Peaception: What Is This Controversy You Speak Of?

Gaming controversies. Are they really that controversial when you actually revisit them? Well I am going to take you down memory lane and I will give my take on what I thought of these so-called controversies.

 
The Tomb Raider “Almost” Rape Scene:

There was an E3 trailer that supposedly hinted at this happening to Lara Croft and there was outrage, the sort of outrage that would make George Bush green with envy. What was the outrage, to be exact? A beautiful young woman has been shipwrecked in an island filled with crazed men who by the looks of things have been on that island for a long time, so wouldn’t an attempted sexual assault be one of the perils our heroine might face? Apparently a huge “hell no” from some gamers and reputable gaming sites. I had no issue with it being included in the game if it helped the story and helped in the natural progression of Lara’s character as a survivor and only if done tastefully and not forced in the narrative of the game.

In true gamer fashion people overreacted without seeing the bigger picture, it was not an attempted rape scene, it was just a killer who was a tad touchy feely for his own good, but Lara showed him the error of his ways. I just believe when it comes to a lot of taboo and sensitive subjects that are prevalent in society, would it be such a horrible thing if we allowed some good reputable developers the freedom to explore them in games without fear of retribution? Who knows, we might be pleasantly surprised by the end result; the key is just having an open mind.

 
Hitman Absolution “The Nun Beat Down” Trailer:

Oh yes, the infamous CGI trailer that sparked the debate over sexism in games. When I first saw the trailer I thought It was good, sexism didn’t even pop up in my mind. Games are never meant to be taken seriously, when we start doing that then we have lost the point of what games are about. If that is the case then you should start asking yourself: is it morally right to drive over prostitutes, to have sexual relations with a blue alien or my favorite, beating up random people with a large male appendage? Some would say, “But it’s Hitman, you wouldn’t expect such tasteless marketing from that franchise,” but I’m sorry to break it to you, that trailer was not meant to stimulate anyone intellectually. What would have been more acceptable then, Agent 47 dressing up in latex to blend in with the nun assassin horde and taking them out one by one using a feather duster?

The trailer wasn’t advocating the beating up of nuns with a latex fetish but if you were ever to come across such a nun then trust me you will be the one getting beaten up, if you know what I mean. Sexism has been around since the days of Adam and Eve when God created us females from the rib of Adam… it was a magical rib it seems. The gamers that were offended by the trailer, are you going to eradicate sexism in the industry by hating on this trailer? If we are going to do it, let’s start with the gorgeous booth babes at the gaming conventions, they are there merely eye candy. Isn’t that sexism, because I\m sure some of them don’t know how to hold a controller let alone know how to switch on a console. Let’s start with gaming sites that have features on the hottest girls because the last time I checked, I didn’t want my gaming news with a side order of boobs and lets not stop there: Lara Croft, one of the most well-known female gaming icons, her old character design not the rebooted version was designed to be sexual. The tight vests accentuating that bountiful bosom, full lips and the very short shorts showcasing her childbearing hips, wasn’t that sexist? And she also beats up and kills a lot of men, isn’t that male abuse as well?

Sexism and violence against women is a very huge problem in today’s society and I doubt it will ever be eradicated but we can try, but please don’t start with the games or the trailers because they are not the problem. Enjoy the trailer and stop dissecting it because then you are just taking the fun out of it. Or simply just don’t watch it. But all in all, it was a successful marketing ploy because it got people talking and more people watching the trailer to see what’s the big deal.

 
The Mass Effect 3 Ending:

If overpromising or as I would like to call it, the “Peter Molyneux effect”, was a crime, then a lot of developers would be serving hard time. As much as gaming has evolved, gamers have also become more demanding, which is both a good and bad thing. A lot of people were actually outraged that some gamers were demanding that BioWare redo the ending, which to me was weird. BioWare had promised and repeatedly drilled into gamers that ME3 would be the epic conclusion to Shepard’s tale and since it’s a development house well known for producing some good games you would think they would maintain the same level of quality when it came to their final entry in a trilogy.

It came as a surprise to me that a lot of gamers went up in arms because the ending didn’t live up to BioWare’s initial promise and I was actually impressed in a way when they bowed to the pressure and released a new ending. I’m not saying every developer should prepare to redo their games if it doesn’t meet the expectations of a few but gamers should by all means call out developers for not delivering on their initial promise. Games are not cheap, plus the emotion and time most gamers invest in a series is a lot, so it’s not just a simple matter of saying, “Get over it,” if they are disappointed. Even though I didn’t finish the game, good on the gamers who started the petition for a better ending and shame on BioWare for not delivering in the first place because it’s clear they were capable of doing it; they just got a bit too lazy or maybe side-tracked with developing and planning the day one and future DLC.

 
Capcom’s Street Fighter X Tekken On-Disc DLC Drama:

My take on Capcom shipping out a game with DLC already in the game disc to be unlocked at a later stage was just: laugh out loud. I laughed out loud at the gamers who were shocked by this because they expected better from Capcom and I’m not even going to continue further with this whole issue because you guessed it, it’s just too laugh out loud.

 
Controversy gets people talking but when you look at some of these so-called controversies that made the headlines were they really that big of a deal? Me thinks not, except for the laugh out loud Capcom DLC scandal.