POSTAL VIDEO GAME'S VIOLENCE HAS SOME MAIL CARRIERS UP IN ARMS.

Byline: Mike Recht Associated Press 

Remember the joke about ``going postal''?

Now there's a new computer game called Postal, and players score when the man with the automatic rifle or the flamethrower - take your pick - mows down as many small-town residents and police officers as possible.

``Sure, senseless violence is fun. But it's even more fun when it's directed at marching bands,'' says one computer magazine quoted on the cover.

But some real-life postal workers aren't laughing. Especially after a post office worker in Miami Beach, Fla., shot his ex-wife and her friend, then killed himself earlier this month.

``We're pretty outraged over this whole thing. To depict postal workers as violent terrorist employees is unfair,'' said Ken Kelble, president of the largest New Hampshire local of the American Postal Workers Union.

``We've been taking a hit for a long time. We're pretty fed up. There's a movement nationally to boycott this video game,'' he said.

``Going postal'' became a catchword for violence several years ago after postal employees with personal vendettas shot up their post offices, sometimes killing fellow workers.

However, the designer and the producer of the new game insist Postal was not intended to harm postal workers.

``It has nothing to do with the post office; there are no postal workers, no post offices, no references, other than the title, to anything like that,'' said Mark Shander, spokesman for Ripcord Games.

The opening scene of the game depicts a lone gunman out in front of a house in what looks like a dismal, wintry New England town. If he kills all the lawmen near the house, he can move on to higher levels: a parade, a trailer park, the city, even an Air Force base.

Amid sounds of gunfire, innocent civilians fall and scream, ``I can't breathe'' and ``He's going postal!'' Bodies and blood are everywhere. The game is rated M for mature players, age 17 and up.

``We didn't design this with the Post Office in mind,'' said Vince Desi of Riedel Software, the designer. ``We never thought of it that way. Four or five of us have relatives who work in the post office. We gets tons of e-mail from postal workers . . . who love it.''

At least one Miami mail carrier found it a humorous joke.

``If it sells, great,'' said the man, who did not want his name used. ``What are they shooting? Supervisors or what? If they're shooting supervisors, I might buy it.''

Shander said a demo of the game has been on the Internet all summer and the response has been tremendous. It went on sale last week for $54.99 featuring a cover with three fake bullet holes.

``I think it sounds neat,'' said Joe Messineo, 28, of Concord, who was browsing in a computer store. ``I'd probably buy it if I saw it'' - even though he thinks it sounds a bit tame compared to other games on the market.

But he can see why some people think it's offensive.