Learn the language that can thwart evil!

November 25, 2007 5:27 PM

"Okay, I work for GameStop, and in one of the local stores, someone returned Spanish for Everyone claiming it was exceedingly stereotypical." And it turns out it kinda was. It's a game for the Nintendo DS, where the framework involves an accidentally stolen DS which is taken by a kid whose father is in a limo, being chased by the police, going back across the border to Ensenada. Luckily, the kid's aunt (who apparently doesn't recognize him other than vaguely) is here to give him a ride as far as Tijuana, leaving him stranded in the middle of a foreign country where he doesn't speak the language! Fun, and it gets worse from there! Here's The Intro, Level 2's cut scene, level 3's cut scene and the ending, featuring a whole mess of cars, "fireworks" and, ahm, drug running? Of course, this'd just be a pile of YouTube links if it weren't for The lead designer of the game popping in to share his 2 cents on it. [via]

(and, if anyone cares, actual gameplay footage. On top of all that, it doesn't even seem that great at teaching the language...)

posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me (45 comments total)

It seems harmless. Plus, it sounds like there will be a "French For Everyone" sequel, with the main character on an endless quest for cigarettes and a bath.

What?
posted by rokusan at 5:32 PM on November 25, 2007 [4 favorites]

I heisted a copy for my flash cart-equipped Nintendo DS off of the newsgroups solely for the racism, but I stayed for the Español.
posted by porn in the woods at 5:39 PM on November 25, 2007

It seems harmless. Plus, it sounds like there will be a "French For Everyone" sequel, with the main character on an endless quest for cigarettes and a bath.

In "Russian for Everyone" the object of the game is to set up a website that sells illegal downloads of the other games.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:53 PM on November 25, 2007 [6 favorites]

"They don't call me Gina Vasquez for nothing! I can teach you many things, and Spanish is definitely one of them!"

Damn, I wish my Spanish classes had come with this much double entendre, would have been a lot more memorable...
posted by pupdog at 5:53 PM on November 25, 2007

Nice. Tags.
posted by awesomebrad at 5:54 PM on November 25, 2007

If you think this is controversial, just wait for "Arabic For Everyone"....it's gonna be downright explosive.
posted by GavinR at 5:55 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Shouldn't this be in MetaTalk?
posted by Crabby Appleton at 6:03 PM on November 25, 2007

I don't get it. There is a stereotype about non-spanish speakers having fathers in limos? Or aunts that don't recognize them?
posted by DU at 6:07 PM on November 25, 2007

Oh the accidental thief's father is in the limo (== drugs)! I get it. This is classy.
posted by DU at 6:11 PM on November 25, 2007

Mentioned on DS Fanboy a little while ago, too.
posted by box at 6:13 PM on November 25, 2007

Metafilter: a new adventure awaits in the back of this truck...
posted by wfrgms at 6:15 PM on November 25, 2007

Yeah... not so much the limo on its own, but the limo + the whole "we have to leave NOW!" + cop cars kinda doesn't look so well for the kid's dad being a captain of legitimate industry.

And, yeah, the aunt thing is kinda weird, I admit. I just thought her "Oh, hey, aren't you my nephew?" thing was a little weird. I'm _thinkin'_ it might be a reference to her promiscuity, considering her name is very close to "Vagina Squeeze" as is...
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 6:19 PM on November 25, 2007

But it's...it's a passing thing...it's uh.... I mean I would never tell them this but this is uh...this is a fad.
posted by phaedon at 6:31 PM on November 25, 2007

"Oh, hey, aren't you my nephew?" thing

I actually read that as a "Hey, you are my nephew, (ami)rite?" Like "of course I'll help you--I have an obligation to, as you are in my family tree".
posted by DU at 6:55 PM on November 25, 2007

Ego amo English ut Latin reddo.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:56 PM on November 25, 2007

We're protecting the wrong border.
posted by ColdChef at 7:02 PM on November 25, 2007 [4 favorites]

Someone in the first link's forum discussion said that nothing beats this game, but I'm here to tell you that Typing of the Dead is probably more hilarious.

But, I will grant you, no racism, probably, in that one, unless Zombies count.
posted by kalessin at 7:02 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wait 'til Mencia weighs-in on this.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:02 PM on November 25, 2007

Wait 'til Mencia weighs-in on this.

Someone else has to weigh in on it first.
posted by felix betachat at 7:21 PM on November 25, 2007 [32 favorites]

I actually read that as a "Hey, you are my nephew, (ami)rite?" Like "of course I'll help you--I have an obligation to, as you are in my family tree".

Ah, fair enough. The English is kind of clunky, though, which, well, is kind of amusing in a language game...
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 7:23 PM on November 25, 2007

Wait 'til Mencia weighs-in on this.

The game is offensive to horribly unfunny German-honduran comics?
posted by drjimmy11 at 8:01 PM on November 25, 2007

I can't wait for Dutch For Everyone.
posted by jouke at 8:33 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

This is precisely why we need a "low budget French Canadian racism" flag.
posted by The Bellman at 8:36 PM on November 25, 2007

I can't wait for Dutch For Everyone.

Sitting there on the curb, eating your salty licorice with your friend Geert, his father rides by on a clunky black bike. He climbs into the basket with the rest of your licorice and you spend the rest of the game accosting taciturn yet somehow satisfied people in order to get it back.

Sounds like a blast.
posted by felix betachat at 8:36 PM on November 25, 2007 [11 favorites]

Heh.
Sounds like a strange dream.
posted by jouke at 8:38 PM on November 25, 2007

I think she's his "aunt" in the way that his dad or whoever is a regular customer.
posted by I-baLL at 8:38 PM on November 25, 2007

that's how i interpreted it.
posted by empath at 8:49 PM on November 25, 2007

In "Russian for Everyone" the object of the game is to set up a website that sells illegal downloads of the other games.

Shit, man. You got all the way through that? All the names are the same and the text is so insanely dense... I got so lost.
posted by sparkletone at 9:58 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

I have a DS and haven't used it for about a year, and I was all "oh yes, hilarious racism!" and about to buy it, but now everyone says that it's not the best way to learn Spanish on the DS. And now my life is more complicated again.
posted by dhammond at 10:53 PM on November 25, 2007

It seems harmless. Plus, it sounds like there will be a "French For Everyone" sequel, with the main character on an endless quest for cigarettes and a bath.

pick a reason to flag:
fantastic comment
double comment
HTML/display error
Offensive/sexism/racism
"French" not "Freedom" <--
noise
derail
it breaks the guidelines
other
posted by maxwelton at 12:43 AM on November 26, 2007

So 2001, maxwelton.
posted by ersatz at 3:38 AM on November 26, 2007

Jeeps are cool! I knew it.
posted by toddbass10 at 3:44 AM on November 26, 2007

So 2001, maxwelton.

NEVAR FOR...oh, never mind.
posted by maxwelton at 3:53 AM on November 26, 2007

Heh. I can only think about the Finnish for Everyone DS game that I desperately want to make now.

Isolation, depression, alcohol and suicide play a large part in the learning experience. Fun for the whole family!
posted by slimepuppy at 4:42 AM on November 26, 2007

I was disappointed that the author took the comments with good humour and did not flame out.
posted by GuyZero at 5:32 AM on November 26, 2007

Wow.. did anyone else notice in the intro that the taxi is one of those European cars with the driver on the wrong side?
posted by Mastercheddaar at 5:49 AM on November 26, 2007

I love Mad Libs!

language = Chinese
hilariously inappropriate object of quest = lead poisoning

Do I win?
posted by kittyprecious at 6:14 AM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Tijuana is in the middle of a foreign country? Here I thought it was a border town. Learn something new every day.
posted by anewc2 at 7:35 AM on November 26, 2007

My Mom gifted me with a quick guide to Spanish when I was going to Mexico on a cruise (didn't need it at all), and it was strikingly similar in stereotypes. Some of the phrases included, "Help, I have been shot!", "I was robbed" and "I want a lawyer."
posted by misha at 7:46 AM on November 26, 2007

Some of the phrases included, "Help, I have been shot!", "I was robbed" and "I want a lawyer."

You have to admit...those are all pretty good things to know.
posted by vito90 at 8:44 AM on November 26, 2007

I'm getting so excited at the prospects of 'Catholicism For Everyone', I feel a little guilty already.
posted by Marquise at 10:02 AM on November 26, 2007

Wait 'til Ron Paul weighs-in on this. No, really, you wait.

('Rand for everyone' )
posted by Smedleyman at 11:59 AM on November 26, 2007

Is Tony Montana in the game?
posted by SentientAI at 1:43 PM on November 26, 2007

I can't wait till you get arrested at the airport with a bag full of cocaine-filled toys (and a DS) in the Paris airport. French for drug mules!
posted by anthill at 2:44 PM on November 26, 2007

Greek for Everyone's gonna be hot.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 7:10 PM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]