Lost its Edge?

I was disappointed to read the article in Edge 243 about the forthcoming Tomb Raider game.  It agonised at length about two brief moments in an E3 trailer where you could see directly down Lara's top.

I watched the trailer today and could just about identify these moments but they were so brief that I doubt they were put there for titillation.

There was also much wailing and gnashing of teeth about Lara being portrayed as weak and a victim at the start of the trailer.  Even since E3 2011 this has been touted as a game in which Lara makes the transition from being an ordinary girl to being a strong woman capable of overcoming adversity.

For Gods sake Lara, put a jumper on.

There is an interview with art director Brian Horton and all he is asked about is the way Lara is portrayed.  I think this is a shame as the games jungle scenery looks great and this might have been a chance to learn more about it.

Just over the page there is an article about Far Cry 3.  In the second paragraph is a reference to Hitman Absolution's "'sexy' nun murdering spree".  This also refers to an E3 trailer and I have also watched this trailer today.  The scene is not the one sided massacre that Edge's description might have us believe.  The "nuns" instigate the fight by firing an RPG into Agent 47s Motel Room.  He does then kill some of them silently from behind but then a fight breaks out and the sisters fight back viciously.  47 is the eventual winner but it is not a one sided affair.

I find all this apologetic squeamishness a bit tedious.  The same Edge issue contains a great piece by regular columnist Steven Poole railing against censorship in games, but I can't help feeling that the magazine as a whole is coming across as being against censorship in theory but a lot more cautious about specific cases.  In a different issue it banged on at length about portrayals of women it didn't approve of in Saints Row the Third and gave a 6/10 rating to a game which was widely applauded elsewhere.

There is one other thing about Edge which is starting to wear me down: the endless analysing to the nth degree of the social, cultural and economic significance of games.  I love games and I can't stand obtuse games journalism (of which there is loads) but sometimes I just want to get excited and blow things up.  I have bought PC gamer this month and I think I might be sticking with that from now on.