Custer's Revenge

Overview

Custer's Revenge (also known as Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica: Custer's Revenge) is an adult action game published by American Multiple Industries for the Atari 2600, first released in November 1982. The game gained notoriety owing to its goal of sexually penetrating a Native American woman who is tied to a post. The titular player character is based on Lieutenant Colonel and Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer, a famous American cavalry commander who is most well known for his major defeat and death at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Following the Christmas season of 1982, the rights to American Multiple Industries' games, including Custer's Revenge, were sold off to the adult video game company PlayAround. Under PlayAround's parent company, Castlespring Enterprises, Custer's Revenge was re-branded as Westward Ho for the European market and given slight modifications to its original gameplay. These alterations included simple aesthetic changes such as the darkening in color of the Native American woman's skin tone. PlayAround also made a gender-reversed version of Custer's Revenge named General Retreat. The game was universally panned by critics and has been described as one of the worst video games ever made. Gameplay Custer's Revenge is an action video game in which the player controls General Custer, who must advance through the playing field and avoid arrows in order to penetrate the Native American woman Revenge, who is tied to a pole on the other side. The game consists of four numbered modes of play; modes 1 and 3 are single-player campaigns, while modes 2 and 4 are hotseat multiplayer modes. In modes 1 and 2, the player(s) must only avoid arrows, while in modes 3 and 4, cacti that appear and disappear at random intervals are added as obstacles. Custer can move left or right if the joystick is moved in those directions, while shifting the joystick up or down will cause Custer to stop. Custer begins the game with three lives, which are represented by small cacti on a black stripe at the bottom of the screen. If an arrow touches Custer's hat or if Custer comes into contact with a cactus, he loses a life to the tune of "Taps". It is possible for Custer to stand in between two arrows and not get hit. If Custer successfully reaches Revenge, the player must repeatedly press the fire button for Custer to penetrate her, which occurs to the "Charge" fanfare. Each penetration awards one point, and the player earns an extra life for every 50 points. The player(s) can accumulate no more than six lives at any given time. For every 50 points scored, Custer returns to his original position on the field, and the speed of the arrows increases. The arrow speed can also be increased by flipping the difficulty switch on the Atari console. Development and release Custer's Revenge was developed as part of the "Swedish Erotica" series to capitalize on the lack of pornography available in the medium of video games. The development was deliberately sloppy and rushed because quality did not matter—they only needed a product on store shelves. The overtly racist and sexist themes were chosen to maximize outrage and generate free publicity. Custer's Revenge quickly gained notoriety upon its release. Sold in a sealed package labeled "NOT FOR SALE TO MINORS" and selling for $49.95 (equivalent to $151 in 2022), it acknowledged that children might nonetheless see the game. The game's literature stated "if the kids catch you and should ask, tell them Custer and the maiden are just dancing." The makers elected to preview the game for women's and Native American groups, an act that many thought was a publicity stunt. Women's rights groups such as the National Organization for Women criticized the game as "degrading, offensive and a blatant statement of racism and sexism [...] NOW cannot ignore any company which seeks to so blatantly portray acts of violence against women as a form of entertainment." Native Americans also protested the game, with the executive director of the Tulsa Native American Coalition saying "It is very degrading to the Indian woman as well as all women in general," and "There's no other way we can take it other than a racial slur." Other groups that opposed the game included the Native American Political Action Committee, United National Indian Youth Inc., the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission, the American Indian Training and Employment Program, the NAACP, the Urban League, and the YWCA. American Multiple Industries president Stuart Keston responded to criticism of the game by saying "There is a sexual act, but it is not rape. It never has been." Los Angeles County voted 3–1 to ban Custer's Revenge alongside American Multiple Industries' other adult-only games Bachelor Party and Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em. Suffolk County, New York voted to ban all "X-rated" games within their jurisdiction. Multiple Industries subsequently pursued an $11 million lawsuit against Suffolk County and legislator Philip Nolan "because of a resolution authorizing the county executive to take action to halt sales and distribution" of the game. Oklahoma City, home to a large Native American population, also unanimously passed a resolution condemning the game as "distasteful" and "not in the best interests of the community". While both Ward 1 Councilman Bob McCoy and city attorney Walter Powell sought to block distribution within the city, and Multiple Industries did briefly halt distribution there, it was never officially banned by the city as is sometimes erroneously reported. Nevertheless, the focused media attention generated publicity for the game and it sold approximately 80,000 copies, twice as many as Bachelor Party and Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em. Atari received numerous complaints about the game however and responded by trying to sue the game's makers. Stuart Kesten, President of American Multiple Industries, stated "our object is not to arouse, our object is to entertain [...] When people play our games, we want them smiling, we want them laughing." The game's designer, Joel Miller, said Custer was "seducing" the maiden and that she was a "willing participant". By April 1983, the game was withdrawn from circulation. Reception In 1988, computer gaming magazine Ahoy! called Custer's Revenge "an [affront] to common decency", in contrast to more modern and 'tasteful' adult games. Electronic Gaming Monthly's Seanbaby placed it as number 9 in his "20 worst games of all time" feature. In 2008, the University of Calgary professor Tom Keenan cited "the hideous Custer's Revenge game", 26 years after its release, in an op-ed piece about current video game violence issues for the Calgary Herald. That same year, the game was credited by Australian PC Magazine as being one of the worst games ever made, while Games.net ranked Custer's victim as fifth on the list of top ten "disturbingly sexual" game characters. In 2010, Custer placed eighth on machinima.com's list of the top perverts in gaming. UGO.com ranked it as tenth on the list of the most racist video games in history in 2010, also ranking the game's General Custer as the second most unsexy video game character of all time in 2012. Contributor to the Crash Custer's Revenge is an excellent example of a game that aided the collapse of the video game industry in the 80s. Atari's lack of licensing system meant they had no control over the quality or types of content that could be made for their Atari 2600 console. This was the situation for nearly every other platform out there at the time. In the case of Mystique's Swedish Erotica releases, it alone brought a load of bad press to Atari and cost them time and money filing suit. Controversy & The Eventual Formation of the ESRB When news of the game controversy hit, 250 people protested in October 1982 outside a showing to retailers and the press at the New York Hilton. The protest was organized by Women Against Pornography, aided by the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the American Indian Community House. Their claim that the game's goal was to rape the Indian woman was refuted by the publisher who said it led to a mutually consenting act. The content was so foul that it led to the first call to establish a rating system for video games "similar to that of the Motion Picture Association". It would take 10 years to happen but this rating system would later be known as the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). Custer The main character, Custer, is based on the real-life Lieutenant Colonel and Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer, a famous American cavalry commander most well known for his major defeat and death at the Battle of Little Bighorn back in 1876. Custer was likely chosen as a historical figure due to his infamy as being known as the "Indian Killer" who openly endorsed and committed genocide and rape against the Sioux people and other tribes. European Regional Differences PlayAround, operating under parent company Castlespring Enterprises, decided to give Custer's Revenge a fresh identity for the European market, resulting in its re-branding as "Westward Ho". Along with the new name, PlayAround made adjustments to the original gameplay. These modifications primarily involved minor visual changes, such as darkening the skin tone of the Native American woman. Additionally, PlayAround introduced a gender-reversed edition of Custer's Revenge, known as "General Retreat". Lawsuit When Atari was criticized for the game being on its console, even though the game was unlicensed, it filed a lawsuit against AMI/Mystique for "wrongful association" of Custer's Revenge to the Atari 2600. The suit was to halt and block the game's distribution and sale. In a statement, Atari said it intended its products for "wholesome family entertainment". The amount of public backlash was overwhelming with a November 1982 issue of People magazine stating Atari claimed they were logging 1,200 Custer's Revenge complaints daily. The decision to file suit against AMI was unavoidable at this point. Lockpicking Skill Required Due to the adult, X-rated nature of the game -- it came with a special box (complete with key and lock!) to keep children away from its contents. Packaging Because of their "adult nature", games that were published by Mystique came with special lock boxes (complete with key) to keep younger gamers from playing these titles. Swedish Erotica Since it is several decades past relevancy -- Swedish Erotica was a well-known pornography publisher as well as a series filmed during the 1970s and 1980s. As a brand and publisher, they were very keen on the idea of being the pioneer and first to market adult "X-rated" games. Custer's Revenge would ultimately end up being released as one of these first few games. Worst Video Game Ever Custer's Revenger is considered to be one of the most hated games and is universally panned by critics and gamers alike. Often found on many "worst video games ever" lists. Usually hated for its offensive content but also poorly rated for its low quality. Awards Gamespy Dec. 31, 2002 - #1 on a list of the "Top Ten Shameful Games"* GameTrailers Nov. 17, 2006 - #3 worst videogame on a list of "Top Ten Best And Worst Videogames"* PC World Oct. 23, 2006 - #3 on a list of "The 10 Worst Games of All Time"

Alternate Names

• General Re-Treat Europe
• Swedish Erotica: Custer's Revenge United States

Wikipedia

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