Disney Steps in With Child-Friendly Game

1010Wins ^ | 10/2/03 | ERIK STETSON, AP

[Calpernia]

Guns and gore are big business for video game makers. They can be big a headache for parents.

War games and gangster-glorifiers like "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" dominate store shelves, making child-friendly titles hard to find.

With "Toontown Online," Disney steps in to plug the shortfall. Violence in the multiplayer Internet game, set in a vibrant and persistent cartoon world, is rarely much worse than a pie in the face, though anvils sometimes fall from the sky.

In Toontown, players must keep the streets safe from Cogs, drab corporate types who want to stifle fun and remake the town's colorful buildings in their monochromatic image.

To beat the Cogs - who have names like Head Hunter, Corporate Raider and Number Cruncher - you'll have to pit laughter against their dreary business tactics.

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Players throw pies, drop pianos and use squirt guns while Cogs retaliate with ink sprayed from fountain pens, thrown half-Windsor ties and their highly memorable "glower power."

Even when the Cogs win, players don't die - they get sad and return to playgrounds, which are safe zones located every few city blocks.

There, players can regain good humor and earn more jelly beans, which are legal tender in Toontown. Players enter mini-games like tug-of-war or dodge-the-Cog mazes to get more jelly beans.

Players can use the sugary currency to buy more pies to throw, new clothes to wear or more furniture for the home each Toontown resident gets.

Mingling with other players is a Toontown cornerstone. Players can team up to battle Cogs or just chat.

Disney designed Toontown's chat system with children in mind. Players who haven't designated each other as friends can only communicate with a "speed chat" system, a drop-down menu of common phrases.

In order to freely type with each other, players must exchange passwords outside of the game, giving parents a chance to screen the people who can interact with their children. Disney's staff also monitors the game's conversations and character names for obscenities.

Adults may find the chat system stifling and the round trips from Cog fights to jellybean games repetitive, but at least parents will know the game is safe. Children, on the other hand, are likely to sink hours into Toontown.

Installing it took a few minutes with a broadband connection, and the game is available now as a 3-day free trial. A CD-ROM version for dial-up modem users hit store shelves Oct. 1.

After the free trial, Toontown costs $10 a month. Subscription plans include six months for $50 and a year for $80.

---

On the Net:

http://www.toontown.com

[Calpernia]

>>>>Toontown costs $10 a month. Subscription plans include six months for $50 and a year for $80.

I am really getting fed up with the fleecing from Disney.

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[free100]

I agree! If they really wanted to counter the violent programming of their other Disney-owned properties (videogames, movies, etc.) they wouldn't make it so darned hard to afford!

[ChemistCat]

Hey! More socialism-good, capitalism-bad anti-establishment feelgood entertainment from THE capitalistic establishment success story of the 20th century.

Do they see how self-destructive this is?

[Corin Stormhands]

I am really getting fed up with the fleecing from Disney.

There are many reasons for folks to hate Disney.

Their charging for their game that you don't have to play ain't one of 'em.

[Ingtar]

Actually, $10/month is less than most of the MMORPGs out there.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

To beat the Cogs - who have names like Head Hunter, Corporate Raider and Number Cruncher - you'll have to pit laughter against their dreary business tactics.

How lovely.

To think that this is the same bunch that made Scrooge McDuck my hero as a child.

What happened?

[mrs. a]

Hey, I'm a Number Cruncher! I'm being slandered and oppressed! Can I sue? Huh? Can I?

[Malsua]

I played Toontown Beta, Toontown Special Preview and now the release.

It's a silly game and it's fun.

As far as costs...lessee here,

Myself and wife have active accounts on Asheron's Call for $12.95/month, I have an Active account on Dark Age of Camelot. I Played EQ for over a year at $9.95 a month as well as Anarchy Online and Ultima Online.

At $10/month for Toontown, it's a fair price. I havn't played in a bit, but for the cheap cost I can't stand to part with Super Loopy Goofus, my 99 Laff toon.

And before anyone suggests that I'm a kid, I'm an Engineer/Techie who's been in the business now for 18 years and am in the 35-50 category :)

In fact, I think many people who play Toontown are adults although there are plenty of kids and it is certainly a safe game. You cannot say anything to anyone except for about 100 canned phrases unless you know them somehow outside of the game. It pedophile proof as good as anything ever made on the net.

[Calpernia]

>>>>At $10/month for Toontown, it's a fair price.

My remarks about Disney and fleecing were vague on this post. I didn't target this game specifically. My comments were meant for Disney overall, including videos, part two of movies done in poor quality, merchandising, etc.

[Malsua]

>>>>>>At $10/month for Toontown, it's a fair price.

My remarks about Disney and fleecing were vague on this post. I didn't target this game specifically. My comments were meant for Disney overall, including videos, part two of movies done in poor quality, merchandising, etc. <<

I'm pretty much in agreement. Disney will fleece you given the opportunity and when it's kid appeal, most parent's are softies. It's a very soft target for Disney.

As far as Toontown, it's a fair price for a silly game. I laughed my head off the first few weeks I played. Well worth it.

[Calpernia]

Thanks for the input on the game.