Inquiry into "Ostro"/"Birdo"
Nintendo Character By Concerned Parents?
From: Chrissy LaCrosse (chrissymommyofthree@hotmail.com)
Sent: Mon 1/05/09 9:35 AM
To: nintendo@noa.nintendo.com
Good morning,
I am taking precious time away from my busy
Monday morning schedule because I have just gone through one
of the most stressful ordeals as a parent. My husband and
I gave our youngest son a Wii for Christmas, and at a family
gathering this past weekend, he was also given a Wii 2000
Points Card, which he used to download the game "Super
Mario Bros. 2" from the online Wii store with my permission
(the ESRB rating was E suitable for Everyone). The download
of this game came with an instruction manual detailing the
various characters Mario would face, including one named "Ostro"
that had the following quote which my son read aloud:
"He thinks he is a girl and he spits
eggs from his mouth. He'd rather be called "birdetta.""
My son turned to me and asked why a boy would
think he was a girl. My mouth hit the floor. From that point
forward, from Saturday morning until we put him to bed Sunday
night, my husband and I had to spend the entire weekend talking
to him about male and female relationships and explaining
basically what amounted to transexualism to a six-year-old
boy! I could not believe that nightmare! My son is far too
young to hear this kind of discussion about sex, but Nintendo
and the ESRB has forced the issue upon us to deal with.
I went to an internet search for more information
about this character and discovered that he/she is often also
called "Birdo" and appeared as a trophy unlockable
in the Wii game "Super Smash Brothers Brawl" with
this description:
"A pink creature of indeterminate gender
that some say would rather be called Birdetta. A big ribbon
on its head is its most distinguishing feature."
I am so mad about this Ostro/Birdo character
that I'm just about to return the Wii system back to Toys
'R Us. How can a company with a product marketed towards families
treat their customers this way? This incident reminded me
of the "Gay Days" that take place certain dates
at Walt Disney World, but at least that information is posted
beforehand so that parents can make the decision of whether
to discuss adult personal lifestyles to their child or not.
For us, we were never warned, never given the choice - not
by the ESRB, and certainly not by Nintendo.
What is the purpose of this character? Why
was this adult element added to the character in the first
place, and why is it being carried to future games? Is this
character male or female? This has been a grueling parental
challenge for us and we await a response from Nintendo to
our concerns.
Chrissy & Michael LaCrosse
Re: Inquiry
into "Ostro"/"Birdo" Nintendo Character
By Concerned Parents <<#124475-215364#>>?
From: Nintendo Customer Service (nintendo@noa.nintendo.com)
Sent: Thu 1/08/09 3:43 PM
To: chrissymommyofthree@hotmail.com
Hello,
I was sorry to hear about
your situation regarding "Super Mario Bros. 2" Please
contact me at 1-800-633-3236 ext. 7698 so that we may discuss
this issue. If I'm unavailable when you call, please leave
me a detailed message so that I may return your call as soon
as possible. I am available Sunday through Thursday between
the hours of 10:30am and 6:30pm Pacific time. I look forward
to hearing from you
Sincerely,
Nintendo of America Inc.
Zach Stroum
Nintendo's home page: http://www.nintendo.com/
Power Line (Automated Product Info): (425) 885-7529
RE: Inquiry into "Ostro"/"Birdo"
Nintendo Character By Concerned Parents <<#124475-215364#>>?
From: Chrissy LaCrosse (chrissymommyofthree@hotmail.com)
Sent: Sun 1/11/09 6:31 PM
To: nintendo@noa.nintendo.com
Mr. Stroum,
So I need to spend more of my time having
to explain this entire embarrassing story again over the phone
to get the answers to our questions?
No thank you.
I am really disappointed with Nintendo at
this point, especially after your reply. I would have never
spent all of that time detailing everything in my initial
e-mail if I knew I was just going to be thrown a phone number
response. Why can't you just answer our concerns? Is it because
Nintendo doesn't have any good answers?
By the way, I have since deleted "Super
Mario Bros. 2" from my son's Wii. No more Mario games
will be coming into this house. The only "Wii time"
he'll be having from now on will be in the bathroom.
