Game Rag Writer Sues Makers Of Cooking Mama, Says Overbearing Perfectionist Mother Seems 'A Bit Too Familiar'
"Internet Journalist" Michael Piercey has filed suit against Office Create and Majesco, developers and publishers of the Nintendo DS game Cooking Mama, claiming that the game steals directly from his own life and relationship with his mother.
"The game is a straight rip," said Piercey. "I mean, it's like they watched me cook with my
mother. Nothing is ever good enough. 'Flip the squid dumplings faster, tap those bread crumbs, THROW THAT MEAT BACK AND FORTH!' It's insane!"
When asked who inspired the matronly cook 'Mama', a spokesman for Office Create answered, "We think long time, find woman. Nice girl, much smiles! Knew how to cook very much! Very much." He then bowed and left the room without further comment.
Cooking Mama is a single player game in which the player learns to make different meals. The game is developing a swift underground buzz due to its educational, but fun gameplay made simple and interesting with the DS's trademark touchscreen. In Cooking Mama, the player uses the stylus to perform various cooking tasks--from slicing vegetables and kneading dough, to carving meat and making pizza--while under the supervision of "Mama" who judges you along the way.
"She's just like MY mother," Piercey said in a letter submitted to both Majesco and Office Create. "Even if you get 100% on a dish, you're 'Just as skilled as Mama.' You can NEVER be better! Even if I cook that Green Bean Casserole so that it doesn't come out smelling like fecal matter, I'm still only AS skilled as Mama!"
More similarities come, Piercey claims, when you make a mistake in the game. When you fail at a task, the 'Mama' character says, 'Don't worry, Mama WILL FIX IT,' while fire burns in her eyes.
"The fire was a dead giveaway. Right there--BAM--that's how I knew they were spying on my life." Not only did the fire in the eyes of the 'Mama' character correctly mimic the look in Piercey's mother's eyes when he made a mistake, he claims his mother used to set him on fire when he would err in his cooking. Piercey refused to comment more in depth on this, opting instead to rock back and forth, muttering, "It burns, Mommy. It burns," while crying and sucking his thumb.
When later asked why a Japanese game would bother to steal a chapter out of his insipid life, Piercey replied that he didn't know, but he was "Damn well sure going to find out."