Fox News has already stepped up to the plate to criticize Duke Nukem Forever, even though the game isn’t out yet.
Duke Nukem Forever has become the target of a negative Fox News article calling it “sexist” and “over the line.” The game was bound to come under fire someday, but perhaps Fox News should have waited to actually play the game first.
The article uses Duke Nukem Forever‘s ESRB rating and news on its multiplayer modes to inform readers about the game’s “awfully sexist world.” The authors write that it “takes sexism to a new level,” they pepper in a quote from a videogame writer that Forever is “meant to objectify women” without any context, and they say that developer Gearbox “may have crossed the line this time.” The article also brings in an expert from the Women’s Media Center that says Duke Nukem Forever “is even more offensive” than 1996’s Duke Nukem 3D (has she actually played Duke Nukem‘s shooter debut?), and that the game’s “depictions of women are extremely harmful, especially to young women.”
Let’s be honest, the article is absolutely correct in saying that Duke Nukem Forever is over-the-top in male chauvinism, sexism, and “immature” humor. Where the article goes wrong is in its failure to explain that Duke Nukem Forever is one big joke. This is a game where players take poop out of the toilet and throw it at the wall and punch aliens in the testicles. It’s not supposed to be taken seriously.
Perhaps in the context of the actual game, had Fox News’ writers played Duke Nukem Forever, they’d have realized its status as a parody of the cigar-smoking “man’s man” action hero, though to an extreme a degree as you can get. Duke Nukem Forever isn’t going to win any awards for moving society forward, but a silly game about killing aliens and boobs isn’t going to move us backwards either.
Duke Nukem Forever was recently delayed to mid-June for release on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Source: Fox News
