“They took this joke as news!” About 20 years ago, gamers realized that television news was talking nonsense about video games

Game news “They took this joke as news!” About 20 years ago, gamers realized that television news was talking nonsense about video games

Buttermilk for the 8pm news

On November 21, 2004, Béatrice Schönberg, then a journalist and France 2 television news host, launched a video topic by Philippe Rochot. This opens at an arcade in Tokyo. The camera, placed on a step of a descending escalator, plunges into the bowels of the place where the screen throws out pixels by the thousands, a voice-over is heard. “This is the kingdom of otakus, video game fans” she says as the Japanese players frantically press buttons and shake joysticks. She adds: “Here, the mere delay in the release of the game Dead or Alive caused the suicide of 147 college students who swallowed a bag of silicone.” Yet hardly believable, this absurd news item is not detailed. The journalist chooses to continue: “Life in this virtual universe can lead to suicide, doctors said, and these young people are victims” before focusing on the desperate cases hitting the headlines in the land of the rising sun.

In front of their screens, some viewers are stunned. The story of 147 college students who died after swallowing silicone bags sounds unbelievable. Alex Pilot, a journalist and director known to Game One and Nolife fans, publishes the pilot the message On the Grosse Pixels forum, he was enraged by what he had just heard. “After checking Japanese news sites, I’m pretty sure there are no mass suicides due to the delay of Dead or Alive, or any other video game for that matter.” he says.

He is sure of it: no mediationXbox-Mag.netA website focused on news about Microsoft machines, run by enthusiasts of the American brand, is sure to have read this.Information“Somewhere. After some research, his impression is confirmed. A news article titled “Postponement of DoA online in Japan“, editor Ed_Warner wrote a few months ago that “Tecmo’s fighting game was postponed“so the studio can”Change the game’s network code so we don’t suffer from the infamous lags that can affect fighters’ breast movement” “I’ve just been informed that import fans who pre-ordered Beast have just been found hanging with a giant bra.” he concluded. at the very top of ArticleBy way of introduction, in the header, we read: “The news sparked a tragedy in the Land of the Rising Sun: 147 otakus committed suicide by swallowing silicone bags in protest of Tecmo’s postponement.” Any resemblance to what was said on France television television news cannot be coincidental.. The moderator then informs the site team that a pun may have made headlines on France 2’s 8 pm broadcast. Xbox-Mag then writes an article on this funny situation… which begins to be shared all over the web.

Check out the Xbox Series X on Amazon

The silicone pockets are too big, but they work

Quickly, the machine takes off. Although social networks did not yet exist in France at the time, the forum caught fire and the comments multiplied. Other sites and radio stations are interested in the affair, so much so The influx of new visitors brings the Xbox-Mag servers down several timesWhich, with peaks reaching 30,000 unique visitors, leaves only one page accessible: the one discussing the affair of 147 Japanese on France 2.

How could such harsh humor, a brief piece of a few lines filled with allusions to the disproportionate bosoms of Dead or Alive Ultimate’s heroines, be taken as factual by the editorial staff of France 2? Internet users quickly realize that “Information” is actually taken from a paper publication Published on November 1, 2004, titled “Japan: They make a pact to die” “In February 2003, the fighting video game Dead or Alive announced the postponement of sales to traumatized otakus (video game enthusiasts). Enraged, 147 of them, middle or high school students, committed suicide by swallowing silicone bags.We read in the newspaper lines. “For the moment, we do not yet know exactly how this joke could have been taken seriously or how it reached the Liberation journalist.” exclaimed the fan site’s editor-in-chief, Shane Biglione, in an article published on November 24, 2024.

Faced with general incomprehension from players and mounting ridicule from the press, Liberation’s editorial staff contacted Xbox-Mag to explain that there had indeed been a mistake. He issues an errata the next day. The newspaper says he saw “Information“inside”Japanese electronic magazine” and admits that he did not verify the veracity of the exposed elements. Despite the relaunch of a site dedicated to Xbox news, the mysterious name “Japanese electronic magazine“Never will be given. Meanwhile, the silicone bag case is abuzz in the media sphere : Arrêt sur Images gives him a topic, as does Europe 1, and Shane Biglion was invited to speak in Hebdo du Méditerranée on December 4, 2004, France 2, in the company of France 2 journalist Philippe Rocot.

An alternate reality in the editorial staff

At least we can say that the explanations given by France 2 are not the most satisfactory. If Libération quickly recognizes its mistake and apologizes to its readers, France Television does not engage in such transparency. Since the beginning of this strange affair, Philippe Rocot’s work has been distinguished by players: moreover “Information“Untested silicon pockets, even journalists”Exchange” words of a Japanese player interviewed at the beginning of the topic. “I like fighting and gun games because the objective is clear. It relaxes me and relieves daily stress“We hear in the video, when at that moment, the person interviewed says: “Every time I play, I progress, and that’s what I love about video games” Mr. Rochot told Xbox-Mag that it was just an editing error, and that the young man actually said the words, but other images were put in their place. Finally, of the Kenny (South Park) character, whose T-shirt we Japanese Catching up, he has been described as a hero with a suicidal goal, which is wrong.

A newspaper hosted by David Poojadas on Monday, November 29, announced that “The report revealed that 147 youths died simultaneously through the Internet“was wrong because”Misinformation published in the English-speaking Asian press” Unfortunately, no newspaper/magazine will be named to verify these statements.

Ultimately, these pockets of silicon swallowed by the journalists of Liberation and France 2 remain stuck in people’s throats.. On the Internet and on the forums of specialized sites, this story that starts as a good joke definitely leaves a bitter taste. Many players are surprised by the way the information is used by the press, who may eventually notice some nonsense during prime time.

“I also saw this report which shocked me” we see in the comments of Gross Pixels. “Can we refuse to pay fees for major defects in service provided?” adds one member. “It’s an editor’s joke at the Xbox-Mag site that no one takes seriously except the guy from Liebe. And there you have it, it’s on to France 2! It is so beautiful it is extraordinary“Alex Pilot writes.”It is absolutely crazy, normally there is a team to validate the report, how this can slip through the cracks.” says another visitor to the forum. For its part, France insists on calling an Xbox-Mag article on television dead or alive.a fraud“But As the site’s editor-in-chief has said many times, “It’s important to remember that it was a joke that ended up on television news, not misinformation” A joke that became information, read and heard by more than seven million people in France.