Icemael

@snail said:

Your original assertion was that it wasn't "artistically expressive" which, frankly, was a load of shit. Now you're saying the design is bad because it's stupid and doesn't fit the rest of the game, which is a completely different criticism and also totally fine. As I've said, I don't like her giant breasts either.

So your argument is that it's fine because it's "actual art" (as opposed to fake art, I suppose, whatever the hell that's supposed to be), because the bodies are more realistic, because it also features unattractive characters (which the game certainly does, by the way) and because it's "generally bad ass". Ok.

@snail said:

There are no angels and no one's being attacked, the painting is just of a bunch of witches flying around, it's inspired by a part of Goethe's Faust.

What makes a power fantasy less "artistically expressive" than anything else?

@snail said:

This is not true though, in this painting (as in pretty much all classical paintings of nude women) the women are nude simply because it's nice to look at.

So why are portrayals of attractive women purely for the sake of their beauty a problem in this game but not in classical paintings?

@evanbower said:

Misogyny means hatred of women, which has been brought up at no point by anyone. And I haven't argued that the designs aren't sexist, which I think is the word you want to use -- I said that the question of whether they are sexist or not shouldn't even come up, since it isn't relevant to the design or criticism of games.

It was "used with artistic expression"? What does that even mean? Wherein lies this "artistic expression" that is present in Falero's painting of hot naked women but not in the Vanillaware art? Are you implying that the reason Falero and all the other classical painters painted so many hot naked women isn't simply that that's nice to look at? And if that's the case, why have hot naked women been such popular painting material throughout the ages? Is there something about naked women that's just more "artistically expressive" than other stuff?

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/04/23/dragons-crown-for-ps3-ps-vita-melting-faces-on-august-6th/

The Kotaku response is dumb. Sexism in the gaming industry is completely irrelevant to the value of the games themselves. A game developer's only job is to make as enjoyable a game as possible, and a game critic's only job is to analyze the ways in which the developer has succeeded or failed at this. Moralization should never enter into the picture. The character designs may certainly be criticized: for instance, I myself am not that fond of the Sorceress' oversized breasts, but the problem I have with them is that they are ugly, not that "they perpetuate a boy's club mentality" and "boo-hoo some women feel uncomfortable going to events where there are booth babes" or whatever -- I mean what the fuck man, I thought we played games to have a good time and not to demonstrate to others how tolerant, sensitive, progressive and feminist we are.

The stupidity of the whole business becomes especially apparent if one imagines criticizing classical paintings in this way, particularly in their historical context. Take this Falero painting from 1878:

"An absolutely stunning work of art. The composition, the lighting, the attention to detail... everything is incredible. But on second thought, it's an image of hot nude women created by a man in a male-dominated industry, and women are really oppressed right now (they don't even have the right to vote!) so actually fuck this painting, one star out of five."

Or imagine applying these retarded standards to porn -- you could never watch a porno again! Or why not our fantasies! "This daydream I'm having about smoking hot nymphs who are into me is not equal enough, I am objectifying these poor imaginary women! I'd better start fantasizing about strong women in leadership positions instead."

The Kotaku article: http://kotaku.com/game-developers-really-need-to-stop-letting-teenage-boy-472724616

The director's response on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=429947370434109&set=a.377685925660254.85466.100002565488533&type=1&ref=nf

This is my favourite developer-journalist exchange since Hideki Kamiya's "Do you eat shit?".

@turtlebird95 said:

PlatinumGames' producer said he wanted to buy it too. And actual strategy game developers like Stardock and Paradox bid on Homeworld. These THQ auctions could have gone so well...

Dwarf trailer:

@jz: It's an enjoyable trailer that shows the look and tone they're going for, as well as some of the creature designs?

Announcement and live-action trailer: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/19/shinji-mikamis-new-game-is-the-evil-within?abthid=517131fafa0570b54b000005

The trailer is great, it certainly looks like they're serious about the horror theme. Very excited to see the game in action.