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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."
When will you ever stop being awesome?
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!?!
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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.
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...
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.
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