SaneAmongInsane said:
You have to keep in mind that the Saints Row series is focused on offering some sort of counterweight to Rockstar's grittier and more realistic approach to open-world gaming. GTA 4 does have its ludicrous moments (the TV shows, for instance, or some of the more humorous New York references) but on the whole, it's still trying insanely hard to deliver some kind of social commentary. I tend to call it "Scarface Meets the Immigration Doctrine", actually.
San Andreas was the last of the GTAs to put a sizable amount of focus on its inherent silliness. What caught, though, was the Urban Thug aspect of things, the whole "gangsta" approach and theme the game had. The first Saints Row was made to capitalize on that, considering how S.A. gives you plenty of opportunities to act like an offensive and racist prick in the 'hood's name.
In a sense, Saints Row was only aping its bigger brother. That, unfortunately, includes pushing the bar on some slurs and adult content. All I can say is you're probably a little too worked up about what wasn't much more than a game trying to find its identity and initially failing.
Saints Row 2 involved Volition realizing that zany humour could allow its franchise to stand apart from the rest. Saints Row: The Third takes that concept to its logical extremes. You're hitting bystanders with a dildo-shaped baseball bat and you're honestly worried about racism and homophobia in the context of an old game that was trying its hardest to put up some sort of "Thug Life"-esque front?
Live and let live, honestly. Real-life sexism, racism and homophobia are always going to be serious concerns. Seeing as how games can involved humans hating on elves or trolls or turians or whatever, I think the idea of games involving racism only makes sense. It's a thing humans do, human behaviour tends to make its way into stories, and, well, stories are the basis for most modern games that attempt to have a semblance of plot.
'Cause, following your logic, I should've thrown a massive fit upon realizing that The Third not only shows me depraved sexual acts in the making (the Safeword club and its pony show), but also degrades an African-American man in a way that would make Marcellus Wallace's treatment in "Pulp Fiction" feel humane (as in, Zimos being used as a human pony for years on end, ball gag and nipple-clamped spurs included).
To make things even worse, the same man is portrayed as being a pimp that's as stereotypical as you could possibly imagine a pimp to be, to the point where women are consistently referred to as "bitches" in his vocabulary.
But - y'know what? Nope. Not offended. Why?
Because it's ridiculous and hilarious. The first Saints Row already had an embryonic form of that take on ridicule. The insults and jeers are meant to be over-the-top PRECISELY because you're not meant to take them seriously.
