Capcom to Add Playboy Advertising in “Dead Rising 2″
The Bunny’s been a hot topic in gaming this year, what with 2K’s agreement to include vintage Playboy issues in Mafia II and all.
But today’s Capcom’s announcement of a Playboy partnership for Dead Rising 2 is a little eyebrow-raising. While it’s arguably the most tasteful of men’s magazines featuring nudity, what will it add to the game other than additional sales for men and boys hoping to get a glimpse of uncovered breast amongst the zombies?
The main character, Chuck, will be able to find issues of the magazine for bonuses (make your own joke there) and Playboy advertisements will appear throughout the game. In addition, a few of the iconic bunnies themselves will make appearances (though it’s not the actual women you might see inside – just women wearing the traditional Playboy Club attire).
While the game does take place in Fortune City, what Capcom has termed an “adult playground,” would you get the same effect by including women in sexy outfits instead of the traditional bunny gear? And people design “sexy female bodies” for games all the time – what was so hard about mocking up fake magazine covers using character designs like those? Furthermore, based on the description of the story that Capcom’s given us in the past, (if you’re staying completely spoiler-free, don’t read this paragraph) Chuck is trying to help his daughter fight the zombie infection. Isn’t that normally…well, a time-sensitive activity? Should he even have time to be looking at issues of Playboy? I mean, if I were his kid, I’d be pretty upset.
In Mafia II, using vintage Playboy magazines can be seen as contributing to the overall vintage feel of the game. Looking to Hugh Hefner’s conglomerate almost seems like a natural thing to do, especially if you’re looking for provocative magazine covers featuring starlets like Marilyn Monroe. It’s just what real mobsters would have had back then. But here, it just feels like a cheap shot to drive more sales, and I don’t think the series needed that. Enough gamers love Dead Rising and its dark brand of humor that picking up a brand like this to display is completely unnecessary.
How do you feel about this particular brand usage within this game? As a woman (which, if you’re here, you probably are – no offense to any men reading this, though), do you feel negatively about it? Are you less likely to buy the game because of Playboy’s prominence? Sound off in the comments.
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“…Isn’t that normally…well, a time-sensitive activity? Should he even have time to be looking at issues of Playboy?”
I said the same thing with the men’s magazine thing in Metal Gear. Haha. Well, I guess no matter how hard a straight man tries, he just can’t help but stop to take a peek at a naked female. Although I am not a man, I suppose it’s also a way to prove your machismo. I see it everyday in the male population of my school, teens talking about stuff like that on the bus, etc.
As far as how I feel about them using ads in-game, it’s all about profit. Marketing deal = dinero. For both parties. It’s not necessary for gameplay, and we all know the famous adage that “sex sells.” Even if you have no interest in the Playboy ads themselves, putting a universally recognizable, popular, real-life product in a game might make some gamers go, “Awww, not another ad…” (*ahem* Kojima…) but to others it might help them mentally connect more to the universe that the game takes place in.
A fantastic topic of discussion for any psychology major in here… :p
~Meg
A psychology major is something that I happen to be!
But yeah, re: the machismo – you’ve definitely got a point. But wouldn’t you think that hunting down zombies is macho enough? It would be a definite study in social psychology of men in general, I suppose. Or at least psychology in advertising (which is generally fascinating stuff, lemme tell ya.)