WTF--Dog fighting 'game' app for Android - Page 1

This is just disgusting...what's next, Google? Gonna start selling an app for a pedophile game, or a rapist game?

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-android-to-block-dog-fighting-app

I just looked on my android app store never believing for a second that it would still be there. IT IS and it has 10,000+ downloads

It costs $4.99 by Kage Games, LLC, and advertises "Raise you dog to beat the best!"  and goes on to say...An app that will never appear in the iPhone app store!, The controversial dogfighting Android "DogWars" app by Kage Games LLC has been renamed and uploaded here to the market as a paid app!  Feed, water, train, and FIGHT your virtual dog against other players....action games, chatroom, many characters and dogs to shoose from, virtual store, more.  Then it goes on to say NO DOGS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS APP...A few flies got swatted, YOU MUST BE 13 YEARS OF AGE TO PLAY....PLEAE REMEMBER
1. It is just a VIDEO GAME
2. Perhaps one day we will make gerbil wars or betta fish wars for people who can't understand fantasy role play games
3. Just because something is illegal in real life in certian countries, does not mean it is illegal to make a song, movie, or video game about it
4. Just go slingshot some virtual birds to kill some virtual pigs
5. Go complain to someone who cares about Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Weed Farmer, Smoke a Bowl (these are two listed in teh top 15 of casual games on Android Market) and maybe even Sierra's Leisure Suit Larry form 1987
6. This is listed as a HIGH MATURITY app and does NOT violate the Terms of USe with Google market it any way!!!!

Let's Get It On!

There is a pretty long disclaimer including this statement "...do not condone violence toward animals, we are confident that this game will be a net benefit to dogs as it has been in our operating agreement from the start of this project that a portion of the proceedsgo to animal rescue organization".

Wow, they just renamed and  put it back in Androids/Apple's app store.
Well instead of long threads about how bad it is, it is faster (and more effective) to send a email to Apple & Google and let them know your disdain for it.  I think you can flag apps so make sure to do that.

Now to play devils advocate.  I don't condone the game and think that is is tasteless....at the sametime.....

Where does it start and where does it end?  There are games on phones, pc's and consoles that depict robbery and murder.  Murder of innocent people, cops, etc.  I mean shit, you can see all the worst stuff in the world in movies and on primetime tv.  So where are you going to draw the line at what can be see/shown and what can't?  What are we seriously worried about?  Kids downloading it and thinking it is cool and they will go do it?  Well the same could be said for video games that depict shooting, stabbing, setting people on fire, etc.  The same could be said for tv shows and movies that depict the exact samething. 

Yeah, right, 'a portion of the proceeds'...so as long as these creeps donate a penny from every app sold, that makes it OK to promote dogfighting.  Sheesh. I want to ask these asshats when we can expect their 'Help Me Find My Puppy' app, where the player tries to lure young children away so they can sexually abuse them--'cause hey, it's JUST a game, and they're gonna donate 'a portion of the proceeds' to an organization that helps abused kids.

(I realize that you aren't supporting this app, Mindhunt, so I apologize if it seems like I'm ranting at you...)

I agree Mindhunt. Talents that could be better served elsewhere.

Tasteless, don't condone it, but how is it any worse than a game like Grand Theft Auto 3 where the player can pick up a hooker, park their car to do you-know-what and regain health; then once they're done and the hooker gets out of the car the player can kill her and get their money back.

I did download DogWars when it was free, just to see what it was like. From a purely techincal aspect, the gameplay sucked, the interface was glitchy, and it froze up. Needless to say, it was uninstalled within a very short time.

My theory is a good number of those download counts are people like me who wanted to see just how bad it was -- like renting those really lame knock-off movies like TransMorphers or Snakes on a Train -- saying "yep, pure cr*p," and moving on. Sure there'll be a following of people who play it, but for what it's worth, back in 1996, when the Pokemon game came out I wrote a semi-satirical piece about how it paralled dog-fighting. I used weasel statistics to show as the Pokemon craze grew in popularity, so-to did the number of dogfighting busts, which must (in weasel-land) represent a direct correlation.

I made a point of how this role-playing game, aimed at children, focused on raising a pet to fight other players' pets. Both in the game, and player-versus-player through a link cable. I also pointed out it was not unlike the Tamagotchi which a few years earlier had created a small handheld game that featured little monsters the players raised on a screen, and battled against other peoples' Tamagotchis.

I said that it gave kids the idea that making pets battle was okay, infact an acceptable thing to do to gain status. In Pokemon the player gains experience by battling. The more they battle and win, the more powerful their virtual pets get, and the more respect their virtual character gains.

Clearly a trainer with Badges in Pokemon equates directly to a dog fighter with street credit.

And so on, and furthermore.

Without re-hashing the entire thesis, the point I was aiming to make is anyone can point out how a game results in unsavory behavior using real-world statistics. I never out'n'out said my Pokemon-Dogfighting theory was tongue in cheek -- I wanted my audience to make that determination -- from the author's standpoing my point was that games can be argued to inspire real-life unsavory acts... and "data" can even be generated to "prove" this... but in the end, some common sense must prevail.




I do agree that if people have a problem with this app, personally find it offensive, they are well within their right to contact the game-makers or the App-store, or whoever they want. I support the First Amendment 100%, but one has to remember, it goes both way. Freedom to make a tasteless game. Freedom to say one objects to it.

I currently take my dogs into primary schools to teach young children how to remain safe around dogs. At the same time, I hope that ultimately (if I can get to enough schools) there will be a generation of children who grow up with a little more respect for dogs than the people who are out there now who couldn't give a toss. In turn, maybe if peopel were more responsible about dog ownership, knew how to stay safe around all dogs, then the rescue situation may not be so bad in 20 years or so.

Games such as this are NOT necessary. There are already enough games ont eh market and I'm not saying that NO more new games should be maerketed, but this? I'm disgusted. Why would anyone want to see (even if it's not real) any sort of imagery showing dogs fighting? If it's not realistic people won't buy/play the game. If it is, it's horrible and to be able to put an age limit of 13 on it? The limit should be 25 at least. Or even better, get rid of it altogether.

Just goes to show doesn't it, idiot companies will do ANYTHING for money. After all, this is hardly imaginative is it?