Frat Party Games: Pong Toss
Encyclopedia
Pong Toss! Frat Party Games, known in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 as Beer Pong! Frat Party Games, is a sports
Sports game
A sports game is a computer or video game that simulates the practice of traditional sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, athletics and extreme sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport , whilst others emphasize strategy and organization...

/party video game developed by JV Games
JV Games
JV Games is an American video game developer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have developed a number of titles including James Bond 007: Nightfire for Game Boy Advance, as well as Pong Toss! Frat Party Games and Incoming! for WiiWare....

 for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...

's WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...

 digital distribution
Digital distribution
Online distribution, digital distribution, or electronic software distribution is the practice of delivering content without the use of physical media, typically by downloading via the internet directly to a consumer's device. Online distribution bypasses conventional physical distribution media,...

 service, and was first released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 in 2008, and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 the following year. The gameplay is based on the party game beer pong
Beer pong
Beer pong, also known as Beirut, is a drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer on the other end. The game typically consists of two two-to-four-player teams and multiple cups set up, in triangle formation, on each side...

, which requires players to toss ping pong balls into plastic cups. Each mode has its own top five score list, with up to four players able to participate at one time. It was originally announced on May 21, 2008, and was the first in a proposed series of Frat Party Games. While they considered using traditional controls for the game, the developers felt that it should be made for the Wii so that it could be more fun. They conducted a test on 15 people to see how they played beer pong.

Pong Toss has had a substantially negative reaction from critics, was called a complete mess by 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....

's Andrew Hayward, and "ridiculously shallow" by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

's Matt Casamassina, and holds an aggregate score of 18/100 and 18.75% at Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

 and GameRankings respectively. It experienced controversy from parents and activist groups before its release due to its then-controversial premise and content rating – it was originally titled Frat Party Games: Beer Pong and rated with a Teen rating for ages 13 and up, but its developer JV Games and the Entertainment Software Ratings Board came under fire from several people and organizations, including the Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

 Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal is the junior United States Senator from Connecticut and a member of the Democratic Party. Previously, he served as Attorney General of Connecticut....

, for what was described as promoting alcohol abuse and binge drinking. The title was changed and it received a new ESRB rating. A sequel was released titled Pong Toss Pro: Frat Party Games.

Gameplay

The objective of Pong Toss is to use the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...

 to throw a ping pong ball across a table, with the intent of landing the ball in one of several cups on the other end, and each successful throw removes a cup from the table. The game features two game modes: the first is called Pong Toss, which allows players to play in a traditional tournament style; the second is called Speed Pong, which encourages players to use power-ups to negatively affect their opponents to sink their ping pong balls first. This mode was created by JV Games
JV Games
JV Games is an American video game developer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have developed a number of titles including James Bond 007: Nightfire for Game Boy Advance, as well as Pong Toss! Frat Party Games and Incoming! for WiiWare....

 especially for the game.

Development

Pong Toss! Frat Party Games was originally announced on May 21, 2008, and was then intended to be based on the drinking game beer pong
Beer pong
Beer pong, also known as Beirut, is a drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer on the other end. The game typically consists of two two-to-four-player teams and multiple cups set up, in triangle formation, on each side...

 and be titled Frat Party Games: Beer Pong. It was developed by JV Games
JV Games
JV Games is an American video game developer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have developed a number of titles including James Bond 007: Nightfire for Game Boy Advance, as well as Pong Toss! Frat Party Games and Incoming! for WiiWare....

 and directed by its Vice President, Jag Jaeger, and was released for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...

's WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...

 download service on July 28, 2008 in North America and February 27, 2009 in Europe. The game was put on WiiWare due to the lessened development time, risk, and cost, and was the first video game created in a proposed series called Frat Party Games due to the drinking game's popularity. The purpose of the game was to allow people to play beer pong without having to invest hours into it. Additional advantages, according to Jaeger, included a lack of disease and not having to set up or clean up the game, which used an engine called the Entity Engine. While discussing college party games, the designers realized that these games fit in well with their business model.

The developers followed a common set of rules from beer pong while designing the gameplay. While the designers considered mapping the controls to a traditional game controller
Game controller
A game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems used to control a playable character or object, or otherwise provide input in a computer game. A controller is typically connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire, cord or nowadays, by means of wireless connection...

, they felt that it would be no fun if not developed with the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...

 in mind. One of the challenges encountered was that everyone had a different throwing style, and that they had to find a "happy medium" to ensure that they did not have to add another level of complexity, so they conducted a study analyzing the throwing habits of more than 15 people to fix this problem. The designers made sure that players were not required to push any buttons to play. The WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...

 size limitations did not present problems for the developers due to the majority of the company's games being under "extreme file limitations".

Controversy

Due to controversy over its release and purportedly lax Entertainment Software Ratings Board rating in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, all references to alcohol were removed and it was retitled to Pong Toss. Community groups in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 complained about its Teen rating for ages 13 and up; arguing that a game based on the use of alcohol should not be sold to people under the legal drinking age; parents sent letters to JV Games
JV Games
JV Games is an American video game developer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have developed a number of titles including James Bond 007: Nightfire for Game Boy Advance, as well as Pong Toss! Frat Party Games and Incoming! for WiiWare....

, its developer, and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

, the producer of the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...

 console about the issue. Jag Jaeger dismissed concerns and called the situation "kind of funny", adding that he had no idea the word "beer" would cause such a strong reaction. In response to these concerns as well as to a letter sent by the Attorney General of Connecticut Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal is the junior United States Senator from Connecticut and a member of the Democratic Party. Previously, he served as Attorney General of Connecticut....

, which called for any game which depicted alcohol to be given an Adults Only rating, Jaeger argued that other entertainment products have references to things that are illegal for the age group that they are selling to; he used gambling in role-playing game
Role-playing game (video games)
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...

s and the depiction of alcoholic characters in TV shows such as The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

and Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

as examples, and also used the Grand Theft Auto series
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...

 as an example of video games that are given a Mature rating for ages 17 and up yet feature alcohol. He added that Nintendo does not allow Adults Only games on its consoles.

Blumenthal criticized the ESRB in a letter for giving it a Teen rating, which was a simple change for the development team, as actual consumption of alcohol was not a part of the game. ESRB spokesperson Eliot Mizrachi stated that while they respect the Blumenthal's right to disagree with their decision, the role of the ESRB is not to censor but to impartially rate games, and added that the game was simply tossing ping pong balls into cups and that it therefore did not warrant an Adults Only rating. Later, Patricia Vance, President of the ESRB, wrote a letter to Blumenthal which defended its rating of the game as it did not depict the consumption of alcohol or promote binge drinking, and added that the rating was determined by three specially-trained adult raters not connected to the industry. Blumenthal sent a second letter to the ESRB, which requested that other games containing alcoholic references should be given an Adult Only rating for people 18 and over. He criticized them for saying that the alcoholic references were minimal, and maintained that the name Beer Pong directly refers to a drinking game, that alcohol is depicted in the game's graphics, and that the whole premise of the game is based on heavy alcohol consumption – which meant that the game was not appropriate for teenagers and should have received more consideration from the Board. Jaeger reiterated that the game was not about alcohol consumption, merely about the sport of beer pong. Nevertheless, Jaeger informed Blumenthal that the title would be changed to Pong Toss! Frat Party Games, and all references to alcohol would be removed. Blumenthal called this a victory, but only a small one if it was not to be followed by others, adding that Pong Toss glorified alcohol abuse and binge drinking
Binge drinking
Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is the modern epithet for drinking alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. It is a kind of purposeful drinking style that is popular in several countries worldwide,...

. In a Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

article, editor Meaghan Haire felt that JV Games should have anticipated the reaction, considering that both alcohol and video games were a source for complaint from parents, and added that many critics felt that the company went too far with the game. The final version was rated for 'everyone six and older'. In Europe, the game was released as Beer Pong: Frat Party Games despite the controversy.

Reception

Pong Toss! Frat Party Games received substantially negative reception; it holds an aggregate score of 18/100 and 18.75% from Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

 and GameRankings, respectively. 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....

's Andrew Hayward called the game a "complete mess" with poorly designed controls and graphics from "a decade-old PS1 game", and IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

's Matt Casamassina
Matt Casamassina
Matt Casamassina is a video game journalist who worked for IGN until April 23, 2010. In his time at the site, he was the author of many reviews and previews of Nintendo games. He resides in Los Angeles, California, is married and has two daughters, Zoe and Fiona Jade, and a son named Rocco Archer...

 called the game "ridiculously shallow" and bordering on "pointless". Casamassina found it ironic that they would change the name, since the entire premise surrounds the consumption of alcohol anyway. GamesMaster
GamesMaster
GamesMaster was a British television show, screened on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998, and was the first ever UK television show dedicated to computer and video games.-Origins:...

s Matthew Castle joked that there was a "special corner of hell for frat boys", which would contain a copy of Pong Toss, finding the game "unnecessary" considering the simplicity of the concept, and opined that it had very unpleasant controls and visuals which "would make an N64 heave" 1UP.com's Kyle Stallock found the notion of an Adults Only rating for Pong Toss! to be inappropriate when it was borne in mind that games such as Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...

, Condemned 2, and World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...

hold more lenient ratings, despite not only allowing players to see the alcohol, but also to consume it. An editor for 1UP.com called it "distressingly flat" as a result of the removal of alcoholic references. Jag Jaeger was not bothered by the negative reception from critics and gamers, saying that the people who make such statements without actually playing the game are hardcore gamers and very prejudiced as to what they like and dislike. Jaeger stressed that it is intended for casual gamers, the same group of people who enjoyed Wii Sports
Wii Sports
is a sports game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch title for the Wii video game console , and part of the Touch! Generations. The game was first released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and was released in Japan, Australia, and Europe the following month...

.

JV Games announced a sequel entitled Pong Toss Pro - Frat Party Games which has similar gameplay mechanics to Pong Toss! though designed to address the concerns of Pong Toss such as graphics and accuracy; this was released in North America on June 28, 2010, and was priced at 600 versus Pong Toss 800 points due to the state of the market. A trailer was released, which mocked Blumenthal's criticism of Pong Toss by showing several news clips of controversy surrounding lies told by Blumenthal about his service in Vietnam, mixed in with gameplay and footage of players. The Pro version received more mixed reception; Nintendo World Report
Nintendo World Report
Nintendo World Report is a Nintendo-specific video game website that covers Nintendo's current consoles, the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, and Wii.-History:...

's Matthew Blundon called it a "decent sequel"; Gamertell's Jessica Moen enjoyed the motion controls and said that it was good for people looking for a "fun party game"; and IGN's Lucas M. Thomas wrote that while it was a better game than its predecessor, it was not good enough to be worth buying.
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