hikkifan1986

CyberSkull

CyberSkull

Stueymon

oh god thats priceless....there playing Mario Kart 64 in the pic that says "Harmful: A Government-commissioned report says that video games can desensitise children to violence"...thats fucking too much!! bravo!

excel_excel

VeNoMmx

titlecade

P_e

The problem with these reviews is that, certainly in the case of the Resident Evil review, it sounds like a commendation to me!! Stabbed to death with pitchforks- how does that sound anything but brilliant to any self respecting gamer these days?!!!!

dannyb0y

What I would like to know is for who's benefit is she reviewing these games? The people most likely to play them certainly wouldn't seek her words of wisdom, and if she's doing it for parents, then what exactly does she think the big, fat, red '18' badge on the front of both of the above games actually stands for? (Judging by the factual inaccuracies present in her words, I can only assume it represents the length of play time for her in seconds.)

It never fails to amaze me the lengths the Daily Mail goes to to deceive its readers with its pretense of morality.

inphanta

Tohdman

What the...isn't the entire point of playing outside that you're not being supervised by your parents? Or is that some weird concept I dreamt up back when I was a kid when I wasn't allowed to go outside...

GerarDOS

Good day.

Snake726

Luziphir

mechawatts

Must be a British thing.

antialias02

Theoban

Theoban

sir_carrot

Yahtzee

The_Antihippy

"...how many parents know what their teenagers are confronted with when spending hours in their bedrooms on the computer?"

Now, not all games have consistent content, but most do. Hence, playing a little bit of a game is fair for this kind of review.

I find it refreshing that she is honest and open. It is clear that she is disgusted by extreme, graphic violence (i.e. zombie/spaniard killing you with a pitchfork in a gritty setting). This is a clear bias. I don't mind clear, well defined editorial perspectives. She is gearing this towards parents, people who would limit their children from playing certain games based upon certain moral standards. I actually think she did a decent job.

CatPope

blackadvent

Unless this is somehow unheard of and only in the British version (I know it's not really in there and this lady sounds like a British JT).

digipen89

LOL, and here I was thinking I was the only one who noticed that.

Dead or Alive is so much more than gravity defying breasts. It's about how enemies can come together and play volleyball together.

battra92

Davd-O

Xcite79

+ Watch video

neojam

The only thing real is waking and rubbing your eyes."

kmattson

Myst3r1o

A wild RE4 appeared!
Go, Reviewer with weak constitution!
Wild RE4 used Possessed pitchfork-wielding villagers!
It was super-effective!
Reviewer with weak constitution fainted!

...Man, I wonder what she thinks of the Pokemon games...?

GhostWhoWalks

Get out of here, Anne Diamond supporting troll!

Heh.

I kind of agree with you though. As much as her review is off bat, she was at least willing to sit down and say what she saw and played with her own eyes and hands.

If more judges, panels and media pundits would do this, we wouldn't have such things as the Mass Effect issue, or he-whos-name-shall-not-be-spoken (no, not Voldemort, you all know who).

Komrade_Kayce

Riotpoll

She went on the UK's "Celebrity" fat club TV show to lose weight for charity, but the fat bitch had her stomach stapled before she went on the show. When the producers found out they booted her off quick stylee.

Her opinion on anything is less than Zero for me.

:)

MetalGearMax

Allen750

TrevWolf

cr0m300

Gambia

Cell9song

Bam345

Some of the games now can get pretty damn scary for someone who isn't used to it. I remember playing Doom 3 in the dark with surround sound. I was freaking out because I thought I was going to be jumped from behind by some freaky alien looking thing.

I don't see her reviews coming from a place of hatred for the industry at all. I think she is a wee bit uptight and high strung but I don't think she was out of line. I think it come from her actualy caring about what her kids or grandkids are playing. Isn't that something that the vast majority of us have been begging to see for years now?

Mr.SithNinja

Bam345

uranutan

I think it's fine that she speaks her mind on games that she plays and is free to give her opinion, but it'd be easier to swallow if she at least got the facts right.

It just doesn't seem like she played the games even 1/4 of the way through.

Seems like she's generalizing these games as violent for the sake of being violent.

MoFuzz

ZinkO: Balls of the Patriots

Cell9song

goliathvv

Put her on the payroll IMEDIATELY!

Regards,

Mr.SithNinja

Mr.SithNinja

She herself may not have an agenda. But why would any newspaper without an agenda hire someone to "review" something they clearly know nothing about?

As ever, the Daily Mail does not surprise me in its eagerness to show its ignorance of the word "integrity"

StormTec

You all need to grow up, and learn to comprehend and respect different viewpoints.

There is no agenda here. There are no personal attacks on your precious little franchises. This is one woman's dead-honest opinion, and if you can't respect with that, you are weak.

Aseran

I mean, Charlie Church Mouse Bible Adventures earned a score of 103, whereas WoW managed to get a whopping 44. Hahahaha...now, I hate WoW, but c'mon... isn't there something wrong there?

WoW Review Highlights:

Characters wear very revealing clothing such as bikinis or lingerie (-7 pts)

Game portrays rebellion against established cultural norms. (-4 pts)

C'mon...

kubevubin

Ulquiorra Schiffer

Thank you.

Aseran

Seriously guys. I can't believe no one is defending her just because she says that some games are inappropriate for kids. Some of you are halfway there, saying she's just missing the point of the target audience. Well, here's something to think about: Who's HER target audience? Other people like her. She is totally and perfectly justified in giving her review of the games to other parents like her.

Someone said something along the lines of "Maybe I should review books about menopause!" No, but you would be perfectly fine in telling your peers some advice on how to treat a woman while she's going through it. Why? 'Cause you know what it's like to be a guy around a woman during that time of the month.

Much the same, she knows what it's like to be a mom with her morals and her standards, and her target audience is mostly like her. If they're not, they won't take her seriously anyway.

Kotaku always has such good comments until someone *gasp* might take a little swing at games! OH NOEZ! DON'T TOUCH MUH GAMEZ!

They're freaking videogames. Yeah, they're fun, I love them, but that is NO excuse to go and trash another human being just for not liking your hobby.

PogiJones

I like this lady.

There's a certain raw honesty here. She's speaking from a standpoint of taste and taste alone, without some gigantic anti-video game agenda, able to deliver a statement in a few brief sentences without devolving into rhetorical crap. You may not agree with her opinions, but at least she's straight-spoken and entirely respectable.

Aseran

etho

"whut?! I's dead?! this shite game sucks my 'airy tits!! ;C ....And it's righ' violent too!!"

Utrulig

superbabyproject

Chicken_Dippers

Spiraltribesman

susurrate

vernichter

Dajmin

"I don't understand why anyone would want to watch shows like.. Gilmore Girls (why do they have to talk so fast!) Maybe these things should be banned too."

Dude, have you seen them? Who doesn't love a hot mother/daughter team?

knulpm

pretty sure it didnt. best ever.

IntegralDarkness

Quality all round.

Zoidy

lasttimeyouaskedme

I'm guessing somebody's little brother just got somebody banned.

Billkwando

bleeps

-- Caption underneath two kids playing Mario Kart 64.

wtf?

C0MB1N3 C0MPL3X

As a gamer, my own opinions on violence in video games are no doubt biased, but any mother in the world (doctorate or otherwise) could have spent an hour writing this story. I'd rather hear from an expert.

And if she thought DoA4 was masochistic, she should probably consider it in relation to every one of the games spinoffs. That was my favourite part of the review. I wish she would've looked at more sex-happy games like Rumble Roses or even Tomb Raider.

Volleyball anyone?

NeoStarr

sandwiches

"being OK for older teens, but only in small doses."

this one just made me tear from laughter
"The girl characters are overly sexy, half naked with (the best part) gravity defining breasts.

Go Team Venture

Anarchist_Gamer

The things some people consider obscene are quite strange, if I had kids I'd be quite happy for them to see a nipple or blood, or even a body being torn to shreds. What's most amusing is that I bet she has no problem with telling her children about how all the first born children were slaughtered or letting them freely read about giant penises and eating dung as written in the bible.

What's worse: virtual violence where both parties are consenting and enjoying themselves or telling your children that "happy is he who seizes your children and shatters them against a rock! Psalms 137:9" and all the other instances of depravity in the bible?

Violence in video games is sort of an evolution from childhood games like tag and dodgeball, no one is suffering, I really fail to see how it's any different than sports games. In real life the difference is the losing team in sport is still alive, this is also the case in violent video games so where's the problem? Is it that as an analogue of real life violence it is a bad message? I portend that the percentage of video gamers who commit violent crimes is lower than the percentage of the rest of the population that commits violent crimes, and that video games actually dissuade violence and generally have a good message (such as killing zombies who are threatening our existence).

valleyshrew

That's funny, I always avoided accidents in Saint's Row, tried not to shoot or run over pedestrians, drove on the right side of the road, etc. Most of the time anyway.

I won't leave my bike parked in the street in No More Heroes either. My wife thinks it's hilarious that I park in the parking lot at Area 51.

Billkwando

cakester

Kazzahdrane

unicronband

Bugged?

"This game has no plot and no meaning. It is about a fat plumber that dashes across the screen and squashes harmless terrapins and hamster faces under his feet. When I played, I fell into a bottomless pit and got burnt in a big fire and torn to pieces by a giant dragon. I needed two cups of tea and a lie down, and even then the weeping wouldn't stop. Is this what the world is coming to? Please come out of retirement, Madam Thatcher."

Retropants regrets nothing

There has been a chemical attack and Earth is now roamed by zombies

You started in the present perfect them went into the past simple, and you call yourself a journalist?

You're a fucktard.

Cruithne

Mr. Mark Wilson:
Yahtzee rules, Mrs Diamond sucks.
The end

Great Merol

ErskinPig

...but when I run it through the spell checker, it tells me that "skilful moves" is incorrect and should be spelled "button masher".

the_dannobot

Oiseau32

Retropants regrets nothing

nabils6

ggodo

Reiji

"...why anybody wants to watch something that's violent is beyond me. Ban the lot of them."

I don't understand why anyone would want to watch shows like Coronation Street, or Gilmore Girls (why do they have to talk so fast!) Maybe these things should be banned too.

Jetts

She didn't seem very convinced with her own Halo 3 "review."
"my sons reckon it's relatively non-threatening."
what do YOU reckon? its your review!

Crawl to China

As long as no one takes away my choice to buy these games, im cool with the bad publicity they recieve. I can just ignore it and continue to buy the games I want to buy.

I thought reviewers had to watch the entire movie, or complete most of the game before they reviewed anything.

I hear next week shes reviewing some Elvis records, the same ones that were just as 'obscene' and frowned upon back in the day as video games are today. Although I bet she didnt mind the gyrating hips and provcative lyrics.

BiffVelvet

kw4k

DaiMacculate

Seriously, take the dialogue, like "Your right hand comes off"? and apply it to that horrifying little description in the article.

Then again, the she probably never got past the village, which would be pretty creepy to someone weak against those things.

SuperMaxZero

Reuptake

Truepatriot

She could go far on the internet...

Demaar

Does Not Equal

The_nub_next_door

Hubert Humphrey Methadone

Z-Word

Shit! Who's letting their kids play outside?! I mean, I used to play outdoors all the time, but I must have had horrible parents; just look how I turned out. When I have kids they'll only be allowed to play in a metal box with psychiatric supervision.

bogmad

Guizzy

I think it might be one of the few sites I've seen that give a fair assessment of games.

I don't agree with all of their values and measuring sticks ("Magic" and "Occult" references a problem?), but they DO measure these games rather than make an opinion on only a few elements. There's also a few obvious gamers within the bunch. For instance, one clearly recognize the achievement that Bioshock is as a game, yet says he would not recommend it for teens under 17. I'm inclined to agree.

Guizzy

Megan Fox Iz Hot! ^-^ - ph15h

Logstain

Cruithne

Note to self: Buy RE4 on way home from work tonight.

sandwiches

I just think some of the comments about how she's ignoring or getting certain things wrong are unwarranted. She's playing the game and getting input from her sons who probably are gamers, so it's not really that bad.

epherlite

I still wonder why is it that games get all the hate but movies never seem to get their share. Oh well i did get a good laugh out of reading these I liked the halo and CoD4 ones the best.

_Ted_

Fireblast

boopadoo

The_nub_next_door

I'm guessing, going out on a limb here, that Menopause is not getting more than a 3.0, when everybody knows it deserves at least a 4.5 ;)

DaiMacculate

sean09

Grey_Fox

She thinks that Resident Evil 4 is a Dawn of the Dead ripoff. You can tell because she says that zombies roam the Earth.

Also, they're not zombies. They're people infected with a parasite (ganados) who live in a Mexican village that is under the control of a radical cult hellbent on the restoration of the umbrella corporation.

trelantana

Genocyde

Aith

When I was sawn in half for the first time in RE4 it was frustrating after putting so much ammo into the guy, but I have to say it was also awesome. It gave me a healthy fear of those freaks! I guess it genuinely scares some non-gamers, haha... fair enough, it's brutal!

fuchikoma

MiniMandy

Chumpy576

Jetts

"I've done a computer program that works out what the Daily Mail's average headline is. It's 'Asylum seekers carry a new type of Aids that lowers house prices'."

Meldy

Meldy

The only reason they don't lay into video games more is because "there's too many foreign homosexuals claiming benefits, overloading hospitals & schools and corrupting the youth with guns & drugs".*

*Disclaimer: Yes, that was a satirical exaggeration of the Daily Mail. Depressingly though, the difference isn't that much.

Jonax

[www.almenconi.com]

They're absolutely hilarious.

kubevubin

unicronband

Wubbytoes

Jetts

TokeYo

Paraphrased, isn't this saying:

"Anne Diamond gives her chilling verdict on the violent video games that aren't going to be banned in the UK, but obviously should" ?
It's basically "look at all this violence our government refuses to ban!" I don't like where this is going.

creid

TheMysteriousStranger

Archaotic

Sadly Anne wasn't talking about the game, she's now recovering in hospital. Jericho is such a bad game it will cause to you spontaniously combust.

Red_Rob

FUCK I must have bought the wrong version XD

Dauragon C. Mikado

Gadgetron

[www.mailwatch.co.uk]

The above website makes an amusing read. Click on the 'Johnny Foreigner' link on the right hand side for examples of the afore-mentioned racism.

duckmouth

unicronband

liquid_kore

ninjafetus

She's trying to take the moral high ground, yet she is the type of person that this 'Byron Report' was trying to educate and eliminate.

Putting aside her colourful comments, I hope that those who read this can finally lay to rest their 'games are for kids' mantra and recognise that these games aren't intended for children.

Heinrad

sean09

"What the goverment want to look at are films they have more impact on childrens minds not video games.... "

But how do you know that? See this is what i am talking about. People accuse her of being a liar and not knowing what she is talking about, but then their arguments are full of opinion and no fact.

A logical comeback, is too take what she says, and prove point by point why it is wrong. I have yet to see that. Instead i have to go through page after page, and the only comeback Kotaku readers know is that she is a "liar and a bitch." Brilliant people, just brilliant......

autob0n

pandafresh

[img.dailymail.co.uk]

liquid_kore

pandafresh

ShaggE

vicmasterinc

@Archaotic: You say

"exploitationist violence in the film market greatly outweighs ANYTHING done in gaming so far, and yet people are fine with shit like Saw, Hostel, Running Scared, and their ilk. The double standard sickens me"

So what in the world are you suggesting? That we close that gap as soon as we can? Your argument is used by so many people, yet it makes little sense. And this "double standard" is not so cut and dry as you make it out to be. Anybody against bloodbath type movies also get called a "bitch" and "total losers" as so many Kotaku readers like to call them.

autob0n

Cause if she is being serious I am strongly considering suing her into oblivion for spreading such libelous lies about gaming.

Who does she think she is, she is a criminal and needs to be sued for her inhumane treatment of videogames. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Jcnet

What the goverment want to look at are films they have more impact on childrens minds not video games....

danno1985

SG79

Archaotic

Although the "not too much bad language" makes me think she MIIIGHT not have played it on Live.

Guizzy

TP/\C SHKR

Only thing I don't like is that she tries to talk of something she's not used to.
if you're not an astrophysician, don't go and try to predict how many zillion years the planet still have to live or something like that, it's the same thing here. RE4 might be horrifying, but GOD this engine for capcom is a revolution. Active, no fixed camera angles or least possible, brilliant work. I didn't play jericho, but I'd like to see those violent shots, it must be hilarious.

Phibius

TOCATL

While I'm on the topic, where's the outrage for movies like Saw and Hostel? I'd betcha just as many kids have access to movies like that. Why aren't we seeing the graphic writeups, packed to the brim with hyperbole talking about these movies?

Rhawb

Why was photoshopping necessary for such a picture? Couldn't she just hold the games herself?

Also, I like how half the games still have their HMV price stickers on them. Something about taking that photo was obviously rushed.

Espy

I remember pulling a girl out of her car in GTA3, and I noticed that she was a college girl driving basically the same car as my sister did at the time, and it hit home for a moment, and I felt a little ashamed of the act. I wouldn't want to be a carjacker, and I certainly won't want to be Leon. Yet, at the same time, they're fun games. I imagine that's hard for our average person to understand.

Lokno

Blah-Blah-Blah

topbravo222

I was stuck with writing and researching, with 3 other guys, about the menopause for a University project.

Tizlor

Guizzy

"Hobos... everywhere... I stopped playing when I battered a hobo corpse for 45 minutes JUST TO WATCH HIM BLEED and some of the blood sprayed onto my pants..."

ShaggE

""You experience the murder through the eyes of the president himself... You're kicked in the face and then shot - dead - and it feels pretty real."

... stupid bitch.

RemyDuvalle

pd771

Blah-Blah-Blah

jay427

Blah-Blah-Blah

I mean, geez, I doubt anyone thought Resident Evil or Jerico would be family-frendly entertainment. Horror games tend to include, GASP, blood and scary moments.

Depending on how honest she really is with all this, it might be more productive if she reviewed games that are misunderstood (like Mass Effect) rather than those that contain pretty much exactly what's on the box.

...

I wonder what she'd say of Condemned...

Guizzy

Make her the chairmen of the esrb

lilaliendog

Yami