David over at Kotaku is pointing out that the OFLC has refused classification to the RPG Risen, based on the fact the game contains “sexual activity and drug use related to incentives or rewards.”
The inventor of this head-pounding “alarm clock” is admittedly a bit quirky (“Hi Mum!” cliche, check!), but I’ll be damned if I don’t give him kudos for inventing the most violent, aggressive alarm clock I’ve ever seen.
I hate obnoxious people on trains, but there’s a reason I only make snide remarks to obviously weaker opponents. Because if you yell at them, like this old lady, they might break your face.
Ahh. Now Atkinson’s decision to not offer an R18+ rating is starting to make sense. Instead, violent games end up in the hands of younger kids, who are training to kill zombies. Nice.
Winter weather and cabin fever can lead to some strange behaviour. Take this tale of two thirtysomething Wisconsin brothers for instance. Apparently, a fight over a PS2 controller lead to punching, choking and stabbing.
Why buy a stupid Elmo when you can permanently disturb that young mind with a cute knitted plush rabbit killed with a giant carrot? Or a beautiful tiger eating some human remains? I love these.
After a heated argument over who ought to get dibs on the remote control, a Minneapolis woman decided to drive her point home by stabbing her boyfriend in the gut. Oprah would not approve.
Why is it that there are people out there who spend their days trying to prove a correlation between violence in movies/games/online/tv and violent behaviour? You’d think that after almost half a century of TV and still no final conclusion, these researchers would realise that they will never be able to prove anything.
The latest, courtesy of News.com.au, comes from Pediatrics, and was conducted by a group called “Internet Solutions for Kids”. Yeah, like they don’t have an agenda. They surveyed 1,588 young people aged 10 to 15 years old about their online media habits and predilection towards violent behaviour. The researcher then went on to claim that the interactive nature of the internet could mean that its influence is more powerful than other media… wait, isn’t that what critics say about games?
So, even though I’m not a scientist or a professional researcher, I do have a small amount of common sense, (which the people who conduct these studies always seem to lack) and I’m going to use it to explain why every single one of these studies is a waste of time, money and effort and only diverts attention away from the real problems of the world. You ready? Here goes:
We’ve had some pretty encouraging ideas on how to put the world’s toughest phone through its paces – the washing machine test looks like it’s definitely on the cards – but we want more. Seamus and I are planning a big day of wanton destruction, and the more ideas you can come up with, the better.
Tell us what you think in comments, and stay tuned for some mobile destruction here on Giz!
The world’s toughest phone, the Sonim XP1, is now available in Australia through Crazy Johns. But rather than bore you with specifications and tiresome statistics on just how tough it is, Sonim has (foolishly?) agreed to let us show you by letting us attempt to destroy it.
So, I’m partnering up with ex-Giz ed (and current Kotaku guest-ed) Seamus for a fun-filled day of attempted mobile phone destruction. And while we both have some rather creative ideas on the best way to introduce the phone to our friend pain, we want your help.
Let us know in comments how you think we should try and annihilate this thing. keep it realistic – we don’t have access to the LHC at the moment remember. The best ideas will be attempted, and we’ll video the whole thing and upload it next week.
And for those of you who are interested in the figures, the press release for the XP1 is below:
