Minor cultural differences are to blame for a mix-up that has forced Nintendo to pull copies of Mario Party 8 from shelves in the United Kingdom. The game’s use of the term “spastic,” generally considered inoffensive in United States, has different connotations abroad, where it is considered slang for the mentally challenged.
In the game, a magic blue wizard known as Kamek exclaims, “Magikoopa magic! Turn the train spastic! Make this ticket tragic!” According to the recall announcement (link to Google’s cached version after the original crashed) made on Nintendo Europe’s Web site, the error wasn’t an oversight in the making of the UK version, but instead the wrong version reaching store shelves. “Unfortunately we have discovered that a small number of games contain the wrong version of the disk due to an assembly error,” the announcement reads. “We have therefore decided to recall all copies of the game from UK retailers so that this mistake can be corrected.”
This isn’t the first time the term “spastic” has caused a mix-up. Less than a month ago, Ubisoft pulled Mind Quiz: Your Brain Coach off store shelves for using the same term. Nintendo hasn’t yet announced when the proper version of Mario Party 8 will find its way back to the UK.
