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Music Media PC Games (Games) Entertainment Games

Kids Game Takes Aim At Music Pirates 73

Posted by simoniker from the arr-harrrrr dept.
Thanks to the San Jose Mercury News for reprinting a report about an educational videogame company who've decided to theme their next title around music piracy. According to the piece, the developers, MGI, who are not being funded by the RIAA or any other music industry groups, "...had set out to create a game about the yo-ho-ho kind of pirates. But when [MGI] started researching the topic of piracy, they were overwhelmed with information about music copyrights." An official press release on the MGI site reveals: "Loosely based on the Treasure Island story, this new PC game will... caricature music piracy, embodied especially in the figure of Captain Bootleg." The nefarious Captain Bootleg has run off with the 'Music Treasure', and "...a young boy named Ma, top agent of the Funny Bureau of Investigations ('FBI'), who... carries a laptop, must find the Island and recover the Music Treasure."
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Kids Game Takes Aim At Music Pirates More

Kids Game Takes Aim At Music Pirates

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  • to barrack for the bad guy in a video game.

  • Explain to Kids (Score:5, Funny)

    by 4of12 ( 97621 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @09:36AM (#7608148) Homepage Journal

    How when music is "pirated" that the "music treasure" is copied, there will be two copies of treasure! The first treasure owner can still play the music all they want!

    Explain that "copying treasure" is Very Bad.

    You can see how this is Very Bad, can't you?

    Your inbred human tuition should make you recoil in revulsion from even thinking about giving away anything with a (c).

    It is so Evil that I'm sure most of the world's major religions have strict prohibitions against it.

    • Re:Explain to Kids (Score:2, Insightful)

      by musikit ( 716987 )
      i give them props for creatively trying to teach kids not to steal music. but did they have to make it about stealing music? couldn't they just have made it about stealing in general? couldn't they educate about copyrights in general?

      again i give them props but don't limit your scope to RIAA enlarge it to a bigger lesson.

    • Re:Explain to Kids (Score:5, Insightful)

      by uncoveror ( 570620 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @09:45AM (#7608194) Homepage
      Comparing unauthorized copying to rape, murder, and robbery on the high seas is terribly sensational. This "game" is a piece of RIAA/MPAA propaganda whether they will admit to it or not. Don't buy CDs. [dontbuycds.org]

    • Re:Explain to Kids (Score:5, Funny)

      by fuzzybunny ( 112938 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @10:55AM (#7608608) Homepage Journal

      Well, Alan Greenspan says that copying treasure leads to too much treasure, which results in treasure inflation, which means treasure is worth a lot less, putting all the nice people working in the treasure hoarding industry out of business!

      Music is exactly the same. When you keep duplicating it, it no longer has the precious value of a unique piece of art, leading to lack of appreciation for it. And this, kids, is exactly the reason why I want to KICK THE SHIT OUT OF THE NEXT F)_@*$!# DEPARTMENT STORE ELEVATOR PLAYING *!@#!ING BOY BAND CRAP.

      So remember kids. Don't duplicate that Britney Spears CD. Instead, lock it up in the cellar, where it'll be safe from the pirates.

      Won't somebody think of the pirates?

      • Re:Explain to Kids (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Spleener12 ( 587422 ) *
        Don't duplicate that Britney Spears CD. Instead, lock it up in the cellar, where it'll be safe from the pirates.

        Better yet, burn it. That'll make music go up in value even more.

      • When you keep duplicating it, it no longer has the precious value of a unique piece of art,

        You're right -- ever since I saw a copy of the Mona Lisa, I've had little desire to travel to France just to view the original.

        leading to lack of appreciation for it.

        I disagree. If I ever do get to France for some other purpose, and kill some free time with a side trip to see the Mona Lisa, I doubt I would not appreciate the original just because I've seen so many copies.

        Besides, Leonardo wasn't French, so why is

        • Besides, Leonardo wasn't French, so why is his master work in Paris? The French looted it from the Italians, who should demand it back.

          You obviously need to check your history [kausal.com].

          Leonardo sold the Mona Lisa to a French king in 1516, and kept it for himself beforehand. There's also rumors that the model actually was a guy Leonardo was infatuated with, which would have been greatly frowned upon then. I guess Leonardo was some kind of Elton John celebrity back in his time...

          [-1 offtopic...]
    • I think that the best crime to compare music 'piracy' to is probably monetary counterfeit. In the case of copying music, you can create exact copies of the original, you get/create something for nothing, and on a small scale it doesn't decrease the value of the original.

      However, just as widespread monetary counterfeit would lead to economic problems if it could not be halted in some way, widespread copying of music has caused a devaluation of the legal copies of the music. If music copying reaches a cer

      • 75% right (Score:2, Interesting)

        by swaminstar ( 726206 )
        The $$ side of things has to be understood as does the culture of industrial music (no, not fun ole Front 242 either) that exists from LA. When you appreciate music, or anything for that matter, I would hope that that appreciation manifests in support of those that brought you that experience. When you buy a CD the only way that you give is with your hard earned $$. Fine. That money, however, doesn't go to those that make those luvly sounds that (ostensibly) prompted you to buy that disc...the cash begi
    • Pure hypocrisy. Try this on for size:

      How when

      GPL is "violated" that the "GPL code" is copied, there will be two copies of the code! The first code creator can still use the code all they want!

      Explain that "violating the GPL" is Very Bad.

      You can see how this is Very Bad, can't you?

      Your inbred human tuition should make you recoil in revulsion from even thinking about giving away anything with a (c).

      It is so Evil that I'm sure most of the world's major religions have strict prohibitions against it.

  • A better game proposal (Score:5, Funny)

    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @09:40AM (#7608168)
    A better game proposal: "NapLeech".

    Your character runs around town, smashing into music stores and stealing CD's (a "Grand Theft Music"). If there is any Brittany Spears playing near by, health goes down. but Beatles music improves your health.

    Monsters resembling Hilary Rosen and Orren Hatch bedevil you every step. The stolen CD's have to be trucked to a warehouse.

    When you are through playing the game, you go look in the MyMusic folder and find it full of the music from the CDs you stole in the game.

  • bittorrent link? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Numeric ( 22250 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @09:40AM (#7608169) Homepage Journal
    <joke>
    i'd like a bootleg copy of it!
    </joke>
  • This all reminds me of some Sony NetMD commercial on a CD: "and remember, kids, music taken from your own CDs sounds much better than pirate music!"

    They didn't go as far as to suggest chasing bootleggers, but the essence of the propaganda was there.

    I guess this kind of game would be truly shocking if they taught children to "give" pirates to the police. Hopefully this is not the next step in the *AA's evil plans.

  • Plot of the game (Score:4, Funny)

    by cgenman ( 325138 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @09:49AM (#7608218) Homepage
    First the rights to music are stolen from its creators. This music is locked away from all of the world in a small island. The player must download musical clues from any remote section of the world they can, learning about the area's unique musical tradition and heritage. Eventually the player finds his way to Los An... Secret Pirate Island. The game ends when the evil thief is thrown in jail, and the music heritage of the world is set free for all.

    That sounds about right.

  • Uhhh.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by hookedup ( 630460 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @09:51AM (#7608229)
    I installed the game...and...well...i dont seem to have _any_ of my mp3s on my computer anymore, what happened? :)

  • Remember this? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Asprin ( 545477 ) <(moc.oohay) (ta) (dlonrasg)> on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @09:51AM (#7608231) Homepage Journal

    Don't copy that floppy! [albinoblacksheep.com]

    Yeah, that's right. This game is probably doomed, too.

  • Isn't it ironick (Score:3, Funny)

    by drix ( 4602 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @09:53AM (#7608239) Homepage
    Alright kids, now get on emule [sf.net] and go download this game!

  • Prepare to have your buckles swashed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Decaffeinated Jedi ( 648571 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @10:02AM (#7608284) Homepage Journal
    So, they're going to associate music piracy with actual "yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-of-rum" piracy in this post-Pirates of the Caribbean era, and they expect kids not to think that it's even cooler than they already do? Sounds a bit counter-intuitive to me...
  • yo ho [reuters.co.uk]
  • Or hinder? Look that cool pirate dude copys music ilegaly, I should do it too!
  • This is the scariest news I've heard in a long time...brainwashing kids from an early age into loving the good ole RIAA.

    • If it manages (intentionally or not) to point up the absurdity of the RIAA's characterisation of music traders as PIRATES, THIEVES, and COPYRIGHT TERRORISTS, then I'm all for it! (And to anyone who's about to reply saying "COPYING IS THEFT YOU BAD EVIL NAUGHTY PERSON", I've heard from plenty of Stepford arguers already, thank you very much.)

  • The only way to fight music stealing pirates? Music stealing ninjas [pratt.edu] (who flip out hardcore).

    My friend Mark said that he saw a ninja totally uppercut some kid just for deleting a Snoop mp3.

    And when some dude unplugged a ninja's ethernet cable and he flipped out and killed the whole town.
  • Some the people who work for the company(it's very small) have definitely worked on projects that are under the RIAA, but that doesn't mean much in itself.

    But, where do they get the music for their games? The only one I was able to figure out was that the rendition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons they use was recorded by the Hamburg Chamber Orchestra under the Madacy record label. I'm not sure if that's RIAA.
  • 'who are not being funded by the RIAA or any other music industry groups'

    Does this also mean that the RIAA is not funding "educational" gaming companies? What about private funding? Or investing in the parent company who was "motivated" by the RIAA?

  • Buccaneers... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Bonewalker ( 631203 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @11:52AM (#7609073)
    'I see, you're a pirate, eh? Well, where's your buccaneers?

    Under my buckin' hat!" - Dick, Third Rock From the Sun

    Definition of 'buccaneer' by www.m-w.com:

    1 : any of the freebooters preying on Spanish ships and settlements especially in the West Indies in the 17th century; broadly : PIRATE
    2 : an unscrupulous adventurer especially in politics or business

    *emphasis mine

  • That the gaming industry was suffering from a lack of originality? That idea's brilliant. We can get forty hours of CG in there, prerendered, and some really big names for the voices of the characters.

    Let's see this compete with Doom III...that Romero bloke doesn't stand a chance...

    The above is a joke (in more ways than one)

  • I think that's the question on all of our minds.

  • When will the sassy Music Robin Hood come out on my PS2? Where a kid can liberate music from the evil filtering and profiteering mechanisms of the dark lord's of the Industry, thereby returning joy of listening and experimentation with sound back to the poor townsfolk who have been tortured for years until they, too, believe that linkin park is worth listening to. Hey who knows, maybe if the music industry lost this fight, we might start paying attention to local music again and...wait for it...support the

  • 6843 mp3's in your share folder (Score:3, Funny)

    by neglige ( 641101 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @12:44PM (#7609588)
    6843 mp3's in your share folder
    you download a song
    you share a file
    6844 mp3's in your share folder

    6844 mp3's in your share folder
    ...

  • What will this teach kids? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jonathan_the_ninja ( 704301 ) <watashi_o_katana@linuxmail.org> on Tuesday December 02, 2003 @01:30PM (#7610101) Journal
    It will teach kids that whoever conceived the idea for this game had an idiotic idea and/or is an idiot. Honestly, do they think that because they played a game where they cracked down on music "piracy" that it's going to influence them not to use Kazaa, or WinMX for sharing mp3s? I personally doubt it. Just like when they play Doom it's going to teach them to take their Dad's shotgun and kill mister former sergeant down the road (an army veteran) because of their Doom experience.
  • Sounds about as uninspired as the crappy music the RIAA has been pushing on us for years.
  • You can already get this game on Kazaa.
  • My assumption is that the game will be either a total failure -or- (I like this outlook better) hacked to the point where it becomes a FPS and you are the pirate. Or maybe it could morph into a Doom-like game, but instead of floating skulls, there are floating heads of the leaders of the RIAA.

    What about a counter-strike like version of it (note that I do not say counter-strike mod, because counter-strike is really a mod). Instead of Counter-Terrorists vs Terrorists, it is RIAA vs Normal People?

  • ...that appears to have worked. People know about the game and the company now, even though it sounds like a dreadful idea to me.
  • I think one of the scariest aspects of this game is that the creators' "...goal is to persuade the Recording Industry Association of America to distribute the game free to schools and students across the country."

    This game sounds rather half-baked and unimaginative. I don't know too many kids that would sit through this game more than once. The use of the letters FBI is very misleading as the real FBI doesn't bring suits against file-sharers. And as one poster already pointed out, file copying and outr
  • I predict that if this game ever hits the market, that it will rival WinXP and Photoshop in the number of copies that are being traded on P2P. Seriously, this is like when Madonna released that track on P2P yelling "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!", only its a game, and will probably be funnier.

  • You could also make the assumption that the RIAA was the evil captian bootleg, hoarding the music to themselves, and the young kid, using his laptop, is getting that music from them... =D

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