Saints Row IV developers respond to dildo weapon criticisms

Fans of the upcoming open-world game Saints Row IV participated in an AMA with senior producer Jim Boone and design director Scott Phillip on Reddit earlier today.

The discussion covered a range of topics concerning Saints Row IV, including a response to Cliff Bleszinski's previous comments regarding the negative impact of including a dildo weapon in the game.

The duo responded to a question concerning Bleszinski's comments by citing Hollywood as an example.

"I think of this along the lines of motion pictures," Boone said.

"I just can't imagine Hollywood suddenly deciding that movies like The Hangover shouldn't come out because it is immature. Sure, it may not win an Oscar, but it sure is funny as hell and amazingly entertaining. People won't all feel the same way about that movie as I do, but that doesn't mean the movie shouldn't be made."

"[Bleszinski] said he felt SR would've been better if it had been a Michael Mann/Heat-esque bank robbery type of game. Somebody else already makes that game and spends four times as much money to make it with a staff four times our size," Phillips added.

"We need to make Saints Row, not a game someone else is already making. As Jim said earlier, you wouldn't want to see the same movie over and over again; sometimes you need a drama and sometimes you need a comedy, and Saints Row delivers something that players clearly want and aren't getting elsewhere."

When concerns were brought up regarding the PC port of Saints Row IV, Boone assured that players could expect "the same level of quality" as in the PC version of Saints Row 3, as a result of working on the PC build throughout the development cycle.

Saints Row IV publisher Deep Silver recently revealed details for the game's season pass content, which includes a "Rectifier" alien probe weapon. The publisher also confirmed that the game has reached gold status.

The game has been refused classification twice in Australia. An edited version has been submitted to Australian censors, although there is no indication of when a decision about the edited version will be made.

Changes in the edited version are described by Boone as "not too disruptive to the game." He explained that the submitted version is "missing one weapon and one mission."

Saints Row IV is slated for release in North America and Europe on August 20 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.