This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
Rockstar has recently announced their next expansion to Grand Theft Auto IV, The Ballad of Gay Tony. Some might disagree with me on this one, but I honestly think Rockstar is creating controversy on purpose. Whether this is to boost sales, I’m not sure, but they have already sparked lots of blogs, news stories, and regular old conversations regarding their newest downloadable episode — both positive and negative, I’m sure.
So why do I think this is controversy on purpose?
If all Rockstar cared about was making a great downloadable episode, they would have left the word "gay" out of the title. It could have easily been called The Ballad of Tony, and when you fire up the game for the first time you realize by his flamboyant attire and feminine voice that Tony is, in fact, a homosexual.
Or, instead of being so obvious, they could have included an Iced Coffee hidden mini-game that is only accessible by punching in a secret code or doing blatantly gay things, like corpse-humping five-hundred men…in a row. Or something else, just as gay.
All kidding aside, I definitely think the people who are going to be the most offended and cause the biggest uproar are going to be gay people. Let’s face it, Rockstar is not known for treating controversial subjects unoffensively.
Whether the controversy is on purpose or not (and I definitely think it is) you have got to hand it to their marketing staff for creating, as Shoe has lovingly coined, a FAB-u-LOUS logo.
On a completely unrelated note, I leave you with this mind-blowing live recording of Queen. Enjoy!
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yfoLxN1DTk 500×500]