Excuse-O-Rama

[Kohen Keesing]

Man, racism feels like it's losing all it's meaning at this point.

Almost all social activism has lost meaning. When people being paid to speak in front of crowds are telling you that "Everything is racist, everything is sexist", then it's already lost all meaning because it's impossible to tell for sure if the speakers are genuine or if they're sensationalizing for profit.

Those words in themselves are fairly meaningless though. Racism and Sexism by definition only mean "distinction based on race/sex" - and distinction in and of itself isn't bad, you want to distinguish between a person and a dog without that being 'species-est' - but their meaning has been changed to be "offensive material or speech based on race/sex".

Their etymology aside, things like racism have become meaningless anyway because they're open to every individual's interpretation. Calling an asian person a "ninja" might be seen as racist, but someone who is actually Chinese might think being called 'ninja' is actually hilarious.

 

[The Wooster]

If a character is sexist, that's because the writing is sexist. I'm not seeing how that's a controversial statement.

I agree. It's like, if a comic is bad, it's 'cus the creators a hack.

There are important, story-related reasons for our comics being bad. You will regret your words and deeds.

You shoot black zombies? Racist, regardless of the fact that you're in Africa, etc.

It wasn't about killing black people. It was about being in Africa and the last half of the game being about super fuckin tribal black people that live in huts and throw spears at your ass. The first level was fine. The later half was friggin awful.

Nah. The controversy was over the initial reveal trailer which took place in the opening segments of the game. Oddly enough the bits of the game that were actually racially insensitive as fuck (full blown unga bunga tribesmen throwing spears at people) didn't really cause that much of an issue.

I really hope the Japanese and Eastern Europeans continue to remain strong and never submit to the kind of cultural policing and prudish bullshit thinking the author of this article displays:

http://i.picpar.com/119b.gif

 

[Furnicula]

If you're going to make a game with politically-incorrect elements then you might as well double down and score some free publicity and the good will of those who will actually buy your game by antagonizing all of the usual suspects.

I've been actually buying Metal Gear game since Solid, and I think Quiet's design was shit on every conceivable level. Painting reasonable criticism as the rantings of radicals who don't play games is a very dishonest approach to the subject.

It's not like this is a baseless thing, a lot of the outrage locusts usually jump from outrage to outrage, even if they often couldn't give a damn or don't have any personal interest in said work or product if further questioned:

But the question itself is stupid. It's like asking why Michelangelo or Da Vinci painted and sculpted nude women as their work, or why most famous actors and actresses being cast for movies are almost all fit and attractive, other than if the role requires them not to be.

It's a stupid question, it's obvious that it is because they appreciate the form, if you want an answer to the question then go study aesthetics, sexual attraction, the vitruvian figure and golden ratio.

The question is better interpreted as "Aren't you ashamed of including (female) nudity and breasts in your work? You aren't making porn! This isn't "progressive"! Justify yourself!" and to that I say that if I can enjoy actual sex scenes in 45 minute episodes of many prime-time TV shows like Game of Thrones, Banshee, The Borgias, Marco Polo, Rome, Outlander, The Tudors, Spartacus, Da Vinci's Demons and so on I can enjoy some nudity or light sexual themes in 100-200 hour games like The Witcher 3, GTA or Metal Gear V. I just wish the goddamn prudes with their idiotic complaints would sod off already and go take a purity pledge or enjoy wholesome Christian art instead.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I can appreciate Kamitani's honesty, but it still seems a bit problematic to me.

I don't know - I never was part of the crowd who goes "Oh hey, a game with awesome mechanics also happens to include big-breasted women, and since I'm hetero, I'm totally down with this! Go bewbs!" whenever something like Phantom Pain or Senran Kagura shows up. I'm hetero and reasonably comfortable with my sexuality to understand that people have the right to like that stuff, but...

*insert cringing sounds* I just don't know. I prefer character development over boobies, intellectually engaging virtual females over ta-tas. I'm not Team Boobies, I'm Team Kate Walker, from Syberia. Considering Quiet, for instance, I would've loved for her to have actual dialog, for something that justifies the bond between her and Snake to organically develop through empathy we can see or exploit in the gameplay...

Nope, we didn't get that. We got a Buddy meter. Fill it enough, and she starts posing around when in the chopper. You get a dreamlike scene of her and Snake fooling around in some rainwater, which kind of denigrated her character and made her seem fairly immature. Then we get her one scene of unrelenting asskickery and the really forceful addition of implied rape - and that's pretty much it.

The Triple-A devs' integration of female characters: so close, and yet still so achingly far.

 

[Fox12]

So today I learned that there should never be an in-universe justification for anything people may not like.

Gotcha.

This is the same logic as "It doesn't matter if the character's written like this, they were made by a writer, and therefor it's _____ist".

No, they're just saying the explanations shouldn't be so bad that they actively cause brain hemorrhaging. The above explanations made absolutely no sense in-universe, and the Metal Gear one could actually be considered a plot hole, sense there's a lack of internal logical consistency in the game. Just admit that your design choice was dumb. You know it. I know it. The creators know it. It's fine, just don't pretend like you're some grand artist(kojima) while including ludicrous content like that. Just do what Saints Row did. Own the stupidity.

OT: Bad character designs are bad character designs, and I'll still criticize it, but at least I can appreciate honesty. Although, I can't say I was impressed with the way he handled criticism. "You don't like my big breasted women? You're gay, lol."

 

[Rebel_Raven]

This comic was epic! And not just for the boobies! And I love boobies!
Lets not forget the developer of the Senran Kagura, and Valkyrie Drive series amongst the latter.
I don't mind fan service, infact, I like it more oft than not, but lets avoid blowing smoke up the ass, here. And can we not get stupid with the fan service? And, y'know, not let it get so invasive? I dunno, I guess I'm weird?

I'm no huge halo fan, but frankly I have no problem with Cortana.

Quiet? I like her, but the people saying she's sexualized has a point. When

Spoiler: Ocelot, Snake, or any other guy does this w/o modding the game, let me know. Not really a spoiler, but spoiler warning just in case.

<youtube=T-W8oeK5YVc>

 

[Zelderahn]

I can relate, personally draw a lot and my feminine figures tend to end up more exaggerated than not. Shapes interacting and gravity is just so much fun to render!

 

[Areloch]

So today I learned that there should never be an in-universe justification for anything people may not like.

Gotcha.

This is the same logic as "It doesn't matter if the character's written like this, they were made by a writer, and therefor it's _____ist".

No, they're just saying the explanations shouldn't be so bad that they actively cause brain hemorrhaging. The above explanations made absolutely no sense in-universe, and the Metal Gear one could actually be considered a plot hole, sense there's a lack of internal logical consistency in the game. Just admit that your design choice was dumb. You know it. I know it. The creators know it. It's fine, just don't pretend like you're some grand artist(kojima) while including ludicrous content like that. Just do what Saints Row did. Own the stupidity.

OT: Bad character designs are bad character designs, and I'll still criticize it, but at least I can appreciate honesty. Although, I can't say I was impressed with the way he handled criticism. "You don't like my big breasted women? You're gay, lol."

You don't like a character's story and think it's stupid? Cool. I don't mind it. Surprisingly, you not liking it doesn't inherently make you right.

Also, outside of jokey alternate cosmetic outfits, Quiet's treatment is pretty consistent in the game, actually. You'll have to explain why the explanation "made no sense in-universe".
I've been playing MGS since solid came out, and that's hardly the most absurd thing in the series. If anything could be considered a plot hole, it's the unneeded retconning of The Cobras to all coincidently have used the parasites for their powers.

 

[Erttheking]

Leave it to the Japanese to be blunt but refreshingly honest in comparison to the deceitful PR weasel word bullshit that companies have had to adopt in response to the advent of outrage culture.

...Uh...you do know that Quiet was designed by a Japanese company right?

If you're going to make a game with politically-incorrect elements then you might as well double down and score some free publicity and the good will of those who will actually buy your game by antagonizing all of the usual suspects. Kojima is effectively a troll. Furthermore his trolling seems to be working, if the comments in this thread are anything to go by.

I just pulled that completely out of my ass, but I do think that it's a more believable theory then anyone anywhere buying into that bullshit about Quiet needing to breath through her skin.

...Uh. Quiet does breath through her skin. that's the explanation given in game. A direct comparison was drawn between her and The End from MGS3

 

[Erttheking]

Every game? Ok. Please tell me when Halo 5, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Fallout 4, Battlefront, Tales From the Borderlands and The Binding of Issac had to defend themselves for not include certain character types. You said EVERY game. So can you give me some examples? Because I feel like you're resorting to hyperbole. And what does any of this have to do with the current topic.

I apologize, you are correct. Beseiged and Goat Sim didn't have to defend their games from radicals...

Yes, I was exaggerating for the sake of exaggeration. However, it has become almost commonplace to see developers having to defend their creations because of some "cause of the day"

Ok. It's become commonplace. Give me examples. More than just one or two, because one or two examples do not a commonplace trend make.

 

[razer17]

I really hope the Japanese and Eastern Europeans continue to remain strong and never submit to the kind of cultural policing and prudish bullshit thinking the author of this article displays

Prudish writer? The writer of this comic often posts links to hentai that he's reading on Twitter. Somehow I don't think he has an issue with sexualised women in general. It's about context.

 

[Paradoxrifts]

...Uh. Quiet does breath through her skin. that's the explanation given in game. A direct comparison was drawn between her and The End from MGS3

And nobody is buying into it, or at least I hope they're not! Everyone knows that Quiet only dressed up like a stripper soldier because the game developers designed and created her that way. Their made-up explanation is merely just a playful wink and a nudge to the game's intended audience, which also serves to infuriate the living shit out of the sort of people who just don't appreciate that sort of thing.

 

[Jei-chan]

As a girl with a rather ample supply, myself, for me it really is about the explanation as to how I feel about them. I watched Bleach and Hallibel was one of my favourite characters, partially because I loved her design (including the F-cup, although I also loved the bone deformation over them acting as a bra, so convenient! I want!), and I don't recall seeing any explanation for her size at all. So I just went with it. My other favourite character was Soifon, who was tiny and basically flat *shrugs*

Similarly, some people have brought up Miranda from ME2... I hated her, don't get me wrong, but that was because she was an awful *****, and I didn't like her outfit, but it wasn't because it was skintight, but because she was wearing goddamn HEELS INTO COMBAT. LIKE A TOTAL MORON WHO WANTS TWO BROKEN ANKLES. They even had an asari character call her a whore for dressing like that in-game, which made me laugh, and seemed to acknowledge the fan-servicey-ness... I dunno. I didn't mind it, possibly more because of that.

Quiet, on the other hand? Makes me feel... lied to. As though I'm not even deserving of a truthful answer. If she really breathes through her skin, how come she has an optional outfit that covers her entirely? Answer: because it's bullshit, and Kojima couldn't just be proud of his liking for girls with big tits. If Miranda had been telling Shepard her biotics only worked if her outfit clung to her every curve, I'd have been MUCH more pissed than them just laying her out there with her lovingly-sculpted arse speaking for itself as to why they made her like that.

I guess I can understand some women feeling like female characters are being objectified instantly the second they're given big boobs, because not everyone is born with them, and it IS done to entice players. But to me, I've never minded as long as people didn't try to bullshit me. Though for all I know, that's because it's more normal to me because I'm not exactly small myself.

I would like to hope we live in a world were honesty is more important than possible sales garnered through PR bullshit.

 

[Erttheking]

...Uh. Quiet does breath through her skin. that's the explanation given in game. A direct comparison was drawn between her and The End from MGS3

And nobody is buying into it, or at least I hope they're not! Everyone knows that Quiet only dressed up like a stripper soldier because the game developers designed and created her that way. Their made-up explanation is merely just a playful wink and a nudge to the game's intended audience, which also serves to infuriate the living shit out of the sort of people who just don't appreciate that sort of thing.

Well yes that's true. It's just that everyone is looking at Kojima and going "...REALLY!?" I dunno if it's a playful wink. Part of me wonders if Kojima was a good idea. I mean this is the guy who had Johnny keep suffering from diarrhea in dramatic situations and had The End conclude his dramatic and well done death scene by coughing up his dentures. Kojima's sense of tone and dramatic pacing is...lacking.

Also there's the fact that he [spoilers for the end of MGSV]

Spoiler

Made it so that you weren't playing as Big Boss the entire campaign but Dig Doss, some guy just dressed up like him

I was actually considering buying the game before I learned about that. That's just a huge middle finger to the audience.

Then again you could be right. Kojima is a bit of an enigma, it's hard to know what's truly going on in that head of his.

 

[Paradoxrifts]

It's just that everyone is looking at Kojima and going "...REALLY!?" I dunno if it's a playful wink. Part of me wonders if Kojima was a good idea. I mean this is the guy who had Johnny keep suffering from diarrhea in dramatic situations and had The End conclude his dramatic and well done death scene by coughing up his dentures. Kojima's sense of tone and dramatic pacing is...lacking.

Or it could simply be a case of cultural differences in how entertainment is made, received and perceived.

Another good example of this would be Dragon Ball. An animated show where the fate of the world/galaxy/universe routinely rests upon the outcomes of very dramatic fights among characters named after food and underwear [http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Origins_of_character_names]. Imagine for a moment if the very dramatic and serious Superman Vs Batman film was instead called, Rice Dishes Vs Vegetables.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

I can kind of dig Kamitani, and to the same extent, Team Ninja. They know what side their bread is buttered and I can respect that. I may not like what they make but when the own up to the hows and whys, I can respect them.

I do like the Dead or Alive series, if anyone cares, but I still think Tekken has the superior fighting system.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I can at least respect Kamitani for being honest, if not for his designs.