Dangerous Developer in Trouble: Mousechief Interview

For some indie developers, distributing games through large, well-established casual game portals can be a great way to make a bit of money and expose their wares to a wider audience. But that audience apparently isn’t always receptive to edgier and more thought-provoking content – at least if it’s presented as something other than a hidden object game.

It’s a lesson that Mousechief CEO Keith Nemitz learned the hard way after his award-winning Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! was pulled from Big Fish Games after the portal was flooded with complaints from users who took issue with the game’s alleged “bullying” theme. Rather ironically, at the same time Big Fish was pulling the game, Nemitz was flying to Los Angeles to attend the Writer’s Guild of America awards show, where Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! was nominated for best writing honors (it later lost to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed). We asked Keith to tell us what the heck went wrong.

Crispy Gamer: Set the scene for us: What were your initial conversations with Big Fish like? You had to remove the “In Trouble” part of the game’s title (going from Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble to simply Dangerous High School Girls). Did they voice any other concerns about the game’s subject matter with you at that time?

Keith Nemitz: Months before approaching Big Fish, I had raised the question of title with Reflexive. I offered to shorten it, worried that it might affect downloads. They have a different audience than Big Fish and decided I didn’t need to. So when Big Fish asked to change the name, it wasn’t a big deal. My mistake was assuming, because they tested each game, they would find the few bits of ‘controversial’ content. Dealing with that content is required for finishing the game. They knew that I had rated it as a TEEN level of content on my own site. If they were worried about the title, it seemed likely they would be careful in their testing.

I think BFG were as surprised by the offended minority as much as I was. They initially told me they felt the content was challenging but nothing so bad. Which is how I view it, for the general casual gamer. To hard-core gamers it’s either boring (for being about girls) or a total hoot (for its sassiness)!

CG: What reason did Big Fish give you for removing the game?

KN: They said one scene seemed to be the main issue. It is two short paragraphs of text which describe the girls preventing a rape by shooting the rapist. Those acts are neither illustrated nor animated, only described in words. Never underestimate the power of words. Perhaps I did.

Personally, I put the blame on the individuals who essentially bullied Big Fish with a self-righteous attitude. It’s interesting to note two things. The early attacks on Big Fish’s forums claimed the game promoted bullying. In fact, during the tutorial, your girls show how they stand up to a bully and defend themselves. The second thing is the end of the game offers the notion, “Righteousness fuels vengeance. To know equality, you must forego righteousness.”

Perhaps the bullies who forced Big Fish to drop the game should have played something like it at a time in their lives when it might have helped them.

CG: Did you read BFG’s original marketing description for Dangerous High School Girls? It seemed like that was part of the problem: Many people thought the game was about bullying; formed a negative opinion without even playing it. (Personally, I never got to read the original description but I did notice that they changed it later, and added a warning disclaimer in red.)

Here is the original:

Form a gang of Dangerous High School Girls in this zany Vaudeville adventure. Spy on your enemies to learn their most embarrassing secrets, then corner them in the classroom, or the lunchroom, or anywhere they`re hiding and taunt them into disgrace. Dish out wicked burns to cow your rivals, or subvert them into joining your clique. As your popularity grows you will become the unrivaled queen of the social scene. Anything is possible when Dangerous High School Girls are involved!

• - Climb the social ladder
• - Disgrace your rivals
• - Become the social queen

KN: I didn’t get to read it either, but found it later on the web. Big Fish’s copy writer clearly blew it. It’s trying to appeal to a macho attitude as if DHSGiT was a game of king of the hill. It’s nothing like that. It’s about girls working together to change their world for the better. I can see why people worried about it promoting bullying. The hue and cry on their forums eventually aimed their objections at the description instead of the game. The very next day, Big Fish used one of their member’s suggestion for a new description:

Welcome to the world of the Roaring 20’s and the adventures of Teenage Flappers. Follow the exploits of finicky, fussy, female high school students as they solve mysterious accidents at their school. Facing suspicious administrators, antagonistic instructors, and their own peers; gather and lead your group of friends to expose secrets using the tools teenage girls in the 1920’s had in abundance: quick wit, feminine charm, plenty of sass, highly developed sense of fashion and a batted eyelash — or two! Warning: This game contains scenes that some players may find of a controversial nature.

• - Climb the social ladder
• - Disgrace your rivals
• - Become the social queen

I don’t know why they left the three bullet points at the end. Players can’t do anything like them in the game.

The warning is mild, but it should have been sufficient to ward off people easily offended. However, this is the internet, and trolls here live to accrue and vent hatred.

CG: Do you think casual games could use rating systems like the ESRB uses on retail video games in order to better warn people about potentially upsetting content?

KN: I’m okay with game ratings. I’m not sure I approve of institutionalized ratings boards. They can make just as many mistakes as creators rating the game on their own. George Lucas added a severed arm scene to the original Star Wars to raise its rating to PG. Any system that promotes such ridiculousness is not worthy of an audience’s respect.

I really have no answer for this question. I’ve done what I think is appropriate by putting a TEEN rating for this game on my site.

Next: Portal Friendly? —>

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