The Game Where Men Are Gunned Down For Talking To Women Hey Baby is a sick dream of street harassment reprisal

You may remember the strange case in which a woman walked the (more ethnically diverse) streets of New York City and was completely shocked when men tried to talk to her.  Perhaps she was amazed by the attention because she had seen herself in a mirror recently, but that’s beside the point.  This story dominated the news channels in early November, primarily because there wasn’t much else going on.

You may also remember a game called Hatred being removed from Steam for its violent content, despite games of equal or greater carnage still on sale on the service.  This removal came as the result of such social justice websites as Polygon, Kotaku and Eurogamer writing hit pieces about Hatred.  The game was subsequently restored by Gabe Newell and has since surged in popularity to #1 on Steam Greenlight, proving once again that the websites who proudly proclaimed the gamer “dead” are completely out of touch with their readership.

At the intersection of these two issues is a little-known game called Hey Baby.  Developed in Unity and playable in a web browser, Hey Baby is a game where you, playing as a woman, can finally respond to “street harassment” in the most logical and efficient manner – by gunning down the men complimenting you.

“God Bless You!” BLAM.

Despite graphic depictions of violence against unarmed civilians who had the audacity to speak to you, this game generated exactly zero controversy—quite the opposite, in fact!  The creator, Suyin Looui, was interviewed by Games for Change, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.  The following is their mission statement:

Founded in 2004, Games for Change facilitates the creation and distribution of social impact games that serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts.

We aim to leverage entertainment and engagement for social good. To further grow the field, Games for Change convenes multiple stakeholders, highlights best practices, incubates games, and helps create and direct investment into new projects.

Lest you think Games for Change is small-time, their Board of Directors includes former CEO of Vivendi Games and former VP of Activision Blizzard Bruce Hack, Executive Director of Zynga.org Ken Weber, and CEO of Global Gaming Initiative Elizabeth Sarquis.  Additionally, listed as advisors to this non-profit are a number of non-profit social justice gaming organizations and liberal professors.  You can see the full list here—and don’t be surprised if you see the people on that list again, because if the SJW network has shown itself to be anything, it’s very incestuous.  These are the kind of people who don’t think that games should be “fun.”

In their interview (read: puff piece) with the creator, in which they quickly turn apologist by explaining it’s “unrealistic and satirical” before even asking a question, Looui explains her impetus for creating the game:

Hey Baby is a very personal and playful response to an encounter I had on the NYC subway a few years ago. It was this moment where the humorous revenge fantasies running through my head were physically transformed into the energy to make this project. It has been such an intense process—starting with the documentation of real stories from women all over the world, and then learning from scratch to program this experimental execution of a first person shooter game.

These “stories from women all over the world” must have been very intense, to create from scratch a game which depicts the mass murder of men (and only men, because apparently lesbians don’t catcall women).  The interviewer also missed the inequality of only being able to kill men, which isn’t very social or justice.

Here’s where the story gets truly amazing, though.  Ms. Looui based her “over the top” depiction of violence on Grand Theft Auto!

The spoof website and the game are very much based on the graphic violence and conventions of commercial video games such as Grand Theft Auto, where players have the ability to transgress without consequence, but which never cross over into the real world.

Isn’t that amazing?  Here is a woman, being interviewed by a social justice non-profit organization, who created a game where you can kill men for “street harassment,” and she thinks that video game violence doesn’t cross over into the real world! Of note, this interview took place in February 2011.  I wonder what her opinion of Grand Theft Auto is now, considering the stalwart SJW support for the Australian ban against selling Grand Theft Auto V.

“Hey, sweetheart.” BLAM.

The game itself is much like you’d expect from a self-admitted first time game creator – GARBAGE.  It does manage to hit that perfect vibe of unintentional humor for about five minutes.  Basically it’s like being on Newgrounds.

As for the murder-worthy harassment you receive in the game?

While there are some lines that even the most aggressive fellas would consider a bit much, like “I wanna lick you all over,” most of it is relatively inoffensive.  And of course the title appears as spoken line quite often.  But nothing here is worthy of a hail of gunfire, or even a game about reprisal.  It’s banal, and I don’t know why I am surprised by that.  There are half-finished fan projects with better graphics and gameplay.  Given the choice between playing Hey Baby for free and paying for Hatred, I’m definitely paying for Hatred. At least there the effort shows.

Overall, this game most appeals to feminist agoraphobics.  If you can’t stand the thought of being spoken to or at, don’t go outside.  Outside is where your right to privacy is void in the legal sense.  Outside is where other people might look at you and consider you worthy of speech.  Outside is where you can be street harassed!

Alternatively, move to a country that does not have free speech.

Read More:  3 Ways Women Have Ruined Video Games