Learn to Swear with Scrabble DS

Author: Vince | Date: December 12, 2008

It seems that the makers of Scrabble DS could find themselves in some hot water after a UK mum discovered that the AI players in the game have a tendency to use rude words during play.  She first noticed it when the computer played the word ‘tits’ and defined it as ‘a garden bird’ and also ‘an informal word for female breasts’, but it was not limited to just that as it also used ’shit’, ‘toke’ and ‘fuckers’,which was ironically placed on a triple word score and won the game for the computer.

The game does contain a ‘junior’ mode which prevents the use of rude words but according to the mother she read the entire manual to the game and didn’t see it mentioned anywhere, a fishy excuse if I ever heard one.  Sounds like a classic example of parents not monitoring what there kids are playing and then trying to blame the game.  The disgruntled mother had this to say:-

‘The worst thing is that there’s an age rating of 3+ on the box and no advisory warning about adult language on the packaging at all,’ said Mrs Carrington, who also has a two-year-old daughter, Destiny.

‘It’s disgraceful. Scrabble is a game for families, but I’ve had to ban Ethan from playing this version because of the horrible words it uses.

‘It’s such a shame for him, because he loves Scrabble. Nintendo is on the Christmas wish-list of every kid, and parents need to be warned.’

When they discovered this they went back to ASDA, where they had purchased the game, to complain but they said they would need to contact Nintendo, the big N passed the buck to Ubisoft who in turn referred them to PEGI, who after 3 months have not responded to the complaint.

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1 Comment »

Comment by Rees
2008-12-12 09:11:03

Strange that the PEGI people didn’t pick up on this. While I agree with your sentiment that parents should be watching what their kids are playing, I also think that perhaps the word “fuckers” is a little strong for a game rated 3+!

Perhaps it’s all part of a masterplan to improve kids’ literacy skills… “Play this and it’ll teach you lots of new naughty words!”

 
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