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Duke Nukem Forever Multiplayer Mode Predictably Controversial

Gearbox Software has released some information about the multiplayer modes for Duke Nukem Forever, which is due out May 3rd (for real this time). In addition to standard deathmatch (called Dukematch), team deathmatch and a king-of-the-hill mode, there is "Capture the Babe," in which a typical CTF flag is replaced by a woman. Eurogamer explains it thus: "... when you grab the other team's babe, she sometimes 'freaks out.' The solution? Give her a gentle smack." Gearbox's Randy Pitchford, clearly understanding how politically incorrect this sounds, said, "You can get some things across in screenshots but not really. So we're kinda struggling with how we expose it so people understand what's there. The proof is in the pudding so to speak, so I don't want to talk about it too much."

20 of 344 comments (clear)

  1. Oh Duke... by Shikaku · · Score: 5, Funny

    When will you ever stop being awesome?

  2. Capture the ... mod by Michael+Woodhams · · Score: 4, Funny
    --
    Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
  3. Re:Ok, great... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why would anyone want a sequel to that?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. What, no co-op? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One of the best parts of Duke3d (along with many other classic FPSes) was the cooperative play mode. Leaving it out is bullshit; some people actually like to play these games with friends instead of against them.

  5. The Duke ain't PC by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He's not politically correct. He's in fact not correct at all.

    Dammit, it's a friggin' GAME! OK? It's a GAME! Treat it as such. We're talking about a steroid-pumped, bubblegum-chewing, over-the-top cliché pseudo-hero. I wouldn't say it's suitable for 10 year olds (or other people of similar feeble intellect that could take a computer game serious like, say, certain politicians or a certain ex-lawyer we all love so much), but why should you have to apologize as a computer game company for making a corny game?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:The Duke ain't PC by scdeimos · · Score: 4, Informative

      We're talking about a steroid-pumped, bubblegum-chewing, over-the-top cliché pseudo-hero.

      You forgot: "... who likes punching aliens in the balls."

    2. Re:The Duke ain't PC by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I wouldn't say it's suitable for 10 year olds

      Really? I would. In order for these ten year olds to believe that a game is actually reality, they would likely have to be already insane and would have to have terrible parents who do nothing but censor everything instead of educating them about things. Really, the chances of someone (even a child) believing this game is reality are slim to none, I believe. The chances of this actually hurting someone are likely even slimmer. The temporary violent thoughts that some studies correlated to violent media almost never amount to anything.

      I'd say it's suitable for anything unless the person is insane and/or has terrible parents.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    3. Re:The Duke ain't PC by rikkards · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I would mod you up (I will probably get modded down (s'alright I have tons of karma) as what you say has a large grain of truth. Also regarding what the GP said, usually the people who say others need to lighten up have never been on the butt end of the joke and usually are part of the demographic majority who get a tad offended/feel persecuted when society tries to balance out the rights they have always had that other minorities have not i.e religious rights, same-sex marriage, etc.

  6. Re:Cannot believe by Corbets · · Score: 3, Funny

    Postal 2, I believe it was called "Capture the Snitch" or something like that,

    Really? Cuz "Capture the Snatch" sounds a lot more interesting.

  7. Re:Wait, What? by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, I mean misogyny in a Duke Nukem game, I can believe, but do you really expect me to believe that DNF is going to ship!?!

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  8. Here we go again by LS · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So why is beating and killing prostitutes in GTA ok, but this some kind of travesty?

    --
    There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
    1. Re:Here we go again by FrootLoops · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In my experience (as an American) American perspectives vary wildly. Check out South Park or Family Guy; they're American shows that involve heavy satire. They're very popular with certain demographics, but they're hated, often vehemently, by other segments of the population. I think it would be more accurate to say there's a large, often vocal, conservative block in our population that doesn't appreciate satire. [Of course even this refinement is a generalization and isn't strictly true.]

      As for me, I couldn't care less about the DKF multiplayer "controversy". It seems inconsistent to only get upset about hitting a woman/carrying her as a flag when the game is about killing people.

  9. Re:Well they could take that out... by epyT-R · · Score: 5, Interesting

    if you're gonna complain about cliches, at least focus on the present. duke is the exception, not the norm these days. what's wrong with a bit of male-archetype cliche? there's tons of 'girl power' moments in the media, making them a cliche stereotype in their own right. hell there are whole shows devoted to showing women in power, running everything, while the males are either kiss-up-captain-save-a-hos, criminals, or, some kind of sex abusers. oh right, I forgot, according to the feminist, male assertion of any kind = 'misogyny', but when females do it to males, it's 'empowerment.' I'm wonderin if the relatively recent intolerance towards the duke character has more to do with increasing gynocentricity and less to do with the drama surrounding the game's development. I say this because in the last few years I've noticed a lot of 'male chauvinist' critiques as a reason to diss the game. sure, they've always been there, even back in the 90s, but today, it seems like the most common complaint. Everyone knows there are far more pertinent attributes that can make a game suck.

    The duke aint' PC.. that's what makes him cool. characters like this are the vaccine to the real-damage that the PC-shielding of ideology can do to society. it prevents critique of any kind out of "respect for others' feelings." I'm sure I"ll be modded down into oblivion for even suggesting this. oh well.

  10. Equally Smackable by optymizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you had to capture a guy and smack him, nobody would have said anything. In that case, Gearbox might even be blamed for not making the option of smacking a woman. So much for gender equality...

  11. Re:wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    All violence is wrong. Not all men are tough like Duke, some are quite the opposite and aren't aggressive at all.

    Your comment bothers me. Most people agree that violence against women is wrong. Those who don't will never change their mind.
    But few people are even aware that thousands of men every day are abused by women. Lots of men are also bullied by other men, it happens in high schools, at work, in bars, at home... Games like Duke Nukem are 90% made of violence against males, reinforcing the stereotype that men are tough and aggressive and don't mind fighting whether they beat someone up or get beaten up.
    If you think violence is wrong, fine. If you want to complain about it, fine. But please be fair and complain about the violence that most deserves complaints. And please treat men and women equally.
    Also, I think it's misleading to say Duke is disrespectful of women. The girls in those games are whores who enjoy being treated like sex objects, not average, decent, self-respecting women.
    Funny how women seem to enjoy a special, superior and privileged status in some people's minds. Funny how those who are so eager to defend women seem to judge them not on who they are as people but on who they are in terms of gender. In my opinion THAT is sexist.

    Anyway, I think you should know nobody takes Duke seriously. Everyone knows he's a macho stereotype. People find Duke Nukem funny because they know what he does violates many social rules.

  12. Valve time... by Nameisyoung007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And Duke Nukem Forever is released before Half Like 2: Episode 3. Part of me is crying inside...

  13. The most controversial bit is ignored. by VGPowerlord · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Everyone so far seems to be ignoring the most controversial bit in the multiplayer announcement.

    In 2011, Duke Nukem Forever only supports eight-player multiplayer. EIGHT PLAYER multiplayer.

    What does Gearbox think this is, the 90s?

    --
    GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
  14. Re:wrong by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Most people agree that violence against women is wrong.

    No, most people agree that violence against INNOCENT women is wrong (men too, for that matter). Cops beat down drunken, crazy women all the time. Soldiers shoot them if they're carrying a rifle or bomb. And if one of them is coming at you with a knife, I'm pretty sure you're not going to give her flowers.

    You *DO* support women's equality, right? Because you sure sound like a sexist to me.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  15. Re:Well they could take that out... by Stargoat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Women under the age of 30 in urban centers make more money than men. More women today are graduating with college degrees than men. This has been happening for years.

    Basically, in places where the average man doesn't burn out his body working on a farm or in construction, women are making more money than men.

    The feminist movement is over. They won. Women are now equal or superior to men.

    It is time to end Title IX. It is time to bring education standards back up so that we can make sure little Johnny gets the same education little Suzie does.

    --
    Hoist Number One and Number Six.
  16. the Mayans were right! by Thud457 · · Score: 5, Funny

    lessee,
    1. we got a coed-raping bond villain causing the downfall of half the governments in North Africa (remember him?)
    2. the President of Egypt is forced out of office by mobs in the street enraged by #1
    3. Charlie Sheen reveals himself as the Twelfth Imam to the world. He's also pyrokinetic and an indigo child. Probably sent from the future, too.
    4. a record-breaking earthquake hits Japan
    5. leading to a record breaking tsunami hitting Japan
    6. leading to a record-breaking clusterfuck of a nuclear accident involving four reactors and numerous cooling ponds of radioactive waste -- in Japan.
    7. Britain's having a royal wedding
    8. Our Nobel Peace prize - winning President is bombing the shit out of Mohammar Ghadaffi in Libya, instigated, once again by J. Assange (see #1)
    9. Oh yeah, whoever was in charge of Tunisia was chased out of office by Arab mobs (see #1)
    10. And Yemen is following suit.
    11. Don't forget open class warfare breaking out in Wisconsin as the Governor there gives those greedy teachers what they got comin' to them. Next up, firefighters and police...

    So, by my estimate, we're right on schedule for release of DNF.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff