Deep Silver Apologizes for Mutilated Dead Island Torso

[Harker067]

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

You're welcome. Thanks for ignoring almost my entire post and quoting out of context while trying to relate it to something irrelevant to the specific post. Yeah, the sarcastic way you did it was also very conducive to the discussion. I really feel like responding in a dignified manner when you're being such a great debater.

Also, I said they're different, not that they're mutually exclusive. There's a difference.

But since you crave attention, I'll give you a bit of validation.

Your second example is, in my opinion, sexist because of the context. Even that one caters to women though.
And the only reason I think it's sexist is because it holds ridiculous standards to how a woman should look, and only because it specifically says it on the ad, not because of the picture.

In conclusion, sexualization can be used in a sexist way.

However, it's not an intentionally sexist statement meant to hurt anyone, belittle anyone or intimidate anyone, even though it plays on a target audience. This is what we call being innocent, but misguided, or more appropriately, cheeky fuckers who think they're funny.

Intent isn't magic.You can do something hurtful just as much by innaction as you can with intent. If we have a movie where, the black character dies first, or the hero meets a black person that explains how to defeat the villian neither of these things is racist. What is racist is the number of times these plot points get used. Same idea with parts of women being used to advertise things. The act itself isn't so much the problem as the frequency it is used in our advertising/marketting of which this statuette is a part of.

Instead of say a main character (even though they've all been unlikeable IMO) or one of the enemies we have a statuette that's a mix of violent and sexual imagery including the use of a fragment of a woman in a generally dehumanizing (and you know sexist) way. There's say no sense that this was part of a human that had a life that is now gone, there is no sense of the loss, or tragedy it presents. Nope its just sexy bikini torso covered in signs of violence. I guess to give it some credit this is a chunk of what the game itself plays off of. The violence of a zombie apocalypse with the titillation of a beach resort. Probably can't expect likable characters, or any of the emotionally impactful elements that say the trailer for the first game showed which never materialized in the final product.

So I guess I have to actually disagree with whoever said this is out of tone for the game. This is probably truth in advertising for the level of depth and maturity we can expect in the game. Not that everything has to be deep or mature but that doesn't somehow exempt it from criticism.

The bust doesn't even do that, to anyone, so it's even less of an example, than what you linked.
Chances are, they lose money on the CE, but the publicity that people are giving them, will probably increase sales.
The solution here, is not to stop sexualization, it's to heighten peoples standards so they stop giving obvious stunts so much attention.

Or the solution could be explaining to marketing departments why people dislike their idea so that they can make a better marketing plan. Your essentially saying the plan was lets piss of a bunch of people interested in the game and hope their reaction swings more people to buy our product. That sounds like a pretty bad plan compared to lets get people interested in our game excited about it so they spread the word to others.

I honestly believe that most people on these forums who are bothered by these "sexist commercials" most likely haven't even been with a woman and need to whiteknight in a futile attempt to get some cheap sympathy points. Once you're through puberty and all those awkward phases you realize pretty soon that while female bodies are great, it's not like finding El Dorado.

Is there a similar idea for racism? If I point out something is racist is the first assumption that I don't really know any (members of demographic X) and I'm just trying to win points with them? It couldn't possibly be that this is something I in fact think for its own sake no it has to be some ulterior motive to get women interested in me.

I doubt even my most hardcore feminazi friends would take any offense of ANY of your crappy examples. It's not that I picked the weakest, it's that your whole post is a joke and you failed to realize it.

If you'd bother posting like a decent person, maybe I wouldn't have picked your post apart.

I'm sure those friends love being compared to Nazis. One of them can explain to you whats wrong there. Now I'll admit not my most effortful post but in my defense it was 1am and I'd spent most of the evening breaking down 3 videos and discussing their flaws so you got a short changed, sorry. Hopefully this makes up for it.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

I think it's pretty stupid and gross, would not buy.
Also, the tits look terrible!

Still, they probably just did this to get attention for the game.

Mission successful on the attention grab, then. Sex sells and it's an undeniable fact of life; Deep Silver just capitalized on it.

As for the tits, I must agree. Only real ones perk my interest.

OT: I would like to pull a Susan Arendt, but in a more specific direction: How many women are going to buy this? Like Susan, I'm curious to know this answer.

When purchasing games, I take into account what the publisher and developer history has been towards its customers. Anyone familiar with the "coding incident" surrounding their previous game will know the reason that I won't purchase any of their games. This latest bit is just more of the same stupidity that I've come to expect from this company.

 

[mad825]

It's sad, it's stupid but ffs just move-on with you miserable lives.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Probably one of those "this seemed like a good idea at the time" things. I don't see much wrong with it, but it isn't something I'd want sitting on my desk or anything.

 

[Milanezi]

At least they were fast in their response, I hope they change the collectible now (if they still have the time even), it could be a zombie head, or a miniaturized part of the alien with, I dunno, bathing clothes all around the bloody sands...

 

[rbstewart7263]

Is anyone seriously offended? Seriously like doesnt anyone ever look at themeselves after letting something like this bother them and think about what they let get to them and wonder" Did I seriously just let a little statue of a dismembered woman offend me because of TEH SEXISTZ"

 

[rbstewart7263]

Ok, I shouldn't have said "can't", rather "don't". It's not the point of the game, any more than filling a room with cheese is the point of Skyrim, although you can do that if you want. Spinning this as "oh, hey, this how people play Dead Island" is a transparent attempt to deflect this clearly bad decision. If they want to apologize, then apologize. And if they don't, then don't. This mewling middle ground is just gross.

I agree with you. It does stink of them trying to shift the blame for something they had the full intent of selling to people as they'd rather not shoulder it themselves for the frankly terrible decision they made. Though I doubt a proper apology for their statement as well as the model won't be quite as forthcoming.

On a separate note, filling rooms with cheese in Skyrim is 10x more fun than playing five minutes of Dead Island. I fully understand why the original wasn't successful after playing it for a couple of days at the beginning of the year. I doubt I've got those brain cells back yet...

You know, I think that's why I'm as upset as I am. I really, really enjoyed the first Dead Island. I'm quite looking forward to the second one. But between this and the "feminist whore" business from the last game...I'm just really wondering how I'm supposed to feel about the folks making these games.

Wait, that stupid file-name game was Dead Island?

Well that puts the whole woman's torso model in a slightly more disturbing light.

I agree Id rather they be sincere or tell people to "deal with it" We have alot of mewling submissive apologies from our devs and pubs and Its actually embarrassing.

 

[PirateRose]

Does anyone know how undead women keep their breasts so plump, perfectly shaped, and intact? Why would they even care? They don't want a man for sex, they want a man for his tasty brains.

 

[Quadocky]

*sits firmly upon his moral high horse*
*the horse judges you with a look of bald contempt*

I'd pity those who do not understand why this thing is awful.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Except they're not sorry in the slightest since this was a conscious thought out decision. Way to be spineless Deep Silver, don't stand behind your product at all.

 

[Quadocky]

If it was a hacked-up torso of a man we would've seen maybe 1/10th of the current "outrage" over this.

Oh come off it. You know very well it would have NEVER BEEN a hacked up torso of a man.

 

[Panorama]

I think it's pretty stupid and gross, would not buy.
Also, the tits look terrible!

Still, they probably just did this to get attention for the game.

Yeah, very simple this was a publicity stunt, plain and simple.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Oh come off it. You know very well it would have NEVER BEEN a hacked up torso of a man.

I don't see why not...? I hack n' slash through heaps of torso's of my fellow man all the time in games.

Shock value aside, the product was aimed at the overwhelmingly male playerbase (like every hardcore title) and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[Sansha]

I don't see how this has warranted the amount of uproar that it has. In fact I hope they still ship with it because I'd like one.

 

[MetalMagpie]

"For the limited run of the Zombie Bait Edition for Europe and Australia, a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island."

Except you can't actually do that in Dead Island, you sleazy hack. Don't try and spin this like it was some kind of playful homage to the gameplay.

It's a horror game, so they're shipping a horrific stature with it. I'm not really sure what the controversy here is. Are people just upset because it has boobs? The fact that it's a dismembered torso can't possibly be enough to earn it an eyebrow raise on its own. Not when you can buy any number of model corpses and limbs from costume and horror memorabilia shops.

I actually quite like it as a design. It's a fun mix of cheesecake and B-movie horror. It reminds me a lot of the poster for Pirana 3D [http://www.entertainmentfilms.co.uk/files/images/Piranha%203D%20-%20FINAL.jpg].

I still wouldn't want one in my house, because catching a glimpse of it late at night after a few drinks does not seem like fun!

 

[Dollabillyall]

Instant collectors item.

 

[MetalMagpie]

And yes, some zombies were in bikinis and cargo shorts and other vacation gear, but they still looked like decaying corpses. This is the healthiest looking zombie ever...well, except for being, you know, headless.

And 2 ribs that you can visibly see on the torso's right side. This took me about a day to notice btw(looks at first glance as part of the bikini).

Oh. Was that the reason it took you a day to notice the ribs?

I think it's pretty stupid and gross, would not buy.
Also, the tits look terrible!

Still, they probably just did this to get attention for the game.

They absolutely did this to get attention for the game. I'm assuming people still remember the cinematic trailer for the first Dead Island.

And for what it's worth, I have absolutely no problem with those tits. They look very fake, but hey, it's the modern age.

 

[D Moness]

Oh. Was that the reason it took you a day to notice the ribs?

Silly enough lack of glasses when looking at the picture. When not really focussing on it it just looks like some bit of the top is hanging loose.
Also it wasn't the boobs, i prefer them looking less big and fake.

edit : lost the ability to quote correctly

 

[MetalMagpie]

Oh. Was that the reason it took you a day to notice the ribs?

Silly enough lack of glasses when looking at the picture. When not really focussing on it it just looks like some bit of the top is hanging loose.
Also it wasn't the boobs, i prefer them looking less big and fake.

I kid, I kid. I actually made the same mistake on first glance.

1st thought: Is that a dismembered torso in a bikini?
2nd thought: They've really painted in the shadows around her boobs.
3rd thought: Wait, are those her ribs?

I swear there's a joke to be made here about women not being attractive if you can see their ribs.

 

[Flippincrazy]

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.

Personally, I don't find the issue of gender an issue here. In fact, I'd probably be more inclined to buy it if it was a male zombie torso - I somehow imagine it'd take less explaining to anyone who stumbles across it, and people would probably judge me slightly less gravely, as indicated by the outrage the female model has caused.

That said, as someone who put an unhealthy amount of time into this game, and enjoyed it hugely, the model being female and dismembered probably provides a more accurate representation of the game itself. The whole being mauled by bikini-clad and arguably sexualised female zombies was a dominant feature of the gameplay, and the accuracy of dismemberment was one of the key features of the game that they emphasized on their website during the build-up to the game's release.

What matters to me is what was going through the developer's head when they created this.

The cynical part of me thinks this is some sort of advertising ploy, as anyone intelligent enough to be trusted with the creation and release of this Collector's Edition would have some understanding of the outcry it would create. The hopeful, perhaps naive, part of me thinks this could just be a deliberate and self-aware joke about the game and its core content. I simply do not think they would be silly enough to follow the reasoning 'Hur hur, zombie tits will totally sell to our target audience'.

Overall however, I think that this model was just a lighthearted representation of their game with slight ulterior motives of drawing attention to their game that got out-of-hand.

When it comes down to it, Dead Island was a ridiculous game that shouldn't be taken seriously at all, it takes all the B-Movie zombie flick cliches and builds an enjoyable game out of them depending on your tastes - the model should be looked at it in the same light.

...Evidently, this won't happen.