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What I will say, or rather point out to you to is this. It's an interview with a former stripper about the Hitman trailer that I sincerely wish was penned around the time I wrote this article. It articulates my problem with the trailer so well, and with none of the vitriol from writers like Brendan Keogh who I referenced in the original piece: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/11/19/a-stripper-reviews-the-saints-of-hitmen-absolution/
I'd like to draw particular attention to this quote as quite a few who've engaged with this piece have argued that 47 is merely defending himself. The quote puts stark light on how the women initiating violence is used to excuse the sexualised violence in the trailer:
"I think it’s an excuse to show violence against women by making them the initiators of violence. It’s as if the makers of this video game are saying, “Hey, these women asked for it. It’s okay to kill them and beat them up because they’re the ‘dregs of society.’” It’s as if [the game is saying] they are subhuman and deserve to die. But that’s not who they are, it’s what they do for a living; stripping is a job, not an identity.
I just think it perpetuates hatred of women, because we all know that women who work as strippers and prostitutes are overwhelmingly victims of violence, not perpetrators of it.
Sociologists have found the number one reason women prostitute themselves is because they’re in poverty and don’t have the resources they need. Stripping and prostituting become a way to survive, and to demonize them for that is profoundly misogynistic. It’s bad enough that they need to do this to survive, but to turn them into the enemy…?
It just looks like violence porn to me, and I’m concerned about the minds of men who would come up with a game like this."
I've not mistaken what was shown with what is coming out. The whole point of this piece was that Sony and Nintendo should have used E3 2012 to reward faith from early adopters and generate excitement from potential buyers. I know there's more games for both platforms in development -- hence why I mentioned Killzone and Monster Hunter 3G -- but it shouldn't be up to me to look for those details: both portable console makers should have been shouting about them to the market.
Those forty games are across two platforms. Two. You'd find forty new games on any given week on the app store that cater to a variety of tastes and players with differing expectations."
I guess you're right: Killing for entertainment is harmless. "