CNA can’t differentiate between Maple and Prototype

Update: Channel NewsAsia has changed the photo from one of Prototype to MapleStory. You can still see a screenshot of the original post attached to this entry.

Yet another gaffe from the mainstream media: Channel NewsAsia can’t tell the difference between Maple Story, a 2D side-scrolling MMORPG, from Prototype, a 3D third-person shooter.

The channelnewsasia.com news post (“Sale of illegal virtual currencies cause 1,000 Maple Story accounts to be frozen“, 26 October) reports that 1,000 Maple Story accounts were banned for participating in real money trade (RMT), the practice of selling virtual currency for real cash.

It’s really funny that Prototype should be shown in the news photo, not only because it is NOT the game described in the article, but also because there’s nothing to trade in Prototype! Perhaps this reveals the mainstream media’s attitude towards gaming: that every game is the same and that they’re all bad.

There was also another issue, but one that is not strictly Channel NewsAsia’s fault. Google Ads are generated based on the content of the page on which they are displayed. Still, it was rather ironic to have meso (the Maple Story in-game currency) selling services being advertised at the bottom of the article…

I’ve attached the full screenshots of the page in question below, for reference.

What do you think of the mainstream media’s portrayal of gaming? Has it been good, or is there a very slight and subtle negative and cynical tone to it?

Thanks to the oRangeoRange folks for pointing this out to GameSync.net!