In the next few days, Deep Silver’s probably mediocre zombie RPG sequel thing Dead Island Riptide hits store shelves. It is accompanied, in a bizarre ceremony of fanfare, by a special edition featuring a giant pair of well-supported, sopping breasts, the centrepiece of a fetishistic statuette coveted by those of probable unstable mind.
The Zombie Bait edition, as it is known, consists of a copy of the game, collectible artwork and a variety of in-game extras. It also features a hand-painted statuette of a mutilated and well-endowed female torso, dressed in a Union Jack bikini and missing a head and arms. There is ribcage showing and gore decorating the shoulders and abdomen, and a jut of bone pokes out from the muscle tissue of what is left of the right arm. The comedy giant tits are immaculately preserved, untouched by monsters looking to give Luis Suarez a run for his money.
If you are not offended by this then you are not an altogether sensible human being.
The Zombie Bait edition was covered by this website’s UK podcast back in January. In Episode 45 we queried whether or not this edition of the game would be released at all on the grounds of poor taste. The answer is yes. Having taken pre-orders for quite some time, UK retailer Game and online giant Amazon still list the edition for pre-order on their websites for an altogether distasteful £89.99.
There is no sign of either retailer stepping down. In a back-and-forth on Twitter with SavyGamer’s Lewie Proctor, Game went so far as to say that the Zombie Bait edition “may not be for everyone”, as if accommodating an audience with a love for mutilated, sexualised statuettes is part of their civic duty.
@lewiep Hey Lewie – it’s a special edition that’s avaialble for fans of Riptide and CE collectors. It may not be for everyone.
— GAME.co.uk (@GAMEdigital) April 22, 2013
To stock such an item is to condone it. To justify it by allocating it some sort of audience of paying customers is deluded and brash. When Game showed signs of financial difficulty in late 2011, they refused to stock EA games because the publisher decided to raise its trade prices – the price, per game, that it would cost a store to sell Mass Effect 3 and so on. This was, simply, because Game wasn’t happy at having its profits sliced.
And that says a lot about the retailer’s cavalier attitude to profits – one which doomed it to administration last year. At £89.99 and with enough salivating perverts per square mile, the Zombie Bait edition of Dead Island is a sure-fire seller for the retailer and you can guarantee that every single hand-painted sexy torso will vanish from their warehouses faster than you can say “hey, I’m offended by this”. And Game will make lots of money.
There is no doubt that, regardless of pressure put on them and the number of angry tweets sent, Game will not withdraw a statue which depicts a sexualised female torso ravaged and chewed upon, bone and flesh exposed and rotting. This is because it makes them lots of money from a weird fanbase that they know they are able to sell to. This is gaming in 2013. This is what the tabloids will pick up on if we’re up for standing aside and just letting this slide by.
96 Posts in Total
Well reasoned and well written. I wonder how these people would feel if the product were, say, The Ultimate Master Bait Edition complete with 8″ dildo with a perfectly formed phallus that had perfectly sculpted maggots eating the testicles.
I’m fine with Game selling me mutilated breasts.
If it was a male torso would people be so up-in arms?
Equally: shock horror that a zombie game has a gory element to it.
Im not really offended by it but it definitely isn’t something I’d buy I don’t really see what the big deal is its an optional collectors edition for £90 it’s in bad taste but whatever floats your boat, I don’t think it’ll start a whole host of questions about the state of equality in video games the first dead island is pretty mediocre and I can’t see this being any better from what I’ve seen and have heard about it on various sources especially the giant bombs quick looks it looks just as bad as the first but still it’s all down to personal choice if you let it offend you then fair enough but it’s just as easy to ignore its just a bust for gods sake.
I agree with the above two posts its the same old debate being drudged up again. It’s the stupid booth babe debate all over again. Is it sexist? No not really, is it a horrible statue that most people wouldn’t want to put on display? Yes. I’m not offended yet I am sensible Jon bit of a sweeping statement but whatever, if this offends you then I question how you’re not permanently offended in the real world where sex sells everything.