E3 is this week and most companies go for the wow factor in their conferences, but honestly, it’s been lacking that magical feeling we gamers love to have when new things are announced. Ubisoft tried to amp things up at their conference by introducing attendees to a trailer of Far Cry 3, but in the end they may have offended more people than put them in awe. Examiner writer Alex Mahan describes the event:
“Ubisoft sent shock-waves through the blogosphere by starting off their 2012 E3 conference with a shot of a topless woman straddling the game’s protagonist while wearing nothing but a micro-mini skirt and body paint over her clearly visible nipples. As if this sight was not risque enough, the main character of the game proceeded to run his hands over the woman’s face and breasts before enjoying a short, pseudo-lapdance from her. After the woman stopped gyrating her body sensually, she rose to her feet and walked slowly around the man’s body, providing the audience with ample time to ogle her body.”
Excuse me… what? This is what you want your audiences to see right from the get-go? While it’s no surprise that a company has once again profiteered off selling sex and woman’s bodies, this is tasteless even for the industry. This kind of presentation is something that borderlines what I would expect to see at a porn convention. I believe that sex and nudity can be done tastefully and in a way that emphasizes the kind of power a man or woman can hold through their bodies, but unfortunately Ubisoft missed the mark; by a lot. After the woman performs a lap dance she gives the protagonist an “empowering” speech and the protagonist turns to see the entire tribe watching this affair, overall making me feel like I watched some sort of dirty ritual occurring.
A link to the full conference can be found here with the offending trailer found at the 7:18 mark and the original Examiner article can be found here.
