While mere gamer mortals wait to see whether the gaming gods at EA will deign to reveal whether or not the rumors that Dead Space has been banned in three countries are true, here's an interesting point.
Hyping the intense violence of Dead Space is clearly a large part of EA's marketing strategy for the game.
EA was upfront about the game's blood and gore factor at its E3 2008 press conference in Los Angeles. Very upfront. Check out G4TV's video feed of the event. Fast foward to 10:45. That's when Dead Space executive producer Glen Schofield walks onstage. Here's what he says about the violence:
For the past two-and-a-half years, my team and I have been creating a game that's a bit of a departure for EA. It's a very M-rated, sci-fi survival-horror game called Dead Space. [crowd cheers] That's what I like to hear...
Dead Space is the story of Isaac Clarke... we focused deeply on creating a rich story and pushed EXTREMELY hard on the horror elements. But we also innovated on our main gameplay features such as zero gravity...
And our core gameplay mechanic is - strategic dismemberment, which is a clinical term for you have to tear these creatures apart limb-by-limb in order to kill 'em...
Several minutes of game play follow... Schofield returns to the stage at 16:05:
[crowd cheers] ...Thank you. Dead Space will be available on the 360, the PS3 and the PC on October 21st. Now we just showed you some action in our live demo. I'd like to leave you with a gameplay trailer that really sets the mood and tone of Dead Space. This trailer is made with 100% gameplay footage. And I hope you're all over 17 for this one. Thank you... [trailer starts up]
GameStop's product page for Dead Space also hypes the violence. The first two bullet points are:
- Strategic dismemberment—Shear off limbs with powerful weapons as you carve a bloody path through the alien hordes. Find ways to neutralize attacking enemies effectively or they’ll keep coming at you. When ammo runs low, use telekinesis to pick up objects—even the enemies’ own arms and legs!—and fire them at anything that stands in your way.
- Terror in the far reaches of space—A blood-curdling interactive horror experience features state-of-the art graphics and effects, a panic-inducing audio system, and a truly frightening atmosphere of death and despair.
So... do rumors of a ban help fuel the marketing of Dead Space as a "bad boy" of EA's gaming stable?
Comments
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
lol, JT probably gets his gaming information for his anti-gaming machinations from this site. I bet he had never heard of Dead Space before checking out this site. Isn't that right JT?
I bet he started on the lawsuit after he read the Dead Space banning article.
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
Andrew, do you actually think I would tell you about the details of the lawsuit before it is filed? Are you kidding? I do love it when one of the game industry's more stupid CEO's puts this into the public square:
"And our core gameplay mechanic is - strategic dismemberment, which is a clinical term for you have to tear these creatures apart limb-by-limb in order to kill 'em..."
Thanks, EA! You make my life interesting. Jack Thompson
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
Although I'm not particularly partial to this kind of game, your comments take away all of my attempts at restraint.
As a would-have-been-but-was-never-really-a-colleague-lawyer you should know that there is nothing legally wrong with video game violence, and any attempt of passing a bill to restrain violence on a form of graphical expression (yes, videogames are legally art you moron) will be ipso facto declared unconstitutional by any sane person.
Please check yourself or be the AVATAR OF FAIL
Oh wait, you already are
Sincerely;
James DuBois
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
You utter moron, it does NOT mean anything in real life other than TAKING DOWN THE MONSTERS QUICKER... you stupid cunt.
When Life gives you lemons, you find a new god.
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
Thompson, you are aware of the existence of the "reply" button and what it's there for, correct?
No, I don't expect you to go into details but a summary would be nice, especially when there seems to be no grounds for a lawsuit here.
Andrew Eisen
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
Very cool. Looks like I'll be cranking up the lawsuit against EA later this week. Jack Thompson
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
Oh poor sad you
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
What lawsuit?
If you meant "a" lawsuit, then what for?
Andrew Eisen
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
What is wrong with this website at the moment? Seriosuly so what if they hype up a section of thier game, supprisingly nobody has picked up on any correlation between what you have pointed out and the ban...why? Because they have been hyping up thier dismemberment thing since day one, its part of the game.
Enemys are harder to take down unless you strategically make it so they cant attack you or escape etc..
Honestly this makes no differenance on sales. At the minute the market is flooded. As i am sure you are well aware they only people this kind of news reaches is to people who search for it. People who get influenced by bans are gonna be circulating in the mainstream, people who wait for it to pop up on bbc 1 ALA manhunt/2 and then go searching for it,
For gamers we have, regardless of system, a huge amount of games to choose from. If you like survuval horror then you would have been keeping up with this since day one so this makes no differance. To anyone who enjoys a survival horror or other types of games they will pick this up wen it drops in price at christmas...this wont effect sales and you guys are making something out of nothing. It honestly doesnt matter if this is or if this isnt banned.
So EA could be liers? Whats changed then> Nothing, they have been like this since the ps2.
Re: EA Hyped Dead Space Violence at E3
Not sure if it does that or even if being a "bad boy" is attractive to most people. I will say however that all the hoopla (it's too violent, ban the hell out of it!) has prompted me to take a closer look at the game. I'm still not sold but I wouldn't have paid as much attention otherwise (ignoring additional advertising campaigns and whatnot).
Andrew Eisen