Deep Silver Apologizes for Mutilated Dead Island Torso

[Snownine]

Considering this comes with a gory zombie game I don't see the problem. "It's ok in the game but as soon as you make it out of plastic you have crossed the line!" People are fucking prudes.

 

[CaptainChip]

I swear, I had no idea sexualization even figured into it, which makes me even more sad for the people offended by this; Obviously they can't help but see it as a sex-symbol as well as a gruesome murder piece that people make it out to be.

Frankly, it's hilarious, borderline insane even.

You may not have hope me in, but dude, you freak me out way more if you give it that much attention.

Dude, it's in a skimpy bikini for no other adequate reason.

What do you THINK they were going for?

The game takes place at a tropical island...

Where people usually wear bikini's and swimsuits...

 

[Baresark]

Not getting this. What's wrong with it?

There is nothing wrong with the piece, the thing that is wrong is people. The sensitive sensitive internet got all up in a tizzy about nothing at all. Just like it usually does.

I think I might have completely 100% misunderstood.

I thought Riptide was released recently, and the zombie torso pre-order bonus was defective or something. It's a controversy about the fact that it's a female torso.
Still not getting it, really. You wouldn't buy it for some sexual thrill, unless you have some major zombie/mutilation fetish issues, so I'm not really with the objectification argument in this case.
Did they make it big zombie tits because they think it'll sell more to males? If so, I sorta see how that is

Frankly, I don't find it offensive, I just think it's kinda shit. Make it a head, surely?

Haha, no it's not out yet. They put the preorder out there, then the entire internet blew up whining about it. It's ugly and useless, but people were calling misogynistic (because they don't really know what the word means) and sexualized (which only stands if you look at the breasts and ignore the removed head and arms and blood and bite marks). I got a good laugh out of that one.

 

[Darks63]

Really a severed zombie head would have been better as a figurine or one of the characters from the game or a palm tree with a hanging zed like in the game this was just stupid and thier backpedaling after less than a day really is just sad.

 

[Abomination]

I remember playing Dead Island.

I remember there being bikini clad zombies that I was attacked by.

I remember defending myself and somehow managing to cut off said zombie's arms - and she still kept coming.

I remember cutting off her head to finish her off..

I remember ending up with a bikini clad armless, headless zombie corpse in front of me.

I saw this collectors item and thought "Huh, that reminds me of that time I played Dead Island."

This isn't sexist, it's the remains of a zombie that was hacked to death. The zombie happened to be created from a woman who was attending a beach and wearing a Union Jack bikini.

 

[Harker067]

The bigger issue here is you putting so much value on a clear marketing stunt and calling it sexism.
Did you know that it's hardly thirty years ago that we used bare breasts in advertisement for things like stereos?
I mean, this is a covered body. Granted, it's a bikini, but it's not a billboard of topless women overlooking central square.

Jesus christ man, do you even know what sexism IS?

I know right. It's not like there's this big recurring theme of using parts of women often missing a the tops of their head if not being headless all together. With what ever is showing in sexualised clothing and positions to sell often completely unrelated products.
http://thegrandnarrative.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/mercedes-benz-8-breasts-airbags-sexist-advertisement.jpg
http://dlpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/keep-australia.jpg
http://gaia.adage.com/images/random/breastad_big.jpg
http://files.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_578/5788055/file/veet-hair-removal-bikini-kit-palm-tree-small-70733.jpg
http://metronewsca.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/a023cace459698d87a0e318fd3b1.jpg?w=618&h=403&crop=1

 

[Bostur]

I think the most disgusting thing about this ordeal is that they are so quick at issuing an apology. Grow some balls gaming industry and follow through on your ideas.

 

[Harker067]

I know right. It's not like there's this big recurring theme of using parts of women often missing a the tops of their head if not being headless all together. With what ever is showing in sexualised clothing and positions to sell often completely unrelated products.
http://thegrandnarrative.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/mercedes-benz-8-breasts-airbags-sexist-advertisement.jpg
http://dlpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/keep-australia.jpg
http://gaia.adage.com/images/random/breastad_big.jpg
http://files.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_578/5788055/file/veet-hair-removal-bikini-kit-palm-tree-small-70733.jpg
http://metronewsca.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/a023cace459698d87a0e318fd3b1.jpg?w=618&h=403&crop=1

I'm sure that men will flock to the stores and get a Veet Hair Removal Bikini Kit after seeing how hairless and good you'd look in a bikini bottom.

Oh, by the way, there's a difference between sexualization and sexism.

Thank you for picking out one example you find the weakest and ignoring all the others.

There is also a difference between red and blue but something can still be both red and blue. You fail at logic.
http://www.upscalehype.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Jamie-Foxx-Louis-Vuitton-ss2012-red-blue-damier-print-check-plaid-button-down-shirt-upscalehype-1.jpg

 

[MrHero17]

It doesn't seem like that great of a statue but other than that, what's the issue here? Why is this statue thing bad? Is it just bad taste cause it's violent and has tits?

 

[AlbertoDeSanta]

I think what could balance this out, is having a Male Variant. Wearing a torn shirt (or no shirt, either way) but still being a Zombie. There wouldn't have been so much sexism percieved if that was the case. My opinion on the statue:
It's ugly, and it does have sexist connotations, I wouldn't buy it.

 

[Lady Larunai]

Its a zombie game, i dont see the issue, you are buying a game about death and killing but cant handle a dismembered statue? Its ok to sell statues of demons raping women yet this is too far?

 

[Strazdas]

wait thier include a real mutilated torso statue?
now i want one...

 

[Xan Krieger]

Is it wrong I think the torso is cute and I want one?
I don't really see a problem with it except maybe people in Britain might get upset that their flag is a bikini.

People from Britain wear union jack bikinis...

Well then I can't see any problem with it. It's a cute torso that fits the theme perfectly.

Imagine it's a dude's disembodied, mutilated, junk. With hips, maybe, but it's clearly showcasing the junk. Let's say it has an erection. Overtly erotic.

Now imagine a girl saying "That's cute and I want one." Imagine the sort of girl who spends money on a gore-spattered wang and then puts it on display.

Are you starting to see the issue here? Are you starting to see how being okay with something like this is kind of implicitly demeaning and threatening to women? Do you understand how girls might not be comfortable with you thinking that?

I swear to God, I know the Escapist is sort of a hotbed of naivete, but the total lack of understanding in this thread of the realities of sexism is giving me chills.

Let's say it is a dude in a speedo, I'm not sexually attracted to that but I wouldn't call it sexist. To me this is just a cute female torso and since I think the product is targeting men I'd say it's perfect. If they were targeting women I'm sure they'd create the male version with a union jack speedo and badly ripped t-shirt.

 

[Slayer_2]

Sometimes I wonder if I don't offended enough. I saw this and thought, "oh yeah, a torso because, y'know, zombies." And then I moved on.

No, bad, be offended! How dare they! The bad taste... people these days don't get offended easily enough!

Seriously though, a silly idea from a studio that took one of the most promising games of.. what was it, 2011? And provided me with something mediocre. Not bad, not great, but could have been.

 

[Arakasi]

If you're going to mutilate a torso, at least stand by that torso.

It may be tasteless (in my opinion) but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that statue, if you're the kind of person who would like one. I'm sick of people backing down, fucking stand by your product you cowards.

 

[nodlimax]

Am I the only one that isn't offended in the slightest bit by this? I actually think this is ok for a ZOMBIE game in which you can cut up the zombies pretty bad.

I wouldn't let kids see something like this, but otherwise I'm not bothered by this.

I think people should chill more...

 

[Smeggs]

I get the feeling if it had a head and was a zombie there wouldn't have been much fuss.

as it stands with the statue, though, it's a violently mutilated woman's corpse. What a stupid fucking idea for a marketing ploy.

 

[mooncalf]

I think their 'Zombie Bait' is a confrontingly stark distillation of Violence and Sex that says "You're the zombie, this is what you look for in a game."

It credits the community to have flamed it down so righteously, I also think there's probably some clever sod at Deep Silver laughing their ass off right now because they knew precisely what they were doing. It's probably the first and foremost epic troll of 2013.

I wholeheartedly agree that this should not be a collectable in a videogame special edition. I think the original belongs in an art gallery.

It is grotesque, polarising, it forces you to think, it reminds us of everything we've debated about sex, women and violence in videogames so vhemenently since 2012 and before.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Ok, I have a question for you folks:

Would you buy this? And if so, would you still buy it if it were a male torso?

I'm not judging anyone, I'm genuinely curious.

Nope it's kind of gross I think it would disturb me just as much if it was some guys sexy abs.

But to be honest the fact that a sexualised dismembered woman is their idea of an ideal collectible offends me a bit. If the torso had been a female and not so 'sexy' I wouldn't have had a problem with it. It's similar to the Hitman trailer violence against women...okay fine....but violence that is sexed up for titillation...leaves me with a kind of queasy feeling.

On a lighter note I like to think this was the same guy who did the coding gaff and he was given a second chance in marketing

 

[_tinned_magpie_]

Ok, I have a question for you folks:

Would you buy this? And if so, would you still buy it if it were a male torso?

I'm not judging anyone, I'm genuinely curious.

Not a chance in hell either way. I mean, yes it's sexist and immature and I'm rolling my eyes at the bikini (could any woman feasibly wear that? Seriously?), but can you imagine trying to explain that thing to your average person? I'm not offended, I just don't see people believing I'm sane after they've seen a gore-spattered torso sitting on my bookshelf. That's the sort of thing they'd bring up in your personality profile after the murders begin.