According to the man in charge of Gearbox Software, Duke Nukem is more like Hugh Hefner than Chris Brown when it comes to his attitude towards women.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Duke Nukem Forever has earned a fair amount of controversy before it’s even been released. And, with a promotional event for the game being held at a strip club and the recently revealed “Capture the Babe” mode, it’s actually kind of easy to understand why groups like Fox News have accused the game of being “sexist”. However, Gearbox’s head honcho Randy Pitchford is angrily defending both the game and its star.
Pitchford recently spoke to Eurogamer about the subject. According to him, the accusation that Duke Nukem can be seen as someone who commits violence against women is offensive:
“The minute you try to suggest that Duke would himself commit an act of violence against a woman just because she’s a woman, or advocate that, that’s offensive to me.”
…
“Duke is a Hugh Hefner kind of character – he’s absolutely not a Chris Brown kind of character … I think Duke would kick that guy’s ass. That guy’s not a man, he’s an asshole. And I think Duke would hate a guy like that.”
I’m not sure Hugh Hefner is the first person I’d compare Duke to. In fact, if I were Pitchford, I’d be more concerned (and trying to do damage control) about how the game’s console version is apparently a lot less impressive than the PC build is.
Source: Eurogamer