Duke Nukem Forever Multiplayer Exchanges Flags for "Babes"

[ShadowKirby]

What bothers me in particular is the 'Carte Blanche' factor.

Whenever people object to the gross chauvinism inherent to Duke Nukem's identity, they're met with 'Oh, you just don't understand Duke and the Duke universe. It's not offensive, it's funny'. This is exactly the problem. Sometimes, it just stops being funny. Sometimes, it just stops being satire and starts being openly awful. How much can a game/movie/series whatever get away with based solely on the 'Oh, it's just a laugh' factor?

I'm not trying to suggest there's some sort of anti-feminist, pro chauvinist conspiracy going on here. I just think that stuff like Duke Nukem shouldn't be allowed to get away with progressively more insulting themes just because it appeals to a fourteen-year old mentality that will shortly start wondering why it has such trouble attracting girls.

Stereotypes are used so often in comedy because they're funny. I'm sure there aren't any ridiculous pro-chauvanist, anti-feminism freaks at Gearbox, but Duke's a funny character because of how ridiculously, unrealistically chauvanist HE is.
It's ludicrous, it's surreal, it's everything good comedy is built on. A badass chauvanist chomping on a cigar kicking alien Pigcops in the face with his boot. Come the fuck on... Be serious, you're extracting issues about morality and taste from this? I hope to God you've never seen a Troma movie... You'd have a field day with them.

Look at it this way; it's like that uncle who always makes racists joke. Those are only jokes, he doesn't really mean it, right? At some point, you start to wonder if he actually means what he says.

 

[acer840]

For the love of all that is gaming, I really hope this gets past the Australian classification board. Please, Australian OFLC, let us have this one?

It already got past, believe it or not. Unscathed. After reading about this, I'm particularly amazed.

Pick it up before the media shit storm and the eventual banning.

Maybe some of the folks at the OFLC played the original Duke 3D? But that's some good news, and I will have to buy it the day it comes out before inevitable shitstorm of angry Duke haters. And Fox News.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

I would so love if the actual release version of Duke Nukem turned out kinda like Yahtzee said and had some sort of deep involving personal campaign where it showed exactly why Duke Nukem was such a misogynist, and delved deeply into a troubled family history etc.

I know it won't, but it would be the greatest gag ever.

Someone once told me that Captcha can apparently be fooled if you only type in the word which is a real word. This doesn't help when not only only are neither of the words real words, but both of them utilise characters from the Arabic alphabet. FUCK CAPTCHA

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

There is no such thing as going too far.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Wait people think that the game developers are stooping this low to generate controversy?

I thought Duke was ALWAYS about this sort of stuff 0.o

It was. And it sounds pretty damn hilarious. People who whine about this shit just don't understand the concept of satire.

There is a quote by Roger Ebert that has relevance here:

"I may disapprove of a movie for going too far, and yet have a sneaky regard for a movie that goes much, much farther than merely too far."

This game mode isn't simply offensive, it is so offensive it becomes inoffensive and to some folk, flat out funny. Kind of like Bayonetta actually, one my favourite games. I look forward to partying with the Duke and his posse in the multiplayer.

 

[ShadowKirby]

I get it's all a big joke, but even I think "reassuring slap" is going too far

Why? ANSWER ME!
How is this going too far? It's a game.
Duke's model will slap the babe's model, probably followed by some voice acting for the babe by a woman who I'm fairly sure was paid a fair wage for her work.
I'll even go as far as to say this voice actress was probably treated with respect by her coworkers, and was not slapped once during any of the recording sessions.

What will happen next is I will chuckle at this action, and go on with bringing the babe back to my base while firing missiles/bullets/shrinkrays at other human models running around.
But that doesn't go too far does it? No, murder is fine and dandy, but whatever you do, don't make a silly joke!
Go preach somewhere else, I have no need of your self righteous babble.

Going by your logic hundreds of years of cinema and literature means nothing because they were only books and movies?
Someone never heard of representations and what is their power. Things mean stuff whether you want it or not.

 

[Boba Frag]

I look forward to being simultaneously offended and entertained by this soon.

If anything, it gives a unique insight on Duke's ways with women

The timing of this is pretty funny, actually. Same week as the PAX panel on female character design posts...

I don't find real world chauvinism in any way amusing or acceptable. However, seeing as how this is a game poking fun, I hope it's done in such an over the top, in your face style that you can't help but laugh.

Hail to the King, baby.

 

[SlugLady28]

I'm a girl, and a bit of a feminist. How messed up is it that I want to play this?

Wanna date? I mean multiplayer?

Sorry, I'm not much for long distance relationships XD

I know, it doesn't make it less offensive, but the Overly Long Gag [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OverlyLongGag] is the essence of what Duke is. Taking him as anything more than a running joke means you're doing it wrong, very, very wrong!

When the protesters start inevitably flipping out, I look forward to shouting "you're doing it wrong!"

But really, I've heard about the other "surprises" in this game. When the media blows this up, it'll take a half an hour just to list everything they find offensive XD I look forward to watching the hilarity.

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

Oh crap, I can just see Fox News chewing them up over this, but hey that's part of the fun

But... Doesn't Fox News want to return to the 50's with women barefoot and pregnant, fixing dinner in the kitchen and doing laundry? They should be all for this game!

 

[ShadowKirby]

Going by your logic hundreds of years of cinema and literature means nothing because they were only books and movies?
Someone never heard of representations and what is their power. Things mean stuff whether you want it or not.

You are wrong. This does mean nothing, because it is a silly joke in a video game that amounts to little more than a prolonged silly joke.
Or I suppose The Nutty Professor was a deep, profound insight into the everyday reality of being fat?
Indepedence Day was a heartfelt exploration of what combat does to the psyche?
The Expendables gave us a heartwrenching glimpse of the trials and tribulations of... I can't even complete the goddamn sentence because that movie meant NOTHING.
I could go on you know.
Point is, you are wrong. It is perfectly possible to have a fictional character perform an action without it having to mean anything.

No, if the creator is having his character perform an action, there is always intent and meaning. In any creative work, things exist for a reason. It doesn't need to be deep or philosophically meaningful but there is always a reason behind the actions, a certain meaning, however shallow it can be.

Independence Day wasn't a heartfelt exploration of what combat does to the psyche. But whatever actions characters took or whatever events happened had an implication, a reason to be, whether to push the plot forward, or serve the bigger story. Sometimes they meant something beyond the scope of the plot. One cannot ignore the overly patriotic tone of the movie or the represented will to sacrifice one's life to serve a greater good. If you really think a movie means nothing (yeah, even the Expendables mean something if you look into it), then you didn't think hard enough.

Likewise, the actions Duke takes are put there with an intent by the creator. They mean something, whether the developers meant it or not. Sure, the intent is to serve the comedy or the satire, but when put in a greater sociological context, especially when you think at how women are represented in games ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108442-UPDATE-Video-of-Females-on-Female-Characters-Panel ) or how they are treated online ( http://gambit.mit.edu/updates/2011/03/hate_speech_in_game_communitie.php ), you have to think about the implications of taking a woman over your shoulder and slapping her on the ass to calm her down.

Sure, maybe this is how things roll in the Duke universe, but the game does not exist in a void (no human creation does) and it is affecting and is affected by the world around around it. You cannot decide to cut yourself from society and some of its norms and live in an empty and unrelated space.

 

[ShadowKirby]

Pseudo-intellectual rant removed for brevity.
...you have to think about the implications of taking a woman over your shoulder and slapping her on the ass to calm her down.
More amateur sociology removed for brevity.

No, YOU have to think about the implications of taking a woman over your shoulder and slapping her on the ass to calm her down. I don't, because I don't overthink everything.
I take the joke for what it is, a joke, you look for meaning where there is none to be found.
But if I must indulge you, the "meaning" of this action is that someone thought it would be funny, he pitched the idea to his coworkers and they agreed that it would probably make the target audience chuckle. Mystery solved.
If you want to go on believing that there's a deeper meaning to this game, or even more preposterously to The Goddamn Expendables (I liked the movie, but there is no meaning to be had that's worth having), be my guest, I've got better things to do with my time than analyze mindless entertainment for world shattering insights.

1)That's not "meaning", that's your interpretation of what happened behind the the creation of this mechanic, not a perceived meaning within the narrative or the gameplay.

2)If you don't want to think about stuff, that's your problem buddy. But don't ***** about the fact that I take the higher road and decide to do some critical thinking about the media I consume.
Also, what you call pseudo-intellectual rant and amateur sociology is just some of the basic stuff you learn in media communications and cinema theories classes at university.

 

[hazabaza1]

Every announcement I get for this game kills my interest for it a little bit more.

 

[Danpascooch]

I get it's all a big joke, but even I think "reassuring slap" is going too far

Why? ANSWER ME!
How is this going too far? It's a game.
Duke's model will slap the babe's model, probably followed by some voice acting for the babe by a woman who I'm fairly sure was paid a fair wage for her work.
I'll even go as far as to say this voice actress was probably treated with respect by her coworkers, and was not slapped once during any of the recording sessions.

What will happen next is I will chuckle at this action, and go on with bringing the babe back to my base while firing missiles/bullets/shrinkrays at other human models running around.
But that doesn't go too far does it? No, murder is fine and dandy, but whatever you do, don't make a silly joke!
Go preach somewhere else, I have no need of your self righteous babble.

You can't possibly be serious, I didn't freak out, I didn't scream profanities, I admitted it's all a joke, and you're still attacking me like this? Anger issues much?

I think a game about capturing women isn't too far for Duke Nukem, but I do think slapping them is, it's just not cool to do. If the "slap" ends up not being abusive, or is like a pat on the cheek, then it's the articles fault for calling it a slap.

The murder is obviously stupid, you're killing a bunch of pig men with ridiculous weapons, but slapping some woman that you captured has a grounding in reality, that's why it's worse. I'm not standing on a soapbox here, I'm not freaking out (that's you), nor do I think this should prevent anyone from buying the game, I simply think that they went a bit too far, and calmly voiced that opinion.

So in short, chill the fuck out.

 

[Danpascooch]

Wait people think that the game developers are stooping this low to generate controversy?

I thought Duke was ALWAYS about this sort of stuff 0.o

It was. And it sounds pretty damn hilarious. People who whine about this shit just don't understand the concept of satire.

I think "capture the babe" sounds hilarious, because it's so ridiculous, I just don't see how slapping them enhances the game mode or makes it funnier, I just think it's a bit over the line.

 

[mokmoof]

Every announcement I get for this game kills my interest for it a little bit more.

Yeah, it does seem a bit like we're all feeding the trolls here, with Gearbox being the trolls. They're getting free publicity for what looks more and more like a thoroughly phoned-in game.

As for the mechanic itself, it's a classic problem: the line between legitimate satire and the thing being satirized is often a very blurry one. Is Duke Nukem meant to be a satire of chauvinism and adolescent titillation? Absolutely. But will most people play it for the chauvinism and adolescent titillation rather than the satire? Again, absolutely.

And I think it's fair for people who play games to look at Duke Nukem Forever and think, "Hm, this seems to be reinforcing every negative stereotype about games and gamers, and it doesn't seem to be doing so for any particularly compelling reason. That's lame."

It's obnoxious to play into the worst parts of the dominant culture (misogyny, ultraviolence, et al) and expect to be called BRAVE or BALLSY or EXTREME for doing so. That takes no bravery or creativity. It's the safest, least purposeful thing imaginable.