Hmm, not sure this is a great idea.

You "play" this a couple of times, and get "good" at it.

Great, thinks you, I'm now able to control a car when hammered, it's easy...

Then you put the theory into practice.

Won't some high scoring chavs think that since they can pull off drink driving the game, they can pull off drink driving for real?

This has gotta be fun enough to pass the time while waiting for the pc version of GTA4 :)

how many points for running over the pink elephant?

Some alcohol addled miscreants may view it as a chance to hone their driving skills with the intention of making them better drivers whilst drunk. "I learnt to drive safely whilst drunk" will probably not go down too well in court, however.

I just need to reach level 50 in the game, and i'll be able to safely drive home from the pub!

I sense a pending lawsuit... "But I was so good at the drunk driving simulator, I thought i'd be fine!"

So, where can I download this marvelous sounding wheeze?

This, in and of itself, isn't a bad idea; I actually think it's a good idea. Unfortunately, there are bound to be some idiots who think the experience is "kewl and trippy" and purposely act out that experience for real. And then when they cause damage and possibly kill someone, the game maker will be blamed, no matter how many people have avoided drink/drunk driving because of the game. At least that's the way it would go down here in the U.S.

Just like normal driving games where when the players get good (we're talking Gran Turismo level, not Atari Pole Position!), some of them start believing that because of the time they spent playing driving games, it's made them a better real life driver.

What if kids start playing this drunk-driving sim and get good at being able to avoid crashing (provided the game isn't rigged to make you always crash one way or another), will they start believing that they'll still be in full control of a real life car when drunk?

Wouldn't it be a better idea, more realistic and more fun to just drink 10 pints of Stella and then have a go on an Xbox or something?

..no it's a stupid idea, or maybe a good idea, or.. whatever, or somefing, nahhhh, it's my best mate it is... nahahahahaha!

Where the &^*% is my coat, ah %$!* it, who cares. I've got my car keys, I'm leaving.

Have to agree

Sorta ironic, when you consider the amount of people who harp on about violence in video games encouraging us to go out and shoot people for real.

I remember as a youngster playing table hockey (that thing with the bed of air, a puck and a couple of bats) sober, then playing it after 4 pints. half the time couldnt hit the bloody thing, let along in vaguely the right direction.

sod simulations, its just a game.

I'm qualified to pilot a 777 just because I can land one in flight sim? Cool!

needs real spew all over the console, and your bladder in a vise.

I know...

they need to combine this with the DARPA vomit strobelight !

why people think someones going to get good at this game then jump in a car hammered and try to drive? its not like you see 13 year olds that are amazing at need for speed bombing around city centre and drifting round corners.

I'm for it! It should be more realistic though - there should be a mechanism the smashes the would-be drunk driver in the head with a baseball bat if they hit a lightpole. They should wear a full-face helmet of course, we just want to instill a healthy respect for solid objects.

I seem to recal a doco about driving, where a researcher suggested the best way to reduce all road accidents, drunk or not, would be to legally require every car be fitted with 10cm steel spikes on the steering wheel & dashboard, rather than airbags.

Works for me...

Thats a lovely plan. If only all accidents were caused by a driver's stupidity. Imagine the hilarity if someone manages to drive into the front of your car!

Actually, all accidents ARE caused by driver stupidity.

The only thing is, it's not always the stupid idiot that caused the accident that gets trashed by it.

Thus the spikes are still a bad idea.

Unless they are on my front and rear bumpers, and on my hubcaps.

"Actually, all accidents ARE caused by driver stupidity."

What about random tyre blow outs, chavs throwing things off bridges, kids running out, mechanical failures or black ice?

Who cares whose fault the crash is, stick the spikes on, it will make life much more exciting!

Gaz

Reminds me of the old six pack test.

You finished your GUI app and you need some serious testing.

Down your favorite 6-pack and then see if you can run your own application. And you might want to take some notes of all of the mistakes you make. Tomorrow you can fix some things. Do not even think about looking at the code while stewed.

We asked 100 Reg readers if playing a drink-driving simulator would make people more likely to drink and drive. Our survey said: Yes, chavs are far too impressionable!

We asked 100 Reg readers if playing violent video games make people violent in real life. Our survey said: Don't be silly, child violence is society's fault!

Hmmmmmm...

There is a big difference in that this is an educational tool that will be pitched to the kids as an accurate depiction of what it's like to drink and drive. The whole point of it is that the kids associate it with the real world out of the gate.

The fantasy world of entertainment games is kept just that, fantasy. If some disturbed kid then mentally crosses the streams and starts to associate it with the real world, or otherwise loses that distinction, that's an issue with that person's mental health/education rather than the content of the game or the way that game is presented.

I don't see how the context in which the game is pitched will necessarily affect the influence it will have on people. Anyway, I'm not going to pretend that I know how exactly how much games influence people - I'm not a psychologist and almost certainly never will be. I'll hazard a guess that makes two of us.

I was just found it interesting that the general reaction on this site to people's calls to ban violent video games was pretty strong. However, keep the question the same but change the context slightly and the reaction is very different.