Naughty Dog "Flat-Out Refused" to Change Last of Us Cover

[Not Matt]

This is what goes for controversy now then humanity needs a effing reboot. hey guys, you play a girl in portal too and that game can only be described by screaming out in never ending joy. if you'r that insecure about your sexuality you can't play as a girl (or is that chipmunk voiced homophobic prick on Xbox live) stay away from the internet.

Spoiler: i continued talking about gamers and entitlement and forgot to stop. read if you have too much free time.

and the fact that they won't change it. Fantastic work naughty dog, you deserve a bone. i mean what we (the public aka the whining, complaining, bitching fanboys and girl of the internet) did with mass effect 3's ending and bioshock infinite's cover was pathetic. We do not control Irrational Games or BioWare.
they did their job and we didn't like it. too bad. sure, appealing design and a good ending to a nice story is much more fun, but the level of pretend entitlement (belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges) games have showed here is just...ughhhh. no game company owes you anything for playing their game. A real game creator doesn't care for you, they don't make the game for you they make it because they want to. look at the guys who made duke nukam forever. God awful game that everyone said was "worst the Uber-mega Hitler" (actual quote from the internet, remember what i said about humans needing a reboot). but they are proud of the game they made. good for you 3D realms. have a cookie.


PS: it wouldn't let me write uber properly

 

[IamQ]

There was a discussion regarding the cover art? I must've missed it, because this is the first time I've heard of it.

 

[legendp]

2 words...Tomb Raider...

Yep, and Mirror's Edge, Bayonetta, one of the ME3 cases too

Considering how many people actually bought Mirror's Edge, that might not be the best example.

Mirrors edge actually sold reasonably well over 2 million physical copies (not including all those steam sales, which every time its on sale it tops. it's that its from dice, and EA wants to squeeze money out of battlefield franchise (ea thinking is 5mil vs 2mil, what do you think they'll do, they see it as buisness) however a sequel is rumored

 

[MrBaguette]

wow...seriously? wow...man some people need to get themselves a girlfriend

 

[Epona]

Uh... At the risk of sounding cynical, can I just point out how we have to take their word that the cover is being viciously attacked? Because I've seen nothing of the sort anywhere on the internet, and you'd think such comments would elicit a reaction from other gamers before they do from the developer. So, who exactly is campaigning to have the girl removed?

Perhaps they're playing heroes and martyrs, under attack by imaginary misogynists. Perhaps this is an attention-grab to generate customer goodwill now that most other marketing strategies have been exhausted. Curious how this all coincides with the recent outpouring of support for female gamers, making it conveniently topical.

Plus, "flat-out refused"? Sounds very courageous, almost as if they were under risk if they didn't change it. But they aren't - in fact, the opposite is more true, they'd attract more negative attention if they made the cover like the Bioshock Infinite one.

Agreed. It makes me sick that so many are taken in by this PR stunt.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I don't get what the big deal it. Does it really matter? ...Oh right, marketing.

 

[Thoric485]

I have seen absolutely no discussion of Last of Us' cover in any "quarters of the internet". The only rumbling against it would have been from publishing and marketing folk at internal meetings, which is what the original quote implies.

This one does look kinda bad though. Why'd they choose to have a nuclear bomb going off in the distance, rather than the blue skies from the earlier cover that was thrown around is beyond me.

 

[Lugbzurg]

It is kinda sad that in this day and age, "this" is considered a "victory". Yes, it's great that they went ahead and did this, but why isn't it "ok" to do so much more, these days?

Also, there's a white male in the center. "Whatevz"

I'm worried about Naughty Dog. First they don't release Uncharted Racing, now they move on to a game where a racing game wouldn't fit.

Spoiler: For those of you who don't get the joke

*gasp* I remember that picture! Oh, man! Would've been awesome! Well, maybe not that awesome if you're constantly getting random cutscenes thrown into your race.

I love this cover, except for one thing: "Only On PlayStation."

Maybe I'll get a PS3 for this. I've always wanted to play a game where there's a non-sexualized female lead in an action-oriented role. I'd be a lot more interested if they just made a PC release, though.

Naughty Dog works for Sony. What did you expect?

 

[Xanadu84]

I think that the controversy here isn't so much that there is a female on the cover. I mean, they are RARE, but not so rare that they are unheard of, and it hasn't been controversial before. I see 2 reasons why it is considered controversial, and why its good that naughty dog is sticking to its guns.

The issue is partly that you play a guy, and the cover focuses on the girl. This signals that the focus of the game is less on identifying with a powerful, identifiable character that you can have a power trip THROUGH, and more on an interaction with a character that you protect and connect with. It implies less violence as catharsis, and more violence as a neccesity for a greater good. Which can be seen as a downer.

Secondly...well, the second reason is a lot more unfortunate. To be horribly blunt, It's not that the cover focuses on a female. Its that it focuses on a female that you can't fap to. Again, its more personal connection with the characters and less shallow fantasy. One thing that other covers with females have going for it is that even if they are good covers, at least the marketing department (And a lot of customers) can console themselves that if someones wants to see a good bit of escapism, they can at least find the girl on the cover hot. Even Bioshock Infinite, as high brow as its material is, does have a female character that has quite a bit of focus on her, well, assets. And Breastets. With this cover, its either an interest in a characters interactions or nothing.

I think Naughty Dog did right, and I hope they are rewarded.

 

[Broken Blade]

Well? that kind of makes me wanna buy this game now.

 

[dfphetteplace]

I can't believe this is an issue. If the game is good, people will buy it. Naughty Dog should release games for more than just PS3, they would increase their sales too. I would love to play this game, but I only use PC.

 

[Evil Smurf]

This is a controversy now? Okay.

to be honest this is nicer the any sexism/racism controversy. I welcome this.

 

[WanderingFool]

I'm worried about Naughty Dog. First they don't release Uncharted Racing, now they move on to a game where a racing game wouldn't fit.

Spoiler: For those of you who don't get the joke

well lets be fair Crash Team Racing was pretty freaking awesome. Damn fun even.

Ive played it and Diddy Kong Racing. I hear people say that DKR was better...

THEY ARE FUCKING WRONG!!!

OT: Good for Naughty Dog.

 

[maninahat]

I always feel bad for games that put a female character in the lead role, or at least, give them more prominence on the cover/in the game story. These games are, by and large, shit.

For every good one like Portal or Beyond Good and Evil, you have a terrible Hydrophobia or a Velvet Assassin. With respect to the famous exceptions, games with prominent female characters tend to be bad games, or tend to sell poorly. Because of the general lack of female led games to begin with, those failures stand out all the more. Thus, the flaws of Wet or Mirror's Edge accidentally reinforce the marketing assumption that buff men sell better.

It is a self sustaining process, in which few companies dare feature female protagonists, and as a consequence, fewer good female orientated games see the light of day. And that's terrible.

 

[dystopiaINC]

I'm only disappointed because it's a ps3 exclusive. i really liked the trailer But I'm not going to buy a ps3 sorry only 2 games on all of ps3 that I want and both aren't out yet as far as I know so no it's not worth it. when will the whole console exclusivity thing end?

 

[FoolKiller]

I don't like the cover. But that is mainly because I just don't like the style. I have no issues with the female being up front although some feminists will argue that you are sexualizing her because she is "showing off" her ass with that particular pose.

Either way, I think that the best thing to do is to make reversible covers similar to Mass Effect 3. That way you can have two covers. Or for the people bitching and moaning a lot, make your own damn cover for a game. It's not that hard to make a custom cover anymore.

 

[aivalera]

This is a controversy now? Okay.

Right?

 

[DemonCrim]

I was on the fence about this game now I'm gonna buy it just to prove some really sexist people wrong.

 

[Lizmichi]

Good for them to not back down on this. I like the cover and hell it makes me want to play the game eventhough I don't have a PS3. I'm happy to see a company sticking to it's guns on something like this.