Narc The Game
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini replied on Sun Apr 24, 2005 @ 1:25am |
 Coolness: 146145 | ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- In the video game "Narc," published by Midway, you play an undercover police officer busting drug dealers.
Except in this game, your cop character can take the drugs he confiscates -- and the illicit substances can enhance performance. Narc's publishers at Midway say the game is all about choices, and the consequences of those choices. The following is an excerpt of a statement released to CNN by the company's chief marketing officer, Steve Allison: "The drugs in Narc affect game play -- addiction, and crime and punishment are predominant themes in the story. Ultimately, the players who choose to take drugs will face consequences; they will experience the highs and lows of this culture, but following this path will ultimately lead to failure." Family groups that have fought against violent and sexual content in video games for years, say this new "high" in gaming is an all-time low. Psychologist David Walsh, spokesman for the National Institute on Family and the Media, does not buy Midway's choice-consequence justification, and says drug use in the game creates curiosity and allure for players. "They [Midway] do portray the extreme that the use of drugs can lead to bad outcomes, and the game penalizes you for misusing drugs. But the flip side of that message is that some drug use actually enhances play and enhances your performance. That's the glorification part. That's the dangerous message: Drugs are OK, just don't overdo it." But Narc is an M-rated title, and designers at Midway say -- in the same statement released to CNN -- that the game is for adults, and "offers adult gamers the chance to play through an interactive crime saga where players face the temptations and choices of an undercover police officer." Walsh concedes Midway is not promoting the title for children, but says he knows from experience that teenagers gravitate towards M-rated games that generate a lot of buzz. Popular titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Halo 2, both rated for 17+ gamers, are enormously appealing to teenagers, says Walsh. He says chances are that a game like Narc could end up in their hands, and warp their minds: "Games are interactive and psychologically powerful. We have to watch what our kids watch because the teenage brain is a work in progress. The experiences we have during growth spurts in the brain have a greater impact on the formation of attitudes, values and norms than at any other time in our lives." "We want our young people going into adulthood with a healthy set of values and attitudes toward health and toward how to treat other people. A lot of these games glorify violence. Now we have a game that glorifies drug use. Where do we draw the line?" According to the Entertainment Software Association's 2004 Essential Facts Guide, the average age of a video game player is 30 years old. And the $7.3 billion gaming industry rivals the U.S. motion-picture industry, according to the same guide. Midway's publishers point to these statistics, and say there is no reason video games should not be able to take on the same mature themes as movies. Narc has been banned in Australia, and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has denounced the game in his push to pass the Safe Games Act in his state. Computer-generated acid trip Drug use may give you super powers in the game, but abuse can cause addiction. "I would normally say 'just say no' to drugs, except in this case they've been replaced for power-ups. If you were playing Super Mario Bros., a 'magic mushroom' would make you bigger and more powerful. Here, it's kind of the same theory," says video game reviewer Scott Steinberg. Marijuana, as you light a virtual joint and take a long drag, causes the screen to become a hazy green. The drug slows time for criminals in the game, allowing your cop character to chase down and arrest them. LSD helps differentiate friend from foe, so your character knows whom to confront; allies grow wacky court jester heads, and enemies become devil-headed cartoons. Trippy music and psychedelic colors accompany your computer-generated acid trip. Other drugs in Narc include speed, ecstasy and crack. Crack, after the distinct sound of someone huffing on a pipe, gives players a one-shot-one-kill skill. Your crackhead cop character suddenly becomes an expert marksman. Drug use may give you super powers in the game, but abuse can cause addiction. Protodone -- the game's version of methodone, can curb your cravings. Otherwise, addiction can lead to withdrawal. But unlike real-life, you can kick your virtual habit after a few skillful clicks on the game controller. Players can avoid all of this, however, by adopting a "just say no" attitude in the game. The illicit activity is all a matter of choice, says Steinberg. "It's entirely up to the player. You can be a good cop, or you can be a bad cop, but there are consequences. I can use drugs or sell drugs to the citizenry. The thing is, there are random drug tests. I can get busted, develop addictions, or my fellow officers can come chasing me." The M-rated, 17-and-older title retails for $19.99 and is available for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» El_Presidente replied on Sun Apr 24, 2005 @ 4:50am |
 Coolness: 300270 | if youre gonna ban good video games for drug-related themes, how about not putting gangsta rap as number one tracks in pop charts? |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini replied on Sun Apr 24, 2005 @ 6:05am |
| Coolness: 146145 | ya know... |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cinderella_soul replied on Sun Apr 24, 2005 @ 9:23am |
 Coolness: 57145 | thinking something along the same lines.. that people use drugs is not because of videogames... videogames might encourage em' -- How about the value that media and videogames have in our society. .. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini replied on Sun Apr 24, 2005 @ 12:50pm |
| Coolness: 146145 | i still wanna play it |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» moondancer replied on Mon Apr 25, 2005 @ 1:45am |
 Coolness: 93210 | It`s funny how they have people doing drugs in 13+ movies and they are complaining about an M rated video game where they do drugs. To top it off, movies are only 10 times more popular.
This reminds me of an article I saw about some highschool kid punching his classmate after losing a LAN game. If he had punched him for any other reason, that would not be in the paper. Kids punch eachother every fucking day. It`s pathetic how hard they try to discredit videogames. It`s pathetic how many people hang on to their words like candy. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cinderella_soul replied on Mon Apr 25, 2005 @ 7:10am |
| Coolness: 57145 | it truly is pathedic. The media *ought* to act more responsibly. Because lots of people read the paper and lots of people make decisions in a hurry and when they do they rely on *authorities to tell them what's up.
Also, People need to learn to think more critically, autonomously... or else they may come to assume that lan games lead directly to violence just by looking at an article like the one ^ that was mentioned. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Dj_Psychokitty replied on Thu Apr 28, 2005 @ 6:48pm |
 Coolness: 49825 | Like if it wwas a bad thing to depcit drug in a game...i never tought that it was a good thing to say DONT USE THEM, YOUR SOUL WILL BURN IN HELL!
I would rather teach: ey you do drugs? at least, try to ask yourself why you do it, does that affects any other part of your life and maybe the word moderation is the one you are looking for, not abstinence... because, if we follow the idea of the article, i would rather see people doing drugs all the time on tv , then seeing men raping women in a movie...even if the movie says rape is bad, as well the game says that in long term drugs is bad, well, i guess the movie promotes rape? |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» v.2-1 replied on Fri Apr 29, 2005 @ 2:29am |
 Coolness: 160065 | Walsh concedes Midway is not promoting the title for children, but says he knows from experience that teenagers gravitate towards M-rated games that generate a lot of buzz. Popular titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Halo 2, both rated for 17+ gamers, are enormously appealing to teenagers, says Walsh. He says chances are that a game like Narc could end up in their hands, and warp their minds
So this guy decided to do what a million parents can't even do for their own child : monitor what they see and do. If parents did some fucking parenting and watched what their kids are watching and playing, we wouldn't be blaming a video game company for being irresponsable. And who's complaining again ? A group of reborn-christian mothers ? Why don't we shelter our kids for hurt, violence and pain so they can be so goddam ill equipped to face this violent world. Why don't we just lock them in our basments and not let them talk to anyone who might raise their voices a little too high and create an army of whimpy weak kids. Let's turn all the children into Flanders' kids. That's a world I want to live in ( read : I'd rather hang myself ). |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cinderella_soul replied on Fri Apr 29, 2005 @ 8:26am |
| Coolness: 57145 | "So this guy decided to do what a million parents can't even do for their own child : monitor what they see and do. If parents did some fucking parenting and watched what their kids are watching and playing, we wouldn't be blaming a video game company for being irresponsable."--pixelized
May be, but not neccessarily. I don't mean to find error... but rather to point out the reasoning. I agree with your statement generally. I could see how years/days months of watching violence and not doing much about it could lead to apathy or passive acceptance of violence. There have been studies to show that violent shows, games, can lead to agressivity in young ones especially. But more importantly, how about all the violence in the world. People are dying in the millions everyday of starvation because of the system we have in place?!--- like as if they couldn't be fed. That is a form of violence. Wars take place like the one in Irak-- how come there are not more articles about what it will do to the kids?! Maybe in its own little way, these video games allow not only for fantasy to pass the time away in a violent world but also a means for youth to feel that they have some kind of control over the problems of the world even though it is illusory. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» moondancer replied on Mon May 2, 2005 @ 5:37am |
| Coolness: 93210 | Originally posted by CINDERELLA SOUL...
I could see how years/days months of watching violence and not doing much about it could lead to apathy or passive acceptance of violence. There have been studies to show that violent shows, games, can lead to agressivity in young ones especially. If so, those kids are frail minded indeed and would be influenced by somethign eventually. Maybe it`s not games and movies that lead them to violence but an interest in such that leads them to violent games and movies. Whatever the case they do not speak for the vast majority of people who watch violent movies and play violent games, even in exessive amounts. If these things influenced them to be violent, the only reason I can conceive of is cause they think it`s cool, and how far will someone go for that sake? not to the point of killing someone. You can`t hide the world from your kids. They are gonna be immersed in it one day, and shielding them is just gonna make them more sensitive. I know a girl who was never allowed to watch 13+ movies until she was 13, and I lover her but she`s a flake and she will be at the mercy of everyone around her for her entire life. She`s too nice to even throw a punch when she`s attacked. Sure kids will goof around in the school yard and throw some punches, immitate their favourite characters. Big shit, let them have their fun and when they are a bit older they will be over that stupid shit already. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» v.2-1 replied on Mon May 2, 2005 @ 11:09am |
| Coolness: 160065 | But more importantly, how about all the violence in the world. People are dying in the millions everyday of starvation because of the system we have in place?!--- like as if they couldn't be fed. That is a form of violence. Wars take place like the one in Irak-- how come there are not more articles about what it will do to the kids?!
People are dying are starvation in Ethiopia everyday. What the hell is the Ethiopian governement doing about it ? How can a governement be formed with no money to maintain it ? If they have the money, where is all going ? And kids in the Middle-East have AK-47s given to them at 12 and are told by their parents to shoot at the guy across the street if he dares venture too close to our home. I doubt this have anything to do with video games. The violent stuff we see on the news often comes from far away and yet it exists. I don't see why we should put hands on a child's eyes and tell him " don't look, it's not there ". It is gruesome and unpleasant but damn, nothing will better equip your children than talking to them about it. Of course, PROMOTING violence isn't the issue here but video games are not shoved into kids hands. They get it from their brothers and sisters and parents usually. So yeah I can't generalize but I've seen too many cases of " it's your fault Bungie software if my son went to school with a shotgun ". " Well sir, where the f**k where you when he walked into a store and purchased a copy of our game, rated M might I add. And have you looked at the box when you noticed in on the floor next to the console ? And may we ask WHERE he got the said shotgun ? " If parents were a tad more interested in their kids and talking to them, maybe stuff like that could be avoided. MAYBE. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» OoOLuShYsOoO replied on Mon May 2, 2005 @ 4:59pm |
 Coolness: 48135 | one important point thats missing is that the media, even more so the American media doesnt report this stuff because it *actually* is concerned, its reporting it because somebody who wanted it to be reported it on made soem phone calls or *whatever*
Although gangster rap being a huge influence on the youth *no doubt*, the worst influence is the actual government and reporters themselves showing war, hate, revenge on a daily basis and glorify-ing (sp?) it on the reg. the media doesnt care whether this game will have positive or negative influences, its just more conservative bullshit, and another oppertunity to gain trust and convince people to agree/follow their beliefs (or show they share or care about things related) |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cinderella_soul replied on Tue May 3, 2005 @ 8:34am |
| Coolness: 57145 | If parents were a tad more interested in their kids and talking to them, maybe stuff like that could be avoided. MAYBE.
I like how you say maybe. I could see how more communication between parent and child could prevent these things from happening. But parents are often not skilled at communication because of the socialization they recieved or because they didn't get all that much opportunity. Also, the youth today live significantly different lives and parents generally have to work alot at jobs that are not necessarily soul-fulfilling and through their choices they lose patience amongst other things. Who's to blame? I like what my friend ronald jump said no one is at fault or to blame for anything. But we do have a responsibility that we could take up. I agree that the mass media can be and is mostly conservative. Even though the media is that "bad" , parents still plop themselves in front of the t.v. with their children too. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» v.2-1 replied on Tue May 3, 2005 @ 10:53am |
| Coolness: 160065 | Look, I agree that a parent is entitled to loose patience once in a while towards you kid...provided you even TALK to your f**king kids. My mother worksin an elementary school and every week she deals with parents who are absolutely disinterested with their kids. In some instances where kids were afraid of getting beat up after school on their way home, she would call their parents to let them know about it and if they wanted to come and pick them up. More than half the time, they answer no because they are so damn busy at home watching soaps or any other dumbass reason.
So she would walk them home. And the parents would be pissed at her for doing that because it's " not her damn business ". A few days later, the kid would be walk home and get the shit kicked out of them hardcore. Couple that with all the times she saw kids come in at -20 with only a t-shirt, a hoodie and running shoes on with no mittens or tuque, and those who don't have anything to eat at lunch time 'cause their parents just didn't bother ( my mother has to call the parents and ask them in a situation like this and she often gets " I didn't think he/she would need one ". I mean sure, kids don't require food ) and you get pretty f**king disgusted at parents. And believe me, I don't live in a poor neighborhood so this has nothing to do with parents not being able to provide for their kids. I saw these kids firsthand and let me tell you : if I were to do such a f**king half-assed job about raising them, I wouldn't have them. So obviously there are good concerned parents out there and they have well adjusted kids...but the media's got far better distorted shit to cover than " boring understanding parents and their boring smart children ". |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cactain_steef replied on Tue May 3, 2005 @ 11:34am |
 Coolness: 155620 | ahahaha
"Except in this game, your cop character can take the drugs he confiscates -- and the illicit substances can enhance performance." |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cactain_steef replied on Tue May 3, 2005 @ 11:36am |
| Coolness: 155620 | oo pizelized...thats pretty fucking sad.
why even have kids if youre not going to take care of them. gosh. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» v.2-1 replied on Wed May 4, 2005 @ 2:48am |
| Coolness: 160065 | Well, that's how I feel. I sure ain't expecting everyone to sympathize with that. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Purple_Lee replied on Fri May 6, 2005 @ 10:30pm |
 Coolness: 239565 | i wNT TO PLAY THIS GAME DO U KNMOW IF IT IS OUT FOR XBOX OR IS IT just for pc?
Lee |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini replied on Sat May 7, 2005 @ 1:09am |
| Coolness: 146145 | In Midway's latest console adventure NARC, you're out to bust up the bad guys again; the brightly lit setting of the original NARC has been traded in for a darker, seedier attitude and more backstory.
It's blatantly obvious that the designers were trying to recreate Grand Theft Auto the entire time. NARC—PlayStation 2, Xbox--$29.99—Rating M for Mature—Score 4 out of 10 The game aims for the same moral ambiguity that will cause players to explore the finer interactions between pedestrians and baseball bats in Rockstar's criminal action adventure series, but NARC just isn't worth your time. The idea is a horrible cliche that you can be a good cop or a bad cop, but it doesn't really work out that way. Alternating between two different cops (who have absolutely no variation), you go on a series of missions to bring down a drug cartel, which usually involves shooting lots of bad guys or making sure specific good guys don't get shot. Along the way, you'll pick up an assortment of goodies, including weapons, cash, and, of course, a whole crack house full of illegal narcotics. Drug use is a central theme in the game, and the idea is that using drugs will give you an edge, but at the price of addiction. In a rather grotesque take on substance addiction, the game treats drugs like power-ups. Marijuana will slow down time but allows you to aim in real time, a la Max Payne. LSD gives all pedestrians gigantic bobbleheads and makes the ‘bad guys’ easily identifiable by giving them devil heads. The most beneficial, and thus, most addictive of the drugs is the fictional ‘Liquid Soul,’ which is like activating god mode in most games, making you invincible and making all your attacks extremely potent. It's quite humorous to check out the effects of the different drugs a few times, but their already-limited usefulness is hampered by a tedious inventory system that makes it unnecessarily difficult to go from using drugs to using guns. Any of your illicit behavior will affect your ‘badge rating,’ and when your badge rating falls far enough, you'll be suspended and won't be able to take on more missions until you get yourself straightened out. The real rub here is that there's really little motivation to be a good cop. If you get hooked on dope, an easily acquired pill will free you of any monkeys that might be on your back. And if your badge rating gets too low, it only takes busting a couple of drug dealers, hookers, taggers, or muggers to get back on the force. The process of identifying perps is pretty easy, especially for the street dealers, who are marked with the icons of the drug they're selling. However, the actual process of arresting them is needlessly contrived and convoluted, with a lot of button mashing and swinging power meters. It feels more like you're playing a golf game rather than a gritty crime game. The closest NARC comes to redeeming itself is in its sound track. The environmental sounds are dreary, and the voice acting performances are just terrible. There are also some fantastic sound bugs that will cause the game to start shrieking. Anyways, back to the soundtrack. Along with a good half-dozen rap tracks produced specifically for the game (you can tell they're for the game because the words ‘narc’ and ‘Midway’ are featured a lot in them), you'll hear some good drug-themed licensed music, like Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel's White Lines and Curtis Mayfield's Pusherman. While these quality tracks, go far in giving the game's attitude some credence, but the songs on their own are just not enough to resuscitate a poor story and suspect gameplay. . When it comes down to it though NARC is just a cheap GTA clone without any decent features and far to many bugs. There's a reason that Midway marketing mogul Steve Allison dropped the price of the game from a full-priced game of $59.99 to $29.99 ($19.99 USD) and now we all know the real reason, this game is terrible. |
Narc The Game
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