Perhaps you recall Duke Nukem as one of the first games you every played on a computer. In the game you assume the role of the ever macho Duke Nukem, protecting earth from an alien invasion. What you probably don't remember is how sexist it was: Duke tosses cash at a prostituted woman with his gun ready saying, "shake it, baby," he goes to strip clubs and taunts women, and he kills defenseless women, often bound or held against their will. It even had a special key that would force women in the game to expose themselves to him. A sequel has been anxiously awaited for many years, and on it's release a new controversy has come up: the sequel, Duke Nukem Forever, includes a "Capture the Babe" mode, where in "capture the flag" style Duke kidnaps a woman from an enemy's base, throws her over his shoulder, and then carries her back to his base to enjoy the spoils. If she "freaks out" Duke slaps her bottom until she shuts up, or as Official Xbox Magazine calls it, "gently give her a reassuring slap." Interestingly, CEO of Gearbox Software Randy Pitchford was quoted by Eurogamer as saying, "if some feminist organization that is doing a great job advocating women's rights worldwide, which I think is really important, can get some advantage by using Duke... go for it." So, Change.org set up an online petition asking Wal-Mart to ban the game unless the game mode is removed. While this was probably all fun and games for the developers, it goes to show that sometimes a sense of humor isn't all that's needed when dealing with violence.
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