We didn't write about this yesterday, because I was too busy staring bleakly at my feet in search of my happy space. Deep Silver's Dead Island: Riptide "Zombie Bait Edition" includes a small, mangled plastic torso with enormous breasts, wearing a Union Jack bikini and matching thong. Hey, at least it doesn't double as a sex aid.
The press release describes this as "Dead Island's grotesque take on an iconic Roman marble torso sculpture. Measuring 31cm high and 18.5cm wide, each of the Zombie Bait sculptures are hand-painted and depict the grisly remains of one of Palanai island's zombie infected."
I can imagine the conversation all too well, Paul. "My god, you've got a small butchered effigy of a woman on your desk." "I know, it's because I'm a discerning - wait, where are you going?"
Following a swell of outrage on Twitter and various forums, Deep Silver now says it "sincerely regrets" the move.
"We deeply apologize for any offense caused by the Dead Island Riptide "Zombie Bait Edition", the collector's edition announced for Europe and Australia," the publisher commented in a statement. "Like many gaming companies, Deep Silver has many offices in different countries, which is why sometimes different versions of Collector's Editions come into being for North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
"For the limited run of the Zombie Bait Edition for Europe and Australia, a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island.
"We sincerely regret this choice. We are collecting feedback continuously from the Dead Island community, as well as the international gaming community at large, for ongoing internal meetings with Deep Silver's entire international team today.
"For now, we want to reiterate to the community, fans and industry how deeply sorry we are, and that we are committed to making sure this will never happen again."
A victory for taste and grown-up, non-objectifying games marketing, or a sad capitulation to the forces of hand-wringing political correctness? (Or a publisher trying its hand at manufacturing some outrage?) I'm sure you've got an opinion, so by all means share it.
12 comments so far...
xXPiperAlphaXx on 16 Jan '13 said:
Brilliant publicity stunt!
CunningSmile on 16 Jan '13 said:
I'm going with drumming up publicity on this, since probably like me most people had no idea this existed until they release a press statement "apologising" for it.
FishyGinger on 16 Jan '13 said:
Saw it beforehand, still think it looks awful. Why would you want a torso? (other than the aimed for 13 year old boys without access to the internet.)
xXPiperAlphaXx on 16 Jan '13 said:
My thoughts exactly. They must love this kind of 'bad press'.
Plamsa wing on 16 Jan '13 said:
Oh come on it's not bad! Jesus ******* christ people really do like to complain about anything now don't they?
Once again they've managed to make a mountain out of a molehill. Nothing happens when you get offended, you're arse doesn't catch fire, tits don't grow on frogs.
Once again common sense is nowhere to be found. Looks like I won't be able to draw someones naked portrait without someone getting offended now. You have to ruin it for everyone don't you? Don't you?
Decent_Jam on 16 Jan '13 said:
Reading this makes me feel like confessing through tears that it's all my fault and begging for forgiveness.
NBA Kirkland on 16 Jan '13 said:
Says who?
comabob on 16 Jan '13 said:
I actually quite liked the look of it.
It strangely suits the games b-movie/grindhouse feel.
Drainwater on 17 Jan '13 said:
You had me at "You've got a small butchered effigy of a woman on your desk."
mistergrimm on 17 Jan '13 said:
Honestly I didn't see anything sexual in it. It was just a dismembered torso that happened to be female to me. While not particularly artistic or tasteful it should surely appeal to gore fans (i.e the kind of people who love zombie fiction). Would there have been the same level of outcry had the bust been male?
Perhaps it would have been more appropriate for them to use a woman wearing a t-shirt if they insisted on it being female, but honestly to me it really doesn't seem to be trying to be sexually provocative. At least, no more sexually provocative than a woman wearing a bikini on a beach at a tropical island resort. Like the one the game is set on. Which kind of makes it a relevant design choice.
Maybe I'm reading hard into this and being misogynistic or something and it's not about the boobs but about the blood, in which case - so what?
CunningSmile on 17 Jan '13 said:
Sandbwoy on 18 Jan '13 said:
It's a collector's edition display statue, what's wrong with that? It's just the same as the Duke Nukem bust that came with the collector's edition of Duke Nukem Forever, or the dragon statue that was bundled with Skyrim's collector's edition. I don't see what the fuss is about. If people have time to make complaints about such things, they need to get a life!