Hitman: Absolution gets disturbing new trailer....

We’re all used to a bit of tasteless violence in videogames. It happens all the time. We’re also used to attention-seeking trailers. The latest Hitman Absolution trailer, though, pairs gratuitous violence with sexualised imagery to create the most troubling piece of marketing material I think I’ve ever seen. It’s obviously designed to shock, but the effect isn’t thought-provoking or emotional – it leaves you feeling uncomfortable, mildly disgusted, and wondering what kind of warped conception Hitman’s marketing team has of what gamers want to see.

If you’ve not seen Attack of the Nuns, it’s embedded below. Here’s a summary: Agent 47 strips off bloodstained clothing in a motel bathroom, redressing in his trademark crisp white shirt and red tie. Meanwhile, a group of women dressed as nuns marches from a schoolbus parked outside the motel. The camera focusses on their breasts, downturned faces, and high-heeled shoes, before focussing on the eyes of one of the women. They bring pistols, SMGs and a rocket launcher out from under their habits before stripping them off to reveal tightfitting, PVC-and-leather, bondage-reminiscent costume, heavy on the suspenders, crotch shots and sashaying walks. Agent 47, meanwhile, is putting clothes on, slipping a jacket over his shirt and pulling on his trademark black gloves.