The "R" Word

[Terminal Blue]

but I agree...there was no "rape" and the whole thing was an over reaction

Ron Rosenberg (crystal dynamics executive producer): And then what happens is her best friend gets kidnapped, she gets taken prisoner by scavengers on the island. They try to rape her.

nope...she was going through a difficult situation...male protagonits get the same amount of crap thrown at them

Kotaku: Karl, do you think that a male protagonist in that same situation would have- do you think the scavenger would do the same thing, rubbing his hand against his thigh?

Karl Stewart (crystal dynamics global brand director): No, of course not.

Sorry, this is not some blown out of proportion thing which people have made up from visual cues. Ron Rosenberg actually said a bunch of crap in interview and now his company is trying to back-peddle out of it and generally failing, hence the joke.

Incidentally, do male protagonists have this kind of crap thrown at them?

Ron Rosenberg: We wanted to make a girl that was somewhat familiar, yet had a special quality about her - something in the way her eyes look and her expression in her face that makes you want to care for her.

Sorry, I think I need to puke.

 

[Random Argument Man]

They're going backwards? They've crossed the line?

I hate it when I don't get the joke. Somebody will explain it to me and, instead of laughing, I'll be saying "ooooh, now I get it.. I guess it's pretty clever".

No lulz for uncle RAM I guess....

 

[Agow95]

This would have been a lot more funny if they did this just after the Tomb raider rape thing, because I had to read a few comments before I got the joke.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

I actually got that. Now I know how Captain America felt.

I bet Cap would hate that new Oz movie coming out soon.

They are remaking Oz? Really? Well, good luck I guess.

Wait! I know!
Someone find out how many "classic" movies+ TV shows they're are (C+T), how many board games (And dice games. Yahtzee! No really. No joke.) ((B+D)), add them together ((C+T)+(B+D)), multiple them by 3 for prequels&sequels (((C+T)+(B+D))×(3)), and then divide the final number by how many of these movies they release a year (Y). Then we will know how many years until everyone will have to make something new (N).

So, (((C+T)+(B+D))×(3))/Y=N!?

Or maybe it will never ever ever ever ever end. (Count the evers to get one "Ha.")

Also, good comic today! Funny.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Ever notice how it's generally always people who don't play games and thus would never buy and/or play the game in question that are always at the forefront of these controversies?

 

[Erttheking]

...I don't get it. He's back peddling...but he's in the lead...yeah I'm lost.

And on a different note, can we freaking drop this? Yes the guy was a sleaze ball who probably fucked up the entire game because people refuse to let go of what a single douchebag said even though everyone else is saying that he's full of shit, yes rape is something that happens to women and trying to deny it is simply ludicrous, and yes there was never any rape in the trailer (probably because he says that the guy ATTEMPTS to rape her and doesn't get very far and she kills him so can someone please tell me what the big fucking problem is?). You know it's funny, when we were all complaining about Mass Effect 3 we all got called entitled whiners but I haven't seen a single person complaining about Tomb Raider or Assassin's Creed 3 get called that. Funny.

 

[Scorpid]

I love the fury on this CD's face XD such furious and deliberate backpedaling

 

[Catface Meowmers]

I think the point is they're backpedaling so hard they could win a bike race just by facing the wrong direction.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I'm more surprised by the fact that this is still newsworthy. So Crystal Dynamics are busy backpedaling from a single moment in the trailer, the whole of which I thought portrayed a much more realistic take on Lara Croft than ever before.

I mean, prior to that reboot, Croft was more or less flirting with Bayonetta's levels of ridiculous self-assertion and yes, some men can be very literal assholes to women in real life. So I don't really consider the reboot as being something like a rape simulator or a means to objectify a defenseless woman - seeing as we clearly see her defending herself, and successfully, at that.

I might be looking at this from the wrong angle, but I just don't get all the hoopla. Raise red flags about Hitman Absolution's Battle Nuns, I'll agree to that, but not for something as realistic and still optimistic as this.

 

[Zen Toombs]

nope...she was going through a difficult situation...male protagonits get the same amount of crpa thrown at them

and yeah his intentions were clear...but in that situation its not surprising, makes sen sense in context

plus she bit his ear off...

Hey Vault! How's it going?

Response: I'll disagree that male protaganists get the same amount, volume, and consistency of "crpa" thrown at them as Laura got in that trailer. [footnote]e.g., I've never seen a male character get [attempted]raped in a game, I've never seen a normal human male character get impaled by a crowbar/eaten by a beartrap.

Then again, I've never seen EITHER in a game before, so yeah.[/footnote]

I will say that I don't have a problem with it, per say, but they are walking a difficult line. And by difficult line I mean they could easily just be ramping up the drama and making it a bad game. And I will not play it if it's a bad game, regardless of the subject matter.
[small]although I'd probably need it to be a really good game to personally even want to play a game with that type of grittiness.[/small]

 

[bafrali]

Nice one. Shame i had to peek through comments to get it.

I personally don't see this reboot as an inprovement since we are going from one extreme concept to another. There is no subtlety to it. It stands like a thorn and naturally disturbs people.

 

[Godhead]

Why did I think of Harvey Dent getting pissed off at the finish line and then Two Face came out of nowhere to show that finish line who's boss? Also Harvey got facial surgery done.

 

[saintdane05]

Seeing as this is

Response: I'll disagree that male protaganists get the same amount, volume, and consistency of "crpa" thrown at them as Laura got in that trailer. [footnote]e.g., I've never seen a male character get [attempted]raped in a game, I've never seen a normal human male character get impaled by a crowbar/eaten by a beartrap.

Then again, I've never seen EITHER in a game before, so yeah.[/footnote]

[/small]

Clearly you don't play enough Monster Girl Quest.


Anyway, seeing as this comic is also an Olympics joke, I'll say that QWOP should be added to the Olympics. Get a gold metal if you can manage to get past the 50 meter mark.

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

I don't think it's even possible to pedal backwards on most bikes, but still, great comic. It makes me feel like I should remember developer names more.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

Context. Don't read if you don't want the joke spelled out.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-29-controversial-tomb-raider-scene-is-close-physical-intimidation-not-rape

You're welcome.

it probably would be better not to say anything

but I agree...there was no "rape" and the whole thing was an over reaction

Nah ah! Trying to touch someone's leg is totally rape! You're just a misogynist.

 

[grigjd3]

I think this comic would have been enjoyable if I had remembered that Crystal Dynamics are those idiots who're making the Tomb Raider reboot. As it is, I tend to forget about people who use cheap gimmicks to garner attention. They don't deserve the attention they are begging for.

 

[Aisaku]

Bravo Critical Miss, you've reached the heights of Penny Arcade where more often than not you can't understand it if you don't digest the newspost first.

I'm sure this will age well.

I liked the story arc from before, and find these one off laughs endlessly trite.

 

[LetalisK]

]You really don't see how watching a girl get the shit beat out of her for five minutes might upset some people? And there may not have been rape, but don't pretend that guy's true intentions weren't ABUNDANTLY clear.

Crystal Dynamics just pussied out by pretending it wasn't.
"Gah RAPE? How did you every come to THAT conclusion?" Just showing that THEY'RE the ones who aren't mature enough to address the subject.

nope...she was going through a difficult situation...male protagonits get the same amount of crap thrown at them

and yeah his intentions were clear...but in that situation its not surprising, makes sen sense in context

plus she bit his ear off...

Not usually within the first 5 minutes of the game.

I never said it was surprising, I was upset that Crystal Dynamics didn't have the balls to admit what it was: So much for gritty modern reboot if "Rape is not in our vocabulary." Hey the Republicans called, they want their oblivious white-bread family values sensibilities back.

Her going all Mike Tyson was the only part of the trailer I liked.

Three and a half minutes of trailer =/= first five minutes of the game.

 

[DaRigger420]

This back-pedaling reference would also work if they showed the guy moonwalking past Michael Jackson... or is that just me.

Crap, now I feel old.

Captcha: Spin Doctor .... aka, What CD needs to hire next time and leave the devs in the labs!

 

[Biodeamon]

a little too high brow of humor there...

i guess you could say that this comic was a critica... hmmm, just had the weirdest sense of deja vu there....