Somali Pirates: Not Happy With Pirate Games

Rob Nausea on December 24th, 2008

It’s fair to say I’ve had a few jobs in my day. Although my stint as an international correspondent for the Associated Press lasted longer than my tenure at EA, it was to prove equally bewildering. One of my first assignments was to cover the recent rise of piracy in the waters surrounding Somalia. Here’s the feature as it originally ran:

“We’re fed up!” shouts one man. “The time for talking is finished! We’re taking action!” yells another. While many of us would assume these angry words are directed at the corrupt Somalian government, these young, heavily armed youths are in fact protesting the way that they see themselves depicted in modern video games. Why? Because these are modern day pirates, whose brazen taking of ships in recent times have earned them hefty ransoms and headlines across the globe. But with the Kenyan Royal Navy hot on their trail, why do these young buccaneers even bother to concern themselves with how they’re characterized on gaming consoles?

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Inside The Mirror’s Edge ‘Ideas Cloud’

Rob Nausea on November 18th, 2008

During my short stint as a copywriter at EA, I was privy to several brainstorming sessions for IP that are just now hitting the market. One of which was Mirror’s Edge, which myself and a couple of other like-minded cynics around the water cooler liked to refer to as “Mirror’s Wank.” Here’s what I can recall of the first meeting.

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Krappy Kidz Korner - Hannah Montana World Tour

Rob Nausea on October 23rd, 2008

(This is Rob’s worst nightmare.)

Having kids of your own has a lot of benefits: You’ve always got someone to fetch you an ice cold beer from the fridge, there is no better scape-goat for failed shop-lifting attempts, and kids are the perfect ice-breaker with hot broads at the local park. There is however, one god-awful downside that they neglect to mention when you sign up for unplanned parenthood - shitty games.

Sure, the young ‘uns are happy enough to sit by and watch me play Super Mario Galaxy, but sooner or later they want to have a turn and always suck at it. If you have boys, they will be able to destroy you at any game once they hit the age of seven, but in my case, I have two daughters - aged six and three - so it’s a whole different ballgame.

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