going postal

Back in 1997 the United States Postal Service decided to sue Running With Scissors, the developers responsible for Postal. I only played that game a couple of times, and it was disturbing, but it had nothing to do with being a mail carrier chased around by rabid dogs or undersexed housewives. It just involved you walking around a fictional city taking the lives of innocent people with a bunch of heavy machine guns. Pretty straightforward, as ultra-violent games go. Eager to capitilize on the original's success, Postal 2 came out this year, to lukewarm reviews . I never played it but I'm sure it's entertaining for about five minutes, after the game's gimmick wears off or when Gary Coleman makes his appearance. It appears that the USPS lost their case, and rightly so. After all, if one of your employees decides to open fire one day on a post office full of innocent civilians for no particular reason, why shouldn't someone make a game of it? "Going Postal" has even become part of the modern lexicon, so technically the subject matter is public domain.