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[Ferrio]

That's news to me. I know King disguised herself as a man, that's about it.

Ya she's not transgender at all... or lesbian. She's hooking up with Ryo.

 

[Delusibeta]

The problem here is not that it's wrong to criticize a game as racist and/or sexist; it's that his criticisms here are weak, and it reads as though he didn't spend much time playing the game or getting into the mechanics, so he went down a feature list for two paragraphs and filled the rest of the space with controversy bait.

Certain things about KOF13 seem a bit weird from a racial/sexual perspective, but no more so than many other fighting games, and quite a bit less so than some.

Incidentally, King's clothing becomes ripped to show a bra for tradition's sake; the character's original appearance in Art of Fighting had the character design as slightly more androgynous, and the shirt ripping acted as an end-of-match reveal that the character you had been fighting was female the whole time.

Pretty much. This article is the most blatant example of clickbait I have seen in ages, and it helps nobody.

 

[Parallax]

King, the character he referred to in his article. (Of whom he complained that her shirt ripped, revealing her bra)

King isn't transgender.

 

[Arklite]

Despite the fact that women make up 30% of the game's cast and are clearly just as capable

Why would sexist designers allow that to be true? If all the characters were just Mai I could see them having some ammo, but KoF has the least of these issues.

 

[Cels]

labeling it penny arcade vs penny arcade report is not a big deal, but it should be done.

the good thing is at least when you go to the site to read the article, you can see the author is andrew groen, not tycho or gabe, eliminating any possible confusion there.

 

[pizza dog]

Never said it was. I just think it's silly to present this as something that's shocking or unusual.

Article doesn't even present it as shocking.

While King of Fighters XIII carries the torch for the fighting game genre's worst reputations, it also carries on its finest traditions. This is a game that has thousands of hours of gameplay locked inside its complex systems if you care to dedicate yourself to finding it.

Whether you can get past the game's rampant insensitivity to find the wonderful game inside depends entirely on your own values.

Tone throughout is more exasperation and disappointment. I don't think it really articulates anything very well, but it's not fire-and-pitchforks.

 

[Kai Dracon]

It seems to be a more serious article on something like this would have been a far more open platform asking "are fighting games' tradition of ethnic and cultural stereotypes still okay today?"

Rather than act as if this KOF XIII game suddenly came out of nowhere with an inexplicable agenda to offend everyone.

 

[sonikokaruto]

i don't see the point.

hipocrites are hipocrites. it just reads bad. really bad.

 

[Ferrio]

Poison

She isn't SNK.. so no idea why we're even mentioning her.

 

[pizza dog]

She isn't SNK.. so no idea why we're even mentioning her.

Derp my bad. I only encountered in in SNK v Capcom. Guess I never put together which side she was on. Gunna go edit.

 

[Delusibeta]

It seems to be a more serious article on something like this would have been a far more open platform asking "are fighting games' tradition of ethnic and cultural stereotypes still okay today?"

Rather than act as if this KOF XIII game suddenly came out of nowhere with an inexplicable agenda to offend everyone.

Does raise the question of why pick on King of Fighters when, Mai aside, it's one of the better fighting games for not having oversexualised females.

 

[viewtiful_dru]

Doesn't make any of them right or okay though.

the flipside to that is: how can you tell an artist that his/her vision is wrong? Doing so could be called censorship.

 

[galvatron]

So, wasn't Penny Arcade Report supposed to provide a source of objective journalism? If the author had done his research (or talked to one of his bosses who is a long time Neo Geo owner), he'd know that the sexism he's talking about is all tangled up in those "fighting game traditions" he mentions. Mai's boobs have been bouncing and King's shirt has been disintegrating on KO going on 20 years now. Where's the line to be drawn between honoring tradition and being PC? It's an interesting discussion if a bit of an odd game to spur it...KoF '13 isn't exactly new or setting the world on fire with its popularity.

I can't say whether this is par for the course on PAR, but it definitely makes me think that the people sparking such conversations don't have the background knowledge to be qualified to carry on said discussions.

 

[A.E Suggs]

I remember reading this before. Yeah, this is pretty bad.

I got no problems with Mai though so call me a hypocrite. Ha.

They could have avoided this problem by making all art of fighting characters damage their clothing on K.O and not just king and yuri. In AoF2 at least everyone took clothing damage during the fight and after the fight depending on the special move you got hit by.

Edit: Bah! What Htown said.

 

[LordJim]

So, wasn't Penny Arcade Report supposed to provide a source of objective journalism? If the author had done his research (or talked to one of his bosses who is a long time Neo Geo owner), he'd know that the sexism he's talking about is all tangled up in those "fighting game traditions" he mentions. Mai's boobs have been bouncing and King's shirt has been disintegrating on KO going on 20 years now. Where's the line to be drawn between honoring tradition and being PC? It's an interesting discussion if a bit of an odd game to spur it...KoF '13 isn't exactly new or setting the world on fire with its popularity.

I can't say whether this is par for the course on PAR, but it definitely makes me think that the people sparking such conversations don't have the background knowledge to be qualified to carry on said discussions.

To be fair, last time King's clothes ripped was in KoF 95, IIRC.
The article is still mostly garbage

 

[PBY]

So, wasn't Penny Arcade Report supposed to provide a source of objective journalism? If the author had done his research (or talked to one of his bosses who is a long time Neo Geo owner), he'd know that the sexism he's talking about is all tangled up in those "fighting game traditions" he mentions. Mai's boobs have been bouncing and King's shirt has been disintegrating on KO going on 20 years now. Where's the line to be drawn between honoring tradition and being PC? It's an interesting discussion if a bit of an odd game to spur it...KoF '13 isn't exactly new or setting the world on fire with its popularity.

I can't say whether this is par for the course on PAR, but it definitely makes me think that the people sparking such conversations don't have the background knowledge to be qualified to carry on said discussions.

Tradition should go out the window if something is wrong, no? Society progresses, re-evaluating constantly, and improving. "it's the way it's always been" shouldn't be an excuse IMHO.

 

[EvilKatarn]

I'll get the game when it's on Steam Sale. Thanks, PAR.
Take your misguided attempts at trying to be progressive elsewhere.

 

[TGMIII]

It's amazing how you can "review" a game without actually explaining the systems mechanics on even a basic level. People get paid for this shit.

 

[meppi]

Guess I wasn't wrong to label the PA guys as morons then.

 

[Diprosalic]

Sure, but it ain't the first time he's done something like this.

At some point, the owners of Penny Arcade had to decide whether they want to continue to give this slimeball a printing press for his toxic views. The fact that they continue hosting and paying for his site after all of these fiascos makes them complicit in his actions.

toxic views?

 

[PBY]

It's amazing how you can "review" a game without actually explaining the systems mechanics on even a basic level. People get paid for this shit.

Not all reviews have to be indentical. You can read about mechanics literally anywhere else. I think this is actually adding something new to the conversation, agree or not. I appreciate the desire to move beyond mere "does this product work" type of reviewing.

 

[PandaPandaPanda]

more stupid "controversy" from penny arcade

what a surprise

 

[Diprosalic]

It's amazing how you can "review" a game without actually explaining the systems mechanics on even a basic level. People get paid for this shit.

that's actually a good thing. regardless if you agree with the content.

 

[Tuck]

Really PA? You don't have enough traffic, now you gotta go after those Kotaku manufactured-outrage clicks too?

Pretty sure they have enough traffic.

Really, this constant "I disagree with the article so they must be click baiting" nonsense is really annoying.

 

[TGMIII]

Not all reviews have to be indentical. You can read about mechanics literally anywhere else. I think this is actually adding something new to the conversation, agree or not. I appreciate the desire to move beyond mere "does this product work" type of reviewing.

that's actually a good thing. regardless if you agree with the content.

For a fighting game you need to be able to discuss and explain the core mechanics of the game. That's the core of the product in this genre. It touched on none of that, it didn't even go into the modes that the game has.

If this was an article about female representation in fighting games then I would have less of an issue but it's not.

 

[PBY]

For a fighting game you need to be able to discuss and explain the core mechanics of the game. That's the core of the product in this genre. It touched on none of that.

Says who? Like I said- you can read about that stuff anywhere else. Rather, I'd argue no one else dives into topics like this anywhere else. Disagree with the review? Fine. But I appreciate the effort to analyze the game in a different light.

 

[galvatron]

Tradition should go out the window if something is wrong, no? Society progresses, re-evaluating constantly, and improving. "it's the way it's always been" shouldn't be an excuse IMHO.

Agreed...as I already said...

So, wasn't Penny Arcade Report supposed to provide a source of objective journalism? If the author had done his research (or talked to one of his bosses who is a long time Neo Geo owner), he'd know that the sexism he's talking about is all tangled up in those "fighting game traditions" he mentions. Mai's boobs have been bouncing and King's shirt has been disintegrating on KO going on 20 years now. Where's the line to be drawn between honoring tradition and being PC? It's an interesting discussion if a bit of an odd game to spur it...KoF '13 isn't exactly new or setting the world on fire with its popularity.

I can't say whether this is par for the course on PAR, but it definitely makes me think that the people sparking such conversations don't have the background knowledge to be qualified to carry on said discussions.

 

[Diprosalic]

For a fighting game you need to be able to discuss and explain the core mechanics of the game. That's the core of the product in this genre. It touched on none of that, it didn't even go into the modes that the game has.

30 fighters
12 stages
vs mode
much fun
9/10

Says who? Like I said- you can read about that stuff anywhere else. Rather, I'd argue no one else dives into topics like this anywhere else. Disagree with the review? Fine. But I appreciate the effort to analyze the game in a different light.

best gaf indeed.

 

[KPJZKC]

PA: Pot calls kettle black

Oh right, so PA are racist and sexist now too are they? ffs.

I bet they were responsible for slavery, probably the IRA and fuck it, why not, the Taliban too. Throw in 9/11 for good measure.

 

[sega4ever]

no mai no buy.

 

[Degen]

KOF needs more black dudes

I can't relate to these anime schmucks

racism.

 

[A.E Suggs]

Tradition should go out the window if something is wrong, no? Society progresses, re-evaluating constantly, and improving. "it's the way it's always been" shouldn't be an excuse IMHO.

Well people aren't really arguing tech here so what is/can considered progress(and or what is considered an improvement sometimes) can be right or wrong depending on the persons morals. Since fighting is violent you could say getting rid of fighting games in general could be seen as progressive.

 

[Ferrio]

KOF needs more black dudes

I can't relate to these anime schmucks

racism.

We can bring back Lucky!

 

[Fornaximus]

Doesn't it ever reach a point where people are just too exhausted to continue to be offended by everything? There's more to life than outrage over fuckingnothing.gif.

 

[Coxy]

I want to believe this is some kind of hilarious pastiche of kotaku

 

[LordJim]

KOF needs more black dudes

I can't relate to these anime schmucks

racism.

I am still sad Seth and Vanessa are not in the game

 

[Crash55118]

Oh right, so PA are racist and sexist now too are they? ffs.

I bet they were responsible for slavery, probably the IRA and fuck it, why not, the Taliban too. Throw in 9/11 for good measure.

All my comment was meant to do was call out the hypocritical state that the Penny Arcade brand sits in. It is hard to write a review on topics concerning social justice (be it race, sex, religion, etc) and try and start a conversation in earnest when a part of your brand sits where the PA comic does.

Sure it was hyperbole, but then calling KOF essentially the Song of the South is too.

 

[old]

As a review, this review was disappointing. Focus on the game next time instead of your SJW agenda. I learned nothing about this game reading this review.

 

[bj00rn_]

Sigh.. Seem like another white guy up in arms on the behalf of people who probably are a lot more rational in thought and logic than he is. I can't stand these glued-on "controversial" pieces. They do nothing else than undermine the causes they are supposed to help.

 

[Replicant]

PA: Pot calls kettle black

That first post. Have they forgotten their transgender shenanigans?

 

[galvatron]

We can bring back Lucky!

Heavy D vs Dudley was the match I was hoping to see in CvS2

 

[mui]

Gamers are funny.

"Video games are a form of respectable ART! But don't you DARE criticize it like any other artistic medium!!"

Am glad more and more people are realizing just how much misogynistic the gaming community and industry is.

 

[Ferrio]

Gamers are funny.

"Video games are a form of respectable ART! But don't you DARE criticize it like any other artistic medium!!"

Am glad more and more people are realizing just how much misogynistic the gaming community and industry is.

Since when has art ever confined itself to political correctness?

 

[TGMIII]

30 fighters
12 stages
vs mode
much fun
9/10

You just described countless fighting games. Maybe you should send your resume in.

 

[Village]

That first post. Have they forgotten their transgender shenanigans?

They do not have those shenanigans, since it isn't the same people.

 

[Parallax]

We can bring back Lucky!

No damnit. Team USA needs to stay gone.

 

[Zombie James]

Fuck off, PA. Go cry poor and make another Kickstarter.

 

[Ferrio]

No damnit. Team USA needs to stay gone.

You're a horrible man, Heavy D was awesome.

 

[Village]

Since when has art ever confined itself to political correctness?

No one is confining anything, people are criticizing.

Do you not know what criticism is?

 

[Parallax]

You're a horrible man, Heavy D was awesome.

Being the best on a scrub team isn't awesome.