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A drink driving game which was available on the Nintendo Switch eShop has been pulled from sale, after it initially used a PEGI 3+ rating.

Need for Spirit Drink & Drive Simulator was released for the Switch on 15th October, and contains gameplay of a "hapless professional driver tasked with delivering alcoholic beverages to various celebrations, all while battling the perils of abysmal roads and your very own addiction to the booze you're transporting".

With "immersive camera modes" and an added "exciting twist" of drunk vision, the game is (yes) a drink driving simulator. Its PEGI 3+ rating suggests the game is suitable for all age groups. PEGI however states a game which "refers to or depicts the use of illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco" must be labelled as PEGI 16 or PEGI 18.

Curiously, the same game was released on PC via Steam in 2018, and Epic earlier this year. Whilst a PEGI rating is absent on the game's Steam page, it has a PEGI 16 rating on Epic for use of alcohol/tobacco.

The game's rating was presumably assigned via the International Age Rating Coalition, which is a free, self-submitted process. The IARC states its monitors ratings assigned to ensure accuracy. The monitoring process includes "a variety of tactics, including keyword search, top download checks, publisher and consumer requests," according to PEGI.

At the bottom of the game's description, publisher Instamarketingandgame said the game "delivers a humourous take on a serious subject, making it clear that the game does not endorse or encourage drunk driving in real life". Sadly, I'm not willing to pay up £1.59 to see whether this is the case or not.

In a statement shared with Eurogamer, PEGI said Need for Spirit Drink & Drive Simulator was "already under investigation". Following this correspondence, the game's eShop page was removed.

In a further statement to Eurogamer, PEGI said it had examined the game and now rated it as PEGI 16, which means it will have to be resubmitted to the eShop. "When an investigation shows that the PEGI rating changes by more than one age category, the game is taken down and Nintendo requires that the game is resubmitted with an accurate rating (to ensure their parental control tools work properly)," a spokesperson told us.

We have also contacted Nintendo for comment on the game's 3+ rating on the eShop.

Nintendo Switch drink driving game rated 3+ pulled from eShop

A drink driving game which was available on the Nintendo Switch eShop has been pulled from sale, after it initially use…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[FeralEcho]

Who approved this shit? Does no one check these games before they go up on the store?

 

[Sub_Level]

A little boozin’ and cruisin’ never hurt anybody.

 

[ThaMonkeyClaw]

I don't know about everyone else, but I am seeing GOTY with this title!

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

So basically it’s like driving using KB+M in Cyberpunk 2077

 

[Deerock71]

This sounds like a mildly amusing game.

 

[BouncyFrag]

It’s clearly the spiritual successor to the flying drunk mission in Wing Commander 3

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

My cousin and his little girl were killed by a drunk driver. They found her head 50 feet away from the car. He was pinned next to his daughters torso and had to stare at it while the fire department was using the jaws of life to cut him out of the car.
How anyone can think this is cool to play is beyond me.
I mean, can we please have a Sandy Hook shooting simulator? Why not? How about a terror simulator where we slam planes into building and blow-up shopping malls? I mean, if we can make light of drunk driving then why aren't other things that cause pain and suffering allowed as well?
This trash does nothing but harm both the industry but also society at large.

P.S. none of this was true. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

 

[Gambit2483]

My cousin and his little girl were killed by a drunk driver. They found her head 50 feet away from the car. He was pinned next to his daughters torso and had to stare at it while the fire department was using the jaws of life to cut him out of the car.
How anyone can think this is cool to play is beyond me.
I mean, can we please have a Sandy Hook shooting simulator? Why not? How about a terror simulator where we slam planes into building and blow-up shopping malls? I mean, if we can make light of drunk driving then why aren't other things that cause pain and suffering allowed as well?
This trash does nothing but harm both the industry but also society at large.

Exactly. This "game" is just in poor taste considering the very real subject matter

 

[Dorfdad]

Who approved this shit? Does no one check these games before they go up on the store?

They should but it’s probably automated. Imagine having to QA all the shovelware out there! You couldn’t pay me enough

 

[nush]

Who approved this shit? Does no one check these games before they go up on the store?

Nobody it's self certification. It's been like that always.

 

[FeralEcho]

Nobody it's self certification. It's been like that always.

I always thought pegi or esrb or cero had to certify it before it went to stores...

 

[ManaByte]

Who approved this shit? Does no one check these games before they go up on the store?

You’re unaware of the absolute garbage that pollutes the eShop.

 

[Wooxsvan]

 

[Gambit2483]

You’re unaware of the absolute garbage that pollutes the eShop.

Aren't there like "hentai" games on there? How does Nintendo allow this exposure to 6‐9 years olds??

 

[FeralEcho]

You’re unaware of the absolute garbage that pollutes the eShop.

I have seen enough,they also plague PSN and XBL nowadays and Steam.....oh lord the Steam shovelware is next level but I've never thought about the rating of them before,I always thought they were just inofensive even if straight up garbage but guess anyone can post any shit on there.

 

[ManaByte]

I have seen enough,they also plague PSN and XBL nowadays and Steam.....oh lord the Steam shovelware is next level but I've never thought about the rating of them before,I always thought they were just inofensive even if straight up garbage but guess anyone can post any shit on there.

eShop is magnitudes worse than PSN or XBL. There is literally unplayable trash on it.

 

[nush]

I always thought pegi or esrb or cero had to certify it before it went to stores...

Nope, you just fill in a form saying what content it has and send it off. I've certified lots of games, I just used my own judgement.

 

[FeralEcho]

eShop is magnitudes worse than PSN or XBL. There is literally unplayable trash on it.

Yeah that's true from what I've seen.I wish all 3 console makers would impose some sort of quality control on their stores but seems like that ship has sailed and they all fully embrace this crap.

 

[Gambit2483]

eShop is magnitudes worse than PSN or XBL. There is literally unplayable trash on it.

There was a time these things mattered
(yes, before the seal didn't matter)

 

[Aenima]

"Need for Spirit"

 

[Cattlyst]

I find it odd that nobody is mentioning the ‘dive and see the titanic’ submersible shovelware game that also launched on the eShop recently. It’s clearly designed to cash in on the recent tragedy but nobody has batted an eyelid.

 

[Impotaku]

eShop is magnitudes worse than PSN or XBL. There is literally unplayable trash on it.

So just like PSN & xbox stores they are all just as bad as each other in fact the other 2 are worse as they also have shit that's are basically achievement gaining games. How many jumping food items games are on those stores that are basically press a single button till the achievement unlocks.

Glad switch doesn't have achievements as those would flood the shop too and there's enough shit as it is.

 

[Trilobit]

Looks fun.

 

[Spukc]

Who approved this shit? Does no one check these games before they go up on the store?

Ok karen

 

[Spukc]

There was a time these things mattered
(yes, before the seal didn't matter)

Official shovel of quality trikes again

 

[spons]

At the bottom of the game's description, publisher Instamarketingandgame said the game "delivers a humourous take on a serious subject, making it clear that the game does not endorse or encourage drunk driving in real life". Sadly, I'm not willing to pay up £1.59 to see whether this is the case or not.

So this journalist doesn't know shit? And just uses a bunch of external sources to write an article? Drivel from the games media, as usual.
I can absolutely assume the game's terrible, but I'm not a journalist. You're paid to write this, you figure it out for us. That's literally your job.

 

[Pallas]

So just like PSN & xbox stores they are all just as bad as each other in fact the other 2 are worse as they also have shit that's are basically achievement gaining games. How many jumping food items games are on those stores that are basically press a single button till the achievement unlocks.

Glad switch doesn't have achievements as those would flood the shop too and there's enough shit as it is.

Even with those “achievement” hunting games, Nintendo’s e-shop is far worse, which is crazy considering the main audience of Nintendo are children.

 

[Surfheart]

There is a lot of questionable stuff on the Eshoppe, bunch of Hentai and Loli garbage that I'm stunned Nintendo allow on the store.

 

[justiceiro]

So this journalist doesn't know shit? And just uses a bunch of external sources to write an article? Drivel from the games media, as usual.
I can absolutely assume the game's terrible, but I'm not a journalist. You're paid to write this, you figure it out for us. That's literally your job.

He got a product that slipped through regulators under investigation and removed from the eShop under a incorrect classification. He did more for the general public than most "twitter journalists" ever did.

If every gaming journalist ever made the effort to actually investigate any issue instead of parrot the latest outrage in their outlets, even I would take gaming journalists seriously?

 

[CuteFaceJay]

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

There is a lot of questionable stuff on the Eshoppe, bunch of Hentai and Loli garbage that I'm stunned Nintendo allow on the store.

Heartbroken PS Vita owners still need their fix.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

This trash does nothing but harm both the industry but also society at large.

You are absolutely right - when is US banning guns?