MIcrosoft apologies for "rape" joke during press conference

Be warned, its a daily mail article.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2340033/E3-audience-offended-rape-joke-Microsoft-Xbox-One-event.html

"Microsoft has issued an apology for an inappropriate joke made during a demonstration of 'Killer Instinct' at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on Monday.

During a demonstration a male producer of the game was matched up against a woman, who appeared to be bad at playing video games. 

There was some awkward banter between the two gamers that was interpreted as a rape joke by the audience, when the man said: 'Just let it happen. It'll be over soon.'"

i never interpreted that to be a rape joke. given the combative nature of the game and the beast-on-person visualization on screen, i took it as murder joke. it doesn't sound better in print (although hardly unexpected at E3 when most of the games shown are about violence), but i don't think it had any gender specific connotation.

however, i see no gray area whatsoever in whether or not the banter was progressing the idea that women are bad at gaming. honestly, i have to laugh at microsoft's insistence that it was all winged. yeah, the woman on stage lost a round with the "joke" being that she was playing the producer who obviously knows a lot more about the game. what nobody seems to mention is that she comes back to win the next round while coincidentally showing off a new feature of the game. 1-1.

if it was by an audience member why should miscosoft take responsibilty for it? 

if it was by an audience member why should miscosoft take responsibilty for it? 

gamingqueen

Seems like the press is having a field day at MS expense. Soon they would be bitching that the console is a racial stereotype because it big and black. :|

Seems like the press is having a field day at MS expense. Soon they would be bitching that the console is a racial stereotype because it big and black. :|

Pedro

:|
Someone should slap those who got upset over this. This is so harmless it has to be one of the most dumbest overreactions ever, few things could top this. 

As if they need any more bad publicity :lol:

As if they need any more bad publicity :lol:

Lucky_Krystal

Would it still be considered a "rape" joke if both of had been male? I doubt people would be feigning outrage over poorly worded banter if she wasn't a woman.

I knew that line would come back to bite MS on the butt. During a press conference watched by millions (including the mainstream press), a guy shouldn't tell a rape joke to a women, especially if that guy is part of an industry that is widely seen as having a problem with sexism.

This isn't bad publicity. This is bad reporting. As far as I'm concerned, fvck people who were offended at this.chrisrooR

Well, I think people are allowed to get offended over whatever they want. As long as they aren't calling for someone to be fired over something like this or anything as drastic.

Also, I admit that the joke could possibly be taken the wrong way considering the situation it was used in. But holy crap, look at the language they used in that article. "Predominately male-dominated (that's redundant) world of computer games" "Though 47% of gamers are female, sexism is still a problem." And bringing up the Tomb Raider debacle from last year.

They really felt they needed to bring all that up due to one guy's comment? What about the positive implications of all the people in the industry and community saying "That's not okay?" to what they felt was sexism? 

neither person was an audience member. the guy was a producer for the game and the woman was a community manager for microsoft. EDIT: of course, the article didn't do much to establish context for any of this.LoG-Sacrament

Well, at least that just provides further evidence as to the mentality of at least some of the game developers.

[QUOTE="chrisrooR"] This isn't bad publicity. This is bad reporting. As far as I'm concerned, fvck people who were offended at this.Lucky_Krystal

Well, I think people are allowed to get offended over whatever they want. As long as they aren't calling for someone to be fired over something like this or anything as drastic.

Also, I admit that the joke could possibly be taken the wrong way considering the situation it was used in. But holy crap, look at the language they used in that article. "Predominately male-dominated (that's redundant) world of computer games" "Though 47% of gamers are female, sexism is still a problem." And bringing up the Tomb Raider debacle from last year.

They really felt they needed to bring all that up due to one guy's comment? What about the positive implications of all the people in the industry and community saying "That's not okay?" to what they felt was sexism? 

[QUOTE="Lucky_Krystal"]

[QUOTE="chrisrooR"] This isn't bad publicity. This is bad reporting. As far as I'm concerned, fvck people who were offended at this.Black_Knight_00

Well, I think people are allowed to get offended over whatever they want. As long as they aren't calling for someone to be fired over something like this or anything as drastic.

Also, I admit that the joke could possibly be taken the wrong way considering the situation it was used in. But holy crap, look at the language they used in that article. "Predominately male-dominated (that's redundant) world of computer games" "Though 47% of gamers are female, sexism is still a problem." And bringing up the Tomb Raider debacle from last year.

They really felt they needed to bring all that up due to one guy's comment? What about the positive implications of all the people in the industry and community saying "That's not okay?" to what they felt was sexism? 

"Donglegate"? Is that like some kinda penis pun? (sorry, that was the best I could do- I was trying to figure out some way to insert the phrase"Tallywhacker Taliban," but I just couldn't SWING it, HA HA HA!)El_Zo1212o

I hope this doesn't end in another donglegateBlack_Knight_00

I hope not either.

Honestly, I didn't even know it was a rape joke until someone pointed it out. I did some looking around on other sites and on twitter and...I guess I can kind of see why people got mad.

On the other hand, I still think people may be blowing things out of proportion just a wee bit. Yes, rape jokes are not cool, but people are using this one idiot's slip (Microsoft claims this wasn't scripted) to connect it to everything that was ever wrong with the industry. Calling it an example of "institutionalized misogyny" and all that. I'm going to say it again because I think its important: what about the other side of the coin? Right after he made that comment, people in the industry and community did a collective "wow man, that's really not cool." and as a result, Microsoft apologized. Regardless of whether I think people overreacted or not, I think its cool that these people, men and women, industry professionals and gamers, expressed their disapproval as a group against (what they perceived as) sexism. AND YET all the articles seem to be doom and gloom "the entire industry hates women and this is proof" type of articles. But I guess positivity doesn't get you hits or views.

[QUOTE="El_Zo1212o"]"Donglegate"? Is that like some kinda penis pun? (sorry, that was the best I could do- I was trying to figure out some way to insert the phrase"Tallywhacker Taliban," but I just couldn't SWING it, HA HA HA!)Black_Knight_00

[QUOTE="Black_Knight_00"]I hope this doesn't end in another donglegateLucky_Krystal

I hope not either.

Honestly, I didn't even know it was a rape joke until someone pointed it out. I did some looking around on other sites and on twitter and...I guess I can kind of see why people got mad.

On the other hand, I still think people may be blowing things out of proportion just a wee bit. Yes, rape jokes are not cool, but people are using this one idiot's slip (Microsoft claims this wasn't scripted) to connect it to everything that was ever wrong with the industry. Calling it an example of "institutionalized misogyny" and all that. I'm going to say it again because I think its important: what about the other side of the coin? Right after he made that comment, people in the industry and community did a collective "wow man, that's really not cool." and as a result, Microsoft apologized. Regardless of whether I think people overreacted or not, I think its cool that these people, men and women, industry professionals and gamers, expressed their disapproval as a group against (what they perceived as) sexism. AND YET all the articles seem to be doom and gloom "the entire industry hates women and this is proof" type of articles. But I guess positivity doesn't get you hits or views.

Rape joke? I don't know about that.