Mario Party 8 recalled

[Jimmy 2004]

Nintendo has been forced to recall all copies of Mario Party 8 in the UK after it was discovered that the game contained an offensive word. Although Nintendo has given no official reason, it is claimed that the game has been withdrawn because of the use of the word 'spastic' - Ubisoft found itself in a similar position just a few weeks ago when the same word was found in one of its games. The game, which had experienced numerous delays in the build up to its release, was finally launched last week on Friday 13th July, a day which obviously proved to be unlucky for Nintendo. The company blames the issue on the "wrong version" making its way to retail. "Unfortunately we have discovered that a small number of games contain the wrong version of the disk due to an assembly error. We have therefore decided to recall all copies of the game from UK retailers so that this mistake can be corrected," said Nintendo in an official statement. No re-release date has been issued yet.

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[GJSNeptune]

Spastic is a bad word?

 

[DaMulta]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spastic

 

[GJSNeptune]

Oh. It's a UK thing. That's all the explanation I need.

 

[Jimmy 2004]

Oh. It's a UK thing. That's all the explanation I need.

Well that explains why it's only being recalled in the UK, I wondered if the US version was different.

 

[Ripper3]

Funny, my friends and I all use and hear the word daily, and I've gotta say, we all take it for the American connotation, as described on the Wikipedia entry. *shrug*

 

[GJSNeptune]

What if it were something like idiot instead? Would it be recalled then?

 

[Jimmy 2004]

What if it were something like idiot instead? Would it be recalled then?

I very much doubt it.

Spastic isn't generally too offensive to most people, but if it is used in reference to someone with a disability it can be seen as extremely insulting.

 

[HookeyStreet]

What if it were something like idiot instead? Would it be recalled then?

No, spastic is a word (not very nice one) used to discribe a 'mentally/physically handicapped' person

I can see 'uncut' Mario Party 8 going for loads of cash on ebay now lol

 

[GJSNeptune]

Calling someone an idiot implies they lack intelligence. That would also be a mental handicap. We've got a plethora of interchangeable derogatory words. What's the difference between them and spastic?

 

[HookeyStreet]

Calling someone an idiot implies they lack intelligence. That seems like a mental handicap as well. We've got a plethora of interchangeable derogatory words.

Calling someone an idiot, is not as offensive as calling someone a spastic!

The word idiot implies 'stupidity' or 'low intelligence', spastic indicates an actual handicap (ie down syndrome)

 

[GJSNeptune]

Why not? Because it's not used as frequently?

 

[Jimmy 2004]

Why not? Because it's not used as frequently?

Idiot is used all the time. It's generally used in a comical manner to describe someone who does something stupid rather than genuinely insulting their intelligence.

 

[Grings]

lol, joey deacon

 

[GJSNeptune]

So it's not the word, but who's saying it.

 

[HellasVagabond]

Spastic is a word guys...The fact that people dont like the sound of it doesnt mean it should be banned...Especially when found in a game.

 

[GJSNeptune]

It's not an issue of phonetics. It's semantics. The only reason there's a problem is because it's a video game.

 

[HookeyStreet]

Why not? Because it's not used as frequently?

Why make an argument about a word m8?!?

The word spastic is VERY offensive, idiot is not!

You live in the USA, so why mock us Brits? If you dont understand our 'culture', dont talk about it!

 

[GJSNeptune]

What mocking?

 

[HookeyStreet]

So it's not the word, but who's saying it.

No, who the word is being said to......would you walk upto a down syndrome child/adult and call them a 'spastic' ???

 

[HellasVagabond]

I live in Greece and i dont understand why a Greek word [ Spastic ( English ) / Spastikos ( Greek ) ] which was used by the brits a few years ago has to be considered insulting there whle here it aint......

 

[HookeyStreet]

What mocking?

Your basically saying that the word spastic is no more offensive then the word idiot. Im trying to explain to you that both words are not the same and should not be used in the same context!

 

[GJSNeptune]

But Jimmy just said:

It's generally used in a comical manner to describe someone who does something stupid rather than genuinely insulting their intelligence.

Meaning it's a general understanding that when people call someone an idiot, they don't really mean it. The word's been jaded.

What exactly are we arguing about?

 

[HookeyStreet]

But Jimmy just said:


Meaning it's a general understanding that when people call someone an idiot, they don't really mean it. The word's been jaded.

What exactly are we arguing about?

Jimmy meant the word idiot, not spastic.

 

[GJSNeptune]

I live in Greece and i dont understand why a Greek word...which was used by the brits a few years ago has to be considered insulting there whle here it aint......

...because the beauty of language is that it's ever-shifting to the discretion of who's speaking it irregardless of location/culture.