Before I start I would just like to add a quick disclaimer that neither I, The Escapist, the creators of Dead Island or anyone else affiliated with it condone anything you see in the trailer in real life- I remind you all that the entire trailer/story is entirely fictitious and should not be replicated. How you plan to replicate a zombie outbreak I have no idea- .
Now I?m sure allot of you have either seen or at least heard about the trailer for the new Dead Island video game. If you haven?t seen it heres the clip- I warn you now the trailer is graphic and not for the faint of heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqrG1bdGtg
Once again the games industry has proved itself the hot button issue of the decade by releasing a trailer which leaves gamers and non-gamers divided on the moral battleground. The main cause of this controversy is clearly the inclusion of the young girl seen falling out of the window. Allot of people believe that the games industry has once again gone too far by including a child death scene. However this is something that the games/film industry has neglected to address pretty much since zombies have been in media- what about the children? Some games like Resident Evil 4 or films like 28 Days Later do include child characters but usually they simply act as support while the real protagonists cut through the hordes of the undead. The sad truth is that should a real tragedy such as this to befall the earth children would not somehow remain immune. This also brings up the ?Games are Art? debate and if Titanic is allowed to show a emotional scene in which hundreds of people (Children included) drown in freezing water why should a game not be permitted to show child death as well?
Dead Rising 2 managed to touch on this issue rather well with the character of Katey- a young girl bitten by a zombie who must take constant injections to prevent her from succumbing to the infection. While some may consider the introduction of such a young character into such a volatile situation unnecessary or downright offensive she helped to give some depth to Chuck (Her father) by giving him a reason to keep fighting rather than just for the twisted fun of killing zombies. This was a far better attempt than with Dead Space 2 who introduced us to the ?Baby Bombs? and ?Child Slashers?. Personally I wasn?t really offended by Dead Spaces attempt but it did really come across as the writers attempting to stir up the pot of controversy just so they would get extra media attention for the game- if that wasn?t already obvious from their ?Your mom hates it so you?ll love it slogan?
Frankly though I think this was actually one of the best crafted trailers I?ve seen in years- it actually elicited genuine emotion beyond just watching a car explode of seeing a demonic horror getting its head blown off. Personally I think that the trailer is even more emotive when it was played in reverse rather than in the traditional method. You are watch the devastation unfold and as you progress through the trailer and see the act play out you still remember that it?s only going to get worse from there. The final 50 seconds was especially emotive as it almost looked as though she was being abandoned to the zombies- that would have not have worked so well the other way around.
It also becomes a bit more unsettling when you realize that a team of designers actually created the trailer. They had to have someone researching exactly how her arm would break, the pattern of the blood when one of the zombies was struck with the fire axe, the movements. Everything. And that would be their day job- walk into the office, sit down at their desk and then design the logo that?s going on the little girls T-Shirt....
Many of you may have also heard about the series Achievement Hunter developed by Rooster Teeth and the video they released of the reaction of one of their administrators, Geoff Ramsey, to the Dead Island trailer. He had been warned by his co-workers not to view it and instead choose to rise to the challenge and watch it.
http://achievementhunter.com/archive/episode.php?id=2922
In the end however he could not bear to even watch the full trailer and I respect him for that. For those of you not familiar with Rooster Teeth, Geoff is usually considered to be a foul mouthed, tattooed, drunk but is also well known for being a caring husband and father. And to release a video like that displaying a genuine emotional reaction despite the inevitable hail of ?NOOB?, ?Wuss? and ?GAY!!? comments which fill any forum you care to name I think that was pretty admirable.
But at the same time that proves that the trailer worked- if it was able to create that level of emotion then the trailer did its job. If they had created exactly the trailer but it had not been so well crafted as to trigger those emotions more people would be able to withstand watching it but it wouldn?t be as moving.
Now I?m sure allot of you have either seen or at least heard about the trailer for the new Dead Island video game. If you haven?t seen it heres the clip- I warn you now the trailer is graphic and not for the faint of heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqrG1bdGtg
Once again the games industry has proved itself the hot button issue of the decade by releasing a trailer which leaves gamers and non-gamers divided on the moral battleground. The main cause of this controversy is clearly the inclusion of the young girl seen falling out of the window. Allot of people believe that the games industry has once again gone too far by including a child death scene. However this is something that the games/film industry has neglected to address pretty much since zombies have been in media- what about the children? Some games like Resident Evil 4 or films like 28 Days Later do include child characters but usually they simply act as support while the real protagonists cut through the hordes of the undead. The sad truth is that should a real tragedy such as this to befall the earth children would not somehow remain immune. This also brings up the ?Games are Art? debate and if Titanic is allowed to show a emotional scene in which hundreds of people (Children included) drown in freezing water why should a game not be permitted to show child death as well?
Dead Rising 2 managed to touch on this issue rather well with the character of Katey- a young girl bitten by a zombie who must take constant injections to prevent her from succumbing to the infection. While some may consider the introduction of such a young character into such a volatile situation unnecessary or downright offensive she helped to give some depth to Chuck (Her father) by giving him a reason to keep fighting rather than just for the twisted fun of killing zombies. This was a far better attempt than with Dead Space 2 who introduced us to the ?Baby Bombs? and ?Child Slashers?. Personally I wasn?t really offended by Dead Spaces attempt but it did really come across as the writers attempting to stir up the pot of controversy just so they would get extra media attention for the game- if that wasn?t already obvious from their ?Your mom hates it so you?ll love it slogan?
Frankly though I think this was actually one of the best crafted trailers I?ve seen in years- it actually elicited genuine emotion beyond just watching a car explode of seeing a demonic horror getting its head blown off. Personally I think that the trailer is even more emotive when it was played in reverse rather than in the traditional method. You are watch the devastation unfold and as you progress through the trailer and see the act play out you still remember that it?s only going to get worse from there. The final 50 seconds was especially emotive as it almost looked as though she was being abandoned to the zombies- that would have not have worked so well the other way around.
It also becomes a bit more unsettling when you realize that a team of designers actually created the trailer. They had to have someone researching exactly how her arm would break, the pattern of the blood when one of the zombies was struck with the fire axe, the movements. Everything. And that would be their day job- walk into the office, sit down at their desk and then design the logo that?s going on the little girls T-Shirt....
Many of you may have also heard about the series Achievement Hunter developed by Rooster Teeth and the video they released of the reaction of one of their administrators, Geoff Ramsey, to the Dead Island trailer. He had been warned by his co-workers not to view it and instead choose to rise to the challenge and watch it.
http://achievementhunter.com/archive/episode.php?id=2922
In the end however he could not bear to even watch the full trailer and I respect him for that. For those of you not familiar with Rooster Teeth, Geoff is usually considered to be a foul mouthed, tattooed, drunk but is also well known for being a caring husband and father. And to release a video like that displaying a genuine emotional reaction despite the inevitable hail of ?NOOB?, ?Wuss? and ?GAY!!? comments which fill any forum you care to name I think that was pretty admirable.
But at the same time that proves that the trailer worked- if it was able to create that level of emotion then the trailer did its job. If they had created exactly the trailer but it had not been so well crafted as to trigger those emotions more people would be able to withstand watching it but it wouldn?t be as moving.
