Naughty Bear

[Nique]

Ok so, yeah, not something I would play. I don't know if this just falls into the same vein as something like 'Conker's Bad Fur Day' (which I thought was more about rude humor than sheer sociopathy, though I never played it so I wouldn't know) or what, but other than being extremely distasteful, it looks like it's going to wind up a pretty awful game overall.

There's some comments floating around about this being pretty twisted. Now I'm not even remotely interested in a game where violence is there for it's own sake, much less so one that makes lite of such grim realities by basing it in a world inhabited by stuffed animals.

But that's just me! I'm more curious if this is going to get the same sort of kneejerk reaction as the GTA series did a while back - I'm kind of hoping that it will get some attention in that arena not becuase it's warranted, necessarily, but maybe a look at a game that may actually be pushing some legitimate boundaries, (that being that it is sort of not 100% clear who this game's demographic is on the surface, which could cause understandably ruffled feathers among some parents) could give a little perspective on games in general as far as their variety - basically help communicate the message that not all games are intended for children, and not all games that seem to be intended for children are specifically intended for YOUR child.

Anyway, this issue is sort of old-hat but this particular title got me wondering. From the average 'gamer' perspective, it would almost seem that there is effectively nothing that can be shown in any media form that would in any way 'damage' a child or, at the very least, nothing that could be considered a legitimate cause for any ensuing harmful or anti-social behavior. My question is this: In your opinion, as far as entertainment/ media, is there any boundary - anything "gross", violent, overtly sexual, offensive, or just thematically inappropriate - that if pushed would be harmful to a child, or even an adult who views or engages in it? Even if you consider yourself primarily anti-censorship, at what point would you censor something from yourself or your own child? Are their movies or games out NOW that would qualify?

Meanwhile, I'm interested in checking out the Toy Story 3 game and seeing what that 'Toy Box' mode is all about. Yup. Nice, friendly, non-threatening Toy Story...

[Yumil]

This game is basically a teddy bear version of Manhunt with a scoring system thrown in.

The best part(as in the most disturbing) is that you are rewarded the most points for scaring the other bears so bad that they commit suicide in front of you. It's pretty much a dark comedy game where you are the serial killer. I'm all for it, however it probably will gain some media coverage considering there are some pretty violent things done to these bears(the baseball bat kill is pretty brutal even if the blood is fluff) all because they didn't invite Naughty to a birthday party.

[Nique]

It's pretty much a dark comedy game where you are the serial killer

I hate to sound like I'm 'not getting it' but when I think of dark comedy I envision something at least mildly disturbing, yes, but also a bit more cerebral than this.

[Yumil]

Originally Posted by Nique

I hate to sound like I'm 'not getting it' but when I think of dark comedy I envision something at least mildly disturbing, yes, but also a bit more cerebral.

It's more the contrast between the cuteness and the ultra-violence that gives it humor. A human would be disturbing, but a stuffed bear that makes cute sounds has humor. It's kind of like Happy Tree Friends.

[Magus]

Or the Christmas Critters on South Park.

[krogothwolf]

It actually looks fun, yet really really wrong.

[phil_]

I'm just sorta disappointed that, in the trailer, the bears seem to be made of the same stuff as the Gran Turismo cars. If a stuffed bear gets hit squarely in the face with an axe, his stuffing should be falling out. Even Conker's Bad Fur Day on the N64 got that right, with swords cutting chunks out of people and shots to the legs and arms blowing them off.

[Seil]

Didn't they already make something like this? Wasn't it Happy Tree Friends?

[Jagos]

That's a cartoon.

This is a game. It's now 10x more violent because the bears on the front of the packaging will eat your child's soul.

[DFM]

I haven't seen much gameplay, but if it's like a mix between Manhunt and Hitman rather than some obnoxious puzzle game like Ghostmaster I'll probably have to rent it.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, Ghostmaster was fun up until like the police station, but after that the novelty and fun of it had worn off and it turned into a pretty boring puzzle game.