Melbourne Nightlife Blog

10 July, 2008

Nintendo game gets media bashing for encouraging teen drinking

America is the inventor of "beer pong" and has now also created a Nintendo Wii game matching much of the drinking game's ping pong tossing action. Beer pong, according to Wikipedia, is a "drinking game in which players throw a table tennis ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in one of several cups of beer on the other end". A similar objective is the goal in the JV Games Nintendo Wii game Pong Toss, which has pulled much of the alcohol content, but with a teen-friendly rating experts are worried about the potential link.

"When a behavior is modeled or practiced in any form, it becomes more likely to be practiced in the future," said New York psychologist Eva Levine. "Kids are very susceptible to this type of media. I see it all the time with young kids and adolescents. It's definitely true that children that are exposed to alcohol use are much more likely to engage in alcohol behavior."

While Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal worried that games like Pong Toss might have more dangerous consequences than other types of violent games - saying binge drinking was a much more realistic outcome from playing Pong Toss than driving dangerously would be after playing Grand Theft Auto.

Source: ABC News & Wired

No comments: