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People worry a bit too much about things that have almost 0 effect on real life. I mean come on whats the downside to this trailer? The girl who is "dead" is a cartoon. The end. I see no butt hurting in this trailer.
I hope everyone offended by things dies, then burns in a hell worse than those Freddy Krueger brought about in the Final Nightmare.
He's got the power glove.
He's got the power glove.
The same way I don't like seeing movies like Saw, I didn't like watching this trailer. It was soooo sad.
But some people enjoy. They have the right to.
But some people enjoy. They have the right to.
Also who does this "offend" Parents of children bitten by zombies? Rabies victims? Parents of children who have fallen out of a window?
@nic128 It was sad. But thats not offensive. Tying emotion to a work of art is pretty much the goal. Whether it be a painting, a movie, a song, or a video game.
Personally, I don't like that you can't do anything to children in anything. In a supposedly "moral" game like Fable, if I'm evil, I should be able to kill all lifeforms on Earth - the exact same thing goes for Fallout 3 and NV.
Is it sick? Sure. Would I do it for fun in the game? Probably not. But if you can kill defenseless crying women all you want in Fallout 3, what's the difference? To avoid lawsuits?
I LOVED the focus on the little girl in Dead Island. The whole point of the trailer is that the family is literally being ripped apart at the seams by zombification. People aren't dying because of some *random* "monsters" - they're dying because of their OWN family. The innocent little girl was just left on the bed, and sprung up to murder the very man who gave her life. It was great on so many levels, and people rarely experience it!
I mean, Snyder did it with the opening of Dawn of the Dead (2004), but it was a lot hokier and slasher-like. Dead Island's trailer did it with a certain grace I would not expect out of a video game trailer - and that's exactly the point - it's pushing the envelope.
Is it sick? Sure. Would I do it for fun in the game? Probably not. But if you can kill defenseless crying women all you want in Fallout 3, what's the difference? To avoid lawsuits?
I LOVED the focus on the little girl in Dead Island. The whole point of the trailer is that the family is literally being ripped apart at the seams by zombification. People aren't dying because of some *random* "monsters" - they're dying because of their OWN family. The innocent little girl was just left on the bed, and sprung up to murder the very man who gave her life. It was great on so many levels, and people rarely experience it!
I mean, Snyder did it with the opening of Dawn of the Dead (2004), but it was a lot hokier and slasher-like. Dead Island's trailer did it with a certain grace I would not expect out of a video game trailer - and that's exactly the point - it's pushing the envelope.
I'm a social worker, and yesterday at work I was nearly brought to tears because of a child abuse case.
I came home and watched this video and found it so amazing I had to watch it twice.
Even while having something as horrific as child abuse on my mind while watching this video, I never once made the connection the Guardian is trying to make.
I came home and watched this video and found it so amazing I had to watch it twice.
Even while having something as horrific as child abuse on my mind while watching this video, I never once made the connection the Guardian is trying to make.
@Magnalon
"Would I do it for fun in the game? Probably not."
There are always exceptions like that informant kid in Deus Ex who should go choke on a LAM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekVI_UoEYRc
"Would I do it for fun in the game? Probably not."
There are always exceptions like that informant kid in Deus Ex who should go choke on a LAM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekVI_UoEYRc
It brings an emotional weight that I welcome. This isn't a glorification. There's no reward or glory in this. It's rough and sad and gut wrenching, as it should be. For me, this is a step in the right direction.
Yes. Yes, yes yes! FUCK YES!!! 100%, that trailer was amazing, absolutely incredible! This kind of thing needs to be supported. Dear god, I need this so bad. I am excited for this game. EXCITED!!! Do you know how rare that is these days?
GOOD! You're supposed to be uncomfortable and disturbed! It's zombies motherfucker! Remember when they were things that made you uncomfortable and disturbed!?
The point, you have missed it.
The point, you have missed it.
Excellent rant. This reminds me of a little game called Dead Space 2 which has you sinking plasma into the skulls of Pack at the door to an elementary school... This is different how?
I've got a daughter who's nearly a year and a half old. She's the best thing ever. Since she came along it has slightly change my perspective on life.
If you had shown me this trailer 2 years ago I wouldn't have flinched or given a shit.
Seeing it today with my little girl currently tearing around the house like an unstoppable cyclone I have to say that this trailer hit some discordant note with me. I value life in general more now than I have ever before, especially the innocent lives of children.
As a gaming parent I want to say that I fucking loved this video. Having a child and watching this trailer just made me feel more immersed and appreciate the story to the game so much more.
Hopefully the game will contain the same amount of gravity that the trailer shows.
Also. Zombies aren't picky, they're gonna chomp on who they damn well please.
If you had shown me this trailer 2 years ago I wouldn't have flinched or given a shit.
Seeing it today with my little girl currently tearing around the house like an unstoppable cyclone I have to say that this trailer hit some discordant note with me. I value life in general more now than I have ever before, especially the innocent lives of children.
As a gaming parent I want to say that I fucking loved this video. Having a child and watching this trailer just made me feel more immersed and appreciate the story to the game so much more.
Hopefully the game will contain the same amount of gravity that the trailer shows.
Also. Zombies aren't picky, they're gonna chomp on who they damn well please.
"It might be manipulative in a way, but damn if it doesn't work."
It's not exactly courageous to pick an effective, manipulative way to get an emotional reaction. It's actually quite unimpressive and hackneyed. Monster closets work. Tits work. Killing children works. Drowning puppies works. Pardon me if I'm not going to cheer them on as they head down that road.
It's not exactly courageous to pick an effective, manipulative way to get an emotional reaction. It's actually quite unimpressive and hackneyed. Monster closets work. Tits work. Killing children works. Drowning puppies works. Pardon me if I'm not going to cheer them on as they head down that road.
This is the first game trailer to EVER give me chills, and it really had nothing to do with zombie children. Screw the uptight-type, I thought the context of the whole trailer was perfect for the situation at hand.
This is nothing new, I mean the start of the Dawn of the Dead remake had a little girl getting zombified, getting thrown around by her dad before finally killing him and then he tries to kill his wife/her mom. Later in the same film a woman who's become a zombie while being heavily pregnant finally gives birth to her baby - a zombie baby - which then gets a bullet put in its head off-camera.
Has to do more with America's obsession of protecting white women. If that kid were a boy nobody probably would have cared.
it's simple, really. If this death is a meaningful moment in one of main characters life, haunts him throughout the game (or something like that) and shows how gritty and "nobody's safe" game will be - the trailer was completely inoffensive.
If they decided to generate hype by zombifying and killing a young girl - it might be considered an offensive manipulation.
No really, the trailer is pretty much out of context right now, i won't judge it yet:)
If they decided to generate hype by zombifying and killing a young girl - it might be considered an offensive manipulation.
No really, the trailer is pretty much out of context right now, i won't judge it yet:)
Someome called this yesterday that we can fully expect the media to shit bricks over a child dying in a game and here it is.
It's not some brutal event we see, it's actually really sad to watch and tells a story about this family on vacation. Even though we all know it's CGI and fake it still tugs at the hearts strings and that girl is already a zombie at the end soooooo technically not a child anymore *sticks tongue out*
The Walking Dead has dead children in it, get over it.
It's not some brutal event we see, it's actually really sad to watch and tells a story about this family on vacation. Even though we all know it's CGI and fake it still tugs at the hearts strings and that girl is already a zombie at the end soooooo technically not a child anymore *sticks tongue out*
The Walking Dead has dead children in it, get over it.
Recently I watched the mini-series Generation Kill and you can clearly see a little girl with her head and legs, where was Ben Parfitt? And I won't even talk about all the pictures of the A-Stan and Iraq campaign we found over the years in the newspapers. It's okay to show dead kids in the newspapers, but in videogames it's a big no-no.
Im not usually one who cares too much if a game makes an emotional impact on me but damn...that video was something else. I do hope the final game achieves some of the same. Also, yeah, this shit works. When are video games going to be given the same platform as other forms of media?
@Jumbo
ALL attempts in fiction or edited media to get an emotional response are "manipulative". You are intentionally using one thing to get a desired response in the reader, viewer, player, whatever. It's no less manipulative to have an adult woman get beaten up on camera than it is to have a little girl get beaten up on camera. If it's been included in a work of fiction or in some sort of media that the creator knows people are going to watch, it is there to "manipulate" them in to feeling a certain emotion.
However, for some reason or another, children are beyond this kind of thing. It's OK to have a prostitute set on fire and then shot in the head but even having an option to slap a child in the face would provoke apocalyptic outrage in the average person. So it's ballsy to do this, not because it's innately a fantastic idea but because the way our culture is means it's going to be more heavily criticised, more heavily analysed and provoke much more volatile reactions.
It's almost like it's calling the moral majority out on their inconsistency. You can't even strike a child in Fallout 3/NV but you can set a woman on fire, stab her to death, hold her up by the head and then shoot off all her limbs with a shotgun before stripping her and throwing her off a cliff. But make the head larger in proportion to the body and raise the pitch of her screams and it's all suddenly very immoral and certainly not the sort of thing we want in this game. MAKES SENSE TO ME!
ALL attempts in fiction or edited media to get an emotional response are "manipulative". You are intentionally using one thing to get a desired response in the reader, viewer, player, whatever. It's no less manipulative to have an adult woman get beaten up on camera than it is to have a little girl get beaten up on camera. If it's been included in a work of fiction or in some sort of media that the creator knows people are going to watch, it is there to "manipulate" them in to feeling a certain emotion.
However, for some reason or another, children are beyond this kind of thing. It's OK to have a prostitute set on fire and then shot in the head but even having an option to slap a child in the face would provoke apocalyptic outrage in the average person. So it's ballsy to do this, not because it's innately a fantastic idea but because the way our culture is means it's going to be more heavily criticised, more heavily analysed and provoke much more volatile reactions.
It's almost like it's calling the moral majority out on their inconsistency. You can't even strike a child in Fallout 3/NV but you can set a woman on fire, stab her to death, hold her up by the head and then shoot off all her limbs with a shotgun before stripping her and throwing her off a cliff. But make the head larger in proportion to the body and raise the pitch of her screams and it's all suddenly very immoral and certainly not the sort of thing we want in this game. MAKES SENSE TO ME!
I'm getting sick of zombie everything. But after seeing that movie I wanted to rescue that little girl, to avenge her death and the death of her family.
We hear outcry about videogames desensitizing us to violence.
And we hear outrage about videogames sensitizing us to it.
We should have more powerful trailers that are about something. Not less.
If it were a short, it would have been praised instead of sullied.
Penn & Teller have it all right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPhje8wepyg
We hear outcry about videogames desensitizing us to violence.
And we hear outrage about videogames sensitizing us to it.
We should have more powerful trailers that are about something. Not less.
If it were a short, it would have been praised instead of sullied.
Penn & Teller have it all right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPhje8wepyg
"You condemn Dead Island for its trailer, and you condemn the potential of all games to do something a little more interesting than "Bald space marine shoots some bullshit.""
How about a game that doesn't involve shooting, space OR zombies?
How about a game that doesn't involve shooting, space OR zombies?
I didn't take it as offensive at all, but as a welcome addition to the realism of the game.
Most zombie games or movies alway filtered out the children in some way or form, but Deep Silver doesn't excuse the little people from this appocolypse.
It's a vacation paradise, people take their children with them to the vacation paradise, the zombie outbreak happens while people are having a good time with their children in the vakation paradise. Excluding them would be a lame excuse. Like it or not, if a world wide zombie apocalypse would happen, children will be involved as well, they're just painting the most realistic "what if" scenario taking all things in account that could happen in such a location, and there are children there so deal with it.
Most zombie games or movies alway filtered out the children in some way or form, but Deep Silver doesn't excuse the little people from this appocolypse.
It's a vacation paradise, people take their children with them to the vacation paradise, the zombie outbreak happens while people are having a good time with their children in the vakation paradise. Excluding them would be a lame excuse. Like it or not, if a world wide zombie apocalypse would happen, children will be involved as well, they're just painting the most realistic "what if" scenario taking all things in account that could happen in such a location, and there are children there so deal with it.
Nice, Jim; agreed. If this trailer had in anyway cheapened the girl's death I might see his point, but I didn't feel it did in the slightest.
I agree with Ben, I felt uncomfortable watching the Dead Island trailer as well to be honest.
I'm not in the camp that videogames should free reign over what they depict or even trailers for these videogames. I never want to see a cg rendering of a kid being mutilated either.
You need to understand what type of things you are opening the door to when there is no line to cross.
I'm not in the camp that videogames should free reign over what they depict or even trailers for these videogames. I never want to see a cg rendering of a kid being mutilated either.
You need to understand what type of things you are opening the door to when there is no line to cross.
Precious was nominated for a best picture academy award.
Several films based around 9/11 have been critically successful, but a video game is never going to be able to address that until at least 10 years from now.
People simply fear the unknown, and there's more of a divide between people who do and don't play video games than other forms of media.
Several films based around 9/11 have been critically successful, but a video game is never going to be able to address that until at least 10 years from now.
People simply fear the unknown, and there's more of a divide between people who do and don't play video games than other forms of media.
Amazing trailer. Sad but amazing. Never heard of this game but it's deffinately something I'll be keeping an eye on now.
Finally watched the trailer, and even knowing the condition of the girl and the disjointed progression (thanks, Frictional Games; note to self: need to read that blog post now), I assumed she would begin zombieing/zombing from that shot. But what it did... Wow.
Yeah, bullocks on blocking this thing. I could understand if the gruesome death(ing) of an "innocent" (or at least undeserving) child was played up for laughs or "FUCK YEAH"s, but this had as much emotional impact as someone would expect to have after getting through an attack that took your daughter. It was tasteful to the subject, even though the subject is hard to witness.
So what if it's an advertisement? Take it on its own, if you must. I won't be getting this game, but damn if this trailer's not an instant win.
Yeah, bullocks on blocking this thing. I could understand if the gruesome death(ing) of an "innocent" (or at least undeserving) child was played up for laughs or "FUCK YEAH"s, but this had as much emotional impact as someone would expect to have after getting through an attack that took your daughter. It was tasteful to the subject, even though the subject is hard to witness.
So what if it's an advertisement? Take it on its own, if you must. I won't be getting this game, but damn if this trailer's not an instant win.
I find it interesting that games can readily be dismissed for being childish and carry connotations of juvenility, but as soon as games start to challenge or question any social phenomenon, even the gaming community themselves start to pick it apart. As if videogame developers ever damned well needed to seek authority or credibility from the media or anyone else. This is such a non-issue and I wish we could all just get away from having to ask these questions. People need to understand that the creative process can explore whatever it so wishes.
Didn't find it offensive. This is a good measurement of if video games like Dead Island have caught up with commercial movies; the recent Dawn of the Dead remake featured plenty of zombie kids, and that was just a par-for-the-course horror flick.
Killing anyone is bad. There is no difference whether that female or male be 5 years old or 50.
I think it's because we're taught that killing younger people is somehow worse than killing an older person. As if their "innocence" gives them a ticket to avoid the reality of death.
All that being said, I don't think kids should be in games as something you can "kill". The demon babies of Dead Space and Doom are about as far as it should go in my opinion. Their presence in the games is unsettling, adding to the atmosphere, but it drifts into the realm of creepy when you start throwing kids into a GTA like game.
There are WAY too many pathological creeps in this world, not to mention the addition of children would almost definitely lead to the desensitization of violence to children in the real world in the long run, and we don't want that. It's good that we as humans have at least a FEW morals. :)
I think it's because we're taught that killing younger people is somehow worse than killing an older person. As if their "innocence" gives them a ticket to avoid the reality of death.
All that being said, I don't think kids should be in games as something you can "kill". The demon babies of Dead Space and Doom are about as far as it should go in my opinion. Their presence in the games is unsettling, adding to the atmosphere, but it drifts into the realm of creepy when you start throwing kids into a GTA like game.
There are WAY too many pathological creeps in this world, not to mention the addition of children would almost definitely lead to the desensitization of violence to children in the real world in the long run, and we don't want that. It's good that we as humans have at least a FEW morals. :)
I fail to see how this is offensive. I've dealt with the death of children before; on two separate occasions. It's one of the worst things I can possibly imagine anybody would ever have to go through in their entire life, and I wish it upon nobody; not even in jest. It's not funny, entertaining, or thrilling. It's just completely, and utterly fucked.
This, however, is fiction. A story about zombies. They have no morals, they have no tact and they are disgusting, vile, primal monsters that attack and kill everything. It's the canon. It's what zombies are. Including children in this has been done before, in books, movies and tv series. Now it is being done in games, in a mature fashion that does not glorify death in the SLIGHTEST.
It's ok for me to read 'The Road' and have the father jamming a gun in to his kids throat every two chapters and constantly telling him he's probably going to have to kill himself one day, but it's not ok for a developer to reach out a little further with their medium of choice, in terms of story, design and characters?
Anybody opposed to this trailer is blinded by a dense veil of hypocrisy. You can be offended, you can not like it, you can ignore it, whatever; thats your choice and you are entitled to it. But videogames have every right to explore this territory, as much as any other medium.
In the end, it might not be pretty, or as emotionally driven as intended. But it has to start somewhere, and as far as I'm concerned, this is the best example we've had thus far.
This, however, is fiction. A story about zombies. They have no morals, they have no tact and they are disgusting, vile, primal monsters that attack and kill everything. It's the canon. It's what zombies are. Including children in this has been done before, in books, movies and tv series. Now it is being done in games, in a mature fashion that does not glorify death in the SLIGHTEST.
It's ok for me to read 'The Road' and have the father jamming a gun in to his kids throat every two chapters and constantly telling him he's probably going to have to kill himself one day, but it's not ok for a developer to reach out a little further with their medium of choice, in terms of story, design and characters?
Anybody opposed to this trailer is blinded by a dense veil of hypocrisy. You can be offended, you can not like it, you can ignore it, whatever; thats your choice and you are entitled to it. But videogames have every right to explore this territory, as much as any other medium.
In the end, it might not be pretty, or as emotionally driven as intended. But it has to start somewhere, and as far as I'm concerned, this is the best example we've had thus far.
@Evergreen - I couldn't do what you do, meng. Props for having the fortitude to help people in those situations.
That said, even with as tenderhearted as I can be, when it comes to art, I think that's what makes the BEST art - the opposing ends of the spectrum always do. Our lives as human beings can be both indescribably beautiful and joyous, and horrific and brutal, and I think that's why a Dead Island's trailer dropped so many jaws. Media of that kind always does.
I don't see why children should somehow be "spared" in media, though. We're trained to FEEL more tenderness towards children for very genetically grounded reasons, sure, but does a child's life truly, inherently have more value than that of an adult (who I would assumed are killed en masse in Dead Island and games like it)? Not really. A death is a death.
That said, even with as tenderhearted as I can be, when it comes to art, I think that's what makes the BEST art - the opposing ends of the spectrum always do. Our lives as human beings can be both indescribably beautiful and joyous, and horrific and brutal, and I think that's why a Dead Island's trailer dropped so many jaws. Media of that kind always does.
I don't see why children should somehow be "spared" in media, though. We're trained to FEEL more tenderness towards children for very genetically grounded reasons, sure, but does a child's life truly, inherently have more value than that of an adult (who I would assumed are killed en masse in Dead Island and games like it)? Not really. A death is a death.
Wow, I watched that trailer and didn't once expect it to cause controversy. I guess I forgot about other people briefly.
The trailer was excellent in in almost every way. It was pulling. Done different enough. I loved that I didn't know what to feel at the end of it. But I felt something.
The fact that it had a child in it, is just that. Jim is right, the hypothetical zombie outbreak would be full of child, toddler & baby zombies... and yes... it would be heart breaking
The fact that it had a child in it, is just that. Jim is right, the hypothetical zombie outbreak would be full of child, toddler & baby zombies... and yes... it would be heart breaking
Gamedevs have to stop worrying TOO MUCH on what other think, so the industry can truly becoming appealing to a broader audience.
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