Kotaku 
Enter your username and password.
Denver, 12:39 AM
Thu Nov 26
53 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip us:
Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
| AIM | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
| AIM | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
| AIM | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
| AIM | Twitter
Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
| AIM | Twitter
Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/04/09
:P
11/04/09
11/04/09
Week one: prominently featured in the new release section.
Week two:sent to the dark corner of the sports game section....where it goes to die along with Madden, NBA Live, and Tiger Woods.
While Madden, NBA Live, and Tiger Woods are the only games available over here for football/basketball/golf...FIFA is not as lucky in that they have a domestically developed title to content with...Winning Eleven (I think its called Pro Evo in the west)...or "Wi-re" as its known over here.
In my over five years in Japan....I have seen people skip out on work/school/social obligations in order to pick up and indulge in the latest Winning Eleven title. Its basically the Japanese equivalent of a Madden release. And yet I am yet to hear of anyone knowing/caring about FIFA.
And putting Japanese players on the box makes absolutely no difference. The Japanese version of MVP Baseball 2005 had Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, Hideo Nomo, AND Kazuo Matsui on the box....NBA Live 06 had Tabuse on the box....and both of those titles still sold abysmally.
11/04/09
Also pass the memo to japanese players that Fifa is far better than PES is this year #japan
11/04/09
There's plenty of Japanese people who love MLB or COD, but as Moore unintentionally admits, publishers don't even make the slightest effort in a genre where it's mind-numbingly simple to appeal to people. #japan
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/05/09
11/04/09
You could replace "dating sim" if you wish with any of the following:
-anime girls
-bikini volleyball
-sixaxis jiggle
-japanese pop icons
-chibi animals #japan
11/04/09
"Sasuke Watanabe's Panty Raiding 2011". #japan
10/27/09
You should ban axes, like you've banned handguns. This would never have happened.
Love,
The United States of America #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
Sadly weve tried but knife crime is a real problem over here. My friend got stabbed the other week and lost his spleen over a game of pool #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
10/27/09
Dear United States of America
Don't be silly.
Love,
Everyone #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
10/27/09
If Mr. Callaghan is actually schizophrenic then he deserves to be in a mental hospital, not prison. A half-decent lawyer should be able to get him off easy enough.
Unless UK law works substantially differently in this case than does US law? #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
Even considering how real soccer games leads to more crimes than any "violent game" ever did.
The stupid connections they stabilish to find a scapegoat makes me speechless sometimes...
I suppose from now on, whenever they get some serial killer that goes on a rampage they'll eventually add something like "but we heard his neighbor played lots of Grand Theft Auto"... or "during the rampage he passed in front of a game store that had Manhunt on display" and crap like that.
I'm starting to wonder if the gaming companies are not actually asking for news to connect crimes to games to boost sales or something. #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
The US has a massive gun culture, and Britain likes to stroke their beards and scoff at America from a far saying "Those damn Yanks are going to kill each other on day!" As they take another swig of Jamesons straight from the bottle. Britain has a disturbing drunk culture, a culture so mainstream and so accepted than it is rarely made the sole villain. This instance is a case in point, the fact that the kid was a Schizophrenic is bad enough, but he was allowed to procure alcohol and that was the fuel to the fire. The game itself is irrelevant as most of you have already said, but the fact that sensationalistic journalism has dug deep and found that this child had played GTA, well that's the tipping point right? That's what the people want to hear, that's why he killed a grandmother with an Ax! Remember the time in GTA, the bit where you get wasted and attack people in your neighbourhood with an Axe and cap it all off with the brutal murder of an old lady!? That was a good one!
I understand games do influence and maybe even inspire, but those that choose to act out are already mentally unstable or dare I say it defective. they focus on the gamers and the game when they should be focused on the child and his mental state and what should be done about that. Video games seem to be weeding out these people, bringing their mental issues to the surface. If anything video games should be praised for such a thing. The parents need to keep a closer eye on their children's behavior and be more involved.
Personally I blame poor parenting and society as a whole. Oh and actually on this occasion I blame the game! Fifa 08?! Seriously!!! Come on!! I'd go crazy if I had to play that too!
Overshare! #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
When I see "ax" I get the same image in my head as "axe". It matters not... #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
10/29/09
You mean British English...
Oh...you mean the Brits came first and had the first version of English(which itself is ironically a Bastard language ) ;) #jamescallaghan
10/30/09
and the language is called English not British English.. other variations will need a prefix.. English being English by default does not #jamescallaghan
10/30/09
Was just poking fun at ya. ;)
But...The reason I call English a bastardized version of language is how it was formed.
Many like to claim it to be a decedent of Latin...but after taking many history courses I just don't see it.
You had the Sax...who continued to get taken over by French, Spanish, German, etc.
For a while the country didn't recognize "English" as it was a commoner language. A mixture of the varying languages at the time that evolved.
Now you could probably root all languages in a similar pattern...but seeing as English is one of the most difficult languages to learn as a second language...I just don't see it as "pure"...if you'd like to use that term with "bastard"
Personally, I think we should all just learn chinese...very basic language. Very easy to learn.
Anyways! This is just my opinion and a topic I find very interesting(seeing as I am studying and majoring in English!) #jamescallaghan
10/30/09
I know you were messing
Yeah, English has its roots in Latin, German, French... and anyone who has ever invaded us will have had some impact in the language.
When you say Chinese do you mean Mandrin or Cantonese?
As well
Wo jau Pijo - I would like a beer
Wo jau Jauzu - I would like dumplings
Hen hau chu - It tastes very nice
Ei, ar, san - one, two, three
Reading Mandarin is probably a little harder, but I picked a few things up, and I am sure that there are quite a few simple characters #jamescallaghan
10/30/09
Yep! Mandarin. I studied mandarin in middle and high school...but my university did not offer it, so I was unable to continue my studies in it.
The characters are only hard to westerners, because we are predisposed to...can't think of the word...but the "alphabets" we use.
If the entire world had characters instead of letters we wouldn't have dyslexia and other learning disabilities associated with, what many believe, our systems in the western world.
And back to the "invasion" topic. Many Americans believe that soon the states will become a Spanglish speaking nation. As many in Texas and California do not speak English or Spanish correctly....so in a century or two it may evolve(many racists or "purist" would have you believe it's a devolution.) #jamescallaghan
10/30/09
I think the way language evolves is going to change massively from the way it has in the past.
As you say there is mass migration, bringing influences from a myriad of places.
In the UK words from Urdu/punjabi are beginning to become used by people from a range of cultures, Although this may only be in London, and its mainly with the younger generation.
You then have the advent of text speech, which is a particular bugbear...
Finally you have the intenet which means that colloquialisms and spellings will start to become homologised. #jamescallaghan
10/30/09
I had one professor who told me dialects are starting to vanish...but honestly I still hear quite a bit of deep accents.
I honestly hope the world doesn't become to similar as far as cultures and dialects go... #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
Perhaps I'm being overly sensitive?
I understand that it's just an abbreviation, and that no offence was intended, but I wonder, would you have abbreviated "Pakistani" or "Spastic" the same way to save space? #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
But in this context, he's a schizo, the word is being used as a shortened version of schizophrenic. #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
and I apologise as I will use unnaceptable language here,
But yes abbreviating Pakistani to "p*ki" (not even going to type it) is highly offensive as is abbreviating spastic to "spaz" in fact the term spastic in itself is offensive, and is used to refer to someone who is menatally retarded, while in actuality spasicity, is a condition where the central nevous system effects the way muscles are controlled, and makes them tighten up, nothing to do with mental capacity #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
The reason it sounds disrespectful is since it is used to label people who are "crazy" regardless if they are really schizo or not.
And honestly, while it may not be totally accurate, some of those people certainly *seem* like they are afflicted with that specific problem. #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
He is obviously sick. He needed help. So
A) Why wasn't he getting it? Where was his mom in all of this? What role does the government have?
B) Why would you let someone with his history drink and then let him leave the house with an axe and a knife? Why would you ever let anyone whose drunk storm off into the night with an axe and a knife?
Videogames may have been a contributing factor or even a trigger factor but it is far from being the main cause of what has happened here. I think a more serious discussion of mental health in society and how we should address it is warranted.
10/27/09
Just saying, what COULD they do? #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
One has to wonder at the quality of life this individual lives, not only is he allegedly unaware of any wrong doings he commits, but one has to wonder how torturous prison will be to him, and when he is eventually released in 25 years, what would stop him from killing again?
I am more of the persuasion, one would be more likely to execute someone who has a mental illness who has committed unspeakable acts. As they would be less likely able to be rehabilitated.
Mercy to the guilty is treason to the innocent. #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
If he is Schizophrenic, the he will not actually go to jail (in the UK) but will go to a secure hospital, where he will be kept indefinately under the mental health act. He may not even need to be tried (again probably wrong) If he can be rehabilitated and treated then he can be re-intigrated into society, but in all likely hood that will not happen any time soon
So although he may not go to jail, a padded cell probably awaits #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
10/27/09
Plus in the case of someone suffering mental illness, no capital, nor corperal punishment would work, bacause they do not think in the same way as rational people (that is not to say that all people with mental ilness are irrtional) #jamescallaghan
10/27/09
But it would be FAR more just than mob justice. Mob justice is no justice, without a fair trial and presumption of innocence. Corporal punishment is a method of punishing after a fair trial have taken place. You could call it brutish, or savage, but it is by no means analogous mob justice. #jamescallaghan
10/27/09