Anyone seen the Dead Space 2 "Your Mom" commercial?

[elmagicochrisg]

[Niode]

But it's nothing new to stir up controversy with the intention of generating sales. Hell, it's a business model for Rockstar. And it's not even new to the survival horror genre, though it backfired horribly where Rule of Rose was concerned. Somebody in marketing happened to think they could sell more copies this way. If it works, it's golden, the company reaps the rewards, and whoever developed the strategy might get a nice bonus, raise, or promotion while gaming once again finds itself dragged through the mud by whoever wants to point to it as a reason why society is so terrible nowadays. If it goes horribly wrong, those interested in the game might suffer from potential bans, especially those not living in the US.

What exactly was the controversy with Rule of Rose? I know it received some harsh criticism based on some implied sexuality to one of the underage characters but that's all I know about it. I bought the game because it was very rare in the UK due to it being limited to press-copies only but I've yet to play it.

[Ack]

Rule of Rose ended up seeing limited releases in sections of Europe (EU justice minister Franco Frattini wanted it banned outright), wasn't allowed release in Australia and New Zealand (the publisher refused to even try), and almost wasn't released in the United States due to the violence and sexual themes involving children. In the US the developers argued that the sexual content had been overly hyped and eventually secured a release. The PEGI argued against Frattini with little success.

[J T]

I was one of the winners in Kotaku's photoshop contest about the moms from this commercial. Mine is #11, the one with the Duck Hunt dog.

http://kotaku.com/5746810/kotaku-shop-c ... /gallery/2

[YoshiEgg25]

I was one of the winners in Kotaku's photoshop contest about the moms from this commercial. Mine is #11, the one with the Duck Hunt dog.

http://kotaku.com/5746810/kotaku-shop-c ... /gallery/2

Nice job!

[elmagicochrisg]

[CFFJR]

Normally I wouldn't revive a dead topic, but since I was offline for over a week, I wanted to finally respond to this post so I don't look like a jerk.

California-based Activision Blizzard, whose portfolio includes the Call of Duty series and Guitar Hero, has told the court that the existing Entertainment Software Rating Board rating is sufficient to give parents enough information about the content of video games. The rating symbols include E (suitable for early childhood) to T (ages 13 and over), M (17 and over), and A (adults only).

This, and this alone is what they should be focussing on. Let's be honest, there is no problem really.

And yes, reading the article I understand this is a hot topic for gaming America right now. And I do admit it may not have been the best timing for such a commercial. Or maybe it is. If publishers start avoiding certain commercials, that would already mean a victory for them nutcases. So I'm still in favour of showing it, even after reading the article you referred to. I mean, what better way to diffuse the situation than by ridiculising it oneself. Because, let's be honest, that's what they are doing. Same as the Society Against Playstation (SAPS) commercials did back in the days. There's a lot of different angles to look at this commercial, and not all of them are bad...

You're right about this, and I see your point. Honestly, this thing just stuck in my craw, and at the time I was only thinking about it from one angle because I was pissed.

I never said you are. I was talking about them anti-game nuts.

I know. That was all just preamble for what I was going to say. I promise I'm not really that touchy.

Ok, partially true. On the other hand, don't think things like that only play in the US. Play the german version of Resident Evil for Dreamcast (USK) for instance and you'll know what I'm talking about. Or the european version of Silent Hill 1 on Playstation. Or Thrill Kill worldwide. Or the japanese / european version of No more Heroes. The list goes on and on...

Very true. Another great (and recent) example was the ongoing battle in Australia over the limits they have on their ratings system.

The one time I was chill, and you give me this...

Ha, sorry, I didn't mean anything bad by it. I was thinking along the terms of getting an easy rise out of someone who's already mad, for kicks. Good natured ribbing, and nothing I haven't done before.

Anyway, I apologize if I was rude in my replies to you. Looking back at this topic, I was getting pretty pissy, and there really was no reason for it.

[elmagicochrisg]