s probably just as hard as politicians dishing out half-truths with a straight face.

Shame on Bryan in any case, for being nothing more than a jealous , trolling bully because Kelly, a young woman, has landed a dream job while he’s probably slaving away in the cubicle 8 hours a day and lives only for a weekend virtual romp in the fantasy realm of warmongering other-worlds with near pornographic bloodlust.  Unless he could be specific on what kind of accent he would like to hear, he should take the hot seat himself, and find out what it feels like describing action he’s so passionate about with an agreeable accent while his fellow gamecaster is rattling away in the Queen’s English. Do Singaporeans necessarily have to be debating champions, ambassadors at large or broadcasting journalists in order to be understood? If people can’t understand us, why is it always our fault and not theirs for not having the cognitive flexibility to  accommodate our linguistic idiosyncrasies like Jap-lish, Ching-lish or Ind-ish? We don’t complain about thick Scottish accents on football commentaries because we’ve allowed them time to endear to us, so why not allow the Singaporean accent to just grow on gaming fans, even if it sounds strange initially, like how people eventually grow used to other thick Oriental accents? Having already exposed the gaming industry to the likes of Bolo Santosi last year, perhaps Kelly should explore keeping it real and at least be consistent with what they’ve already encountered, since a precedent has been set already anyway.

Filed under: 2011, Fun and games, Singlish/Broken english, Video games | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Animals as killing machines

Posted on August 3, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Game treats animals as killing machines’ 3 Aug 2010, ST Forum online

(Liew Kai Khiun): I WOULD like to bring to attention an arcade game called Animal Kaiser, available in arcade parlours and 7-Eleven stores.

Players choose from a range of menacing computer-generated animals and insects to be gladiators and execute a series of deadly attacks on their opponents.

The gross and gory misrepresentation of animals simply as killing machines in the game is completely unsuitable for public exhibition, particularly in convenience stores that are easily accessible to children.

A sustained engagement with this game could create unhealthy and abusive attitudes towards animals as merely objects of brutal sport.

The game should be removed from 7-Eleven stores and be given stringent adult ratings.

Haven’t animals been treated as ‘mere objects of brutal sport’ for centuries? If Mr Liew is such a crusader for animal rights, perhaps he should direct his energies towards banning cock and cricket fighting in China where animals actually suffer instead of making a fuss about some fanciful epilepsy-inducing bits and pixels. As silly and ‘misrepresenting’ as some of the Animal Kaiser battles are (Elephant vs Stag Beetle, Eagle vs Narwhal Shark..on land!), there’s nothing wrong with animals being portrayed as ‘killing machines’, unless your idea of the Animal kingdom is the Mandai Zoo. Nature is a bloodthirsty bitch, as any animal documentary on okto channel would tell you, red in tooth and claw. Hell, you may even think Frogger is a violation of amphibian rights. In fact, being crushed by a vehicle is a worse death than any of the signature finishing moves in Animal Kaiser. Other than turning kids into violent adults and adults into violent kids, the game’s card trading business could also turn them into gambling addicts, apparently.

The beetle horns are actually bigger than elephant tusks

Filed under: 2010, Animal abuse, Kids, Video games, Violence | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Animal Kaiser like slot machine

Posted on April 3, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Children’s arcade game similar to gambling’ 3 April 2010 ST Forum online

This game is attractive to children because it is similar to gambling. Think about it, you pay $2 to play and may win a gold card if you are lucky. This is as good as striking the jackpot in the eyes of a child. Those who do not manage to get a gold card will keep trying, inserting real money. Isn’t this similar to a gambling addict who keeps playing, hoping Lady Luck will smile on him?

The authorities should ban this game as it may encourage children to pick up the gambling habit.

Banning the game will only grant it a forbidden fruit status, which would only make it more attractive to the child. It’s easy to put the responsibility on parenting instead, but  Animal Kaiser is not the only gimmick manipulating young minds into gouging their parents’ wallets: McDonald’s Happy Meals may be far more sinister in its impact on childhood (and parent) obesity. PSPs are popping up even at dinner tables. If anything, the value of a gold Animal Kaiser card may introduce the child to the world of market forces, negotiation and trading with friends, a social environment which an addictive single player PSP doesn’t provide.



Filed under: 2010, Kids, Video games | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Bodoh Santosi

Posted on April 2, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From Worst voice acting in a videogame ever 2 april 2010, posted in Revo-Mag website

Bolo (character in Just Cause 2)has the thickest Singlish accent ever! She sounds straight out of some Singaporean Channel 5 production… like a mix between Ris Low and that old lady that serves your fishball noodles at the coffee shop.

I can’t decide if they intentionally decided on a character that speaks Singlish, or if they decided to hire a Singaporean voice actress who simply can’t do any other accents. Either way, it’s pretty painful to listen to.

Here’s a clip from the game. Check out how Bolo says “Panau government”. We don’t talk like this anymore, no not even the coffee shop aunties. It’s like redneck 80′s Singlish.  Nevermind if international gamers now think we speak like morons. Ris Low has taught us well about using bad publicity to our advantage.

Filed under: 2010, Singlish/Broken english, Video games | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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