Wii game Countdown exposes three-year-old to 'shitheads'

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When you put random words in a game, trouble is bound to happen

The Wii game Countdown, based on a UK game show of the same name, is rated for players age three and up by the European game ratings board. And yet when three-year-old Oliver Smith was playing the game with his mom, something very un-kid-friendly popped up on the screen.

One round in the game presents players with a series of jumbled letters, and asks them to figure out the word that's been jumbled up. In this case, the letters were SHAHSITED.


Above: He loves it

Oliver's mom Victoria picks up the story from there. "I couldn't believe my eyes as the word was slowly unveiled as an obscene insult," she said in a local news interview.

Little Oliver asked his parents what the word meant, when, "My husband Daniel had to rush him out of the room," said Victoria. "Oliver is a really bright kid and we play this game to help him build up his word bank."

We're assuming the developers just mass-collected a bunch of words and threw them in a database, mistakenly missing certain inappropriate entries. Probably should have had an intern look over it first.

Also, "rush him out of the room?" What, so he's not forever corrupted by a word on a screen? Pssst, guys, he's standing right there for the photo op.

[Source: The Sun]

Feb 10, 2011