Thursday, July 17, 2008

Beer Pong Becomes "Pong Toss"

New Haven Advocate:

Connecticut's attorney general, worried that "Beer Pong" would entice minors to drink, successfully pressured JV Games to remove the booze reference from the game name—which will now be called "Pong Toss."

But Blumenthal failed to persuade the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to change the game's rating from T (13+) to Adults Only (18+). Certainly not for a lack of his signature zingers, though.

"The video game rating board is under the influence—rating frat party video games suitable for minors," the AG said in a statement widely circulated through the local print and broadcast media.

Website GamePolitics.com, which picked up the story, quoted a letter from ESRB President Patricia Vance to Blumenthal warning the AG that he's simply drawing more attention to the game. "Ironically, this is likely to result in more rather than less consumers being drawn to this game, particularly those very minors all of us seek to protect."

If they do, kids will find a game with a newer, cleaner title, but an age-old premise: Get drunk and you'll score.


It is often joked that the most dangerous place in Connecticut isn't the gang-ridden inner city of Bridgeport or Hartford but between Dick Blumenthal and any TV camera.
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