Letting children die horribly seems to be the new 'hook'. (Now includes video, due to popular demand

[dagens24]

Why should child death be more upsetting/controversial than any other age groups death. Should a game (or novel, or movie or tv series) about post-apocalyptia or any other violet situation purposefully ignore the fact that children exist and would be affected just because it offends our sensibility? I applaud games (or other media) that have the courage to aknowledge that children exist and they are as vulnerable to violence as anyone else.

 

[Crimsom Storm]

Unfortunately, most of the children seen in films are supposed to be "Pet the Dog" moments waiting to happen. They're sweet, affectionate, probably sick, and are the morality trigger for the characters to show what sort of person they are. It's very rare in a film for a kid to be shown as an actual child. Loud, annoying, violent, whiny, spoilt rotten, and doing things that tend to get everyone in trouble.

Someone please cross National Lampoons with a Zombie move. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? *Gets punted out of the car and into a ditch full of hungry zombies*"

If they were like that, we'd be cheering at their deaths. Instead, they are given this insane amount of sugary sweet innocence that, when they are offed, gives you absolute focus on who to hate. Basically, they're as much an accessory to a character's personality as a leather jacket is to identifying who is probably a biker.

 

[Ca3zar416]

Perhaps because it is an unfortunate reality of the world. Children aren't immune to violence, despair, or tragedy. They can be just as easily if not more easily effected (or affected I really need to relearn when to use which) by the goings on of violence. It may be considered sick or evil to include things like zombie children or toddlers and the thing is that's good. As a person we should be sickened by these harsh facts of reality. This is a fantastic way to reinforce the narrative of a tragedy. Imagine a situation with a karma meter (although I think in most cases I think this needs to shy away from pure good vs. evil but for the sake of argument whatever). Say you are in a situation in which you have a number of choices for a conversation and one of them ends up leading to a fire fight. Then in the aftermath of said firefight you realize that your karma meter has gone down. You look around and see civilian and even a child casualty caused by stray bullets or explosives or whatever. Now I know there's a lot more to this and I'm leaving quite a bit out but I think you understand my point. It's not there for us to be unusually cruel to children although I'm sure some of us will be. It can just as easily be there for us to recognize the weight of what is happening. Disease doesn't discriminate, bullets don't discriminate, misfortune does not discriminate.

 

[Therumancer]

Well, killing children used to be possible in games. To be honest it was largely "Silent Hill 2" that seemed to start the trend, when their demo raised some eyebrows, and they wound up removing the killer kiddies from the bestiary. It's good to see that this taboo is being removed from the horror genere, since the very fact that it makes people uncomfortable is why it belongs there.

If the victim wasn't a little girl and the events were not so tragic, I don't think the trailer would have been anywhere near as powerful.

Of course the sad thing is that this game might not ever come to pass. I was checking out out on Gamefaqs and apparently this game has been promised for four years now, and it's release date is still TBA. Releasing an awesome trailer like that doesn't nessicarly mean we'll be seeing a new survival horror game anytime soon.

I personally would have preferred something other than zombies, but you take what you can get when the genere is this heavily neglected.

Powerful scene to set the atmosphere, but I also notice it tells you very little about the game.. unless of course the little girl is the protaganist or something and you wind up playing as a Zombie retaining some of it's mind and memories. That could be an interesting game theme, playing the weakest and most ineffective zombie trying to save people without them realizing it since you'd be hated and feared on sight or whatever. I somehow doubt the game is that unique however.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Maybe it is because children are the most annoying thing on this earth?

This.

The trailer was cool though! Although I vastly preferred my own version [http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:Iof5pRAIZmw:0:100:34:0:true].

Incredible. You finally found something that Guile's theme doesn't go with.

AND YET, I MADE THIS. http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:Vzo0iHrivVQ:0:100:10:0:true

If the audio didn't loop around right near the end, it would have been PERFECT

Even more depressing than the original video. Needs Guile's theme to add kickin' radness.

http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:A67ZkAd1wmI:0:100:15:0:true

I love you for finding the non-reversed version of the trailer. Seriously.

You're welcome.

This combo's more like it! It's gotta be upbeat and happy and/or heroic to contrast the scene. I especially liked the use of the lyric "are you ready to join us now?" whilst a zombie chomps on the kiddywink.

http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:0N1_0SUGlDQ:0:100:17:5:true

Boom. Perfected it.

 

[BGH122]

Maybe it is because children are the most annoying thing on this earth?

This.

The trailer was cool though! Although I vastly preferred my own version [http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:Iof5pRAIZmw:0:100:34:0:true].

Incredible. You finally found something that Guile's theme doesn't go with.

AND YET, I MADE THIS. http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:Vzo0iHrivVQ:0:100:10:0:true

If the audio didn't loop around right near the end, it would have been PERFECT

Even more depressing than the original video. Needs Guile's theme to add kickin' radness.

http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:A67ZkAd1wmI:0:100:15:0:true

I love you for finding the non-reversed version of the trailer. Seriously.

You're welcome.

This combo's more like it! It's gotta be upbeat and happy and/or heroic to contrast the scene. I especially liked the use of the lyric "are you ready to join us now?" whilst a zombie chomps on the kiddywink.

http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:0N1_0SUGlDQ:0:100:17:5:true

Boom. Perfected it.

Haha! Love it. Supreme kudos to you, sir. I doff my virtual hat.

 

[Quazimofo]

Honestly, seeing kids in a zombie game -- or similar -- is fine by me. The complete lack of them has always struck me as odd. Dead Rising 2 did a great job of having zombies of all manner of ethnicity, body type, and gender, but it still didn't have kids. Something has to cross the line eventually, so why not now?

Besides, who didn't want to shoot a few of the obnoxious brats in Fallout 3?

yeah i remember trying to wipe out lamplight once i got in because they pissed me off that much.
but this trailer really hits me, im gonna have nightmares tonight, partially because i am still a kid (Albiet im 15 but in that situation my thought process would probably be similar to the girl's), and partially because it seems so.... real. like this is what would actually happen when some people are immune to a zombie outbreak who aren't freaking kratos+dante+goku. it just really hits me as scary and a bit depressing, the music and good graphics help the whole tone of the thing too.
so in short, its well made but disturbing.

 

[vxicepickxv]

That was a terrible teaser trailer. Oooh, there's zombies. So?


OT:It used to be something that happened when you wanted, then they all went invulnerable, now they're plot hooks. I really don't know what to say about that.

PS:I miss groin shots.

 

[Xenetethrae]

Honestly, seeing kids in a zombie game -- or similar -- is fine by me. The complete lack of them has always struck me as odd. Dead Rising 2 did a great job of having zombies of all manner of ethnicity, body type, and gender, but it still didn't have kids. Something has to cross the line eventually, so why not now?

Besides, who didn't want to shoot a few of the obnoxious brats in Fallout 3?

I flat out REFUSED to go to little lamplight after my first playthrough because that pissed me off so much. Oh I can't come in can I? *unloads several hundred minigun rounds* ...wait wha-?

more on topic: the trailer was actually really depressing. I almost don't want to play the game because then I can pretend the little girl is still ok. Almost, but not quite enough...

 

[Quazimofo]

Maybe it is because children are the most annoying thing on this earth?

This.

The trailer was cool though! Although I vastly preferred my own version [http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:Iof5pRAIZmw:0:100:34:0:true].

Incredible. You finally found something that Guile's theme doesn't go with.

AND YET, I MADE THIS. http://www.tubedubber.com/#Bwtr_-4vz6g:Vzo0iHrivVQ:0:100:10:0:true

If the audio didn't loop around right near the end, it would have been PERFECT

Even more depressing than the original video. Needs Guile's theme to add kickin' radness.

yeah, it is a bit more depressing

 

[WitherVoice]

Watched the trailer thing now, and... hmm. That was... pretty well done. Child is zombified, defenestrated, and it underlines very effectively the change from idyllic vacation to horrific nightmare. But it made me think of something...

Someone mentioned how zombie games don't have child zombies, for the most part. The movies certainly have explored that subject... but anyway. There are non-cutesy explanations for that too. It doesn't necessarily mean the children all escaped. What if the cause of zombification doesn't do the job on them? They didn't get to join the zombie club, no matter how much biting there was, and so in the end they got completely devoured by the adult-size zombies. Horrific enough for you? Or hey, what if the children turn into some kind of scary lurking zombie? Hmm. I can picture a horror game now that simply mentions in one of those audio tapes that seem to always be laying around, that "the children became vicious, dangerous, horrific monsters that lurk in the shadows, and are impossible to spot before they're eating your brains, even the other zombies don't go near them, cuz they so scary". And then it gives you a dark playground with lots of cover and shadows to go through, plays lots of scary music and rustling in the distance... but alas, there are no child zombie monsters, neither there nor anywhere else; the audio entry was false. You'd have people climbing the WALLS trying to find out where the scary zombie child will come from... Muahahaha!

 

[Light 086]

Crap like that doesn't bother me, I personally think it's good for all to see it. Mainly so people can pull their heads out of their asses and realize that shit like that happens daily and that they are just turning a blind eye.

 

[Trolldor]

Most children are not whining, screaming brats 24/7. In fact, most children are well behaved most of the time.
The use of tragedy befalling children is actually designed to 'pull on the heartstrings', and if you're an average adult then it will.

Look at the commercial again and stop looking at it as just a child being attacked. Remember that the man is that girl's father, and the woman is that girl's mother.
As an audience member you're supposed to take in to consideration and 'empathise' with the emotions that these characters experience.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Watched the trailer thing now, and... hmm. That was... pretty well done. Child is zombified, defenestrated, and it underlines very effectively the change from idyllic vacation to horrific nightmare. But it made me think of something...

Someone mentioned how zombie games don't have child zombies, for the most part. The movies certainly have explored that subject... but anyway. There are non-cutesy explanations for that too. It doesn't necessarily mean the children all escaped. What if the cause of zombification doesn't do the job on them? They didn't get to join the zombie club, no matter how much biting there was, and so in the end they got completely devoured by the adult-size zombies. Horrific enough for you? Or hey, what if the children turn into some kind of scary lurking zombie? Hmm. I can picture a horror game now that simply mentions in one of those audio tapes that seem to always be laying around, that "the children became vicious, dangerous, horrific monsters that lurk in the shadows, and are impossible to spot before they're eating your brains, even the other zombies don't go near them, cuz they so scary". And then it gives you a dark playground with lots of cover and shadows to go through, plays lots of scary music and rustling in the distance... but alas, there are no child zombie monsters, neither there nor anywhere else; the audio entry was false. You'd have people climbing the WALLS trying to find out where the scary zombie child will come from... Muahahaha!

They kind of did that in Resident Evil 4/5. Some of the logs mention that the Plagas don't turn children...so the adults pretty much just beat them all to death. Fun.

Edit: I forget the movie, but it was a really terrible b-movie that I laughed through most of it. One part really unnerved me, though. There was a woman walking through a school, and there were bloody handprints smeared ALL over the walls...but only up to about chest-height on a normal person. Then the woman saw a little kid sitting in the middle of a classroom and called out to the kid...but the kid didn't respond. Then she got a bit closer and called out again...and the kid turned...but their eyes had been torn out. Then the kid got up and the woman screamed...and all of the doors slammed open, and a bunch of little kid zombies mobbed her. It was really...eh.

The worst part was the sound...that is, there was no sound. Aside from the womans screams, the children were totally silent.

 

[LadyMint]

That video was actually pretty well done. The involvement of the child added a very touching element to it, but in an appropriate way. The whole situation is tragic. To me it makes me think, "That poor family," and actually feel for the child and how everything ends for them. Unlike Dead Space where I see crawling monster babies and just want to destroy them without batting an eye. I feel sad about what happened to the girl in the trailer because I just watched it all go down. The mutant baby monsters are just mutant baby monsters to me.

 

[WitherVoice]

They kind of did that in Resident Evil 4/5. Some of the logs mention that the Plagas don't turn children...so the adults pretty much just beat them all to death. Fun.

Edit: I forget the movie, but it was a really terrible b-movie that I laughed through most of it. One part really unnerved me, though. There was a woman walking through a school, and there were bloody handprints smeared ALL over the walls...but only up to about chest-height on a normal person. Then the woman saw a little kid sitting in the middle of a classroom and called out to the kid...but the kid didn't respond. Then she got a bit closer and called out again...and the kid turned...but their eyes had been torn out. Then the kid got up and the woman screamed...and all of the doors slammed open, and a bunch of little kid zombies mobbed her. It was really...eh.

The worst part was the sound...that is, there was no sound. Aside from the womans screams, the children were totally silent.

Ick. Thanks for informing, I must admit I kinda jumped ship on Resident Evil series after... I think it must have been number 2. I always liked Silent Hill more, as well, I suppose.

EDIT: That sounds so familiar, I am almost certain I've seen that as well, and yes, if memory serves, it was a creepy addition to an otherwise rather... bland experience, as it were.

There's another thing I keep thinking when I watch that trailer though... am I the only one who finds it a bit disturbing that daddy dearest, upon opening the door to see someone doing... clearly untoward things to his child... doesn't try to wrestle him off her, or something like that, for instance? Kick him off, or demand he release her? No, he goes straight for the fire axe. One, remind me never to piss someone like that off. Two, he needs some gorrang therapy; that's NOT an appropriate first response even to such a very clear stimulus.

 

[Trolldor]

The dead space babies had no effect on me because they were just glowing slug babies. I actually laughed the first time I saw them.

 

[ENKC]

Trying to work out the internal chronology of that trailer made my brain hurt. Good thing someone did this then: http://www.geekologie.com/2011/02/dead_island_trailer_forward_an.php

 

[Kopikatsu]

They kind of did that in Resident Evil 4/5. Some of the logs mention that the Plagas don't turn children...so the adults pretty much just beat them all to death. Fun.

Edit: I forget the movie, but it was a really terrible b-movie that I laughed through most of it. One part really unnerved me, though. There was a woman walking through a school, and there were bloody handprints smeared ALL over the walls...but only up to about chest-height on a normal person. Then the woman saw a little kid sitting in the middle of a classroom and called out to the kid...but the kid didn't respond. Then she got a bit closer and called out again...and the kid turned...but their eyes had been torn out. Then the kid got up and the woman screamed...and all of the doors slammed open, and a bunch of little kid zombies mobbed her. It was really...eh.

The worst part was the sound...that is, there was no sound. Aside from the womans screams, the children were totally silent.

Ick. Thanks for informing, I must admit I kinda jumped ship on Resident Evil series after... I think it must have been number 2. I always liked Silent Hill more, as well, I suppose.

EDIT: That sounds so familiar, I am almost certain I've seen that as well, and yes, if memory serves, it was a creepy addition to an otherwise rather... bland experience, as it were.

There's another thing I keep thinking when I watch that trailer though... am I the only one who finds it a bit disturbing that daddy dearest, upon opening the door to see someone doing... clearly untoward things to his child... doesn't try to wrestle him off her, or something like that, for instance? Kick him off, or demand he release her? No, he goes straight for the fire axe. One, remind me never to piss someone like that off. Two, he needs some gorrang therapy; that's NOT an appropriate first response even to such a very clear stimulus.

Pfft. If that was your kid, you would get the Goddamn shotgun out from under the bed. Hell, I would. NOONE TOUCHES THE DAUGHTER THAT I DO NOT YET HAVE, BUT WILL HAVE IN THE FUTURE. [font-size='2']I just need to find someone to have my daughter (And son. Twins!) with...[/font]

 

[Koeryn]

This video is HILARIOUS when you over dub it with the Zombies on Your Lawn song. That said, trailer looks interesting, dunno if it's a hook, but it was a good trailer.

I prefer the Mad World Gears of War trailer though.