Yes, I clubbed baby seals

That's enough to make me never play. Whoever though this was a good idea is a moron, period.

Oh get over it. Clubbing baby seals as a powerup and as a joke makes me want to play all the time. Get off your high horse, back away from the soy milk and grow a pair.

People need to have a sense of humor...seriously. You're going to sit there and get petulant about a game?? A game that has a sequence where you club imaginary seals??

Imaginary seals?? You're gonna get pissed over imaginary seals?? What a bunch of weepey broads we've become. Pitiful.

This Aaron would do well to develop a sense of humor. However, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt (clubbing baby seals, as a joke, seems to be an internet phenomenon) and say that yes, this is a joke. It is a long-running joke, and you're allowed to laugh without going straight to hell. Lighten up.

I don't think I would really want to do that. Its funny though, I'm so used to killing germans and random people in video games... but I don't think I'd get used to killing baby animals.

Still, I don't think its "wrong" or really a bad thing. A lot of people make a big fuss over killing in the video games, but when its really over the top it can start to become humorous.

When the mind thinks something is funny, its usually because it doesn't quite fit or make sense with what your brain knows of the world. Its why a victim of gang violence might not find games like GTA fun, but everyone else does. To most of us, the mass killings are absurd – and because if this, it is absolutely hilarious to mow people down with your car on the sidewalk and watch the bodies fly all over.

You see, the people who find it funny don't take it seriously. If someone took the game seriously, and still enjoyed it, then there might be cause for alarm. Most people know "its just a game", and they know the massive amounts of violence are ridiculous...

This greatly dehumanizes the experience. You move away from "simulated murder" into a realm that is closer to "OMG, I can't believe the people who made this game put that in there!!! LOL".

In other cases, like call of duty, it feels like you are experiencing in a documentary of sorts... once again dehumanizing the experience. Its like a really fun history lesson, and you always know you are fighting a computer...

They shoulda named the minions 'Cluber Lanes'. And I hope that's a big litter meowing.

In the original game you had to kill sheep. Lots of sheep. Sometimes the minions would try to ride them.

I don't recall an uproar over the sheep. Perhaps sheep aren't as important as seals in the grand scheme of things.

Perhaps the fear is that after playing Overlord II, kids will trek north to try to kill seals in real life. When I was a child we use to push our friends over cliffs and drop anvils on them because this is what the road-runner taught us.

Initially I wanted to leave an outraged comment because seriously the concept disgusts me (I'm not a gamer), but now that I'm thinking of it...I did thoroughly enjoy duck hunt and never fantasized about shootin' ducks in the real world.

Plus, the child-anvil comment was a good point. Whatever, it's not a creative/intelligent/ethical way to add dimention to the games but I suppose its nothing new..

If people are offended by this, they seriously need to lighten up. It's all farce...I mean, the game was written by Rhianna Pratchett (Terry Pratchett's daughter of Discworld fame), it's full of dry Python-esque British humor, and it's hilarious.

The hippy elves with their dreadlocks, surfer dude accents, and rasta caps are particularly funny (and fun to kill.

Doesn't anbody know how to design a video game that doesn't involve killing? So much for the evolution of the species.

Nick is ok with killing pretend humans, but not pretend animals.

There is something wrong with Nick.

All I can say that I'm happy to be childfree by choice in this moronic and sick world. Do you idiots not understand that that these games are are the guide to real life? Where do you think the pretty boy who killed and tortures 30 cats in Florida neighborhood got his ideas from? The country brainwashed to the white bone by commercials does not believe in TV and game influence? Are you sane?

Its not funny to me because it hits close to home... I've seen a lot of abused animals. I've seen a lot of beaten small animals... Its hard to find that concept funny anymore...

"Children today, so desensitized by movies and television..." The Grinch

Every single video game that involves killing should quite simply be banned.

Yes, it's a game but the idea of getting enjoyment out of killing animals or humans is still repulsive.... you may say it's all a joke, or farce, or "just a game" but in reality playing such games is desensitizing the player to violence, murder and destruction. Children use play and games to learn how to deal with the real world, and a lot of that carries over. You don't have a brick wall in the brain that you can keep it all locked up behind. Playing these violent games changes your brain & your behavior, it affects how you deal with life in the real world, there's a bunch of studies that prove that.

boocat, yes. there are tons of games out there that are designed that have nothing to do with killing. when was the last time you heard of a Madden game or Nascar racing game had killing in it? sports games in general don't have killing in them. it's a genre thing. if you (in general) don't like killing in games, don't play them. what about games where you kill zombies? it's all digital. not real. everyone that has a problem with it needs to get a sense of humor.

You shouldn't kill baby anything, i thought.

I dont think Nick has a problem. The pretend humans are usually trying to kill you in the game, can't say the same about those pretend baby seals. Make a game with rabid zombie baby seals that are out for blood, and I'm sure Nick would kill them, too.

I see nothing wrong with this video game if lame ass people want to get thier panties in a bind over this that there choice but for me even though I dont play this game, see's nothing wrong with it . All this P.C. crap is getting really stupid,poeple need to get a life and stop worring about what others are playing, listening to ,or watching ,its all about being able to choose ,if someone doesnt like it DONT PLAY but dont impose your moral or ideals on everyone else, doest anyone remember freedom to choose.

I don't understand why people get out-raged by video games, I think they just don't understand the gamer's mind.

I think the opponent's of video games don't understand why people play games or why the content is the way it is. If you are opposed to violence in video games, then don't play them or let your kids play them, just don't ruin the fun for everyone else.

I grew up playing Nintendo and Playstation, I've played the greatest of games from Mario to Grand Theft Auto and never once have I jumped on a turtle or ran around a city killing people.

I personally think this game is hilarious and see nothing wrong with it, yes, it may be offensive but what isn't?

ITS A GAME!!!!!!!!!!!! GET OVER IT. i did not serve in the marines for 4 years to be told i cant play a game where i can kill people or baby seals or whatever ells comes up. it falls on the parents to keep there kids in line y do u think there are age caps on everything, so tuchy feely people dont get exposed to the harsher side of the world, and trust me ive seen all of it. games can never give u the same feeling as realy killing some one i know first hand. i have played video games since i was able to walk. and not once i ever played a game killing video people that gave me the same sick feeling as it did when i was in iraq doing it for real in combat. we are free to do what we whant so long as no one goes doing these things for real. i still like to play games like GTA4 and COD4 becouse i know its not real its just fun.

GET A LIFE!

Seriously. Put down your controllers and GO OUTSIDE. Read a book (especially those of you who are spelling-impaired, of which there are many). Help someone. Ride a bike. Call your grandma. Volunteer. Most of you "gamers" are pathetic creatures...

Killing in video games should not be banned. If you don't agree with it then play a different game. Who are you to tell people what they can and can't play? You as in Elizabeth...

Move on to something else to complain about. Video games don't make people violent or abusive. The lack of parenting skills does that.

Take away video games where people kill and guess what? People will *IMAGINE* killing thing in their minds. I guess you want to take away imaginations too...

Club sandwiches not seals!!!!

Elizabeth, I am glad you have nothing to do with the management of the ESRB, and have no power to act upon such a knee-jerk, blanket assessment. I would no sooner have video games banned than I would have ANY form of art/entertainment banned. I don't enjoy pornography, for example, but I'm not going to mandate that it be banned because I don't like it.

I think the video game debate speaks to a larger problem. Video games are entertainment, plain and simple. They are not meant to be parental aids. They are not meant to be taken literally. They are not meant to be electronic babysitters. I grew up around video games, R-rated movies, Stephen King books and the like, and I turned out to be a generally well-adjusted individual. I credit that to my parents raising me with a good moral base and an overall knowledge of right and wrong.

Cat murder can be caused by video games even before they're released. Who knew?

By the way, was this time-travelling video game also responsible for the pathology of Albert Fish, Ed Gein, and Ted Bundy? I'm just wondering.

Did anyone else think of the movie UHF when they read this... "I am gonna club a baby seal to make a better deal!"

Awesome. And losers, lighten up.

This isn't the first case of seal clubbing in video games. One of Newgrounds first games was "Club a seal" which is still on the site today.

"Seriously. Put down your controllers and GO OUTSIDE. Read a book (especially those of you who are spelling-impaired, of which there are many). Help someone. Ride a bike. Call your grandma. Volunteer. Most of you “gamers” are pathetic creatures…"

So, someone who stays inside all day and reads is somehow better than someone who stays inside all day and plays video games? -Anything- done in excess can be bad. Eating. Reading. Exercising. Being outside.

The are plenty of gamers who are not the stereotypical hermits. Ones who raise millions for charities. Ones who have normal social lives. Ones who help develop technology that is being used to help recuperate hospital patients. Only a small percentage of 'gamers' that fall under the stereotype. They are simply the ones that get all the attention.

Just like there are people with legitimate concerns about video games that actually want to be informed about them, and don't always fall under the stereotype of assuming that the majority of gamers are 'pathetic'.

Kate look you should never look at one groop of people and judge them all by a small hand full of people who realy have nothing ells in life going on for them. im a gamer and i do all those things, and served my nation during a time of war. gameing is just someting fun to pass time and to help some forget about whats going on around them just for a little bit. so grow up and stop liveing in a high school minde set cuting down people just becouse there not like you.

I'm going to go buy this game today!!!!

Kate,
Why is it that individuals such as yourself find it necessary to initiate offensive attacks against people who live life different than them. A large number of "gamers" are avid readers, well educated and are assets to society. We also exercise and enjoy life. We are even college degree holding, job creating business men who believe that life is meant to be more than a cycle of work / sleep / work / sleep without any personal time for relaxation.

In the future, when you attempt to make your point, it would be beneficial to society as a whole if instead of creating a negative wave with your remarks, you simply stop for a moment and then write something calm, rational and reasonable.

despite what the news would have you think.... everyone is not out to kill each other after playing a "violent" video game. seriously, if you are concerned for your kids then treat them like your kids instead of accessorys and oh i dont know .. parent them or something.

I view it as a good move on the part of PETA to stay away from this subject. Focus attention on preventing the unethical treatments that happens to REAL animals, rather than spend time, money, and effort worrying about virtual animals.

In addition, while Overlord II may bring killing baby seals to a new graphical prowress, this has been done in a few games previously. Notably, in Blizzard's Starcraft hit in 1996, one could make critters like sheep and seals blow up by clicking on them repeatedly and rapidly.

This is very sick !

This is twisted humor at its best. For those of you who think this is sick... you are probably right. But there is humor in it. Its social sarcasm. No one is gonna run to the nearest beach and club a seal. Its a joke. Get over it.

But they taste like chicken....

I think people who are concerned don't realize how over the top Overlord is. The minions cackle with a cartoonish voice as they praise the 'overlord' and do his bidding. They first encounter the baby seals as one is eating a fish. One of the minions goes "poor fishy!" and then they are sent to animatedly clobber the seals.

People never think of the violence against fish in these games. Also, in Castlevania, you eat a piece of meat to regain health. What about the poor digital cow that had to die to provide that powerup???

Sounds pretty amusing. People who take this seriously need to relax. Its just a game. Speaking of which time for me to club some baby seals and make some sealskin coats.... BWHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!

I'm sorry, but people who are 'up in arms" just need to calm down.

I've been a gamer since I was 5yrs old. I got my first NES the year it came out, Christmas season, and have had game systems ever since.

I am happily married, successful (Engineer and also going to school again for my degree in Film Production), an avid outdoor person (sports, paintball, etc), and have a nice social life. I never stopped wanting those things because I like to play games (I still, to this day, have 2 game systems and a PC capable of playing the newest games).

People who 'follow' these types of things in real life have a predisposition already, generally speaking, and if it's not this it's going to be something. Someone will always say "I learned it from X item" and the media, and public, will jump on the hate-wagon.

It's a game. Plain and simple. You might as well ban the evening news for all the talk about negative happenings in the world. I'm sure someone saw that a bank robber got away, and decided to rob a bank and got caught. How about a kid who saw how cool the gun fights were in a classic movie, and decided to shoot a friend. Thing's like that will happen NO MATTER WHAT with the way the world is.

So until we're all living in society that has ZERO negativity it's always going to be something. I'm going to back to clubbing baby seals... in a game.

I am not a 'gamer'. 1st person shooter games are not for me. I prefer the puzzle and problem-solving kind.
That being said, I am old enough that I grew up playing Atari and Intellivision and we killed things... Centipedes, Aliens (Space Invaders), Asteroids, Japanese Zeros (B-52) and I don't remember what we killed in Pitfall.
These types of games have been around for a long time, the graphics a just better. So is the sense of humor. I didn't 'play' Resident Evil, but the film adaptations were fun.
As much as I adore working on the 3 computers I currently have running... I also interact with actual human beings, I read books (the ones made of paper – no Kindle for me), I still don't like outside but you can't drive a car inside (don't tell the criminals – someone else tried it yesterday).
The trick is, all things in moderation.

Playing these violent games changes your brain & your behavior, it affects how you deal with life in the real world, there’s a bunch of studies that prove that.

-----------------------------
LOL!

What a bunch of BS. Play one and tell me your behavior in the real world is any different. Until then you don't have a clue.

@Kate 'Most of you “gamers” are pathetic creatures…'

Seriously? My masters says otherwise. I grew up on Atari/Nintendo/Sega/Playstation. I've been playing WoW for about 4 years now, trimmed down to roughly 10 hours a week (sans raid nights! L2YOGG); I'm working on my 2nd masters, I have an incredible family + a trophy wife (go me), I'm healthy and in very good shape, I build motorcycles in my spare time. I don't own a gun, I won't trek up north and beat down some baby seal; why? because there's a distinct line between reality and virtual reality, people understand this. Your children might not because I bet your kids are the coddled, narcissistic teenagers with a sense of entitlement that will fail horribly when they get out from under your wing and realize they know nothing about how the world ACTUALLY works.

who's pathetic?

this is AWSOME... i've hated baby seals for as long as i can remember!!! finally, it's my turn

Rock and roll is the devil's music. Comic books encourage readers to rob banks.

New technology, new scapegoat.

School sports, alcohol, and religion have individually caused far more deaths than every video game combined.

Sick, sick, sick. Does no one see the massive desensitization going on here, and where it can lead?

"rabid zombie baby seals that are out for blood"... oh crap, I might not sleep tonight

Oh, so it does not change behavior? Quite a few posts show quite the opposite and their authors seem to be beyond repair. Kill and smile is normal these days. This is a normal joke. Wow, people can't even hear or comprehend what they say... Professional help needed on a national level. .

Jason, adult people may understand, they still remember what real life is, but kids who no longer read, or make real friends, or go see sunrise or sunset or fishing with their parents, don't have any pets etc, kids who stay inside heads in the monitors 24/7 – are you sure they all understand? Their numbers are growing rapidly, so rapidly it is scary...

I can't believe that all of you people are really raising hell about this. Get a life!

After playing this game I definitely do have an urge to go way up north, purchase a club and find some seals.

Are you serious? For the past 20 years (since centipede) people have been killing insects. There has never been an uproar on insecticide. It's only because this game portraits seals as cute and cuddly, and people think seals are cute and cudly that PETA is upset.

Where were you when Centipede or Halo came out PETA? Or more obviously the game that is in thousands of bars accross the world, Deer Hunter....

PETA has too much time on their hands

Hello from Obvious World. Not only is this "just a game", the designers clearly put in the clubbing baby seals element precisely to provoke this predictable discourse! They're not being insensitive, they're being deliberately manipulative and exploitative. And thanks to the 'oh, woe is humankind" set their ploy is working just as expected.

It is mild but amusing sport to poke these sanctimonious saps. Hopefully in the next version of the game they'll add points for clubbing a Prius!

saying "it's pretend" is funny if you're Murphy Brown's actress saying it to Dan Quayle. All of the sudden it isn't so funny when the shoe is on the other foot and saying killing baby seals is pretend. Hypocrites...

Can't wait for seal populations to grow again. love to club my own seal skin Jacket.....Until then I guess I'll have to practice with the Game.

Hey winner: Is there anybody or anything that's off limits in video games? Do you worry about the fact that we are desensitizing youth through media and that they are losing empathy? They would probably make a pretty effective army, but is that the kind of country you want to live in?

Was the designer of this game a supporter of anything non-Mac? It would explain alot because clubbing baby seals is the equivalent of giving Steve Jobs the finger on the internet.

I award the designer(s) of this game +over 9000 internets