Feature: Bad Taste Software
We all draw the line somewhere, from the slobbering pervert to the insipid tory voter so I'm not quite sure how to approach the subject. It's an important one though. Software, like most popular mediums, will reflect prevalent attitudes from the current state of society. I'm only 32, hardly past-it, but I can look back over my own lifetime and see drastic changes of attitude. Some things have changed for the better...
You'll no longer see endless Rambo games—you playing some soldier of fortune with God on your side, battling the 'evil' of communism. That sort of bullshit went out with Reagan and the Berlin wall. I think we can excuse War/Strategy games seeing as they are usually based on real historic events—unless of course you're some American tosser still unable to come to terms with losing Vietnam! They never miss a chance to twist that one...
Any other drastic changes in software content you'd be hard pressed to find. A glance at Amiga and PC games proves that sexist attitude and imagery still sell rubbish products. The milestone of Spectrum programming that was Samantha Fox Strip Poker—how we laughed. You could still watch Benny Hill or the gormless Legs and Co from the sadness of your armchair.
You can't do it now because we are much wiser and those things were cringe inducing at best. The majority of computer users will always be male but do we really have to pander to this dour statistic? You maybe thinking I should lighten up, stop looking too deeply into things... I know what you mean only too well. Right-on liberals piss me off too. I'd like to see some games around that re-dress the balance...
How about a game called 'McRipoff', you play this concerned person who is pissed off with McDonalds. Equipped with a few petrol bombs it's your task to raze the local store to ashes because they sell you crap at vast prices, then want you out their door as quickly as possible. It sure beats the sickly Eco the Dolphin. There are probably some very sick home grown adventure games hidden away in the odd shoe box never to see the light of day. But if a well known software house can release a game about Jack the Ripper, why will something like 'Murder on the Moors' or 'God Told Me to Do It 128' still make the front page of the Sun? And it would you know, just try it and see.
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