This was originally posted during E3 week, but because there was so much going on at the time you may have missed it. Keep on reading to get caught up on the latest Ad Watch.

Controversy and gaming have been practically synonymous with each other for over a decade at least, but in the last year or so it seems the heat has been turned up. Quite infamously last summer, "Hot Coffee" released and became the most unintentionally influential game mod ever, featuring sexual content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Take-Two initially denied any wrongdoing, blaming the mod on hackers and invasive third-party programs. However, after a couple months of media focus, both enthusiast and mainstream, it came to light that the sex "mini-game" was part of the original code of the game, and GTA: San Andreas was slapped with an "AO" (Adults Only) rating by the ESRB. The game was subsequently pulled from most mainstream brick-and-mortar stores.

The consequences were composite and immediate, turning videogames with mature content into a hot-button political issue. It gave the gaming industry as a whole a black eye and gave the general impression that the ESRB (despite re-rating the title) was something of a paper tiger. It is also estimated that pulling the game from retail shelves cost Take-Two tens of millions of dollars in short term revenue.

Yet some adherents to the "no publicity is bad publicity" philosophy thought that Take-Two would come out ahead in the long term. In the aftermath of Hot Coffee, [A burnt and wet lap? -Ed.] Eidos has released a new Hitman: Blood Money ad campaign featuring a striking set of images, which makes us think of another maxim: "don't play with fire." We talk with Kathryn Clements, Global Brand Manager for Eidos, and Dan Hsu, EGM Editor-in-Chief, about the ads.

Courting Controversy
The series of four ads carry the titles "Coldly Executed," "Classically Executed," "Shockingly Executed," and "Beautifully Executed." "Coldly" has a corpse in a freezer, "Classically" shows a cello player with his throat slit. "Shockingly" is a bit eye opening, showing a young, bathing woman in a scene that would be romantic, if not for the fact that she had been killed by a toaster.

"We really wanted to portray the whole fantasy of being a Hitman and felt that photography was the best option. A U.K. agency called Root came up with the ideas, our creative dept. had a hand in the 'Executed' theme," and Clements. "They are actually symbolic to Hitman. Each one is meant to represent possible situations in the game, we'll let you find them!"

The most controversial of the ads, some would say, is "Beautifully Executed." It features a comely woman splayed out over golden sheets in a revealing nightgown and (oddly) high heels. She's been killed by an obvious bullet wound in the head. The ad is a dangerous cocktail of sex and murder, and while those were perhaps intended as two mutually exclusive elements, their proximity has caused a bit of a stir.

"That really wasn't the intention at all, and being a woman it is something I would feel very strongly against portraying (as would all men at Eidos or that I choose to work with!) It is representative of a female character who wanders about the level drunk in a bikini," explained Clements. "She actually tries to seduce Hitman and invites him to her bedroom. We took artistic license on the bikini and switched it to underwear as we thought it may confuse people; i.e. why's that woman on a bed in a bikini. We took those photos in the middle of December in a freezing warehouse - that poor model was so cold."

Is this appropriate for gaming magazines? [Thanks to Joystiq for the image.]

Recap... or Nightcap?
The ads have run in a number of major publications, such as Game Informer, PC Gamer and EGM. When they were first unveiled, media reaction was quick. Gaming blog Joystiq ran an "Ad Critic" article on "Beautifully Executed," drawing over 100 reader comments. GamePro.com ran a feature titled "The Most Controversial Video Game Ads of All Time," with "Beautifully Executed" as the catalyst.

"It never occurred to me that this was a big deal until other people started talking about it," said Hsu. "If you look at the title 'Beautifully Executed,' the game's name Hitman... it implies a well executed hit, not sexual violence. When I looked at the picture, I just saw it as a wealthy lady killed in her sleep, not anything more."

"If you look at what's depicted, it's no more violent or bloody than what's shown during a CSI episode," Hsu continued. "If videogames are going to be treated on equal ground with other media (TV, Movies, etc.) it has to be kept to the same standards."

Say Goodnight
As mentioned earlier, videogames have become a lightning rod for controversy over the past year. GTA: San Andreas, or course, received the majority of attention. However, other titles such as Marc Ecko's Getting Up Contents Under Pressure, 25 to Life, 50 Cent Bulletproof, NARC and Crime Life: Gang Wars have taken flack as well.

While no Hitman game released last year, the wave of controversy didn't touch the series. In fact, with the exception of the Sikh issue in Hitman 2, the series has never come under serious fire. This has always puzzled GameDaily BIZ, as the games are as close to a "murder simulator" as possible. In the Hitman titles, Agent 47 dispatches his marks in a cold and calculating fashion. That isn't to say that GameDaily BIZ wishes controversy on the series—quite the opposite,—but the fact that no one has made the game the center of their violent game policies is a mystery.

While one could theorize that the game's theme, far removed from the "urban" trappings of the titles listed above, might be related to the relative lack of controversy, that is an issue for another article. A main problem could potentially be a politician seeing the ad and balking at the content in a "children's" publication or gaining the wrong impression of the series. Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where some of the most important opinions on gaming are formed by those who do not play games. Misconceptions abound about game content, their intended audience and even the way they are played. If Hitman is misconstrued as some sort of murder/rape fantasy title, the damage could be far reaching for both the series and the gaming industry.