Why Pin-up girl boxes are offensive

One writers take on why MGS5 Gamescom presentation was offensive.

[ThatEnglishDude]

"Remember when this game series was supposed to be a super dark, heavily Japanese, super spy tale of intrigue?"

Someone has never played Metal Gear before. It's ALWAYS been tongue-in-cheek, quirky, off the wall and completely out there.

Lighten up, jeez.

[KingKelloggTheWH]

It's always been pretty dang serious for the most part, it's just with weird little things on the side.

The Box in MGSV though, seems like to much. I won't be using it.

[frenchtoast]

MGS2 had the magazines that the guards would get hearts over their heads and start panting. So no, it's not been pretty serious, however, I do agree that this box demo was just stupid. I don't really care if its in the game, it shouldn't have been shown on a stage at all.

[Ju]

OMG. The american audience can't handle nakedness or pin ups - in a land of oversexed teenagers and the biggest porn industry on the planet. Hey, it was a European gameshow to begin with.

[Salooh]

The video is a cover of Silent hell . He came all the way to just show a silly short video ? ..

[herpderpasshole]

1. Create website with stupid name that no one ever heard about (fantasticneighborhood.com)
2. Write controversal article ("Pin-up girl boxes are offensive!oneone")

3. Spread it (n4g)

4. Count dollars from clicks.

5. ?????

6. PROFIT!

Seriously i don't even know why this dummy is allowed to post articles on n4g.

Yeah disagree with me, I'm bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts..

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Thanks?

[Gh05t]

Don't forget to vote on story quality and site overall by clicking on the site name under the article summary.

[FantasticHood]

There are no ads on the site. So, you know, obviously did not read.

[HappyWithOneBubble]

We also help N4G make profit clicking on these articles.

[Back-to-Back]

I personally am glad this author was offended by something that was meant to be tongue and cheek for the fans. 100 bucks says this guy has no idea why fans love the box.

[Mankey]

From the second I saw this trailer, I thought there was going to be an article like this. . . (Sigh) quit trying to control media. It's Hideo's vision.

[FantasticHood]

Just because it is his vision does not mean it is not incredibly stupid. I think you could excuse it in the past because of technological limitations, but at this point there is no excuse.

If truly this is his vision, then I just think his vision is super dumb.

[ArchangelMike]

Dude, you are obviously a newbie when it comes to the MGS games.

A word to the wise - if you don't understand Kojima-isms and the MGS games, then go bother someone else. 'cos round here no-one really cares for pretentious self-righteous political correctness, getting in the way of gaming fun.

[FantasticHood]

I understand them plenty, my argument is that it needs to evolve and grow up, because we are not a bunch of kids infront of a PS1 anymore.

All the MGS titles are pretty stupid in my eyes and that is pretty consistent, but Kojima is on record as saying he wants them to evolve, get gritty and real. Rehashing old mechanics in the dumbest way possible is not evolving.

The article really has nothing to do with political correctness at all either. It's about a game maker treating you like a moron.

[Exoil]

I don't really know if this is real or not.

I read reports from people who translated what Hideo said on the stage and that it doesn't match what the translator said.

And right afterward the footage of MGS5 you get P.T.
I think Hideo was just there to troll us gamers.

[Mankey]

So then his vision is dumb.

[Snookies12]

Ummm, there have been posters of pin-up girls in like every Metal Gear Solid game...

[Oschino1907]

Accidentally hit disagree when scrolling, I hope the other guy did too or he's clearly challenged mentally.

[Wedge19]

A few reasons I can't take this article seriously:

1. "Archaic view on women" - Check when the game takes place... the 70's? It's accurate for the time period. Also, we still have models today... Some women are still seen and portray themselves this way willingly! The image on the box is not meant to be representative of every woman ever... smh

2. "Dark tale of intrigue" - I feel you are uneducated on your MGS. MGS has ALWAYS been quirky and goofy. Personally I LOVED that the focus was on a box! Why? Because I need more Metal Gear Easter eggs and quirkiness.

3. "Come on Sony..." - Sure it was at the Sony conference, but this is Kojima and Konami, has nothing to do with Sony. The game will be on Xbone too.

[FantasticHood]

1 - It's Archaic for 2014, for an audience that will be playing it in the present. Yes it's a period piece, but it does not remove the stupidity from it. You can make a grown up game with grown up mechanics that do not treat the player like a child regardless of the time setting.

2 - Kojima has been publicly saying that the storytelling would be grittier and more real. It's the reason he game as to why he treats a rape victim as an object to develop one of the male characters

3 - Sony showed it, Sony has some culpability in this. Contextually this happened at their conference at Gamescom, not Microsoft. Yes it is the publishers fault but if Sony is going to take ownership enough to show it at a conference for the PS4 they have the responsibility as well.

[ArchangelMike]

Dude go home. You clearly work too hard.

We do this for the fun, remember. Fun! You seem to like your games minus the fun factor.

Sheesh, talk about taking things too seriously!

[DanielGearSolid]

Meanwhile real MGS fans realize this is business as usual for Kojima

Go somewhere kid...

[BiggerBoss]

Dude stop trying to be such a social justice warrior. You're the only one being childish. If you would miss on a great game of this magnitude just because of a bit of pervy humor, then your priorities just aren't straight. And you're not forced to use the cardboard box, heck I hardly used it in past MGS games. You need to go play Super Mario Brothers, or do they objectify women like princess peach too much for you?

[KwietStorm_BLM]

How exactly do the mechanics make you feel as if you're being treated like a child?

[Spotie]

Dude, you failed. Stop it. Defending such an ignorant stance just makes you look bad, and embarrasses us all.

[Moe-Gunz]

The fact that TPP will be more dark and gritty is the reason this was shown. Fans was worried that the Kojima-isms and funny moments wouldn't be present (making it a hard game to swallow holding MGS in the title). Kojima has shown in the last two demos that we still will have MGS humor to look forward to. Our concerns has been handled.

Too many non-mgs fans commenting like they know about the series and what will benefit it. Not having the traditional MGS humor would hurt the game. You say it's time for the game to grow up, well here's the thing, MGS has always been very mature and intelligent while still not being afraid to lighten up. Kojima always understood that this is a game and fun moments is needed.

The funny part is it's up to you! You do not have to use the box at all. Just like you didn't have to use the magazines or zoom into the posters in the lockers to hear the kiss sound in past MGS games.

On the article, I was actually waiting for this inevitable "feminism" type article. I knew I wouldn't be let down.

[psuedo]

Oh your so progressive's

[Pabbs_Slick]

Wow, just when I thought articles on N4G couldn't get any more ridiculous and moronic, I shoot myself in the foot by reading this trash. First off you already renounce your credibility by stating that MGS "was supposed to be a super dark, heavily Japanese, super spy tale of intrigue," which off the bat shows that you know nothing about the series. Then you opt to throw in just a drop of feminist propaganda, the likes of which have been a cancer in the gaming community in recent months, and you top it off with, in your own words, calling Hideo Kojima "dumb."

I would delve further, but I think most, no, all would agree that your idiocy speaks for itself.

[BiggerBoss]

Agreed this article is ridiculous. Story quality=wtf, like this website=NO

[Big_Game_Hunters]

SJWs looking for any reason to cry and moan, i love it.

[ajax17]

Offensive?? Ugh, another one of these articles...

[LightDiego]

If that's offensive, you need to find a hobby or a job.

[FantasticHood]

It's fairly obvious that the last few posters didn't read the article because it has nothing to do with being a feminist or women's issues. As a matter of fact all it does is references the inevitable conversations that will take place in that regard, of which this is not one of them. The title is purposely misleading to illustrate that point.

The article is standing up for you guys not to be condescended to or talked down at, though it seems hard to express that when you didn't read it.

[NukaCola]

This was a crying blog about a pointless topic. You clearly don't have a clue how Kojima does business in the MGS series. On top of that, you attacked Sony on a 3rd party game. Your article was whiny and uneducated. If it was your first, try harder. If not, find a new job.

[Gh05t]

"The title is purposely misleading..."

That right there is why you should never write an article like this again.

Article titles should NEVER mislead an audience. You are click baiting and its ridiculous that this drivel got approved in the first place.

[Pabbs_Slick]

"Invariably, the discussion about this box will be about the sexist undertones (overtones at this point) of the pin-up girl feature on the box, and how it is an archaic view on women. And it 100% is, without a doubt."

Go ahead and review that last sentence.

Okay, no once more, just to be sure.

Awesome, now that we have that cleared up, I just wanna add that admitting to posting click-bait is probably the last nail of many in your coffin.

Oh, and just in case you're unclear: "The title is purposefully misleading to illustrate that point."

[roboteye]

"Remember when this game series was supposed to be a super dark, heavily Japanese, super spy tale of intrigue?"

Bwahahahahahahahaahahaha.
Literally anyone can write and publish "articles" now.

[SoulWarrior]

What a stupid article, lighten up and get over it.

God forbid a game can have some fun light, tongue in cheek humour.

[DominicanNinja]

Another crybaby article

[andibandit]

The only point i agree with in this article is that it seemed a little weird to have a conference with Hideo himself, to showcase upgrades to the cardboard box.
Not that I mind improvements, but i think Sony's conference would have been better without it.

[ForgottenProphecy]

Can you mark the entire article as a troll article? You can place Playboys in previous MGS games, so this article makes me believe one of two things:
1)You never played a MGS game for more than 5 minutes
2)You're trolling for clicks

[Keith22]

Who ever wrote this article needs to get out more

[scark92]

Its a MGS game, its expected, and highly welcomed.

[JusticeSoulTuna]

Oh, the pin up girls on the box 'offend you'? You know what I do when something offends me? I act like a MATURE ADULT and ignore it, and spend my time and effort on something that actually matters to me. It's this thing called: COMMON SENSE.

[Gh05t]

Lots of people these days think they have the right to not be offended.

Most people don't understand that they are not forced to play/watch/hear these things. they can always walk away but they would rather try to force everyone else to bend to their ideology no matter how destructive it is.

Live and let live, no one is being hurt here.

[flappersack]

Kojima eats SJW tears for breakfast.

[ajax17]

lol I had to look up what SJW was... Good point, too

[Gatsu]

So none of those other hundreds of games, that include nudity or women aren't offensive? Lol, c'mon is this a joke or what.

[Remy_S]

I find the author's ability to breathe offensive.

[Gh05t]

"Plenty of people are going to talk about that, I don’t need to"

But I will title my article as if I were going to talk about it.

[GothamReturns]

because a gay boy could actually like it and that would go against the govt's agenda

[rextraordinaire]

I'm gay and I like it. :)

[Revengeance]

Cry more why don't you

[mochachino]

Uh that not sexist at all. First of all, those girls are wearing more clothing than half the girls in their 20s do on a regular basis and second, there's nothing sexist about pin up girls.

Just keep them out of the workplace like shirtless firman calendars because they may be overtly sexually charged and inappropriate, but sexist no.

People don't know the definition of sexist. It's not using sex to sell, it's a prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination against women. It's more sexist to constantly have conservatively dressed women in cleaning commercials (stereotyping women as household cleaners - men clean the house too) than a pinup girl on a box in MGS.

[Grave]

Never heard anything on the photo mode in MGS IV. One of my favorite features :-D

[blndrhyme]

Here we go again.

[Ethereal]

I thought it was awesome.

[TheOverToe]

I didn't read this article, I can guess it's contents "women need protecting because they're so stupid that they don't know when they're being tricked into showing their bodies for pictures" or "the fact that men find women attractive is offensive" (because? what? When a woman expresses her nature - even at the expense of a man - it's called empowerment, when a man does it we call it creepy and predatory unless they're attractive/rich.) Please stop trying to shame women who enjoy their sexuality and stop shaming men for doing the same. It used to be called oppression when Christian fanatics used to do it and it's called oppression now when Muslims are doing it. You're attempting to oppress men and women's sexuality, that kind of makes you a self obsessed scumbag.

Also it's art, plus, it's a joke, the woman on the box is okay with it so there's no reason for anyone to be upset, she probably found it funny because she knows normal people aren't influenced by boxes with pictures on them, and men aren't going to start chasing around boxes panting at them. It's like being offended that a stick is "brown and sticky" and pink fluff is "pink and fluffy" and that a carrot is "orange and sounds like a parrot" or that chickens shouldn't cross the road because there are cars there, if you heard that shitty joke you'd probably write an article about why "chickens should use crosswalks." You're the type of person that makes me want to sleep for 18 hours straight from all the parties you've pooped. You sound stupid when you take a punchline seriously, unless you're the type of person that uses punchlines as a manifesto for life? Or maybe you just need fuel for your ego, and the easiest way to gain that is by criticizing artists hard work. Make your own art if you have something to say.

By the way let me guess whether he/she complained when Raiden was running around naked (also a joke) in MGS2. Or Snake was topless - and tortured - in MGS3, my ex-girlfriend thought he was incredibly hot and he was designed that way, to be attractive to women. Does this mean it was offensive? If it does then you're saying that women's sexuality is offensive; something you'd NEVER say because you're a bigot. What you're doing - this endless, creepy focus on defending "poor helpless women" (who have every right and opportunity a man has, even more in most cases) is equivalent to "I don't mind black people, I just prefer to focus on the rights of white people." So you should probably stop it. If you're a guy it won't get you sex. If you're a woman it won't get revenge on daddy or you're first boyfriend who kissed someone else. Try to be objective when it comes to people's rights, it'll help start to drain this horrid quagmire of platitudes thrown at women and insults being thrown at men.