British comic-masquerading-as-newspaperThe Sun— which last monthencouraged underage gaming and teenage pregnancyby promoting a 13-year-old father’sSaint’s Row 2session — has called aMadWorldpromotional stunt “sick,” claiming thatthe public is outragedover the decision to place monochrome severed arms around London. Sega of course says it receivednocomplaints, prompting me to believe thatThe Sunhas yet againinvented controversy out of thin air.
“An ultra-violent computer game for the family-friendly Nintendo Wii goes on sale tomorrow,” whinesThe Sun, unaware that The Wii has never been called TheNintendoWii, “amid a sick publicity stunt that saw blood-soaked severed arms placed in cities across the UK.”
The Sun, freely available to all ages despite it contents includingsoftcore pornographyand alurid erotic fictionpage called “Dear Deirdre,” has the gall to spotlight bothMadWorldandGrand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, preparing to froth its readers up into a storm of predictable outrage.
It is easy of course for a tabloid to criticize videogames and present them as “sick” when they themselves have no accountability. The fact thatThe Suncan advertiseSaint’s Row 2to teenagers and then whine aboutMadWorldwithout its readers noting the hypocrisy says a lot for the intelligence of the averageSunfan, I think.
