Little Hooliganz Angers Welsh Soccer Fans

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Little Hooliganz Angers Welsh Soccer Fans


An online game in which players become football hooligans has Welsh fans up in arms over claims that it encourages real-life violence between soccer fans.

Little Hooliganz [http://www.littlehooliganz.com/home.php] lets players choose their team, buy booze and weapons and commit violence against supporters of rival clubs. Gamers compete to "become the most notorious, respected and meanest Hooligan the world has ever known," eventually rising to become "King of the hooligans." But the Welsh Football Association, fans and anti-violence groups have condemned the game, saying that hooliganism is something to be eradicated, not celebrated.

"We are totally opposed to anything which glamorizes any form of violent behavior associated with football," said Football Supporters' Federation Chairman Malcolm Clarke. "It is totally irresponsible to be encouraging even cyber-violence among fans at any time, let alone ahead of derby matches. We would hope that genuine football fans and children would not play this game."

"We have had a hooligan problem for the last 25 years but things have improved remarkably over recent years," added Vince Alm of the Asbo [http://www.ccsc.co.uk/] troublemakers come through and these games do not help us at all. It is just someone else trying to make a quick buck out of violence in a computer game. It is in very bad taste and sends out a very poor message."

But Nicolas Jacquart, director of Swansea [http://www.blouzar.com/] fans the chance to buy a gun, sword, baseball bat or knuckleduster and attack their rivals doesn't mean they are going to do it in real life."

Despite the subject matter, GameCulture [http://www.gameculture.com/node/1216] says Little Hooliganz isn't a "simple Flash one-off" but is instead a "fairly deep affair" with a black sense of humor. And while anger over the game surged in the buildup to the April 6 showdown between Cardiff and Swansea, billed as "the biggest Welsh football derby in history," Little Hooliganz actually lets players align themselves with a wide variety of teams from various nations.

(For the record, the match between Cardiff and Swansea ended in a 2-2 draw [http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/05/cardiff-city-swansea-violence-championship]; referee Mike Dean was injured when a thrown ₤1 coin struck him in the head and "running battles" were reported outside the stadium following the game. Given the history of soccer in the U.K. I think it's safe to say that while Little Hooliganz may be tasteless, its actual role in instigating the fracas is entirely imaginary.)

Source: Wales Online


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scotth266

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Jan 10, 2009
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Bwuh?!? Well, this is certainly bizzare to me, then again we did have that game "Homie Rollerz" a while back that had some in an uproar... If the game is actually a comedic parody or whatnot, it's forgivable though. Someone play it and find out!
 

Lord_Panzer

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Feb 6, 2009
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SmilingKitsune said:
Well honestly I agree with them, that game just sounds absurd, what's next virtual rapist?
Uhmmm, sorry to break the news to you, but that existed -before- this.
 

SmilingKitsune

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Dec 16, 2008
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Lord_Panzer said:
SmilingKitsune said:
Well honestly I agree with them, that game just sounds absurd, what's next virtual rapist?
Uhmmm, sorry to break the news to you, but that existed -before- this.
.......Oh yeah. Not one of gaming's highest points.
 

sheic99

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Oct 15, 2008
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SmilingKitsune said:
Lord_Panzer said:
SmilingKitsune said:
Well honestly I agree with them, that game just sounds absurd, what's next virtual rapist?
Uhmmm, sorry to break the news to you, but that existed -before- this.
.......Oh yeah. Not one of gaming's highest points.
The art would disagree.
 

sheic99

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Oct 15, 2008
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SmilingKitsune said:
sheic99 said:
SmilingKitsune said:
Lord_Panzer said:
SmilingKitsune said:
Well honestly I agree with them, that game just sounds absurd, what's next virtual rapist?
Uhmmm, sorry to break the news to you, but that existed -before- this.
.......Oh yeah. Not one of gaming's highest points.
The art would disagree.
Em, what? Care to explain?
Just failing to make a sexual innuendo. You know high point, sex game. It was funny in my mind.
 

SmilingKitsune

New member
Dec 16, 2008
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sheic99 said:
SmilingKitsune said:
sheic99 said:
SmilingKitsune said:
Lord_Panzer said:
SmilingKitsune said:
Well honestly I agree with them, that game just sounds absurd, what's next virtual rapist?
Uhmmm, sorry to break the news to you, but that existed -before- this.
.......Oh yeah. Not one of gaming's highest points.
The art would disagree.
Em, what? Care to explain?
Just failing to make a sexual innuendo. You know high point, sex game. It was funny in my mind.
Sorry, I'm probably too tired to pick up anything like that -_-.
 

Copter400

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Sep 14, 2007
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Bu dui. Not right. Games imitates life, not vice versa. What will encourage hoolaganism is man's unwavering desire to fight for stupid reasons, not a video game.
 

BillBarilko

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May 6, 2008
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I just spent a bit of time playing it - it's absolutely harmless, totally tongue-in-cheek. I haven't spent any time in the forums, but their forum rules seem pretty strict and reasonable.
 

Satki

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Dec 29, 2007
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BillBarilko said:
I just spent a bit of time playing it - it's absolutely harmless, totally tongue-in-cheek. I haven't spent any time in the forums, but their forum rules seem pretty strict and reasonable.
This^, I think its mainly a case of people complaining and exaggerating the problem:


Besides i would have thought it was more relevant to Scottish fans not Welsh... *runs and hides*
 

DarkSaber

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Dec 22, 2007
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And where were these opportunistic whiners when Hooligans: Storm Across Europe was released?