Summer 2001 (Part 6) - What A Load
*A group of armed, masked men are shown terrorizing a village, forcing villagers to their knees and pointing guns at them. We see this from the perspective of another man, entering the scene and raising his weapon. He fires, killing some of the masked men and then charging forward to protect the villagers as the surviving masked men aim at him. The hero raises his weapon again.*
Voice: Load.
*The hero loads his weapon. Then the scene switches to the hero now running, holding a shotgun and chasing down a truck full of criminals. He shoots at the truck, taking out its tire and causing it to spin out. The truck bed opens and the armed criminals step out.*
Voice: Load.
*The hero loads his weapon. The scene switches to a mustached man seated behind a desk, a cigar in his mouth. The man begins to speak.*
Man: So you see, we are going to continue supplying these weapons, and there is nothing you can do to stop us.
Voice: Load.
*The hero loads his weapon and points it at the man, who dives behind his desk. Then we see a bunch of armed gangsters, firing indiscriminately.*
Voice: Load.
*The hero loads his weapon and takes down the gangsters. More scenes from the game play, showing more villains doing villainous things, the hero being told to load his weapon, and then doing so and taking out the bad guys. Different guns are shown, including a gatling gun.* The final scene shows the game's multiplayer mode, with four player splitscreen.*
Voice: Load. *one of the players loads his weapon* Load. *the second player loads his weapon* Load. *the third player loads his weapon* Load. *the final player loads his weapon*
LOAD
Coming to the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana
-the commercial for Load, which aired on various broadcast and cable networks during June and July 2001
-
Load
Load is a first-person shooter, published by Activision and released for the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana on July 2, 2001. It plays like a fairly typical game in its genre, though the FPS it could most closely be compared to is Duke Nukem, with a bit of proto-Call of Duty thrown in. The game features a large variety of weapons, from simple pistols to massive gatling guns and rocket launchers, all in all there are over 40 different weapons to use in the game. It stars a protagonist named Kilroy Hearns, an ex-member of the United States Special Forces who's become a mercenary, taking jobs on behalf of groups who are otherwise powerless. The mood of the game is very dark and gritty, with occasional bits of humor (Hearns is a very serious protagonist, much more so than Duke Nukem, though the game does occasionally get tongue-in-cheek). The game features both a single player campaign mode and a multiplayer mode with a variety of play variants, more so than nearly every other multiplayer FPS of its time. The game's graphics are about on par with the average FPS of the time, with the Katana version obviously looking better than the Ultra Nintendo version (but not as good as the Katana version of Quake III Arena). The voice acting is performed by Toronto-based actors (similar to what Capcom has been doing), with Jamie Watson as the voice of Hearns and Sarah LaFleur as the voice of Marie Salvadora.
Hearns has gotten a job from a village in a remote part of South America, whose villagers, along with a couple of sympathetic aid workers, have pooled enough money to hire him. The village is under siege from a gang of arms dealers and their hired soldiers, who terrorize nearby villages, forcing the people to work for them, either by building weapons or serving as soldiers or sex slaves. One of the aid workers, a woman named Marie Salvadora, serves as Hearns' contact during his time in the village. The game consists of Hearns performing missions to strike against the arms dealers. At first, Hearns is simply protecting the village, or rescuing villagers who are in danger. But eventually, after the arms dealers kill some of the villagers (and eventually burn it to the ground), Hearns takes it personally and takes the fight to them, killing off the gang leaders one by one. Eventually, Marie is kidnapped by the head arms dealer, and Hearns mounts a brutally destructive mission to rescue her, with little regard for life or property.
Load receives plenty of criticism for its derivative storyline ("like something out of an 80s movie" is the quote from many reviewers) and repetitive levels. The multiplayer mode is significantly more popular, and for many people, it's the main reason for buying Load, which ultimately ends up with rather mediocre reviews overall. Like Novus Ordo, Load is significantly better received by male gamers than by female gamers, and despite its hard-M rating, it's quite popular amongst pre-teens. Needless to say, the violent game receives plenty of controversy, both for its advertising campaign and for its actual gameplay. It's one of the first unabashedly violent games to be released since the Valentine's Day Shooting, and its release is met with disdain from media figures and from industry critics like Jack Thompson, who uses the game's release to drum up publicity for his lawsuit. Despite all the controversy (or, more likely, because of it), Load is a commercial success, and Activision immediately commissions a sequel.
-
Brittany Saldita: Another violent video game is causing controversy with parents. Load, the brand new shooter game which released last Monday, is popular among teens and adults alike. But it's the game's popularity with teens that worries many.
*Brief footage of the game is played on screen, showing Kilroy Hearns in a shootout with an armed gang*
Saldita: In Load, you play the role of a mercenary defending a village from a criminal arms dealing syndicate. The game has sold well at area stores, and in some stores, clerks report that sales to younger players far outnumber sales to adults. Though some stores, like Wal-Mart, require identification to be shown to purchase violent games, others do not. Some public officials, including California's governor Gray Davis, are calling for a law requiring identification before purchasing Mature-rated games. That's a law that Congress is also considering, pending the results of an official study into the psychological effects of violent video games on children. And Florida attorney Jack Thompson has recently made headlines, partnering with parents of several of the students murdered in February's massacre at a Virginia high school to sue game companies involved in the production of violent video games. Most recently, Thompson cited Load in his argument that ID should be required to purchase violent games.
*Thompson's picture is shown, along with a brief quote.*
Saldita: Thompson stated, "Game companies are becoming more and more ruthless in pushing these murder simulators on our children, and need to be held accountable for the results of their actions in pursuing profit over decency." So far, none of the companies involved in the production or distribution of the game have offered any comments on Thompson's statements, but a representative from Sega did state in response to the Congressional study that the game industry has made efforts for the past eight years to make parents aware of the content of games in order to make the right choices for their children. Civil proceedings in Thompson's lawsuit are expected to begin in December.
Harold Green: When we come back: as reports of killer bee attacks in places like Texas and New Mexico continue to frighten residents of southern states, many are wondering if they're in danger here in Southern California. We talked to a local bee expert who told us that the threat might be somewhat overblown.
Saldita: And we've also got Dallas Raines with an update on those balmy temperatures, we'll let you know if there's relief in sight coming up in our weekend forecast.
*The newscast goes off the air, Brittany waits a few seconds before speaking to her co-anchor.*
Saldita: ....that game is awesome.
Green: You've been playing it?
Saldita: Yeah, not really a fan of the actual "game" part but the multiplayer mode, I've been playing that with Chris and some of our friends and it's a blast.
Green: Do you let the baby watch?
Saldita: Oh, he sits in my lap.
Green: *laughing* You let the baby watch you play that game?
Staffer: I imagine it freaks him out!
Saldita: Oh, no, he loves it. He laughs whenever mommy kills daddy.
*A bunch of the staffers and the cameraman laugh loudly*
Saldita: I'll shoot Chris, and Arturo...he'll like giggle and then he'll clap. ....I'm a bad mom. *laughs, along with some of the staffers*
Green: *shaking his head but laughing too* Are you going to let him play games like that?
Saldita: Yeah, when he's like seven I'll probably let him play. *the cameraman laughs again* I mean, it's just games. The violence in this game is pretty silly. Most games, I'll probably let him play when he gets to be about seven or eight. Maybe I'll keep him away from Grand Theft Auto until he's nine or ten, that looks like a little bit much. And the scary games, like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, those I might hold off on until he's 13, they'd give him nightmares.
Producer: 15 seconds, guys.
Green: So the super violent ones, they're fine, but the scary ones...
Saldita: Mommy needs her sleep, I can't have him waking me up after playing Silent Hill too long.
Producer: 10....9...
Green: So you disagree with Jack Thompson.
Saldita: *makes vomiting motion with one hand and a thumbs down motion with the other*
Producer: 6...5...
Saldita: *mouths "fuck him", prompting Green to laugh a bit*
Producer: 4...3...2...
*The newscast goes back on the air*
Green: Killer bees: harmless creatures or serious threat? While reports of killer bee attacks have been all over the news, bee experts say...
-from the July 11, 2001 KABC-TV evening newscast at 5:00 PM
-
"Is it problematic? You know, ten years ago, we made the decision that Nintendo would expand its target audience. When we partnered with Sony, we knew we were opening the door to more of these kinds of games. I think, with the shooting and with all the controversy, it does put us in a position where we're...questioning, certain aspects of our games. But look at last year, our most popular game was Velvet Dark. That was our best selling title and our most critically acclaimed. This year, Medal Of Honor: Underground. So there's an audience for these games. And the social responsibility, I mean, we're always trying to make sure our games are played by the appropriate audiences. So with Load, I think...we're just putting it out there. We're not giving it the same level of promotion that we gave to these other games I mentioned. It's out there and if adults want to buy it that's their right to do so. We make games for everyone. Kids, adults, boys, girls, everyone. And...I think with Velvet Dark and with Medal of Honor, it's the story that people are buying. It's not the shooting. It's the story. Medal of Honor is a war game. Steven Spielberg wrote it. It shows the reality of war. So...there's an audience for these games. And there probably always will be."
-Nintendo of America president Howard Lincoln, from an interview on the July 20, 2001 episode of 20/20, answering a question about whether or not allowing violent first-person shooter games on the Ultra Nintendo is problematic for a company that also makes billions of dollars selling games to children
Voice: Load.
*The hero loads his weapon. Then the scene switches to the hero now running, holding a shotgun and chasing down a truck full of criminals. He shoots at the truck, taking out its tire and causing it to spin out. The truck bed opens and the armed criminals step out.*
Voice: Load.
*The hero loads his weapon. The scene switches to a mustached man seated behind a desk, a cigar in his mouth. The man begins to speak.*
Man: So you see, we are going to continue supplying these weapons, and there is nothing you can do to stop us.
Voice: Load.
*The hero loads his weapon and points it at the man, who dives behind his desk. Then we see a bunch of armed gangsters, firing indiscriminately.*
Voice: Load.
*The hero loads his weapon and takes down the gangsters. More scenes from the game play, showing more villains doing villainous things, the hero being told to load his weapon, and then doing so and taking out the bad guys. Different guns are shown, including a gatling gun.* The final scene shows the game's multiplayer mode, with four player splitscreen.*
Voice: Load. *one of the players loads his weapon* Load. *the second player loads his weapon* Load. *the third player loads his weapon* Load. *the final player loads his weapon*
LOAD
Coming to the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana
-the commercial for Load, which aired on various broadcast and cable networks during June and July 2001
-
Load
Load is a first-person shooter, published by Activision and released for the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana on July 2, 2001. It plays like a fairly typical game in its genre, though the FPS it could most closely be compared to is Duke Nukem, with a bit of proto-Call of Duty thrown in. The game features a large variety of weapons, from simple pistols to massive gatling guns and rocket launchers, all in all there are over 40 different weapons to use in the game. It stars a protagonist named Kilroy Hearns, an ex-member of the United States Special Forces who's become a mercenary, taking jobs on behalf of groups who are otherwise powerless. The mood of the game is very dark and gritty, with occasional bits of humor (Hearns is a very serious protagonist, much more so than Duke Nukem, though the game does occasionally get tongue-in-cheek). The game features both a single player campaign mode and a multiplayer mode with a variety of play variants, more so than nearly every other multiplayer FPS of its time. The game's graphics are about on par with the average FPS of the time, with the Katana version obviously looking better than the Ultra Nintendo version (but not as good as the Katana version of Quake III Arena). The voice acting is performed by Toronto-based actors (similar to what Capcom has been doing), with Jamie Watson as the voice of Hearns and Sarah LaFleur as the voice of Marie Salvadora.
Hearns has gotten a job from a village in a remote part of South America, whose villagers, along with a couple of sympathetic aid workers, have pooled enough money to hire him. The village is under siege from a gang of arms dealers and their hired soldiers, who terrorize nearby villages, forcing the people to work for them, either by building weapons or serving as soldiers or sex slaves. One of the aid workers, a woman named Marie Salvadora, serves as Hearns' contact during his time in the village. The game consists of Hearns performing missions to strike against the arms dealers. At first, Hearns is simply protecting the village, or rescuing villagers who are in danger. But eventually, after the arms dealers kill some of the villagers (and eventually burn it to the ground), Hearns takes it personally and takes the fight to them, killing off the gang leaders one by one. Eventually, Marie is kidnapped by the head arms dealer, and Hearns mounts a brutally destructive mission to rescue her, with little regard for life or property.
Load receives plenty of criticism for its derivative storyline ("like something out of an 80s movie" is the quote from many reviewers) and repetitive levels. The multiplayer mode is significantly more popular, and for many people, it's the main reason for buying Load, which ultimately ends up with rather mediocre reviews overall. Like Novus Ordo, Load is significantly better received by male gamers than by female gamers, and despite its hard-M rating, it's quite popular amongst pre-teens. Needless to say, the violent game receives plenty of controversy, both for its advertising campaign and for its actual gameplay. It's one of the first unabashedly violent games to be released since the Valentine's Day Shooting, and its release is met with disdain from media figures and from industry critics like Jack Thompson, who uses the game's release to drum up publicity for his lawsuit. Despite all the controversy (or, more likely, because of it), Load is a commercial success, and Activision immediately commissions a sequel.
-
Brittany Saldita: Another violent video game is causing controversy with parents. Load, the brand new shooter game which released last Monday, is popular among teens and adults alike. But it's the game's popularity with teens that worries many.
*Brief footage of the game is played on screen, showing Kilroy Hearns in a shootout with an armed gang*
Saldita: In Load, you play the role of a mercenary defending a village from a criminal arms dealing syndicate. The game has sold well at area stores, and in some stores, clerks report that sales to younger players far outnumber sales to adults. Though some stores, like Wal-Mart, require identification to be shown to purchase violent games, others do not. Some public officials, including California's governor Gray Davis, are calling for a law requiring identification before purchasing Mature-rated games. That's a law that Congress is also considering, pending the results of an official study into the psychological effects of violent video games on children. And Florida attorney Jack Thompson has recently made headlines, partnering with parents of several of the students murdered in February's massacre at a Virginia high school to sue game companies involved in the production of violent video games. Most recently, Thompson cited Load in his argument that ID should be required to purchase violent games.
*Thompson's picture is shown, along with a brief quote.*
Saldita: Thompson stated, "Game companies are becoming more and more ruthless in pushing these murder simulators on our children, and need to be held accountable for the results of their actions in pursuing profit over decency." So far, none of the companies involved in the production or distribution of the game have offered any comments on Thompson's statements, but a representative from Sega did state in response to the Congressional study that the game industry has made efforts for the past eight years to make parents aware of the content of games in order to make the right choices for their children. Civil proceedings in Thompson's lawsuit are expected to begin in December.
Harold Green: When we come back: as reports of killer bee attacks in places like Texas and New Mexico continue to frighten residents of southern states, many are wondering if they're in danger here in Southern California. We talked to a local bee expert who told us that the threat might be somewhat overblown.
Saldita: And we've also got Dallas Raines with an update on those balmy temperatures, we'll let you know if there's relief in sight coming up in our weekend forecast.
*The newscast goes off the air, Brittany waits a few seconds before speaking to her co-anchor.*
Saldita: ....that game is awesome.
Green: You've been playing it?
Saldita: Yeah, not really a fan of the actual "game" part but the multiplayer mode, I've been playing that with Chris and some of our friends and it's a blast.
Green: Do you let the baby watch?
Saldita: Oh, he sits in my lap.
Green: *laughing* You let the baby watch you play that game?
Staffer: I imagine it freaks him out!
Saldita: Oh, no, he loves it. He laughs whenever mommy kills daddy.
*A bunch of the staffers and the cameraman laugh loudly*
Saldita: I'll shoot Chris, and Arturo...he'll like giggle and then he'll clap. ....I'm a bad mom. *laughs, along with some of the staffers*
Green: *shaking his head but laughing too* Are you going to let him play games like that?
Saldita: Yeah, when he's like seven I'll probably let him play. *the cameraman laughs again* I mean, it's just games. The violence in this game is pretty silly. Most games, I'll probably let him play when he gets to be about seven or eight. Maybe I'll keep him away from Grand Theft Auto until he's nine or ten, that looks like a little bit much. And the scary games, like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, those I might hold off on until he's 13, they'd give him nightmares.
Producer: 15 seconds, guys.
Green: So the super violent ones, they're fine, but the scary ones...
Saldita: Mommy needs her sleep, I can't have him waking me up after playing Silent Hill too long.
Producer: 10....9...
Green: So you disagree with Jack Thompson.
Saldita: *makes vomiting motion with one hand and a thumbs down motion with the other*
Producer: 6...5...
Saldita: *mouths "fuck him", prompting Green to laugh a bit*
Producer: 4...3...2...
*The newscast goes back on the air*
Green: Killer bees: harmless creatures or serious threat? While reports of killer bee attacks have been all over the news, bee experts say...
-from the July 11, 2001 KABC-TV evening newscast at 5:00 PM
-
"Is it problematic? You know, ten years ago, we made the decision that Nintendo would expand its target audience. When we partnered with Sony, we knew we were opening the door to more of these kinds of games. I think, with the shooting and with all the controversy, it does put us in a position where we're...questioning, certain aspects of our games. But look at last year, our most popular game was Velvet Dark. That was our best selling title and our most critically acclaimed. This year, Medal Of Honor: Underground. So there's an audience for these games. And the social responsibility, I mean, we're always trying to make sure our games are played by the appropriate audiences. So with Load, I think...we're just putting it out there. We're not giving it the same level of promotion that we gave to these other games I mentioned. It's out there and if adults want to buy it that's their right to do so. We make games for everyone. Kids, adults, boys, girls, everyone. And...I think with Velvet Dark and with Medal of Honor, it's the story that people are buying. It's not the shooting. It's the story. Medal of Honor is a war game. Steven Spielberg wrote it. It shows the reality of war. So...there's an audience for these games. And there probably always will be."
-Nintendo of America president Howard Lincoln, from an interview on the July 20, 2001 episode of 20/20, answering a question about whether or not allowing violent first-person shooter games on the Ultra Nintendo is problematic for a company that also makes billions of dollars selling games to children
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