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Brain Training is a dirty discriminator: Doesn't understand Northern accents photo

BBC's Watchdog program has recently featured Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training for DS, as it has come under fire from certain English Northerners as "discriminating." The game's voice recognition apparently can't understand what Northern people are saying, probably because of all the Lancashire hotpot and traditional ale they've stuffed in their mouths beforehand.

Manchester radio presenter Michelle Livesey was on the show to complain about the game, which she got for Christmas. "Basically you have to say the different colors that flash up on the screen as quickly as possible," she explained. "I'm saying, blue, blue, blue and it's saying no, even though it was blue. Then it got to yellow. I'm going, 'yeller' and everyone's saying to me you need to be a bit posher. You need to say, 'yellow' and as soon as I did, it picked it up."

Presenter Nicky Campbell went on record as saying that the game "clearly discriminated" against Northern as well as Scottish people because it doesn't understand their accents. Fact of the matter is though, I'll be buggered if I can understand Northern and Scottish accents half the time, let alone a machine that's programmed to understand words that are PROPERLY pronounced. At the risk of being offensive, I think that a word spelled and properly spoken in a certain way should not have to account for people who can't (read: won't) say the word right. It's "yellow," not "yeller," and there's also nothing in the game about people saying "eh up duck, gimme some chuckie egg down t'Rover's Return."

The game's manual, as pointed out by Nintendo, clearly states that you should pronounce words carefully and avoid using strong accents. A videogame cannot feasibly account for every single weird pronunciation of every single word. Due to the small number of complaints Nintendo has actually had about this case, it seems that most people can swallow the hotpot before they speak, but for the small group who can't, go get some diction lessons before you cry and moan about discrimination. It's not like we can understand your complaints anyway.








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Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize. Likes PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3 Meet the rest of the team



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71 comments | showing # 1 to 50
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next 50 comments

hjd uk's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:38
hjd uk
Well humans have a hard enough time understanding Glaswegian, can you really expect a DS to ?
DeusPayne's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:38
DeusPayne
Ahahahahahahahahahhhahahaha...
ahahahahhahaa
episodic's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:39
episodic
Eee tha's champ-yun.

*stuffs more hotpot into mouth*.
wardrox's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:40
wardrox
Ey up our Jimmy. Wan't sum wat-er with ya Lancashire Hotpot?

Also, DAMN YOU!!!!
Rbj's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:42
Rbj
The Northerners should learn to speak proper English then for gods sakes. The amount of times I've spoken to people from up north and just not understood them is astronomical.
hjd uk's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:42
hjd uk
Wai-aye, ayeh cannae git mah Dee-Ess tah oonda-stand me like.
VWGTI's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:42
VWGTI
lol
Aaron Mxy Yost's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:43
Aaron Mxy Yost
The game discriminates against me because I'm stupid. I tried calling an attorney, but I couldn't figure out how to open the phone book.
wardrox's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:46
wardrox
Also, as far as I m concerned, I don't have an accent, and you do. I seem to remember a similar issue arising from speech recognition software, and they released a patch where you could select your accent. I can understand strong regional accents being an issue, but not this bad.
Origim's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:47
Origim
Fucking wonderful I wonder how long until someone from the southern U.S. complains.
MaxVest's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:51
MaxVest
Those poor color-blind Scotsmen. Will they never catch a break?
foxhound009's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:52
foxhound009
omfg... How many languages does this game supports??

if not all then it's clearly an act of DISCRIMINATION!!!
atheistium's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:52
atheistium
I've got a pretty standard British accent but it can't understand me either.
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:53
Jim Sterling
EPISODIC JOINED!

Epic join had.
cryocide's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:54
cryocide
Haha "brue!"

No, really!


Voice recognition on that game is awful.
glipe's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:54
glipe
It's a frickin' stupid argument to bring up in the first place. Watchdog just wanted something to make them seem "down" with computer games.

If it was in Spanish and you spoke English at it, would people complain that it wasn't working? If not, why complain when it's meant to understand English and people speak gibberish at it?
Butmac's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 08:57
Butmac
I like the discrimination of Aussies in Flight of the Conchords
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:00
Jim Sterling
When England was born, it was just a small tiny Island called London. Eventually, however, the mounds of shit that its people produced created the land around it, and so the island grew into a giant dungpile in the sea. So yes, it's the Northern people who have the accent, because if it wasn't for all the shit that made the country grow, Northern people wouldn't even exist.

This is in history books.
brad drac's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:06
brad drac
Well if nothing else this just proves it isn't just america that's filled with fucking retards. If these people had any concept as to how difficult it is to code voice recognition software that works universally, their heads would probably explode due to the immense vacuum of knowledge suddenly being filled.
Axle's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:10
Axle
Nicky Campbell is a cunt.
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:21
Jim Sterling
You know who else has a Northern accent? Peter Sutcliffe.
BluDesign's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:23
BluDesign
Maybe if Britain was more like Japan this wouldn't be a problem. This might point to the larger issue of why the EU gets games so much later than the US and Japan. If you guys were more Japanese, you could just get the domestic version.

All that dominating British empire crap from the 17th-19th century sounds like it's come full circle.

Maybe if you guys asked Japan nicely they'd assimilate your country.
Oni's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:25
Oni
Sorry, but Mxy and Brandon Undead win this thread.
VWGTI's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:27
VWGTI
I can't help but think about the movie Liar Liar when Jim Carrey keeps saying the pen is blue.

THE GODDAMN PEN IS BLUE!!!!
B-Radicate's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:29
B-Radicate
A game utilizing proper grammar and pronunciation not being embraced by Northern England? You must be joking me.
savagesaladin's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:34
savagesaladin
What a coincidence! I can't fucking understand what Northerners are saying!!
Niero's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:55
Niero
¿que?

¿guat?
GeneralWong's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 09:55
GeneralWong
I hate northerners and there horrible accents, i new form of racism that im fully backing!
TehBoognish's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:04
TehBoognish
Headline should have read "Brain Training teaches cooonts proper enunciation"
FlecTec's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:04
FlecTec
Firstly I watched that report last night and it was a load of rubbish. Obviously if you're saying yeller it isn't going to recognise it. Then they went outside in a noisy area and were suprised when it wouldn't work again. If you any strong accent it isn't going to work.

And secondly I think most of these comments are a disgrace. Taking the piss out of people becuase of how people talk because of where they where born is real mature. I excpected more from you Sterling!

And for the record I have a Wigan accent as do most of my friends and family and we have never had a problem with it not recognising what we are saying.
Rucksack's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:08
Rucksack
Hooked on Phonics worked for me!
Einhander's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:12
Einhander
The game is programmed to understand basic English, not DIALECTS of English.
Banj's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:13
Banj
Yeah, I'm from Yorkshire.

My parents can't even understand me.
CALkulon's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:16
CALkulon
Brandon Undead, you win.

Watchdog just failed.
moonkid's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:17
moonkid
Christopher Eccleston is from Salford,

not Manchester, same as me. Don't go claiming him for yourselves you Manchester fags.


As for Brain Training it can fook off.
demonelite's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:28
demonelite
I lol'd so much when I was watching this last night, I have a thick cockney accent and I can get ti to work fine I just say Yellew rather then Yeller and Blue rather then Blew.
Aurain's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:31
Aurain
When England was made, God created the glorious county of Yorkshire, and in Yorkshire he made great wonders to see and great people, And then he created Leeds, which he made a crap hole to make places like Sheffield look good. But then he realised Leeds was in Yorkshire, and was still OK, so then he decided to take drastic measures, First, he took a humongus crap in a bag, and mixed it up with some Urine and other bodily fluids, And then he spread it down underneath Yorkshire, but realising that Yorkshire would be too close to the crap he had called London and the other southern counties, he decided to make Lancashire, which wasn't great, But does a good job in shielding us from the Southern Inbreeding Idiots, like Kate Moss.
moonkid's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:34
moonkid
These are the only people in England who talk proper
PSIq0ut's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:34
PSIq0ut
Well in all honesty I can never understand what Northeners are saying...and I wonder why everyone in Scotland hates me...

Surrey ftw fuck all you notherners n_n
JustLikeBuck's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:35
JustLikeBuck
When the presenter calls the it a "DS Nintendo", you know it's going to be a well researched, unbiased segment.
ScottyG's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:35
ScottyG
Honestly I'm surprised it can even understand anyone in the England. Heck, I really had to concentrate to understand anything anybody said last time I visited, despite the fact that we speak the same friggen' language.
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:35
Jim Sterling
"And secondly I think most of these comments are a disgrace. Taking the piss out of people becuase of how people talk because of where they where born is real mature. I excpected more from you Sterling!"

Translation: I do not understand what is serious and what is not.

But I stand by my comment that expecting "Yeller" to work is fucking stupid.
TorpedoTed's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:38
TorpedoTed
Just speak clear normal English, like its spelt!
bunnyrabbit2's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:45
bunnyrabbit2
I must be the weird one then because northerners are easy to understand. Even if they are dirty northerners.

It poeople from the birmingham area that I have trouble understanding. This is not good because thats roughly where I am living now. Stupid yam yams
Fading Star's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 10:57
Fading Star
Yes mate!
Bob Muir's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 11:15
Bob Muir
Apparently, the bigger issue is that every country besides Japan has trouble getting it to recognize "blue." This only supports my theory that Japan is trying to get English speakers to mangle our language the same way they do.
Sharpless's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 11:32
Sharpless
Am I wrong to think that it's perfectly reasonable to expect people to pronounce words the way that they're spelled and are supposed to be pronounced? I mean, I used to have an English accent myself, so I certainly don't have anything against people with UK accents, but yellow is spelled and pronounced "yellow." If you can't figure out how you're supposed to say it, then...
Maurice Tan's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 11:47
Maurice Tan
I almost feel bad for the PS3!
hjd uk's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/05/2008 11:55
hjd uk
@ Brandon Undead:

Begbie FTW.
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