E3 audience offended by "rape joke" at Microsoft Xbox One event


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http://www.cbsnews.c...xbox-one-event/

E3 audience offended by "rape joke" at Microsoft Xbox One event

Updated at 3:35 p.m. ET to include a second statement from Microsoft.

Microsoft had a splashy showing of next-generation Xbox One hardware and games at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on Monday that included Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg and ...a rape joke?

During a demonstration of "Killer Instinct" a male producer of the game was matched up against a woman, who appeared to be bad at playing video games.The Atlantic Wire described that the woman is "playing a video game like a girl" -- suggesting that the scenario was set up to perpetuate a stereotype that women are not serious gamers.

"I can't even block correctly, and you're too fast," she says.

"Here we go. Just let it happen. It'll be over soon," he says.

The audience laughs at the remark that many have been interpreted as a rape joke. The banter continues between the two, further adding fuel to the allegations that the joke mimicked a sexual assault scenario.

"You have a fight stick," she says.

"Wow, you like those," he says.

"No, I don't like this," she says.

On Twitter, the audience reacted right away.

"Wow. This is really gross. Male overpowering a female in a game, so of course, rape joke. Good one, Msoft," @Vahn16 tweeted.

"Oh my god. One of the people just made a rape joke onstage and the audience actually liked it. That's sick," @IatosHaunted tweeted.

"Even if it was unintentional, Microsoft should've realized they shouldn't make a rape joke in an environment already toxic with misogyny," @stillgray tweeted.

"Let's bring a woman on stage and joke about how she's bad at games, and say stuff like 'relax, just let it happen, it'll be over soon'??" @Jonathan_Blow tweeted.

"Killer Instinct" is produced by Rare Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Microsoft Studios. Some alleged that the demo was scripted, but those claims were shot down by Microsoft.

A spokesperson for the company released this statement to CBSNews.com: "The comments in question during the 'Killer Instinct' demo were not scripted. The demo was meant to include friendly gameplay banter, and there was no ill intent."

Microsoft later apologized for the behavior of its employee and issued this statement from Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer:

"Yesterday, during the Xbox E3 briefing, one of our employees made an off the cuff and inappropriate comment while demoing 'Killer Instinct' with another employee. This comment was offensive and we apologize. At Microsoft, being open and respectful with others is central to our code of conduct and our values. Bullying and harassment of any kind is not condoned and is taken very seriously. We remain committed to make gaming fun for everyone, and in that effort, we must lead by example."

The games industry has grappled with sexism for years, even as the gender gap closes. According to the Entertainment Software Association, about 47 percent of gamers are women.

Watch the "Killer Instinct" demo at E3 below.

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I watched the whole interaction as it went down. I even watched the GameTrailers crew talk about it a few hours later. They all agreed it was just awful and perpetuated the stereotype and how they felt really bad for the woman. They even went as far to point out the fact that she actually changed the wording on the teleprompter as to not make herself look even more dumb then she already did. But Rape Joke? What?

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If there wasn't so much rape talk in video game culture, especially in the fighting scene, I would agree that this would be an over-reaction.

It's quite repulsive how much that word is thrown around with abandon.

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If you just listen to just the audio, it does sound like a "rape joke".

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WTF?!

If you just listen to just the audio, it does sound like a "rape joke".

If you just listen to just the audio, they were promoting running around making weapons out of random things and kill "people". OMG Microsoft promoting murder!!!

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Ah yes, the white knights from the twitterverse faking moral outrage to make it appear they actually give a crap about women's rights when it all is all trying to win brownie points to get laid. Lets not start on the damselling by the feminists where on one side they'll claim to be a 'strong independent woman' whilst demanding that the white knight come to her rescue to protect her from the 'horrible rape joke' that harmed her precious ears.

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My goodness. When I saw the Killer Instinct demonstration, I didn't think of rape. I saw a scripted demonstration where someone beat someone else with an arcade/fight stick. And in the second round, the person who lost initially ended up winning. I fail to see how a man and a woman, both of whom won one round, reiterates the stereotype that women are bad at playing video games. I also fail to see how talking about the type of controller the man was using and saying something like "Just let it happen, it'll be over soon." was a reference to rape. Would it still be considered a reference to rape to those people on Twitter if it were two men playing? I highly doubt it.

Some women are jumping at the opportunity to claim misogyny because in their eyes, they'd rather see a man get beaten instead of a woman. Why? It's simple, really. If a woman gets beaten by a man, that man is somehow reiterating the stereotype that women are bad at playing video games. But if a woman beats a man, then she's empowering all female gamers because men outnumber women in the gaming world. What about a man beating a man, you ask? Well, in that case... no one gives a damn.

Also, it's funny how they're ignoring the fact that the woman beat the man shortly after she was beaten by him. They're so damn focused on what they think is an awful thing that they'd ignore anything that proves otherwise. It's also sad to see some men blindly defending the woman from something that was blown out of proportion. Women don't need men to defend them on the Internet but for some reason, these men seem to think that they do. And you can bet they're doing it to be seen more positively in the eyes of other feminist women.

I truly feel sorry for the guy that beat the women. He must feel awful and I hope it doesn't affect his future career opportunities. If only this was one big ****ing joke, the world would be a better place.

Anyway, I found one tweet that saved me from a cerebral aneurysm:

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Click here to view the Tweet
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If only this was one big ****ing joke, the world would be a better place.

The world has proven to be such a politically correct place. The Twitterverse explosion is just pathetic, and it annoys me that anyone faking intelligence would even see anything more than a bad joke.

Quick: everyone prove that you are not a sexist by running to defend a woman because she clearly cannot defend herself over a poorly executed joke that she was in on from the beginning. After all, that exact line has most-certainly never been used by an actor killing someone in an acted out scene...

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The world has proven to be such a politically correct place. The Twitterverse explosion is just pathetic, and it annoys me that anyone faking intelligence would even see anything more than a bad joke.

Quick: everyone prove that you are not a sexist by running to defend a woman because she clearly cannot defend herself over a poorly executed joke that she was in on from the beginning. After all, that exact line has most-certainly never been used by an actor killing someone in an acted out scene...

Especially the time when president obama killed a fly on him and people got all crazy about it. People need to loosen up and stop being uptight about everything.

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