As you all must have seen by now EA has been successful in exploiting a classic epic poem and sex in an attempt to garner attention. The Lust level was recently showed off at TGS and it's flat out disgusting, disturbing even, but not in the way EA intended it to be.
Maybe they thought that giant ovulating breasts screamed sex appeal, creepy, disarming, or even 'lust'. Well they don't, frankly. These breasts highlight the sexual segregation and flat out misogyny that is rampant in the industry.
These people need to understand that it takes two to lust, and I don't mean two breasts either.
Where are all the penises?
The only male enemy in lust [thus revealed] is wearing a loin cloth. note: Naked woman in the background.
I'm really sick of the narrow vision in this industry, particularity in Triple A titles. There is no excuse for this sort of thing anymore. As I said it takes two to lust and they're turning hell into male fantasy.
"But Perri! There are babies coming out of her nipples!"
So again they're reducing women to breasts and baby makers. It's just the most puerile example of chauvinist pig-headedness I've ever witnessed. I'm not a feminist and this has actually offended me. I'm sick of the way this industry treats women, and I hate that it is so accepted.
Bayonetta is a different issue. While I found the character to be horrifying at first I think that the developer is actually treating it in a satirical fashion [Platinum has been all about the over the top self-aware satire this generation, btw...] and I know there are exceptions but this is just infuriating.
Now, I don't know much else about Lust, they could have penises around every corner in which case this would nullify my opinion and make this blog obsolete but I really despise the developer for thinking that this is edgy, that this is cool. The female figure has been so perverted and has been treated as a commodity for far too long in any medium for this to have any sort of edge or even relevance and that in itself is a travesty.
This game is a completely wasted effort that not only [and obviously] is a complete insult to it's 'source material' but is also, now, a complete insult to me and presumably women. This game seems to be trying to move 'shock value' forward, trying to push the boundaries as to what will be accepted, what is allowed. Blowing up female assets that have been prevalently featured in any given media since it's existence is NOT how you do this. When will male nudity become accepted? When will this playing field be leveled? When will this industry grow up and treat things artistically and maturely?
To their credit, and for this I am thankful, EA has managed to confirm to me, that I can be offended and disgusted in things- and here I was thinking I was some all monotonous stoic.
ugh.
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There's a level with penises in them. Lust actually has walls of dicks.
Well that makes me feel better. Thanks Hamza.
Semi to entirely naked women sell games. That's the unfortunate truth.
A lot of games are simply blatant fan service, trying to ensnare those who like breast physics while maiming, brawling or playing volleyball. While the 'Lust' level in Dante's Inferno isn't truly meant to titillate in the same way, it has to adhere to what the industry finds acceptable. Short version, true male genitalia equals AO rating. EA wants to make money off this, so it's a big NO to dong physics. I'm sure there will likely be phallic symbols, but nothing that will be more than a symbol of what isn't truly in the game.
Well it's a well known fact that only males play video games, and we don't want to see any penises. Penii?
Wat
Hmmmm... good to hear Hamza confirm that there are "dick walls" in Dante's Inferno! :)
Actually, most of Lust wall's are all penis-brick made, and there are some penis walls, floor and nipples...
Are there any naked masculine enemies or are we just beating up naked women, still concerning but better than I thought.
dick walls? not something you read in print everyday.
THIS JUST IN!!! Perri wants more dicks in his video games. LOL
Good article and very true. I was also turned off by Bayonetta at first but now after looking at her she does become satirical. However this is a problem I have with bayonetta, Im pretty sure she has a child. If so it kinda contradicts the satire with a motherly figure. As we all know Im sure, only women can have children that is a specifically unique attribute that is only for females (really quite amazing if you think about it) and so shes being associated as satirical sex symbol, which is blatant in every way but also a serious mother figure which, as I stated before, defines women. Hopefully what Im writing is making sense, can anyone else see this contradiction or am I just thinking too much. But naturally this all goes back to my assumption that she has a child, if not than this argument is void.
EA is just pushing the boundaries of risk with this game, aren't they?
@ Hamaza
Oh god, it sounds like the handiwork of the Dick Devil.
Interesting post Perri, but I feel you are both wrong and right. I'll elaborate.
With regards to Dante's Inferno, first I think that you and others like you, need to get off this elitism bandwagon of Dante's Inferno source material. Its a great work, no doubt, but to assume that its untouchable, for interpretation by another medium is blindly stupid and ridiculous. If you want to throw EA's take on the poem, onto the fire, you might as well throw on the The Passion of the Christ on, for being an interpretation of the bible story, even if its a film, where will the line be drawn?
As for the Lust circle level that you are rallying against, you fail to see, that you are already falling into EA's trap, and a very cunning one it is. You see, we all know women have been oppressed through generations of humanity, but even in the time Dante's Inferno was written and long before it, the world was also carved over generations into the modern society by men. If men have made the rules and written history, started religions etc, in a weird way this game will reflect, the conditioning of the real world regarding nudity, sex and other carnal stuff. You want equality of nudity and such in games, and I'd agree with that too. Blame the church for making us all this way, where they've been telling of the evils of women and their ways, since Jesus died.
Its fine for you to be disgusted (or titilated) by the Lust level (perhaps you should see some HR Giger artwork, some of which might be similar), but the reason muses (even games) are created, is to rouse positive or negative feeling in user/viewer etc. All your hate and disgust, stirs the very coded demons within EA's game. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all, but at the end of the day, the games industry is still a male dominated industry (like many others), at both ends, creator and end user. You should also never assume that no females have a part in the games we play, as both EA and Platinum Games have female staff. Games have to be sold and money made.
As games mature, you'll get your male and female nudity, its early days yet, but GTAIV has already started the ball rolling. That was done via DLC though. I still think it would be better to judge once the game is out.
I do agree some games can be over the top, like the DOA series, but the best thing is if you don't like it, don't buy it. Self censorship is always best, for things that you find sensitive.
I'm still going to buy Dante's Inferno and Bayonetta.
Women's breasts and a penis is not quite the same thing. One of them is genitals and the other is not. They may be able to get away with male genitals if they can get away with female genitals and even then, the latter is more acceptable to show. Discounting the majority of gamers being male for the moment, would fully nude men get more women interested in the game?
How exactly would you "level" the playing field in terms of sex appeal? It's not like you can make males sex appealing in the same way as women. It's not just a simple matter of enlarging certain body parts and having them wear very little, at least to appeal to most women. It's something more complex that is currently beyond my understanding.
“When will this industry grow up and treat things artistically and maturely?”
What would be your idea of doing that, especially the artistically part? Even if they did do an artistic nude like seen in various paintings, most gamers wouldn’t treat it as such.
@Cowboy TTop: So basically, you're saying that this sort of thing is intended to cause shock like in this blog post? I think GTAIV’s DLC may have did the penis more for shock factor than to sexually appeal to women, especially considering their track record of mostly doing stuff just to get a reaction out of people.
@ Cowboy TTop
I'll respond to the first section of your post by plainly stating that you are wrong. I've all but exhausted my opinions on the subject of EA cashing in on The Commedia, but using the example of the Passion of the Christ was a poor choice for you to make. The difference is, of course, context.
The Passion of the Christ, love it or hate it, follows the stories of Christ's capture, crucifixion, and resurrection very closely to the texts of which we are all familiar today. It did not create gross inaccuracies in an effort to modernize the film, instead it took those particular stories of Jesus and followed the source material very closely, thus creating an homage to the severely dated original that was nevertheless widely accepted by many modern movie-goers as a genuinely great film.
EA's version of Dante's Inferno does not do this, in fact, it does the exact opposite of this. It drastically changes the story, making the twice-fainting(in the original text), initial pansy, Dante the Pilgrim, into some badassed, crucifix-weilding Kratos clone. Also, Dis never kidnaps Beatrice in the poem. This is another archaic, bullshit videogame convention (the "damsel in distress") that can be traced back to Mario trying to rescue the helpless Princess. Couldn't you at least have tried a little harder, EA? In the poem, Dante is the individual who needs to be saved, not Beatrice. Also, Cleopatra is not a guardian of the Second Circle but instead a prisoner, and the political and religious themes of the text are lost in the game adaptation, the list goes on and on; I could type here all night.
The problem is not that EA are using the license, but that they are abusing the license, just as they did with The Godfather. There is no due respect being paid to the source material, and that is what pisses people like me off in regards to this game. But, just as EA has the right to create the game, so do I have the right to voice my opinion on it.
If that was all too long, this sums up my feelings on the subject well enough.
A wall of dicks, eh? EA has officially stolen something out of H.R. Giger's folio.
Cowboy TTop, you bring up some great points about EAs plan working on me, and I do thank them for that at the end of the post, but in regards to this 'elitist bandwagon' you're talking about; well that's just ignorant of you. As Timtheterrible already said your example is totally different. The thing that ticks me off the most about this 'adaptation' is that it really isn't an adaptation at all. They have loosely based an action game [divine comedy does lend itself to action all that well] on the structure of Dante's Hell - WHICH IS A COOL IDEA - BUT don't go an tell me that this is Dante's inferno, this is EA's inferno and I could have appreciated some of the influences had they not been trying to sell me on the name. That is what it comes down to. Dante's Inferno brings all sorts of connotations to the table and I understand that they are trying to sell by exploiting one of the most recognizable title's in history but why should I accept that?
I don't want that to happen, I don't want that to work:
"Okay guys so we've got a pretty cool script here for a movie in which this chick is a government experiment and has to fight her way through an evil organization's HQ. She's fighting failed experiments and infected people- what do you think?!"
"Sounds pretty generic, a little mindless, you have a title for that yet?"
"Well no see, we don't. We thought you could help us with that."
"Okay, lets see...What're the kids playing...Resident Evil- thats catchy, means nothing really, could be anything, could be this."
"wow, you're right, that could be this. Won't the kids be upset that this has nothing to do with their game?"
"They won't know that until after they pay to see it..."
Come on. You're telling me I'm an elitist because I care about the source material? It's been distorted, its barely recognizable anymore, ya I care there was so much potential. This game would have sold without this name, its God of War. I am all for freedom of speech and appropriation, I'm not saying they can't do it, but I don't have to like it, and I don't have to be quiet about it. By that logic, and by your example, the Jews who complained about Passion of the Christ are all elitist, because they found flaws in something based on something else. They should have just shut up and accepted it right?
Now I know I may seem more offended then I actually am right now Cowboy. I'm not offended at all, I just think that whole 'elitist' thing is a bunch of bull.
Good post though, you too Tim.
Penises look weird.
So I guess what I said will be mostly ignored, especially since most of this c-blog was about lust and women? That hasn't been overshadowed about the source material discussion has it?