650°

God of War creator David Jaffe says Kratos was 'never a misogynist'

God of War creator and director David Jaffe has said that Kratos was "NEVER a misogynist," and that the character has been mischaracterized since the 2018 GoW.

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gamerevolution.com
annoyedgamer1891d ago

Violently murder scores of males = ok
Sex with female prisoners = not ok

Simp logic.

rainslacker1890d ago

Being an asshole to everyone is misogyny apparently.

A better adjective to use would be he is a sociopath, and unapologetic about his actions. They changed that some in the new game.

His general attitudes towards women, or men, is probably pretty typical of spartan warriors in the time the games were set.

annoyedgamer1890d ago

The general attitude of men being expendable hasn't changed since Spartan times. Its the exact same today.

Gaming1011890d ago

Everyone likes to pretend that if they weren't living in present times, they wouldn't have the exact same morality as those who lived thousands of years ago in all different parts of the world.

You most definitely would not be a feminist, or virtue signalling social justice warrior. You would not be crying about toxic masculinity like a bitch, and shaming men who had sex with women without making it into a fucking romantic comedy first.

rainslacker1890d ago

@gaming

Not suggesting that the world, and perceptions towards how we treat people haven't changed over the past thousands of years. Just that for the time the game was set that it works for the story. His reasons weren't based on what is considered sexist today. Sexism, in this case, is more about intent, and his intention was never to be discriminatory because of someone's sex.

Gaming1011890d ago

Misogyny is also about a deeply ingrained hatred and prejudice towards women.
Feminists have tried to lump men who use women for sex into this category.
They are idiots, and just hate men. They are brainwashed by their liberal studies professors, and see the world through a lens of victimization which leads them to living a life of pure misery. I don't know a single happy feminist.

P_Bomb1890d ago (Edited 1890d ago )

Definitely a different time, different place with a strictly defined class structure and gender roles. It’s our history, loosely based but still.

Anyone who has AC:Odyssey (or Origins for that matter) check out the fantastic historical tours mode. Whatever it was called. I’ll look it up. An informative look at the Spartan way of life, dare I say educational. Yay videogames!

Had my son walk through a virtual day in the life of. He’s healthy so his age he’d have been conscripted, head shaved, no shoes, sleeping on sticks and swimming every day starting a 20+ year military training where he couldn’t be with a woman until his 20’s with the expectation to be married by 30...or face fines and stigma. Women sewed clothes.

Edit: Discovery tour. That’s it. Check em out.

Fluttershy771889d ago (Edited 1889d ago )

Maybe not God of War 1 but I remember the "Bros before Hos" trophy in GoW: Ascension after you beat the sht out of a female character... If that's not misogynistic, I don't know what is it. That was a low moment for the franchise...

KillBill1889d ago

Does not change the fact that he was a misogynist... simply because everyone else back then were also misogynists.

rainslacker1889d ago (Edited 1889d ago )

@Kill

I'd say he was a misandrist also then. He was an equal opportunity discriminator. His intent wasn't there to make him a misogynist....at least not in the context that Jaffe was using here. he was just an a**hole.

@Flutter

That doesn't make Kratos misogynistic. That's just a play on words for a common saying that exists today. The saying is indeed disrespectful towards women, but the word hos itself is also a colloquialism that in it's original form was actually made into a term of endearment, and later changed to be inclusive of all women. But the saying itself is more about not chasing after a women while you leave your friends behind.

I think it's a stupid saying myself, and sounds like something men use when they are too insecure, but that's beside the point of the discussion.

In the case of where you got the trophy in the game, Kratos wasn't smashing that female characters face because she was a woman. He was doing it because it was an enemy. The context of the trophy was that you were helping, and being supported by another male character, and you were needing to kill this woman before you could progress. If it had been a male character, and they used the "Bros before Foes" that they eventually changed the trophy name too, no one would have been upset on the play on words. But, because they used the "Hos" saying, and it happened to be a female character, it's suddenly misogynistic?

I don't think so. I think it's just a quippy saying, and while i don't care for saying women are "hos", and have never used the colloquialism, or other potentially disrespectful colloquialisms that describe a group of people, I don't see that the term was used here to be offensive, nor that it makes Kratos himself misogynistic.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 1889d ago
Eamon1890d ago

I'm pretty sure Kratos disrespected women less than men. When a guy is in his way, he brutally rips him apart without question - regardless of the guy's cries or begging. If a woman is in his way, Kratos usually asks them to stand aside, and if they do not comply, proceeds to rip them apart.

Also, Kratos is not cruel to children and has never harmed any. It is ancient Hellenistic society that is misogynistic, not Kratos.

generic-user-name1890d ago

"Also, Kratos is not cruel to children and has never harmed any"

Hmmm, he killed his daughter but that was not deliberate, however in GoW III each time he killed a god he unleashed catastrophe upon the earth (or just Greece? Or just 'his' version of earth?) and he knew what he was doing then, he killed probably millions indirectly.

1890d ago
rainslacker1889d ago

He would sometimes try to help people in the games, more often than not women. He'd usually end up killing them eventually to solve a puzzle, and conveniently remove them from the story of the game. Sometimes they'd kill themselves by running away when he was "escorting" them. He's certainly doesn't show remorse for his actions towards others.

Fluttershy771889d ago (Edited 1889d ago )

@rainslacker

I mean you can explain it all you want, but at the end of the day people find that trophy to be misogynistic and highly inappropriate, to the point that Santa Monica patch it up almost immediately and the studio and Sony apologize, and promise a better "quality control" for the future...If the trophy wasn't misogynistic, and they meant like you say that you were being "a bro" to kratos while he beat the crap of an "enemy", and "hoes" is just like a coloquial term... Why change it? Why not keep the trophy? Why apologize?

I remember at the time there was a little bit of backlash on regards of how Kratos himself was a misogynist...
Idk about that, you decide.
But my point is that David Jaffe can't really act all surprised and "piss off" when people remind him that this version of Kratos (that is 2018) is not misogynistic... Because there are some precedents to the whole thing

BlackIceJoe1891d ago

I know off topic, but still on topic, because of David Jaffe, I'd like to see him make AAA games again.

I remember in the past he had an idea about making a third or first person shooter and it was about making the Chinese government, attack America, so you become a freedom fighter, to free America. I'm not sure if he was going in this direction or not, but I always thought of it being something like Wolfenstein.

I doubt a game like that would be approved, in this day and age, but I really would like to see it.

porkChop1890d ago

Sounds like a mix of Wolfenstein, Homefront, and Red Dawn. Could be cool. But we've seen a lot of similar stories so he'd have to find some kind of hook to make it more unique and interesting.

Mr_Writer851890d ago

The thing is with Jaffe, and a few others designers (Cliffy B springs to mind) he's like a sportsman.

He has a shelf life.

And his has now expired.

He made good games, but they were very of the time. Time has moved on, but he has not.

I doubt he will give up, but he peaked with GOW and will probably do nothing of note until he retires.

generic-user-name1890d ago

I dunno, if there's space in modern gaming for Doom games to be successful then there's space for Jaffe.

Mr_Writer851890d ago

@generic

I'm yet to be convinced. Like I said sometimes these guys have 1 maybe 2 hit IPs in them and that's it.

Doom is a very different beast, it's a well established IP, and the original team have nothing to do with it.

Ironically, Romero is another example of one or two good ideas followed up by less than.

8bitRey1890d ago

IIRC That game was titled HEARTLAND

StormSailor1890d ago

In today's world where nothing can be said against China and everyone pretends to ignore the tyranny and the risk they pose to the world, I find it very difficult for a game like this to come out. Only an indie funded by donations from ordinary people

BlackIceJoe1890d ago

Sadly you're right and now more than ever do we need someone to be brave to stand up to the Chinese government. I just don't know who will be strong enough to do it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1890d ago
jambola1891d ago

Oh thank God
I never could enjoy the games because I thought he might be
Now I can finally enjoy them

camel_toad1890d ago (Edited 1890d ago )

I'm happy to see that you didn't have to add the "/s" and everyone still seems to of gotten it. It gives me hope that our society (gamers at least) arent just drooling drones bumping into kitchen counters.

ApocalypseShadow1891d ago

Of course not. He was a lady's man and an equal opportunity @ss kicker.

If you were a God that butted in or a worshipper of those Gods, you received equal punishment from his blades to create social change. Was willing to die for his believes and come back(escaping hell was so fun) to continue his struggle.

That's a progressive man. Lol.

rainslacker1890d ago

He'd use anyone to further his own goals. Didnt matter who they were. He even killed people who tried to help him. For the most part, if any other character existed in the game, you could pretty confidently say he'd likely kill them. One of the few exceptions were the women in the sex scene mini game...which funny enough, was someone he killed in the new game.

ApocalypseShadow1890d ago

That's how you effect change rain. Kill everybody. Lol.

rainslacker1890d ago

Since the people in the US don't seem to be taking these stay at home orders seriously, the pandemic will probably do all that killing for us.

Saaleh1890d ago

Very proactive even in hell..

NecrumOddBoy1890d ago (Edited 1890d ago )

Can murder a god with his bare hands; takes time out of his day to f*ck another man's wife; rises to power; falls again

Kratos = Dwight Schrute

rainslacker1890d ago

Hes angry because he doesnt have a super desk

rainslacker1889d ago

Oh yeah...damn. Can't keep your jello stapler in a super desk. not enough refrigeration.

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50°

Fallout Remaster Could Be ‘Too Challenging’, Game Creator Says

Tim Cain, one of the co-creators of the original Fallout title, has appeared in a 17-minute video on his YouTube channel talking about the potential for a Fallout remaster.

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insider-gaming.com
-Foxtrot12h ago

I'd take a remake in the style of Bethesda's Fallout, maybe it could be done by Obsidian while Bethesda works on TESVI and Fallout 5

280°

Borderlands 4 CEO Apologizes for "Real Fans" Comment, Fans Don't Buy it

Randy: "I am sorry there was a misunderstanding. The absolute sincere truth is that I don’t want anyone to pay any more than they should or are comfortable with and I always work with the intent and hope that a customer always feels they got the better end of the deal no matter what they pay. The actual context was that a guy replied to a post about Borderlands 4 on the Nintendo Switch 2 was warning me that if the price ends up being $80, the game will fail. What I was trying to do was explain that it wasn’t my call but that if a $10 price increase does happen (since that’s obviously where the industry is going), it will be okay and that Borderlands 4 will be okay because it’s a great game and there are a lot of fans who will see the value and want it."

Relientk772d ago

*clears throat*

I think you mean "real fans don't buy it"

-Foxtrot2d ago

It will sell well because it’s Borderlands, but I’m not getting it Day 1 now. I’ll happily wait and buy something else.

He just had to open his mouth, I don’t know why they don’t see how much of a PR disaster he is.

Goodguy012d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Makes me wonder why people like this lead games and franchises that are beloved. Dude just needs to shut up and never speak their opinions on social media lol. Just chill and enjoy your life with the 7 figure salary you get bud.

Tacoboto2d ago

There's nothing to buy because there's no apology here except for how WE "misunderstood" what he so clearly typed out.

CrimsonWing6923h ago(Edited 23h ago)

Yea like we’re just dumb consumers that don’t understand PR damage control. Hey Randy, if you cared about the fans you’d fight against this stupid price hike… oh wait…

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220°

Shuhei Yoshida warns subscription services could become 'dangerous' for developers

'If the big companies dictate what games can be created, I don't think that will advance the industry.' -Shihei Yoshida

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gamedeveloper.com
Sonyslave32d ago

🙄 same guy who said 80$ is a steal lol and according to him M$ shouldnt put good on a services🤣 wtf

Obscure_Observer1d 17h ago

Talks about "innovation" while all his previous company is focused on is GaaS and Remasters. Smh.

This guy is a walking contradiction.

pwnmaster30001d 15h ago

This makes no sense at all.
What does his PREVIOUS company have to do with him and his statement??
Did he have a say on what they are doing? Could of sworn that was Jim Ryan’s fault?

Outside_ofthe_Box1d 12h ago

"This guy is a walking contradiction."

The irony

Profchaos1d 3h ago (Edited 1d 3h ago )

Yet he was In charge and led the PlayStation to overtake xbox

Console VR was birthed because if him he pushed the whole psvr project if that isn't innovative then what is.

Doesn't matter how many alts you use to try and constuct ab alt narrative shu is highly respected in the industry and has done as much for gaming as some of the best names in the industry

Obscure_Observer12h ago(Edited 12h ago)

@Profchaos

I don´t care what he did in the past.

Sony didn´t cared for him either as he was forced to accept a role as CEO of Indie games or get out! After everything he done for the company.

https://www.eurogamer.net/f...

I been seeing LOTS of innovative day one games on Gamepass (Including Clair Obscur) and all I´ve been seeing for Playstation first party @Full Priced is mostly (but not only) GaaS and Remasters. Deny all you want, that´s the truth.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 12h ago
XiNatsuDragnel2d ago

I can agree with that on some level

robtion1d 9h ago

Subscription services are absolutely awful. They have essentially destroyed the movie industry and unfortunately gaming may be next.

In the long term you will end up needing 10 different subscriptions and the prices will keep going up while the quality keeps going down.

MrDead1d 22h ago

Subscription services have f***ed the movie industry and it's work force, caused massive studio buyups by companies like Disney consolidating huge parts of the industry under one roof and have creatively sterilised the IP's they've gobbled up. The same thing is happening to gaming, MS being the main greedy piggy.

goken1d 6h ago

Well… if you’re talking about the US movie industry, then I couldn’t agreed with you more.
But the movie industry isn’t just the US. For some other countries, it’s been considered good. Like where i am, the movie industry here used to be terrible, now it’s a bit less terrible. Mostly this is because in the past movies only can make money mostly on it’s cinema run, but now after the cinema run they can get some funds from the subscription services. Which helps significantly.
But these movies mostly suck due to the low budgets and general lack of talent lol

Vits1d 18h ago

I get what he's saying, but I don’t think we need subscription services to see a lot of the problems he's pointing out. All we really have to do is look at the gaming industry over the last two console generations. Even without subscriptions, the big AAA publishers have already been moving in a direction where almost every game feels like it's built from the same template. It’s all about streamlined, safe design choices that are meant to appeal to the widest possible audience. At this point, you could probably ask an AI to make a AAA game from a certain publisher and it would spit out something pretty close to what they’re actually making.

Now, about the whole “walled garden” thing... that’s not some future problem, it’s already here. Consoles have always worked like that. Their entire business model is based on controlling what gets released on their platforms. Sure, maybe they’re not as locked down as the extreme examples people bring up, but the end result is similar. If you’re not making the kind of game the platform holder wants, you’re probably not getting through the door. We’ve seen it with Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, even Valve does this in its own way with Steam. So yeah, the issue isn’t new or exclusive to subscription services.

Would a subscription-only future make that problem worse? Sure, it definitely could. But I don’t think we’re heading in that direction anytime soon. Unless physical hardware truly becomes a thing of the past and everyone switches to streaming games, I just don’t see subscriptions becoming the dominant model. They’ll stick around as an option, but I doubt they’ll take over completely.

Now, what will take over completely is digital media, and that’s a whole different issue that’s going to hit us a lot sooner. PC and mobile are already basically 100% digital, and that makes up around 70% of the gaming market. The remaining 30% is consoles, and even there we’re seeing the shift. Sony’s removing the disc drive from boxed consoles, Nintendo is releasing just one super expensive 64GB cartridge for their new system, which means almost all third-party publishers will end up going digital and Microsoft is mostly digital already. You either get a digital-only or a physical box with disc that only acts as a activation key. So yeah, that future’s already knocking on the door and the damage will be enormous.

CrimsonWing691d 17h ago

Right, because then you can’t sell individual games at $80, which is an incredible value for the consumer!

BLow1d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

I find this statement quite telling. Apparently a certain fan base wasn't buying games at $60 or $70 dollars either. That's why the Gamepass model exists with day and date. What was the excuse then?

We as gamers want it all but don't want to pay for anything. Well, I take that back. A good chunk of them. You don't have to buy a game at $80. Wait for to go down in price. Most gamers have a massive backlog. Play those games until the one you wants drops and n price. Simple

MDTunkown1d 8h ago

I doubt Mario will go down at price

goken1d 6h ago

I never buy any games at full price, it’s up to the consumer to wait for a price cut.

Generally I don’t buy above $10, normally around $5. So don’t agree with 80 70 60? Just wait a bit

CrimsonWing6923h ago

Totally fair if that approach works for you, but the flip side is that some dev studios do rely on full-price sales to stay afloat—especially smaller or AA teams. The ‘just wait for a sale’ mindset can really hurt games that aren’t backed by massive budgets or publishers.

It’s also kind of a bummer to finally see a game release you’ve been hyped for, only to feel like you have to wait another year or two just to get a decent discount.

That said, I think the deeper issue is with bloated dev budgets. It’s wild seeing games like First Berserker or Expedition 33 launching at $50 while still managing to look great and make a profit. Meanwhile, some AAA studios say $70 isn’t enough to break even. That raises real questions about where the money’s going and whether the pricing problem is actually a budgeting problem.

thorstein20h ago

To me, it depends on who made it and who will profit.

I bought No Man's Sky back in 2016. They gave me all updates, PSVR,PS5, and PSVR2 versions all for free.

That makes it worth every dollar I spent. Same with Balatro, Stardew Valley, Dave the Diver etc.

Chevalier1d 6h ago

Yeah weird it's like a certain fan base that doesn't buy ANY games and their sales cratered that was why prices has gone up to $80...... hmmm...... they've the same one that has tried to buy up the industry and now has to release games on competing platforms to be viable now...... but you know the studio/company slipped my mind

goken15h ago

You have a point on the bloated development budgets.

I mean look at black myth wukong’s $80m budget vs the $150-200m (possibly more) budget of concord.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 15h ago
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