Nintendo has apologized to all its customers who took offense at being called 'fat' by the popular new Wii Fit game.
The company issued the statement following reports of indignant parents who took offense after the game labeled their kids overweight. An article in the Daily Mail quoted an anonymous father who claimed his daughter was "devastated" after the game called her fat. "She is a perfectly healthy, 4ft 9in tall ten-year-old who swims, dances and weighs only six stone," he said. "She is solidly built but not fat. She was devastated to be called fat and we had to work hard to convince her she wasn't."
Tam Fry of the U.K.'s National Obesity Forum said Body Mass Index measurements, which the system uses to categorize players, can be misleading in children and said they should be banned from playing the game. "I'm absolute aghast that children are being told they are fat," he said. "BMI is far from perfect, but with children it simply should not be used. A child's BMI can change every month and it is perfectly possible for a child to be stocky, yet still very fit."
"I would be very concerned if children were using this game and I believe it should carry a warning for parents," he added.
Nintendo said it would not place a warning on the game, but said it was sorry for any offense it caused. "Nintendo would like to apologize to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player's current BMI status, as part of the BMI measurement system integrated into Wii Fit," the company said. "Wii Fit is still capable of measuring the BMI for people aged between two and 20 but the resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development."
Skrapt: I think it was wrong to laugh, but people really do complain and nitpick over every little thing now a days...
Dont worry, I laughed too. Oh, and someone who is "devastated" from being called fat by a game is clearly insecure.
Insecure. You clearly are one of those little shits that dispences the insults but have never been on the reciving end. For eleven years at school I was insulted primerally for my weight which got worse as I would eat for comfort, which meant I got bigger and th insults became more frequent, not just from students, but some of my teachers and even total strangers in the street. I'm twenty six now and I am only just starting to come to terms which what I went through during that time, and thanks to coucilling sessions and some pill enduced happiness I have stopped comfort eating, and as a result my weight is dropping rapidly, but I am shocked at just how badly damaged I became emotionally, and physically, because of my "insecurity".
The problem is you people don't think about how much damage name calling can do to a person and the fact some of you found this funny fills me with discust.
Skrapt: I think it was wrong to laugh, but people really do complain and nitpick over every little thing now a days...
Dont worry, I laughed too. Oh, and someone who is "devastated" from being called fat by a game is clearly insecure.
Insecure. You clearly are one of those little shits that dispences the insults but have never been on the reciving end. For eleven years at school I was insulted primerally for my weight which got worse as I would eat for comfort, which meant I got bigger and th insults became more frequent, not just from students, but some of my teachers and even total strangers in the street. I'm twenty six now and I am only just starting to come to terms which what I went through during that time, and thanks to coucilling sessions and some pill enduced happiness I have stopped comfort eating, and as a result my weight is dropping rapidly, but I am shocked at just how badly damaged I became emotionally, and physically, because of my "insecurity".
The problem is you people don't think about how much damage name calling can do to a person and the fact some of you found this funny fills me with discust.
Simmer down there Shirley, please bear in mind you're not the only person in the world to suffer due to peers but I don't feel like sharing the details here.
Also your case is one of severe bullying which is completely different from being insulted once by a non-sentient machine.
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA, oh god, they were THAT offended because the game labeled them fat, I'd love to see how these people handle being called fat by others.
Skrapt: I think it was wrong to laugh, but people really do complain and nitpick over every little thing now a days...
Dont worry, I laughed too. Oh, and someone who is "devastated" from being called fat by a game is clearly insecure.
Insecure. You clearly are one of those little shits that dispences the insults but have never been on the reciving end. For eleven years at school I was insulted primerally for my weight which got worse as I would eat for comfort, which meant I got bigger and th insults became more frequent, not just from students, but some of my teachers and even total strangers in the street. I'm twenty six now and I am only just starting to come to terms which what I went through during that time, and thanks to coucilling sessions and some pill enduced happiness I have stopped comfort eating, and as a result my weight is dropping rapidly, but I am shocked at just how badly damaged I became emotionally, and physically, because of my "insecurity".
The problem is you people don't think about how much damage name calling can do to a person and the fact some of you found this funny fills me with discust.
I have been on the receiving end of name calling, that was a long time ago though and I was pretty resilient to it. Bullying, I can understand being upset/traumatized over, however this is a game, it can not formulate it's own opinion and it's calculations are based on the BMI which although an indication, isn't reliable in young people and is too generalized too offer any real hard information. SO people are getting offended over nothing, which I laughed at.
Skrapt: I think it was wrong to laugh, but people really do complain and nitpick over every little thing now a days...
Dont worry, I laughed too. Oh, and someone who is "devastated" from being called fat by a game is clearly insecure.
Insecure. You clearly are one of those little shits that dispences the insults but have never been on the reciving end. For eleven years at school I was insulted primerally for my weight which got worse as I would eat for comfort, which meant I got bigger and th insults became more frequent, not just from students, but some of my teachers and even total strangers in the street. I'm twenty six now and I am only just starting to come to terms which what I went through during that time, and thanks to coucilling sessions and some pill enduced happiness I have stopped comfort eating, and as a result my weight is dropping rapidly, but I am shocked at just how badly damaged I became emotionally, and physically, because of my "insecurity".
The problem is you people don't think about how much damage name calling can do to a person and the fact some of you found this funny fills me with discust.
People are different, some people will react the way you did, but I've been verbally assaulted for most of my life for some reason or another, and I just don't care. It's my philosophy that It's the people who have to look at me's problem what I look like, not mine. I can see why you feel that way, but from where I'm standing, this is hilarious. Find something better to be disgusted about than a couple people who can laugh at something funny. Like war for instance. Unless of course, you think people dying is better than being called a name.
But kids nowadays are fat. Throwing a paddy over it doesn't change the fact that there's now more blubber in your average school than there is on-board a Japanese whaling ship.
Heh, this made me grin. I don't want this to devolve into an "I've got more angst than you, therefore my opinion is more valid!" pissing contest, but I *will* say that if somebody gets upset because of what a game tells them, then they're clearly not suited for regular human interaction.
Skrapt: I think it was wrong to laugh, but people really do complain and nitpick over every little thing now a days...
Dont worry, I laughed too. Oh, and someone who is "devastated" from being called fat by a game is clearly insecure.
Insecure. You clearly are one of those little shits that dispences the insults but have never been on the reciving end. For eleven years at school I was insulted primerally for my weight which got worse as I would eat for comfort, which meant I got bigger and th insults became more frequent, not just from students, but some of my teachers and even total strangers in the street. I'm twenty six now and I am only just starting to come to terms which what I went through during that time, and thanks to coucilling sessions and some pill enduced happiness I have stopped comfort eating, and as a result my weight is dropping rapidly, but I am shocked at just how badly damaged I became emotionally, and physically, because of my "insecurity".
The problem is you people don't think about how much damage name calling can do to a person and the fact some of you found this funny fills me with discust.
People are different, some people will react the way you did, but I've been verbally assaulted for most of my life for some reason or another, and I just don't care. It's my philosophy that It's the people who have to look at me's problem what I look like, not mine. I can see why you feel that way, but from where I'm standing, this is hilarious. Find something better to be disgusted about than a couple people who can laugh at something funny. Like war for instance. Unless of course, you think people dying is better than being called a name.
War is certinally not funny, hell I work in a military museum dedicated to non-combat troops whose primery role is maintaining supply chains and bringing the dead home, but insulting people is just as unfunny. After all if the game had called the child a filthy nigger, how many of you whould be demanding the head of Nintendo's chairman on a silver platter?
You can't make insults accesptable for one and unaccesptable for others, unless you one of those who likes to wear a white sheet and enjoy the odd chanting of Heil Hitler.
My roomate and I were just talking, I think feeding your fat children Mickey-D's should be child abuse.If you can't beat them, you can't make them fat as punishment either.
Skrapt: I have been on the receiving end of name calling, that was a long time ago though and I was pretty resilient to it. Bullying, I can understand being upset/traumatized over, however this is a game, it can not formulate it's own opinion and it's calculations are based on the BMI which although an indication, isn't reliable in young people and is too generalized too offer any real hard information. SO people are getting offended over nothing, which I laughed at.
Exactly.
BMI is a really bad system for giving exact indications of your size.
I am overweight at the moment. During my yearly physical, my doctor said the recommended weight for some one my height is like 175 lbs. But, he told me that that weight isn't always the best for everyone. I'm working on losing weight, but I don't think I'll ever get to 175 lbs.
It's funnier because it was unintentional, User. If it was actually trying to call people fat then I would still think it was funny, but I'd be a bit angry too. The game is just following a chart, it's not designed to do this. Unintended consequences can be very funny. Your example of racism doesn't work at all because it is both intentional and insulting something people can't do anything about, which means it's in bad taste. My example was pretty bad too by the looks of it, but my point stands. If you must waste energy being disgusted, you might as well aim it at something worthwhile instead of small-fry like us.
The issue here is that children naturally believe anything that is said to them. They don't know the difference between it being 'just a game' and being the truth. Children wouldn't understand the point of view you are all coming from with this for example. It's not funny, it's not a joke. Yeah, you have learned to laugh about it but they can't even start to see the level on which it would begin to be funny. When you tell a child that they are 'fat' they react with becoming self-conscious on many different levels. The parents acted rightly on this. This is the same thing as how Hollywood sends the picture perfect image of how a female and a male should look. Everyone says anorexia is wrong and they don't understand how a person could come to this but they fail to look at the world around in which everyone lives. If a child is on the hefty side saying, "hey your a fat ass!" isn't the method in which it should be approached. It's the parents fault in the first place. Why should the child have to suffer on such an emotional level when they don't even understand what they have been doing to themselves.
Easykill: It's funnier because it was unintentional, User. If it was actually trying to call people fat then I would still think it was funny, but I'd be a bit angry too. The game is just following a chart, it's not designed to do this. Unintended consequences can be very funny. Your example of racism doesn't work at all because it is both intentional and insulting something people can't do anything about, which means it's in bad taste. My example was pretty bad too by the looks of it, but my point stands. If you must waste energy being disgusted, you might as well aim it at something worthwhile instead of small-fry like us.
Its a good point but flawed as it was small frys that used to insult me, as for the insulting people for something they can do something about rather than the example I gave, could you please explaing it to me as I cannot see the logic in that argument.
And people wonder why the world is so messed up. We can't even avoid being intolerant of people with the same creed, color, gender, and ethnicity as us if they just happen to have a rounder body.
As someone who had to go to counseling twice because of verbal abuse, this is going way overboard on the parent's parts. So the game said your kid is overweight. Guess what? It's a computer. It is not staring at your kid, it's just making a calculation based on their weight and height.
A Username Not In Use: Its a good point but flawed as it was small frys that used to insult me, as for the insulting people for something they can do something about rather than the example I gave, could you please explaing it to me as I cannot see the logic in that argument.
The best thing I could come with off the top of my head is this:
Say you get a pretty atrocious haircut and someone insults you about it. A haircut is something you can change, by either letting it grow out and getting it cut again or having it cut right away with a shorter style.
Weight is on the same type of path, it can be changed; through exercise, diet, and other means. Granted it takes longer than changing one's hairstyle, but it is possible.
A Username Not In Use: Its a good point but flawed as it was small frys that used to insult me, as for the insulting people for something they can do something about rather than the example I gave, could you please explaing it to me as I cannot see the logic in that argument.
The best thing I could come with off the top of my head is this:
Say you get a pretty atrocious haircut and someone insults you about it. A haircut is something you can change, by either letting it grow out and getting it cut again or having it cut right away with a shorter style.
Weight is on the same type of path, it can be changed; through exercise, diet, and other means. Granted it takes longer than changing one's hairstyle, but it is possible.
Ture, but I still maintain that its unaccesptable, be it weight, race, religion, tastes or styles of haircut.
User: Its a good point but flawed as it was small frys that used to insult me, as for the insulting people for something they can do something about rather than the example I gave, could you please explaing it to me as I cannot see the logic in that argument.
I can't quite decipher the second part enough to be able to tell exactly what you're talking about, so for now I'll just respond to the first bit. That was what I was talking about, unless you can look past what affects you and see the bigger picture, your argument isn't really humanitarian, it's just a personal grudge.
Nintendo Apologizes to Fat Kids
Nintendo has apologized to all its customers who took offense at being called 'fat' by the popular new Wii Fit game.
The company issued the statement following reports of indignant parents who took offense after the game labeled their kids overweight. An article in the Daily Mail quoted an anonymous father who claimed his daughter was "devastated" after the game called her fat. "She is a perfectly healthy, 4ft 9in tall ten-year-old who swims, dances and weighs only six stone," he said. "She is solidly built but not fat. She was devastated to be called fat and we had to work hard to convince her she wasn't."
Tam Fry of the U.K.'s National Obesity Forum said Body Mass Index measurements, which the system uses to categorize players, can be misleading in children and said they should be banned from playing the game. "I'm absolute aghast that children are being told they are fat," he said. "BMI is far from perfect, but with children it simply should not be used. A child's BMI can change every month and it is perfectly possible for a child to be stocky, yet still very fit."
"I would be very concerned if children were using this game and I believe it should carry a warning for parents," he added.
Nintendo said it would not place a warning on the game, but said it was sorry for any offense it caused. "Nintendo would like to apologize to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player's current BMI status, as part of the BMI measurement system integrated into Wii Fit," the company said. "Wii Fit is still capable of measuring the BMI for people aged between two and 20 but the resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development."
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