Games Toaster

FEATURE: Irish parents ignore age ratings on violent and obscene computer games

Many parents ignore age ratings on violent or obscene games, as advice from the self-relegated retailers often falls on deaf ears as parents buy 16+ and 18+ games for children, writes Cian Ginty.

Irish Times misleads on ‘Bully’ game

Dublin-based self-proclaimed newspaper of record, the Irish Times, has published misleading details of the computer game ‘Canis Canem Edit’ in an article calling for a boycott of the computer game.

The incorrect detail draws a powerful negative image of the game, while the article featured on page three of last Saturday’s newspaper – a space usually filled with news of national importance. 

In a reference to an early mission in the game, “A new computer game that depicts a schoolboy tormenting a homeless man” starts the news article (sub req), and later repeats "the game features... the tormenting of a homeless man who lives in a bus near the school".

The mission starts with the main character and his newly acquired friends planning to do annoy a homeless person; however, the player-character quickly becomes a friend of the man. The game does not simply depict “a schoolboy tormenting a homeless man”.

It’s unclear if the erroneous detail comes from the National Youth Council of Ireland, who have called for a boycott of the title. Originally named ‘Bully’, the title was renamed ‘Canis Canem Edit’ (Dog Eat Dog) for Europe.

It holds a 16+ advisory label in the Republic and a 15 certificate in Northern Ireland. Unlike some conventional wisdom would dictate children are not the main age bracket of computer gamers.

According to its publisher, Rockstar, says Canis Canem Edit uses “humorous tongue-in-cheek storytelling.

Early missions include retrieving a chocolate bar for an obese girl, and protecting a “nerd” boy from bullies. The newspaper lists these as "the game features... an overweight girl searching for chocolates and the teasing of another overweight child with a weak bladder".

Games Toaster has previously reported excessive negative and unbalanced reporting of computer game related news by the Irish Times.

A prime example concerns another game from the same publisher. The timing of television advertisements for ‘Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ ended up as an issue of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland.

The authority upheld the complaints and the Times reported the story. However, in doing so the newspaper only published two of the complaints included in the ‘ASAI Complaints Bulletin 05/2’. Of over 20 in total, two ‘Reader Travel Offers’ from the same Irish Times were included in the majority of up held complaints.

Youth Council of Ireland wants boycott of “shocking" game, Canis Canem Edit

The National Youth Council of Ireland wants Irish shops not to stock what Ireland’s newspaper of record describes as “A new computer game that depicts a schoolboy tormenting a homeless man and throwing eggs at other children”.

The NYCI wants shops and consumers to boycott ‘Bully’, renamed ‘Canis Canem Edit’ (Dog Eat Dog) for Europe. The game holds a 16+ advisory label (pictured right) in the Republic and a 15 certificate in Northern Ireland. Bully is made by Rockstar, the publisher of the controversy Grand Theft Auto games.   

Gearóid Ó Maoilmhichíl, child protection co-ordinator at the NYCI told the Irish Times (sub req) “The release of this game is an insult to the many children who are victims of bullying, and will bring back tragic and disturbing memories to thousands of adults and their families who have lived with the consequences of such bullying,"

"This game glorifies all that is unacceptable about bullying. It sends out the message to young people that the only way to stop being bullied is to become a bully yourself" said Ó Maoilmhichíl.

Rockstar says the game uses “humorous tongue-in-cheek storytelling”, explaining what the game involves they say “you’ll stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, play pranks, win or lose the girl, and ultimately learn to navigate the obstacles of the worst school around, Bullworth Academy”.

Before its release, UK retail giant DSG, owner of PC World and Currys, had said they would not stock the game, saying it “is not appropriate for Currys' family-friendly image".

Developer criticises Ireland’s games courses

Kelly, a leading figure of IDGA Ireland, has criticised game development education in Ireland.

Kelly, co-ordinator the of Ireland branch of the International Game Developers Association, has written an extensive report on the state of game development education. Titled “The Problems with Game Development Education in Ireland”, it focuses on both the Republic and Northern Ireland and is published at gamedevelopers.ie.

His main point of disapproval is “the apparent re-badging of traditional media and computer science courses to include the word ‘games’ somewhere in the title, while failing to adapt the content and instruction offered to deal with real-world issues”.

Also outlined was a lack of industry consultation over course content, a lack of industry-experienced lecturers, a failure to update course content in keeping with the industry change, a failure to communicate with the industry in regards to work placements, too many short certificate and diploma courses, and a failure to include enough team-based projects.

Problems aren’t confined to Irish courses; noting the industry accreditation scheme ‘Skillset’ set up in the UK last year, Kelly said that only four of forty games development courses there were awarded accreditation. The report also states, “industry commentators in the UK, US and Canada have voiced similar concerns”.

Kelly, a founder of IGDA Ireland, is an executive producer at Nephin Games in Galway. He has previously worked at Intel and Instinct Technology. He is a contributor to IGDA papers, and has judged the Irish legs of the Dare to be Digital student developer competition.

In the article, he says it is not intended as a “course bashing rant”, saying, “I am not alone in wishing I was able to recommend many of the Irish games development courses to aspiring students rather than encourage them to go to the UK and attend one of the more established courses”.

Pointing out that games development is “closer to Arts education than Science education” Kelly says courses should portfolio-based. He adds that there should be a focus on teamwork, “In the real world, your students will rarely if ever be doing projects on their own”.

The article points to the IGDA’s ‘Curriculum Framework’ as a guide, and advises collages to contact the IGDA Ireland, the local industry, or go to the education forums at gamedevelopers.ie.

Havok warns of lack of graduates as high numbers fail science and maths in Leaving

A representative of Havok, the Irish games middleware company, has been on RTE Radio One’s Liveline saying that Ireland is no longer turning out high numbers of the computer graduates that is needed. He was saying that while they would like to hire locally, they had to hire people in from abroad.

Havok’s spokesperson also highlighted that while their company may be seen as fun orientated because of computer games their job placements are mostly heavy on math.   

This comes as the same day of the Leaving Cert results with high failure numbers in science and maths, and with 4,000 students failing ordinary level mathematics. Mary Hanafin, the Minister for Education, asked students who did well in the subjects to look at doing relevant third-level courses.