For those that don’t know, Duke Nukem Forever is the much-belated sequel to the 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D, which sold reasonably well and garnered enough interest that a sequel — the aforementioned Duke Nukem Forever — was planned. It then spent so long in development hell that it earned its own running gag, in the same way Guns and Roses’ Chinese Democracy did, in regards as to whether we’d see it released some time… well… ever.
It was finally released last week, and it completely tanked.
Now, as a male who enjoys videogames, I have to say I’m kinda relieved by this. Why, you ask? Well the game traffics in a kind of misogyny and crudeness and sheer childishness that I’m convinced is still the way the MSM sees video games and the people — and by people, I mean men who play them (those with a grudge against video games will never acknowledge that women or people of any other gender or sexuality play them, because that would mean acknowledging that their comfortable world-view is flawed).
The character of Duke Nukem is an irritating pastiche/homage of the hyper-masculine archetype seen most prominently in 80s action films, who spouts lazy pop culture references taken from much better films (They Live and Army of Darkness being just two it shamelessly takes from). The creators of the game, Gearbox, have defended the game by saying it is a celebration of masculinity… yeah I think metagalacticllamas.com covered this better than I could:
I’m fucking sick of seeing this kind of shit put out time and time again with a bunch of boilerplate proclamations about how it’s “manly” and a “celebration of masculinity.” That’s the line we’re fed over and over when a game or movie comes out; the people behind them act like masculinity doesn’t get celebrated enough in our culture. It does (more than enough, by far), and I’m tired of being told that the way to celebrate my penis is by pretending that it’s what makes me worthy of regard as a human.
There still is a culture of sexism in gaming that needs to be addressed, and soon, but I’m really grateful that my fellow gamers have seen DNF for the dated relic it is, and for staying the hell away from it. Of course, it also helped that the game is a complete disaster on almost every conceivable level from design, to functionality, to control — but I like to think that in a small way, we’ve struck a blow for intelligent gamers everywhere, and sent a message that we deserve to be treated better… and also that when a game spends almost 14 years in development? It should probably just stay there.
mythago:
Please don’t patronize me. Your “assuming every gamer is not a misogynistic teenage boy” was a clear attack on not only teenage boys but anyone that plays Duke Nukem because, you know, it’s so obviously inarguable that it’s a misogynistic game. Don’t bring up accusations of that type unless you expect pushback, and don’t expect any apologies from me. There’s a reason I’ve been giving you a verbal backhand whilst replying to others with far more nuanced posts.
@Clarence, protip: completely changing the subject and accusing the other person of saying something they never said? Really transparent. Since nobody’s claimed that playing GTA turns people violent it’s a diversion and a waste of time to argue otherwise.
Overreaction, PC, gender script, where’s my jubbly, only boys play games….I’ve been a gamer since I was tall enough to react the quarter slot on the machine and it’s been the same damn tiresome thing. Really, there are men, too, who can enjoy a game that doesn’t scream “Hey, think about your penis!” at every turn.
I’d just like to point out that misogyny isn’t the only form of sexism worth examining in video games: misandry is, also. What’s the gender of the vast majority of the people being killed? I play video games, but the dehumanization of the men you mow down is troublesome.
Well, there we run into the problem Simone De Beauvoir identified in her famous line: “There are two kinds of people: human beings, and women.” Male is the default “normal” gender in most of our media. If you doubt this, ask yourself how many movies and TV shows have a character whose narrative role can be summed up as “the girl” vs. how many have a character who can be summed up as “the guy”. Very often, being female is the gimmick or personality trait that sets a character apart from the others. You’ve seen this a million times: one… Read more »
Well, there we run into the problem Simone De Beauvoir identified in her famous line: “There are two kinds of people: human beings, and women.” What do you make of the following headline …Iraqi women and children massacred by American marines… Used to describe an atrocity in which the majority of those killed were men? Or the BBC correspondent reporting on the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2009, who referred to “hospitals full of women and children”, when more than half of the wounded (and about 90% of those killed) were men? Or this Reuters report, which includes the following… Read more »
I agree Hugh Ristik in fact I wont play RTS games for that reason the idea of sending all those men out to die just doesn’t sit well with me. In fact I might put a post together of misandry in VGs some time in the future.
This is just something I really wanted to get off my chest first.
Looking forward to it. Sometimes I sacrifice squads of dudes merely to slow down my opponent, and later I think… what did I do? And then off course there is mowing down hoards of faceless (but male) enemies in an FPS. The military must be thrilled at all the “training” we receive merely by being part of this culture. Heck, I played America’s Army when it came out. That being said, I often try to compartmentalize and not guilt myself too much for making use of entertainment available in the present, even though I hope that entertainment in the future… Read more »
marc2020,
I’m a little confused by one of the things that you said in the top of this post. Are you implying that chivalry (a system which assumes women are weak incapable frail wallflowers who need men to do everything for them) somehow benefits women and is a way women are privileged over men?
I agree with what you are saying here to a tee, but chivalry is not a privilege women have.
Chivalry isn’t always a privilege for women, but sometimes is it.
mythago:
Given your name, I suggest you read the Wired article again, assuming you bothered to read it the first time. There’s a reason that DNF took so long to make, there’s a reason that some people have waited almost 15 years for this. Without the appropriate background information one can’t judge the current game.
Really, there are reasons people can disagree with you other than “they simply don’t have the background”. It’s pretty silly to assume no gamers other than you ever read that Wired article, have any knowledge of DNF’s history, or could possibly disagree with you after re-reading the article.
marc2020’s point was not that DNF was a fantastic, trouble-free game tainted only by sexism. He was addressing the ‘racy’ humor of the prior DN games which got turned into “haw, we’re so edgy cuz bitches” in DNF.
mythago: Perhaps you should have read his post a bit more closely. He said Duke Nukem 3d sold “reasonably well” instead of being one of the biggest hits in video game history. And it’s precisely over-reactions by people who think all games should follow some pre-approved “gender script” that make me happy Duke Nukem Forever has came out and proceeded to offend even more. It’s really a bit of a “game”. Duke Nukem Forever gets notoriety and sales because of it and some feminists get attention. By the way, the op is wrong, at least in part. Here’s current week… Read more »
Yes but it’s done nowhere near the business they thought it would do.
Also I don’t think that games should follow some pre approved script but I do feel innovation is the key to video games survival. There is so much that can be done with the medium the possibilities are endless.
I don’t see what’s to be gained from reaching far back into the past and pulling out something like DN which was very much of its time and then not changing anything about the game at all.
Funny, I don’t usually see “not assuming every player is a misogynistic teenage boy” as a repressive PC “gender script”, but I guess some people set the bar for being offended lower than others.
Oh, how cute.
Confusing playing the occasional game that might be fun despite having some troublesome elements with actually being the character in that game. The GTA series of games must have really made a lot more pimps, drug dealers, and enforcers out of the nations boys, hmm?
I fully intend to buy and play that game. I replayed the original Duke Nukem3d a few months ago. I make no apologies for my tastes in games. Over the years I’ve played everything from Gods of War to Ms Pacman, all the Halos, Black and White, Dead or Alive, Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball (my favorite volleyball part of a game of all time) and etc. I enjoyed the original Duke Nukem 3d , and from the reviews I’ve been seeing this sequel is a worthy successor if not quite as awesome. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_duke_nukem/ I’m sure we could get into… Read more »
Sorry, we get that you love the jubbly engine and all its progeny, but WTF did a year-and-a-half old Wired article have to do with the subject of the post?
Ok I’ve read the link, very interesting stuff there it’s unfortunate that they started making the game right around the time processing power went supernova. I do understand developers are under an excruciating amount of pressure (they don’t call it development hell for nothing) but it does little to assuage my stance that the success of the original Duke game was little more than luck from a time where video games didn’t garner the same media attention they do now. My problem is that video games now have that attention lots of it in fact I should be happy but… Read more »
marc2020: Thank you for reading my link. I’ve been busy, so haven’t really put together a good post yet. Heck, I’m still researching some of the stuff on a previous thread from 3 days ago. But before I say anything else I want to say a few things that I think we can agree on: A. There are currently and have been in the past video games and elements in video games that are sexist towards women. There are also elements of sexism against men in video games, and many game franchises (even those with world or galaxy spanning plots… Read more »
Yeah, we get that you like video games. Everyone here likes video games. But that doesn’t mean you should let them off the hook for their infamous levels of sexism. The problem is far more widespread than “a very few scenes in a very few games.” Hell, it took 20 years just to get Lara Croft’s boobs down to a realistic proportion.
Yes, Triplanetary, I get the infamous levels of sexism in games.
Here you go:
A nice thread I’ve been in. I’m second post down.
http://www.feministcritics.org/blog/2011/04/09/eagle3x%E2%80%99s-gta-exchange/
And by “get”, you apparently mean “would like more of it because it pisses off women”? At least that’s what your comment below seems to suggest.
mythago::
Well, if you want to look at some comments and not others, such as my much longer comment, to Mark, above – well, that is your prerogative. And yes, if certain types of feminist women get pissed off because they can’t totally control the cultural narrative of video games, I get a huge smile on my face. I’ve literally been exposed to most of these self-serving (and often ignorant) critiques for over 25 years of my life.
Oh, noes! Duke Nukem is back! HIde the children, lock the doors! Ridiculous.
I was very pleased to find this blog, and I’m really interested in all your insightful thoughts. But I find some of the typos here so distracting that it’s hard for me to focus on your ideas. May I humbly suggest that you get yourself a copy editor?
(Anytime you need one, I’d be happy to oblige.)
That was very politely put and I fully concur.
It would also help me if some of the acronyms could be explained. For MSM Google has suggested methylsulfonylmethane, which doesn’t seem to make sense with the rest of the article!
MSM = Main Strem Media I apologize for the confusion
Thanks 🙂
Yeah, I’m with you on this. Also this.