Polygon O @Polygon ... Dark Horse promises "It's not just straight white boy comics anymore" polygon.com/sdcc/22592007/... 12:20 PM · Jul 24, 2021 · Chorus publishing platform 14 Retweets 53 Quote Tweets 171 Likes

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The Hard Times 2 hrs. "You have to be careful who you make fun as a kid because you never know whose YouTube video explaining how the Zelda timeline matches up with episodes of Frasier you'll be chuckling to in a decade." THEHARDTIMES.NET Middle School Bully Has No ldea He's Creating Future Polygon Video Content Creator

Ready-to-drink meal soylent Natural and artificial flavors GREATEST GAME r IN MY TOP 500 BEST GAMES Depression uest めinteractive non)fict.on bou living with depression Polygon

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Cyberpunk 2077 meltdown article by Stacey Henley

It sucks that Cyberpunk 2077's edgelord marketing worked so well CD Projekt Red sure has got everybody talking about this дате By Stacey Henley | Dec 4, 2020, 12:16pm EST f SHARE C yberpunk 2077 has mastered parasocial advertising as only the best influencers can. The game's Twitter account swaps jokes with Elon Musk, and despite tech billionaire Musk fitting the clichéd description of many cyberpunk villains, both Musk and Cyberpunk 2077 share a similar online presence, stoking controversy and gaining legions of loyal defenders with every tweet. The game's marketing has a Fred Durst-esque faux edginess persona that has defined the conversation around the game. Cyberpunk 2077 already has one of the 20 most-followed gaming subreddits, and it's not even out yet. CD Projekt Red has got everybody talking about this game, though not always for the right reasons. My skepticism started when the game revealed its controversial “Mix It Up" promotional poster back June 2019. This poster featured a feminine model with what can only be described as a huge, bulging penis. Her skin-tight leotard left nothing to the imagination; even the veins were visible. At the time, some fans called out the imagery as exploitative, mocking, and transphobic, though CDPR defended the poster. "I like how this MEX person looks," said Kasia Redesiuk, the artist who designed the poster, at the time. "However, this model is used – their beautiful body is used – for corporate reasons. They are displayed there just as a thing, and that's the terrible part of it." I don't buy it. While a cutting critique of queer commodification might have been part of the idea's 16 nucleus, the outcome is a commodification itself, FLAVOURS YOU'D LOVE TO MIX objectifying trans people as creatures of deviance, defined by their genitals and suitable only for sexualization or rejection. CDPR's marketing arm already had a history of transphobic incidents before the poster got revealed. In CD Projekt Red September 2018, Cyberpunk's official Twitter account, back in its edgiest, earliest stage of public existence, tweeted a tired “Did you just assume my gender?" joke in response to an innocuous compliment. A month later, the Twitter account for the digital storefront GOG (owned by CD Projekt, parent company of CD Projekt Red) hijacked a trans-positive hashtag to make a joke about PC games. Earlier in 2018, that account had tweeted a gravestone marked “Games Journalism, Dead By Suicide," with the date of death corresponding with the launch of GamerGate. After criticism, the account deleted that post and apologized. GOG's community manager got fired over those tweets. But it's not about specific admins being fall guys. It's about the pervasive, toxic attitudes that have long swirled around Cyberpunk 2077, attitudes that only get stronger as the game's release nears and CDPR appeals more and more to their chosen market of Elon Musk superfans. "rojekt While I didn't believe CDPR's stated intentions around the Mix It Up poster, that didn't mean they couldn't become true. When I was a kid, trans stories on television and in movies were hard to come by. I learned to see the trans experience in things that were designed to mock it. Body-switching stories, boys being made to dress up as girls or given makeovers as punishments, boys being pushed into the unspeakable horror of the girls' bathroom. The poster seemed tied to the then-rumored, now-confirmed prospect of creating a protagonist similar to the character in the poster. It seemed like the closest big-budget games would ever get to embracing a trans character, even if it had to sit alongside exploitation dressed up as social commentary, and come with humiliation disguised as humor as well. The Mix It Up poster is so brazenly exploitative of trans people, conjuring up very transphobic images and ideas that indelibly link trans people to the contents of their underwear, images that are responsible for real-world harm to trans people. Yet, there's a deep irony in that it offers trans people one of the few opportunities to see ourselves and play as ourselves in gaming. Because of all of that, Mix It Up has arguably become the single most divisive, most controversial moment in the entirety of Cyberpunk 2077's marketing, yet it's the one they've decided to build around. Since then, the game's official Twitter account has joked about canceling their FIFA 78 pre-order due to the lack of vagina options, a joke which pokes fun at their own potentially progressive non-gendered character creator, again tying any positive representation of trans people to mockery, exploitation, and humiliation. CDPR also included a cisgender cosplayer as the Mix It Up girl among their cosplay contest finalists. Even if you buy the company line that the poster represents how queer bodies have been appropriated for marketing, their entire argument is negated when they have a cis person dress up in that queer body as part of their own video game marketing. If you're thinking perhaps the model was well-meaning, attempting to create a trans- positive cosplay, trying to further highlight queer commodification CDPR spoke of originally, or just a misguided ally who got it wrong this time around, I have bad (yet predictable) news for you. Yugoro Forge, the cosplayer in question, tweeted that her costumes are "beyond politics," and when pushed on the fact her Cyberpunk 2077 costume dehumanized trans people who are already subject to violence so frequently, she replied, “many cis men and women face acts of harassment and violence on a daily basis as well." "rojekt With such a long, hyped run-up to release, Cyberpunk 2077 has consistently kept itself in the headlines with gameplay demos and Night City preview footage. Even here, where CDPR has complete control over the content it highlights and has the space to put it in context, the marketing has catered to the edgier part of the fanbase. I'm not even sure if the full game will be so edgy, but it's clear that CDPR wants its fans to think it will be. Defenders of Cyberpunk 2077 may point to its character creator- one of the most heavily showcased features in pre-release – which doesn't tie gender to genitalia. It's true that this means the game provides the opportunity to create a transgender protagonist. However, gender in the game is still tied to voice, meaning if you want to be referred to as a woman, you need to select the voice actor with a typically feminine voice. For me – and in my experience, many other trans people – voice is far more important than genitalia. No one sees what's in my pants, but everyone hears my voice. To truly create a character who is trans like me, I would want a more typically “male" voice in a more typically "female" body. The junk, especially in a first-person game, isn't that important to me. The fact that Cyberpunk has fixated on the junk as the ultimate feature of a trans person, yet given no consideration for voice, and then repeatedly joked about customizable genitals in its marketing efforts, shows the complete lack of a trans perspective in both the design and in the advertising of the game. It's also worth noting, that for a character creator which prides itself of inclusivity and depth of customization, there's been nothing said of a non-binary option. As well as criticism for its depiction of trans folk, Cyberpunk 2077 has also come under fire for its use of racist imagery. The game includes the Voodoo Boys, who in the original board game were a white gang who dressed in Haitian gear as a commentary on cultural appropriation, but in Cyberpunk 2077 are actual Black Haitians and racial stereotypes. The Asian gang, Tyger Claws, are a strange amalgamation of various East Asian cultures, all armed with swords despite the high-tech advancements of their world. "rojekt Cyberpunk 2077's advertising has been saying the quiet part loud. It has maintained the spiky, anti-SJW, anti-woke persona throughout its marketing campaign, careful to always pepper any diverse characters' inclusion with stereotyping or humor designed to mock its own ideas. As such, it has earned an army of fans who will defend it from criticism, whether that be from accusations of transphobia, racism, or even crunch. With the specter of GamerGate still looming over gaming, the company may have even gained fans through this reactionary and edgy marketing style. RELATED The Cyberpunk 2077 crunch backlash: CD Projekt Red has gained a huge following of defenders Again, no one knows how well any of these controversial themes will be tackled in Cyberpunk 2077 itself. That's an entirely different issue, one to be dissected upon the game's se. The much bigger issue is that Cyberpunk 2077 has demonstrated that this new form of populist video game marketing can not only be successful, but it can lead fans to form unbreakable bonds with a game they haven't even played yet. Would it have been so successful were CDPR not already equipped with such a uniquely fervent fanbase, or if Cyberpunk 2077 did not have the dual playgrounds of a future setting and a dystopian world? I'm not sure. What's most depressing though isn't how loyal CDPR's fanbase has been throughout all this controversy, but all the controversy CDPR has deliberately decided to put them through. They might have genuinely meant well with the Mix It Up poster the first time. But to harken back to it in the cosplay contest, to keep joking around about vagina options, to play into racial stereotypes: Those are all active choices. CDPR has a fanbase that would follow them to the ends of the earth, but rather than take those fans somewhere positive and progressive, rather than use their unique position to tackle the rampant discrimination and toxicity in the gaming community, they've played to the lowest common denominator every time. Whatever else you think about it, it's hard to deny it worked, and that means other games are probably going to copy it in the future. ▼

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let us be fair tho, we all know journalists were the bullies when they were kids

The Hard Times 2 hrs. "You have to be careful who you make fun as a kid because you never know whose YouTube video explaining how the Zelda timeline matches up with episodes of Frasier you'll be chuckling to in a decade." THEHARDTIMES.NET Middle School Bully Has No ldea He's Creating Future Polygon Video Content Creator

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A 4-pane meme based on Polygon's Top 500 list

Ready-to-drink meal soylent Natural and artificial flavors GREATEST GAME r IN MY TOP 500 BEST GAMES Depression uest めinteractive non)fict.on bou living with depression Polygon

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"Gaming’s toxic men, explained" - article by Colin Campbell

Polygon COVER STORY Gaming's toxic men, explained Experts tackle the phenomenon of angry men, trolls, racists and misogynists who hover around the video game industry By Colin Campbell | @ColinCampbellx Jul 25, 2018, 12:00pm EDT

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No Combat

Home Articles NewsClickbait Horseshit Forums Get AMD TAT-IS VERY TOVO "Combat That Is Very Deadly" out now Middle Way Studios have just released their newest fighting game. It is a game about fighting also it is very violent. You can play as several men or women. wow, what a game, wait for my "Five Ways that Deadly Combat will Change your Life that Miaht Surorise You" articie olease read it and aive us the oage views. The Feminist Hoops About Report Videogames home articles guest book Fighting game Combat That Is Very Deadly lets you do violent deadly moves on women, and this is problematic BY JANE MCGILLICUTTY ATATL Home Articles News Clickbait Horseshit PLAY Get AMD r "Combat That Is Very Deadly 2" After complaints about violence against women, game director Ted Boone has removed the playable women in CTIVD. "We have listened to social networks and The Feminist Hoops About Report Videogames home articles guest book Sausage party Combat That Is Very Deadly 2 and how women are underrepresented in videogames, this is problematic BY JANE MCGILLICUTTY Home Articles Forums DEROLİ "Combat That Is Very Deadly 3" adds invincible TOVO. women that take no damage After complaints about violence against women, and lack of fernales in the sequel, game director Ted Boone has added invincible women to CTIVD3 "We dont want any violence against women, but they should also be represented, so they are invincible The Feminist Hoops About Report Videogames home articles guest book Combat That Is Very Deadly 3 treats women like children, telling us that we need powerups to compete with men, and this is problematic BY JANE MCGILLICUTTY Home Articles News Clickbait Horseshit Forums PLAY PLAY CTIVD reboot "No Combat" takes franchise in radically different directioon After countless complaints about CTIVD, the development team has taken a whole new direction with "No Combat"- There's no combat. You are a woman meditating in a room and you win the game once you med tate enough to discover the truth Polygon NEWS REVIEWS FEATURES WOEDS FORUMS OPINION PLATFORMS H--- Polygon's 2015 Game of the Year: No Combat By Christopher Grant on Jan 15, 2016 at 12:21p chrisgrant TOP STORIES Someone Said A Bad Thing On Twitter By Alexa Ray Coriea on Jan O3, 2016 SimCity Review Score Updated By Arthur Gies on Jan 02, 2016

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TLOU2 is the best thing Polygon saw in E3 2018

Polygon @Polygon The Last of Us 2 trailer was the best thing I've seen at E3 in years polygon.com/2018/6/15/1746. 10:00 PM-15 Jun 18

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Who writes this stuff?

Far Cry 5 Score: 6.5 Platform: Win, PS4, Xbox One | Publisher: Ubisoft | Developer: Ubisoft Montreal | Release Date: Mar 27, 2018 Far Cry 5 had the potential to say something interesting by setting the game in America, but its murky story and themes do more to taint the game's fantastic and playful open world than to give it purpose and meaning. The goofy world and the serious story never line up, making this one of the rockiest entries in a series that has already delved so deeply into action tourism. It's yet another mainstream game that takes crisis or tragedy and builds a Ferris wheel on top of it, while intimating that you're bad for wanting to take a ride. Far Cry 5's story starts on a hollow note and never improves. The Project at Eden's Gate, a religious cult whose followers are pejoratively called "peggies," wants to carve out a chunk of land in the U.S. where its members can enjoy their religion and guns without being harassed by the government. You, of course, represent the government. As a deputy sheriff, you initially try, and fail, to arrest their leader, Joseph Seed, in a lengthy action scene that ends with you being rescued by a "prepper" who just so happens to be ready for exactly this sort of situation It's a timely story that could at least try to address the polarized nature of current American politics, or talk about the issues inherent in a country that seems to worship firearms. But I never saw anything that hinted at how these cultists were radicalized. And their ultimate goal, revealed at the end of the game, undercuts any grand statement.

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Depression Quest in Polygon's Top 500 Best Games Of All Times 2017

466. DEPRESSION QUEST (2013, PC, others) Games often lack nuance, understanding of human emotions and mental illnesses. Depression Quest however, does not. Based on real accounts of depression and mental illness, the text-based Depression Quest is a very real look at just how hard it can be to live every day with the boulder on your back called depression. Railroad Tycoon Timesplitters Ninja Garden Peggle Earth Defense Force 2017 Aladdin Firewatch Monument Valley Borderlands Gravity Rush Star Fox 64 Fable 2 Ori and the Blind Forest Cave Story Space Channel 5 Spider-Man 2 Alone in the Dark Metroid 2 Catherine Bully Wipeout F-Zero Super Meat Boy Dragon Age: Inquisition Advance Wars 2 Arkanoid Ball Blazer 2 Marble Madness Splatoon QWOP Garry's Mod Batman: Arkham City Company of Heroes TM Having no shame in promoting their SJW friends s----- indie games in their Top 500 Best Games Of All Times

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“There’s no greater indicator of quality than polygon not liking something.”

Hey, did you check out The Punisher? It got tore up over at Polygon. It's like the reverse oP the Nintendo Seal of Approval. They said Subway's Chicken Bacon Ranch was "bone deap, given the current political climate." There's no greater indicator OP quality than Polygon not liking something. On, S---! We should probably start watching it right now, then. And, look. That's a great sandwich. www.penny-arcade.coㅆ 2017 Mike Krahulik & Jerry Holkins

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This happened during the Shadow Warrior 2 trailer

UNFUNNY POLYGON

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How do you turn a PlayStation 4 on?

Polygon @Polygon suivre How do you turn a PlayStation 4 on? Voir la traduction SONY The Play Station 4 power and eject buttons are still confusing people, three What the heck do those buttons do? polygon.com RETWEETS JAIME 11:00 16 mai 2016

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Polygon - Dark Horse Comics is not for white males anymore

PROTIP: Press the ← and → keys to navigate the gallery, 'g' to view the gallery, or 'r' to view a random image.

Polygon O @Polygon ... Dark Horse promises "It's not just straight white boy comics anymore" polygon.com/sdcc/22592007/... 12:20 PM · Jul 24, 2021 · Chorus publishing platform 14 Retweets 53 Quote Tweets 171 Likes

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IpsumBonum

IpsumBonum

Jul 24, 2021 at 07:11PM EDT

Clickbait title taken from a quote by Karen Berger who is publishing things through Dark Horse. Her quote literally only applies to her "Berger Books" label and not Dark Horse as a whole.

Even if it did, it's not like she can stamp out anything else Dark Horse is publishing. Polygon is just making the edgiest headline they can in order to get your eyeballs. Don't let them!

+18

Griff the Hoplite

Griff the Hoplite

Jul 24, 2021 at 05:18PM EDT

Mmmm morally upright racism my favorite

+11

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