For whatever reason, Simon & Schuster agreed to publish computer game developer Hypnotix’s latest game, Panty Raider: From Here to Immaturity (the first time I read an announcement of this game, it was so bizarre I was convinced it was an April Fools-style joke). Apparently in the game the player strips a model down to her underwear and then takes pictures for aliens, of all things.

Hypnotix games tend to be attempts at parodies of traditional games or genres. After the success of the various Deer Hunter computer games, for example, Hypnotix developed Deer Avenger in which the deer turn the tables and hunt humans who were stereotypical rednecks. Panty Raider appears to be a lame attempt to spoof the “Mars Needs Women”-style B movies.

Unfortunately, that’s got the usual suspects all uptight (Naughty game has knickers in a twist). According to Diana Zuckerman of the National Center for Policy Research for Women and Families, Panty Raider is not just going to be a stupid game, but is “extremely negative and dangerous to girls and women” because of the behavior it will encourage in young boys. Zuckerman’s complained to Simon & Schuster about the game. So has the group Dads and Daughters, which sent an email to Simon & Schuster urging the company to pull the game.

Simon & Schuster maintains that the game will have an M rating, meaning it is intended for mature audiences only, but that’s not good enough for Zuckerman and DADS. According to Zuckerman, the simple fact that the game involves aliens is proof positive that the game is being marketed to kids, while DADS resident expert Joe Kelly told USA Today that if it were really marketed only to adults, the models would strip to the nude (apparently the only sexually oriented content adults are ever interested in must contain full nudity.)

I’ve never understood why executives give the go ahead for crap like Panty Raider while other worthy games never get close to market (or why studio executives green light Danny DeVito movies for that matter), but the idea that this game is “dangerous” to women is beyond absurd. The only danger this game poses is to the suckers who waste their $19.95 on probably one of the most moronic computer game concepts ever.

The Protesting Panty Raider by Brian Carnell, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

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