back to article Tomb Raider dev denies Croft rape scene

Crystal Dynamics has denied the existence of rape scenes in the upcoming Tomb Raider refresh, after the title's Producer implied just such a threat faces Lara Croft in the new game. Producer Ron Rosenberg is reported to have said: "And then what happens is her best friend gets kidnapped, she gets taken prisoner by scavengers …

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  1. Dana W
    FAIL

    Disgusted.

    She can't be a strong and independent woman because she IS one, oh no. She has to be an abuse victim objectified by men to become strong and capable. Otherwise she would be a model or a stay at home mom or something. Apparently they never heard of Portal?

    Isn't it funny that men don't seem to need to be objectified, victimized and dis-empowered to become videogame relevant? This is basically BDSM porn. Its not plot, its wanking material for angry geeks.

    This garbage exists to pander to angry, dateless 15 year olds of all ages.

    1. fatchap
      Childcatcher

      Re: Disgusted.

      Yes because films like "The Accused" are equally objectifying, is it just because of the media that message must be puerile?

      If the game is marketed towards adults then I don't see why it should not have a grown up theme like abuse and how that may affect someone's decision making and the horrific effects these events can have. I am sure Cheryl Araujo would be thrilled that her terrible experiences were made into a critically acclaimed and moving film to pander to dateless 15 year olds.

      Until I have heard that there is a complete version I will refrain from commenting in such a "someone thing of the children" type way. Even if I fear you may be sadly right in the end.

      1. Dana W
        Mushroom

        Re: Disgusted.

        I never said "save the children" and this is not a movie about a rape, actual or otherwise.Rape is a serious issue. And I've read and seen serious subject matter on this topic. I've had to help council rape victims too scared to get help.

        This a pointless sexist, exploitative rehash of a beloved videogame character. This is not about plot, mature or otherwise. Its about a cynical cash in meant to appeal to the kind of people who think "Grand theft auto" is character building gameplay.

        If it had been about the violent rape or assault of Alice in Wonderland, or Nancy Drew, it would be sadly obvious to the point where we would not need to HAVE this discussion. This is an attack on the concept of the "strong woman" pure and simple.

        And frankly, you can thumb it down all you like. I expect a lot of people posting here were one hand dating Laura Croft back in the day. They know who they are, and I expect to have a big collection of their Cheeto stained thumb-downs by this evening. So if the shoe fits. Ect........ That's what women are supposed to do, shut up when we are told, right? Not gonna happen.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Disgusted.

          "That's what women are supposed to do, shut up when we are told, right? Not gonna happen."

          No, just annoying people and boring people.

          1. sabroni Silver badge
            FAIL

            Re: AC @ 19:18

            don't foget being subjected to pathetic abuse by anonymous internet dickheads...

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: AC @ 19:18

              Well I could go into the "reality" of a powerful evil villain believing they were in a position to take advantage of an attractive younger woman is not exactly unrealistic. But that would be wasted on most.

              Though I'll say I didn't say anyone was either of those things, simply that those are the people who are best silent, but rarely are. If you believe you fall into either category that's your problem not mine.

        2. Daggersedge

          Re: Disgusted.

          Oh give the feminism a rest, will you? I'm a woman and I'm not offended by this at all. Who cares about what some minority pressure group - which is all feminism is - thinks?

          Attack on 'strong women'? What nonsense! It's a story, ok? The personal is not political. People just want to enjoy a gritty story now and again. I'm not a big Laura Croft fan, but a story like that wouldn't bother me if I was.

          Frankly, I find your post to be extremely offensive and sexist. You imply that all men playing the game are inadequate geeks who masterbate to it. Gosh, isn't it wonderful how you feel free to stereotype anyone you don't like, but if someone should even looks at a woman in a way you don't like, you scream 'sexism'.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Disgusted.

            "I'm an [X] and I don't find [thing offending other Xs] offensive."

            Yeah, you're right, as an [X] you've had the same experiences as all [X]s. Therefore, as an [X] you know exactly what all [X]s should find offensive. Any other [X] who is offended by something must be a melodramatic weirdo who needs to simmer down and stop trying so hard to forward the cause of equality for [X]s, because this isn't the main issue affecting [X]s today.

      2. Tom 13

        Re: Disgusted.

        Never played the game myself but I have seen the movies and I think I've watched someone play it a few times (not a twitch gamer myself). Given those portrayals I think I'll agree with Dana on the wankerism call. Not sure I'd call it an attack on strong women. That implies forethought and malice and I think this one is more along the lines of mindless and feckless. Still a problem, but a somewhat different solution.

    2. Jeebus

      Re: Disgusted.

      Surely you've noticed the rampant misogyny from the IT crows, with studies pointing this out and rampant sexism at every level in every company.

      You're thinking a little highly of most who post here, they're the most worthless of all types, dorky, single cretinous woman hating porn addicts, the saddest and truest stereotype in existence, absolutly rampant on El Reg.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Disgusted.

        Of course it is Jeebus, keep playing the "I'm a great person" card, one day someone will believe it.

        In reality IT departments are some of the nicest teams you'll find, sexism is far more rife on a sales floor or a call center (and probably a number of other places, but they're the only one's I've had the pleasure of working near.)

        Your accusations are a combination of, childish, ignorant and, stereotypical.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Disgusted.

          @AC "...In reality IT departments are some of the nicest teams you'll find, sexism is far more rife on a sales floor or a call center..."

          Really? I don't even know where to begin, there is the fact that women are woefully under represented in IT, or the attitude of "I'm too smart to be sexist, anything I say is post-modern irony". Or even the outright sexism - I have heard the manager of a FTSE100 UNIX team say that "I won't ever employ a woman, because women can't do unix." I could give examples until the cows come home.

          1. Thomas 4

            Re: Disgusted.

            I am also disgusted - worrying about pointless crap like this when they should be either desperately trying to inject decent gameplay into this dead horse of a series.

    3. spatulasnout

      Re: Disgusted.

      Re: "Isn't it funny that men don't seem to need to be objectified, victimized and dis-empowered to become videogame relevant?"

      While I'd agree the new backstory for Lara Croft feels unnecessary, banal, trite, tasteless, etc., this sort of characterization device isn't uncommon:

      http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkAndTroubledPast

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's advertising Jim, but not as we know it.

      A way to sell a game that maybe under par, by suggesting titillation or sensationalism.

      Imagine how many they would sell if Lara Croft went with the first Lesbian gaming kiss?

      1. TheRealRoland

        Re: It's advertising Jim, but not as we know it.

        Wasn't that done in another game already, only the skin color of the women was blue?

        Whatever.

        And btw, jeebus probably forgot to apply the sarcasm tag in his reply.

        Or not.

        But again, whatever.

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          FAIL

          Re: It's advertising Jim, but not as we know it.

          In the end, the care-o-meter is at 0.

      2. h4rm0ny

        Re: It's advertising Jim, but not as we know it.

        If it's advertising, then it's probably just lost them a sale. Computer games are escapism for most of us. And we like to identify with the main character. If they think that rape wont put potential buyers off they are mistaken.

        I don't often see a male action hero being beaten down and raped / near raped by a man as a means of character building or drama. It would freak out too many of the male players. But apparently female players are supposed to be okay with it. Are women supposed to be more okay with being violated than a man would be?

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Disgusted.

      "Isn't it funny that men don't seem to need to be objectified, victimized and dis-empowered to become videogame relevant?"

      Most protagonists are dis-empowered and made to suffer in plot and back-story, due to our concepts that heroes must overcome not only the 'world shattering plot' kind of adversity, but personal adversity, too. Even James Bond has been graphically tortured. It's a cheap plot device, but hardly new. 'Men' certainly are victimised in fiction, on a regular basis. Or worse: Portrayed as rapists when 'the bad guys'. Which is a pretty horrific thing to see your gender represented as.

      "This is basically BDSM porn."

      Really? We haven't even seen the game. How do you know what it is. How about waiting to see before judging?

      I'm personally holding off judgement until I see something that makes me think it'll be crap.

    6. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
      Stop

      Re: Disgusted.

      Dana W: Whilst acknowledging that there is such a thing as misogyny, to suggest that a scene in a work of fiction showing a (sterotyped) female character defeating a (stereotyped) male character is 'BDSM porn' and 'wanking material for angry geeks' is, in itself, extremely misandrystic, and offensive to men.

      I understand the purpose and ideas behind feminism, and the movement has acheived many positive things. I believe that there is also a good deal more for society to achieve before the job is done. The goals of feminish will not, however, be achieved by hating men.

      You cannot fight sexism with sexism; for a woman to cast all men as the villians, to imply that we are all women hating sex-crazed thugs, is equally as sexist as a man suggesting that all women are weak and should stay in the kithen - it is a vile opinion and one that deserves to be stamped upon.

      From an alternate point of view, the scene in which Lara Croft is attacked by "a beardy old scrote running his hand over Lara's curves before knocking her to the ground and straddling her", could just as validly be seen as a cynical stereotyping of men as it is the denigration of a strong woman. My suggestion would be that if it's not to your taste, don't buy the game.

    7. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Disgusted.

      While I don't particularly care about Lara Croft games one way or the other (though in my view a potential rape victim shooting a would be rapist strikes me more as a case of a woman showing strength and that she is capable of defending herself) I take a wee bit of umbrage with you equating a potential rape scenario with BDSM.

      You are aware that BDSM is performed between consenting adults who each have certain sexual preferences whether dominant or submissive right? And that it is the submissive who really holds more power than the dominant during scenes contrary to appearances? If not I suggest you go do some reading up on the subject before making ill informed statements.

  2. Turtle

    How does that work, exactly?

    "The character may not actually be sexually assaulted on screen - they'd never get that past the censor - but the threat is strongly implied, part of CD's attempt to get players to see the character behind the pneumatic, scantily clad pixels of the past.."

    That makes no sense to me. Could someone explain the mechanism behind it, and tell me how it works, exactly?

    1. Anomynous Coward

      Re: How does that work, exactly?

      I guess that if you see the character in peril (and more than just the in-game mechanics of play peril) you are more likely to empathise and consider the inner emotional state.

      I suspect it is just sex-and-controversy-sells marketing though.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: How does that work, exactly?

        "I suspect it is just sex-and-controversy-sells marketing though."

        Nothing quite like it, never been a fan of the series and this doesn't make it seem anymore interesting.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: How does that work, exactly?

          If anything, the heavy torture-porn feel to the trailer (regardless of what the actual product is like) has made me less likely to buy the game.

          1. Thomas 4

            Re: How does that work, exactly?

            Hmmmm.

            I've just watched the trailer and Lara's various reactions, not just in that scene, which frankly was too quick for me to make out clearly what was going on but overall, she does seem to have been reduced to a spineless wimp that complains all the time. What happened to the Lara that offered naff James Bond like quips before blasting someone in the face?

  3. NoneSuch Silver badge
    Flame

    Gee...

    ...are they running out of ideas in video games as well? What's next? Lara Croft - Human Centipede.

    1. The Envoy
      Meh

      Re: Gee... May I suggest

      "Laura Croft - Vampire Twilight" ?

      1. The Envoy
        Trollface

        Re: Gee... May I suggest

        Laura just because Lara need to be "reinvented"

        1. Timbo 1
          Joke

          Re: Gee... May I suggest

          Maybe if it's intended for adults they could reinvent it further so that she becomes Laurence Croft.

          "Just out of Harley Street and this time she's a he and he's angry........."

          1. LaeMing
            Happy

            Re: Gee... May I suggest

            As long as his generously-portioned man-bits jiggle pneumatically in his over-tight khakis, I'm in!

            1. Thorne

              Re: Gee... May I suggest

              "As long as his generously-portioned man-bits jiggle pneumatically in his over-tight khakis, I'm in!"

              Actually to get more women in his generously-portioned credit card would need to jiggle pneumatically in his over-tight khakis

          2. Tom 13

            Re: he's angry

            Oh noes! They made him angry! Nobody likes him when he's angry!

            Oops, wrong show.

  4. Paul Bruneau

    Just like Lawrence of Arabia, then?

    That was quite subtle too

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No Dice

    One sale lost...

  6. John Sanders
    FAIL

    This is absolutely...

    Redonculous.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    For me the Lara era has ended anyway

    IMO the game market suffers from the same issues as the movie industry. And that is a massive lack of imagination, lack of innovation or.... Or maybe its simply not having the will to invest in something which isn't sure to bring in some money aka being chicken.

    My main gripe with all this is that companies simply pick up on icons from the past, violate them where storyline and everything else is concerned and then present it as "the latest newest hippest thing, product X totally revised!" and they're usually damned proud of it too.

    Who cares that the move alone can kill fond memories of things from the past (Tombraider, Master o/t Universe, ThunderCats), who cares that where storyline is concerned you'll probably deliver an unfinished product thus leaving quite some new fans unsatisfied (Masters o/t Universe which series' got cancelled for example). As long as it brings in money its a huge success and it doesn't matter how far they have to go.

    It's a common trend amongst fantasy characters it seems. Take ThunderCats; one of the things many die-hard fans kept on speculating about was Cheetara (a female character). Was she in love with Lion-O, was she having an affair with Tygra or was she simply totally devoted to being a mother-like figure for the ThunderKittens (Willykit & Willykat)? That went a bit too deep for me but many fans would describe that sense of mystery as adding up to the original series.

    Well; TCats revised season 1. "One of your friends is going to betray you!" and oh my; Chee kisses Tygra full on the mouth, of course while she wasn't married to Lion-O or something (what betrayal?).

    My point: this is exactly what those money dudes are hoping for. Getting the crowd all worked up ("You can't do that, Chee is an independent Cat!") so that they may feel compelled to buy into the next season to see "if the authors got it right".

    This is no different. Bring in a Lara which many fans can't associate themselves with but may still have some "cuteness" over her, many people may buy the game and if at the end she isn't turned into the Lara as we know... Well, then better wait for the next game where she'll face even MORE misery (provided enough income was generated from this game of course).

    For me; I'll stick to the older original Tombraider games thank you very much.

    1. Suricou Raven

      Re: For me the Lara era has ended anyway

      There's a reason for the lack of innovation, and it's the same in both industries. Cost. Production is just much more expensive now. Even in the budget titles, people aren't going to be happy with obvious matt paintings for backgrounds in movies. Same in games - high-quality graphics, especially written music and professional voice acting is a must. When a project costs millions of dollars to make, no well-run company is going to risk that much money unless they are assured of a good return. Low-risk. That means sticking to tried-and-tested formulas: The generic genre piece, sequels, franchises and blatant copies of recent successes.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Suricou

        Sorry but I don't agree. Sure; costs are an important factor nowadays but its the fear that no or hardly any money is earned which is the main thrive which makes these people decide not to innovate.

        Because ask yourself this: /why/ does it need to be so extremely expensive? My stance on the matter: because they are scared that things will fail so they throw as much money against it as they can to make the parts they /can/ control (graphics, sound, etc.) as perfect as possible, probably hoping it covers up the rest.

        I think its rubbish. Take this game; it looks astonishing. Why does it need to be called "Tombraider"? I bet if they came up with another storyline featuring other characters while using this engine it would still be sold easily.

        Luckily there are still companies which /do/ realize the importance of innovation. Take a game such as Journey (Wikipedia link). It broke records, it got very high scores and guess what?

        Its a very minimalistic game and didn't resemble /any/ of their previous games. Hardly any extremely sharp graphics, sound is mostly a music score and the main character can't do much more than walk / jump around and produce musical like notes.

        Yet it managed to trigger our fantasies and emotions so much and deep that it became an instant hit.

        You /can/ create new successes, if you're good at what you're doing and dare to take risks.

      2. Tom 13

        Re: The generic genre piece, sequels, franchises and blatant copies of recent successes.

        And oddly enough, exactly the sorts of things that are likely to cause the project to fail, because except in rare cases those are things that make me less inclined to buy the game. In the rare cases that I have (MOO, Civ) completely revamping the game into something new and sticking the old title on it is guaranteed to cheese me off.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    err...

    Rape is not acceptable but mass murder is?

    I realise that in the context of a computer game this is the case, but it's odd, isn't it?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: err...

      Not only is she a mass murderer, but she also caps any endangered species that wander into line of sight, too. And of course, she's a shit archaeologist: She just steals the most valuable thing without recording any context, or taking photos. And she basically trashes any ancient temple that you put her in.

      Strong female character, or mass-murdering vandal...?

    2. Tom 13

      Re: err...

      It's not mass murder when they only people you've killed were all bad. Even Jamie Lee Curtis understood that.

    3. Thorne

      Re: err...

      Reminds me of a quote from the Hogfather

      "And then Jack chopped down what was the world's last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the giant's children didn't have a daddy any more. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done. Which proves that you can be excused just about anything if you're a hero, because no-one asks inconvenient questions."

  9. Fibbles

    If people want to make a game where a character overcomes the trauma of rape I don't have a problem with that. There are a lot of things in such a scenario for the storyline to explore. It'd likely end up as a very dark game clearly aimed at adult players.

    The problem I have with this game specifically is that Tomb Raider has always been a game marketed at teenagers. It'a not really the right venue for exploring such issues. I can only see this as a desperate attempt to add some controversy to yet another reboot of an ailing franchise.

  10. Quinch
    WTF?

    White Knighting

    Am I the only one who actually takes a positive view at this? I mean, let's reiterate what we know so far;

    The eponymous heroine is captured and cornered. One of the captors attempts to rape her and *promptly gets his ass gunned down by his would-be victim*. Followed by cries of objectification and "poor raped Lara".

    The only message I'm seeing here is "you don't have to be a victim". That even if a woman can't prevent an attempted rape, however dire the circumstances, she can prevent a successful one. I can't speak for members of the double-X demographic, but I find the situation where a female character is put in a nauseating position and *gets herself out of it* empowering more than anything else.

    1. auburnman

      I think it's the mixing of genres

      that is putting people off: I expect and indeed welcome high drama and emotional scenes when I am playing a game of that ilk such as Heavy Rain. If I am playing whizz bang shooty fun puzzle platformer for a bit of escapism I would not appreciate suddenly having the evils of society suddenly dumped on my mind.

      I personally am not keen on entertainment that crosses a certain line in exploring personal trauma (like the film about the guy who had to cut his arm off or die in the desert.)

      With high end graphics and improving writing, games have evolved to a point where good developers can really make you feel like you are in the game, or at least have a high level of empathy with your character. So throwing the threat of violation of 'you' or a 'person' you care about into the mix is something I can understand people shying away from.

  11. thefutureboy

    Surely?

    "...running his hand over Lara's curves before knocking her to the ground and straddling her; she shoots him almost immediately."

    Surely they have that last bit the wrong way round?

  12. Crisp

    It's an adult game

    Why should it not have adult themes?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It's an adult game

      That makes as much sense as "it's a racist game, why should it not have racist themes?"

      1. Crisp

        Re: It's an adult game

        It's an adult game. Marketed at and played by adults. It depicts the main character gunning down various other characters. Killing them.

        If the game explored the issue of racism, then I would fully expect it to have racist themes.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: It's an adult game

          You think "gunning down and killing others" is somehow "adult"? Really?

          Sad.

          1. Crisp

            Re: It's an adult game

            It's not something that I would want to expose children to.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: It's an adult game

              Not till they grow up and they're ready for pixellated rape?

    2. Tom 13

      Re: It's an adult game

      Because given past versions of the game, the "Mature" ratings tag on the game is clearly a marketing technique to sell it to teenagers.

  13. Dave Bell

    Rape, or threatened rape, as part of the handling of a female character, is the cheap, crude, default plot option of a bad writer.

    And rape happens in the real world, far more than it might be comfortable to admit. Turning it into this sort of fantasy of character-definition gives us a false image while the real crud of society carries on, lurking behind the masking of "it's only a game".

    1. Tom 13

      Re: is the cheap, crude, default plot option of a bad writer.

      Not necessarily. It could be the start to a well developed and well done, but very dark game. And if so, it ought to be released under another name.

      But I concur that in the current franchise your characterization if spot on.

    2. Thorne
      Childcatcher

      Yes only rainbows and fluffy bunnies from now on in games

  14. Magnus_Pym

    What point does this scene serve?

    As far as I am concerned any of the 'tell us the secret or there will be bad consequences' type scenarios implies the threat of death, torture, mutilation and/or rape. Unspecified threat is filled out in the mind of the player. There may even be people with more of a sewer mind than mine that imagine even more brutal and devious perils awaiting the unsuspecting Lara. The difference here is that they are specifying a threat that they cannot allow the player to succumb to. They cannot allow her to be actually raped if, five scenes earlier, she failed to pick up the knife/gun/veterinary castration tool/etc. It's not like a gun battle in which she can get shot or a narrow ledge that she can fall off of. Nor does it does it add to the peril of recapture as that peril has always been there (except in the mind of those innocents who should probably not be informed of it). As such it doesn't add to the game it's just a marketing device.

    On another note. In modern films it appears to be quite acceptable to imply that a male criminal's impending incarceration may include repeated rape over an extended period. 'share a cell with Bubba', 'They're gonna love you inside' etc. etc. The difference is that film makers will show scenes of female rape to make add a plot/character point (or add marketing potential to a dud) where as male rape not often shown but is more of a light hearted joke/threat at the expense of the baddy.

  15. johnwerneken
    Megaphone

    I hate real violence and rape more than I hate political correctness, but not by much. We should be able to talk, joke, and make games about fantasy or reality, without worrying about the bottom percentile and trheir obsession with group identity politics.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One thing I find funny

    is that we have read the report and believe it. Some posters have correctly identified that mass murder, world war, oppression of ghosts that protect pills, power pills and fruit are all OK

    But other forms of crime are simply taboo. It's GTA San Andreas all over again (although on that occasion the sex scenes did exist)

    I think it would be better if Lara had stuck to her roots rather than becoming this all action male fantasy.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If we don't talk about it, it will stop happening.

    I think if we stop using the R-word in Games, Films, TV Series, Books, Forums and Newspapers, it will stop happening. It is used too much and because it is such a heinous crime- even worse than death, we should never mention it let alone use it as a theme in Entertainment.

    Video Games are merely for appealing to the base instincts of spotty, geeky male tennagers and can never express the realities of life. Violence is entertaining so that is ok.

    Casual sexual titillation of female characters in video games is ok. Especially impossibly slim, well endowed, millionaire heiress-adventurers with english accents and a penchant for inflicting violence on all god's creatures. But sexual violence, especially if implied is completely out of line. So by just pretending it doesn't exist, it will go away.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: If we don't talk about it, it will stop happening.

      Otherwise known as the ostrich approach. Let me know how that works out for you.

      *sticks*fingers*in*ears* LaLaLaLa, bad things don't happen. Look, a unicorn

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Well............

    Having watched the video I have to say it was an unpleasant experience.

    I don't subscribe to the ethos that violence in video games, on TV or in films is responsible for creating violence.

    But I don't agree with violence being used as a means to promote a product. That is what this video is all about.

    The producers have seen the success of free advertising that 'media outrage' creates, GTA, Manhunt etc, and are purposefully trying to get some of that by creating an unpleasant and disturbing 'teaser' for what has been a dead franchise for years. If they had real confidence in their product they wouldn't need to resort to such pathetic means. If they need to do this nearly a year before the game is due for release then they must realise it's going to be as awful as the last few attempts to flog the dead horse that is Tomb Raider.

    To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, "Sensationalism, the last refuge of the desperate."

  19. Graham Jordan

    And the problem is?

    Exploring new avenues in gaming? Good. Although it’s a shame censors exist in the first place, it’s good to see developers pushing boundaries. I say bring it on, and more so.

    I’m not one to play games like Grand Theft or Call of Duty; I’m an RPG and racing fan myself. Personally I don’t really understand the appeal of games where the objective is to kill another and score points for doing so (yes I’m aware my RPGs are littered with such violence, I mean the main objective). I’m one of the few on here that sit on the “movies/games do influence kids” and so have thrown a wobbly at my sister for buying her 14 year old son Saints Row.

    Having said that, I also strongly believe in a censorship free world (well, age restrictions obviously).

    You are free to play and enjoy any game you wish, like I wouldn’t buy GTA because I don’t understand the violence, you could chose not to play TR because Lara’s getting raped. You could likewise chose not to play Burnout which glorifies smashing other cars to shit, or angry birds which suggests all pigs are thieving gits, it’s completely up to you.

    Developers shouldn’t have to censor their material to avoid upsetting a handful of fools.

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