Do you think a game that sexualizes a Male Main character would sell?

[Xariat]

With that idea? no I don't think it would sell well. Many, me included would probably not be comfortable looking at crotch shots of skinny young boys. unless it featured god-like gameplay of course, then i'd probably try it. don't take me wrong on this one, I'm not scared of the male crotch, i just don't find much entertainment in looking at it.

However I don't think it's impossible for a game to sexualize men and still sell well. It's all a matter of sexualizing the male in a way that doesn't put of the male audience and making the game good.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Waitwaitwait. Sexy male characters? All too easy. BEHOLD

I've said it before and i'll say it again... Ezreal is just hawt, I don't have to be a female to understand this simple fact.

[sub]HGGRRRRRAH! *Pew* <3[/sub]

Anyway, I thought most designers try to make their characters look as "good" as possible. Whether that means sexy is up to you I guess. A male Bayonetta type game would be awesome... However it's sort of late to bring it up now. Pretty sure DMC sums that up somewhat nicely.

 

[xyrafhoan]

Well, men's crotches aren't particularly sexy, but chiselled butts in enhancing pants? Bare chests? Beautiful hair? COUNT ME IN.

Seriously though, there are a lot of games that are already sexualizing men and they're popular with both genders. Maybe it's not on the level of Bayonetta, but I think a good chunk of people would categorize Dante (NOT DONTE DO NOT WANT UGH) as being hot and blatant fanservice bait. There's also the whole VN craze in Japan that creates games for both sides of the fence, though very few of those games manage to cross the pond. Honestly there are a large number of characters who are sexy for sexy's sake on both sides, but less people blink an eye at a shirtless dude in tight pants than they do a girl in a bikini.

I still stand behind a good butt being the most enchanting part of the human body, though. For both genders.

 

[AngloDoom]

Probably not. Too many people would be scared it'd challenge their sexuality. Hell, some guys I know still spazz out playing as naked Raiden as if someone's going to walk in and accuse them of bursting out of the closet through the medium of games.

It's a shame, though. It makes me grit my teeth every single time in Arkham City the camera pans upwards from Catwoman's breasts to her face (while still keeping her breasts central to the shit), and then when it switches over to Batman it just shows his whole body or his face. No seductive camera trickery just: "Batman". Catwoman's cameraman seems to be going "Leather...leather...boobsBoobsBOOOBS....face."

It's just silly because there are two main characters in the game, and only one of them gets the camera caressing them.

 

[Not Matt]

I kind of have 3 opinions on this subject.

1. There already are games that sexualize men. Mass effect was the best at this where it not only made you focus on a male guy's sexual preference. But also tried to tip it towards seeing an other guy's sexual preference. I actually played it trying to make Shepard as gay as possible. And in today gaming era YOU decide if characters are oversexualised or not in character creation where you can be circled out as a pig if you pick something that doesn't respect the gender.
Still you can see disguised oversexualising in games now *chofh* borderlands 2. Where the bigger breasts a female NPC character have. The more important it is that you go back and see her (elli, moxxi, random people... you see what i mean right?) i don't think this is what they intended to be accused of when making the game dough.

2. I see it as kind of fair. Females get to have these half naked pretty boy twats in twilight. We get to have pixelated chick in gimpy outfits.

3: why give a shit? My classic answer to everything. Why do you care? Where?s the fun in having this useless and stupid sex war. Guys think they are fighting for free speech while they are merely showing of how big pigs they are. Girls think they are fighting for equality when really they don't see that their just as bad as we are. Kind of makes me want to jump crotch first on to a rock trying to nuder myself.

5 (i can't count) women should not be in charge of what is "sexist" any more than men. Probably less. Here?s an example, in my old class the teacher asked: boys, who is the prettiest actress and girls who is the actor today.

all they boys went: well i suppose Megan fox is the one we are supposed to say but frankly i think sees a bad actor, agreed but what about Kristin Stewart i have seen her in other things then twilight and she is all in all a really good actor. Yes but see too has her flaws. How about Emma Watson. Hey yeah. That?s it. She?s a good actor, she is devoted and also very beautiful. Point goes to Watson.

the girls: Robert, no Taylor, no zac, he's hot body, i want him to just rip me, oh my god he's so hot. i am stopping there because i don't want to write any more. too embarrassed

 

[Not Matt]

I kind of have 3 opinions on this subject.

1. There already are games that sexualize men. Mass effect was the best at this where it not only made you focus on a male guy's sexual preference. But also tried to tip it towards seeing an other guy's sexual preference. I actually played it trying to make Shepard as gay as possible. And in today gaming era YOU decide if characters are oversexualised or not in character creation where you can be circled out as a pig if you pick something that doesn't respect the gender.
Still you can see disguised oversexualising in games now *chofh* borderlands 2. Where the bigger breasts a female NPC character have. The more important it is that you go back and see her (elli, moxxi, random people... you see what i mean right?) i don't think this is what they intended to be accused of when making the game dough.

2. I see it as kind of fair. Females get to have these half naked pretty boy twats in twilight. We get to have pixelated chick in gimpy outfits.

3: why give a shit? My classic answer to everything. Why do you care? Where?s the fun in having this useless and stupid sex war. Guys think they are fighting for free speech while they are merely showing of how big pigs they are. Girls think they are fighting for equality when really they don't see that their just as bad as we are. Kind of makes me want to jump crotch first on to a rock trying to nuder myself.

5 (i can't count) women should not be in charge of what is "sexist" any more than men. Probably less. Here?s an example, in my old class the teacher asked: boys, who is the prettiest actress and girls who is the actor today.

all they boys went: well i suppose Megan fox is the one we are supposed to say but frankly i think sees a bad actor, agreed but what about Kristin Stewart i have seen her in other things then twilight and she is all in all a really good actor. Yes but see too has her flaws. How about Emma Watson. Hey yeah. That?s it. She?s a good actor, she is devoted and also very beautiful. Point goes to Watson.

the girls: Robert, no Taylor, no zac, he's hot body, i want him to just rip me, oh my god he's so hot. i am stopping there because i don't want to write any more. too embarrassed

edit: and this was writen by a girl. Matt's on vacation an i borrowed he's computer thinking i was the one who was logged in.

 

[nexus]

Most of the male leads today are *very* sexualized. Disproportionately muscle-bound, Olympian chest and arms. Nothing bothers them, confidence of an omnipotent god. Crushes all their foes, nothing stands in their way. They could get any woman they wanted, etc.

What you are talking about is softcore pornography.

The whole, "skimpy outfits" and women in bikinis thing hasn't been a "thing" since well, the mid to late 90's. It's really being phased out and you don't see that much of it. In all reality, both genders are starting to get the "down to earth" treatment in mainstream games now. Most of the time, there are still outliers..

 

[lacktheknack]

It depends of the level of sexualization.

I play Street Fighter IV, for instance. And while it has Sakura and Cammy, it also has Seth and various shirtless dudes.

Then again, it also has Rufus, who dials the sexual appeal alllllll the way back.

On the other hand, I wouldn't play a game where you play a dude in a thong. Then again, I wouldn't play a game where you play a chick in a thong, so maybe I'm just biased against thongs in general.

 

[lacktheknack]

Probably not. Too many people would be scared it'd challenge their sexuality. Hell, some guys I know still spazz out playing as naked Raiden as if someone's going to walk in and accuse them of bursting out of the closet through the medium of games.

It's a shame, though. It makes me grit my teeth every single time in Arkham City the camera pans upwards from Catwoman's breasts to her face (while still keeping her breasts central to the shit), and then when it switches over to Batman it just shows his whole body or his face. No seductive camera trickery just: "Batman". Catwoman's cameraman seems to be going "Leather...leather...boobsBoobsBOOOBS....face."

It's just silly because there are two main characters in the game, and only one of them gets the camera caressing them.

I haven't noticed this. I noticed that the camera is closer to Catwoman's face when she talks, but I always thought it was because she's thin, and thus has less to fill the screen with, so you had to zoom in. If anything, I find Arkham City really good in the "pervy camera" department, not once has the camera insisted on making me see boobs when I really needed to fight people (looking at you, Tomb Raider).

If I'm just blind to the "seductive camera trickery", then keep in mind it might just be part of Catwoman's identity. One of her takedown moves involves smooching the guy she's knocking out, after all. She weaponizes her sexuality a bit.

 

[Olas]

I'm about as far from being an expert on women as you can come so take everything I say with an enourmous grain of salt, but I just don't see it. At least I don't see a male character being sexed up the way female ones usually are. Women seem to be attracted to a man's overall look, personality, and style more than just their raw physical attractiveness and how sexily they're dressed. Their tastes are more complex. It's hard to imagine a hypersexualized male character that wouldn't come off as silly or obnoxious even to a female audience.

I keep hearing James Bonds name come up, but he's not really sexualized (aside from when he's actually having sex of course). He wears a suit, acts gentlemanly, he's not a half naked body builder.

 

[Chicago Ted]

I kind of have 3 opinions on this subject.

1. There already are games that sexualize men. Mass effect was the best at this where it not only made you focus on a male guy's sexual preference. But also tried to tip it towards seeing an other guy's sexual preference. I actually played it trying to make Shepard as gay as possible. And in today gaming era YOU decide if characters are oversexualised or not in character creation where you can be circled out as a pig if you pick something that doesn't respect the gender.
Still you can see disguised oversexualising in games now *chofh* borderlands 2. Where the bigger breasts a female NPC character have. The more important it is that you go back and see her (elli, moxxi, random people... you see what i mean right?) i don't think this is what they intended to be accused of when making the game dough.

While I'll agree with most of your post (Except for the Megan Fox being that attractive when Scarlett Johansson walks this earth), I'm calling you out on the Borderlands bit.

You could have listed several other games and I could probably have agreed with you, but Borderlands 2? No. The only character really there that is blatantly over sexualized is Moxxi, and that?s done to a comedic point, such as her pulling any reward she gives you out of her breasts. But Ellie? Elli gives you about as much quests as that bratty 10 year old you run into, and random females does not count at all since very few are named or are even involved in quests, and I can?t think of a single one that was involved in multiple ones. I mean, you picked a barrel that?s nearly empty, and then attempted to scrape what little there was into evidence to back you up here when it really doesn?t stick together. The most important female in the game that you continually go back to is Lilith. I mean, by the logic you put here, Ellie would be the most important character in the entire game. And while she does have some sexualisation to her, I could list so many more games that do it to a support character more than this:

Spoiler: Lilith

To sum up, fair point, but really poor target.

 

[Nieroshai]

Being mostly straight male gamers, I think we fail to see what makes male characters sexy. My ex thought Kratos was attractive (weird...?) and with my own leanings (bi) I kinda liked Big Boss for a variety of reasons.

 

[Chicago Ted]

I keep hearing James Bonds name come up, but he's not really sexualized (aside from when he's actually having sex of course). He wears a suit, acts gentlemanly, he's not a half naked body builder.

Spoiler: Bond

Care to correct that statement?

That didn't come out quite right upon rereading after posting.

What I mean is that Bond is very much sexualized. While you might not notice it, it is very much present.

And even when a character is more dressed up, it does not mean that they are lacking in sex appeal.

Spoiler: More Bond

Capatcha: Emperor's Clothes

I swear this system is becoming sentient...

 

[endplanets]

To answer the question listed as the title of this article: YES YES YES. There are already tons of games that have very sexy males. I am of course referring to those weird Japanese porn Yaoi (or Ecchi, or Yuri, whatever) games.

"Enslaved" totally would also fit the bill if you look at it hard enough. I never played it, but it seems like it is a game where you are a super buff guy with no shirt. A timid, young, frail female has him enslaved and he has to obey every word or she will kill him. The main character (former prisoner = bad boy) is also nameless and only called Monkey (that or she names him). It looks like he fights the whole game with his big wooden stick which he can cause to either grow bigger or shoot out energy beams. It also looks like there are lots of times when Mr. Muscles has to take the female in his arms and carry her around and stuff.

The next closest thing would be Dante from DMC 3, and the Street Fighter series, where breast physics only apply to Rufus and half the men wear just underwear and maybe boots.

There was this creepy Wii game where super buff and underwear-ed guys run in a race or something and all you do is thrust the Wii-mote up and down really fast to run faster. NOTHING SUSPICIOUS THERE.

Would "Shadows of The Damned" count? I didn't play it but apparently it is all dick jokes and his gun powered by his dick or named after his dick or something. Interestingly, it was made by Suda 51.

Was "God Hand" pandering in this way? I never played it, but I remember there were a lot of males that ran around in "strap/belt clothing" and would go really fruity things or something.

And maybe Viewtiful Joe. Joe is always going on about being Viewtiful, he wears ultra tight spandex. Basically every other character is male (not counting the robots). Captain Blue wears tight spanex, Bat Guy dresses like a prissy Frenchman, Mr. Tricerotops doesn't wear anything other than an open vest, Shark Boy wears nothing but a belt, Alister wears tight spandex, Dante from DMC is in the PS2 version, and the Lion Guy wears a small kilt.

 

[Playing The System]

I still think that when making Resident Evil 5 they gave Chris Redfield those giant manly arms made of pure manliness for just maybe a little sex appeal, they certainly weren't put in to help the game move forward in anyway... Well maybe apart from that moment when he has to beat up a bolder.

But I've always thought he was made like that to add just a little sex appeal to the character over all.

 

[MetalMagpie]

The Devil May Cry games have sold a few copies. So yes.

Not wanting to be confrontational here, but a lot of guys seem to assume that women find the same things sexy that men do. Specifically, that women just want a lot of bare flesh, and therefore the fact that there aren't very many scantily-clad male characters means that women aren't being catered for.

Remember that James Bond is one of the sexiest fictional characters of all time. And the most popular pictures of him are in a dinner jacket, not in swimming trunks. For women, the appeal of a fictional character tends to be more weighted towards their status and personality than towards their physical attributes.

James Bond, Zevran (DA:O) and Dante (Devil May Cry) have very different appearances, but they're are all "bad boys" - powerful and dangerous but also charming and seductive. And they all feature in their fair share of female fantasies. Even Mordecai (Borderlands) - with his rake-thin figure and bizarre headgear - is a female heart-throb (to the point that they actually gave him a hook-up in the sequel).

When it comes to appearances, an attractive face often gets more points than muscles (which are usually a given with video game characters anyway). Ezio (Assassin's Creed 2) gets "bad boy" points, but the main thing that makes him such an object of obsession is the fact that he has the face of a smoking-hot Canadian model.

And a deep voice doesn't hurt a character's chances either. (I'm looking at you Mr I-smoke-fifty-a-day Adam Jensen.)

Anyway, I'll shut up now.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Shadows of the Damned and Devil May Cry spring to mind. So there's nothing hypothetical about it. It certainly could sell.

 

[Roxor]

If you billed it with that kind of satire, hell yeah!

If not among women, then among the men who want to prove how psychologically secure they are.

 

[lapan]

Don't forget Raiden when it comes to sexualized males.

Kojima received much fan mail; one letter was from a girl who stated she did not want to play a game with an old man. He took this into consideration; he and his team designed a character more appealing to women, resulting in Raiden's appearance.

Some developers listen.

 

[Voulan]

That formula certainly has worked well in anime. All of the male characters in anime shows are sexualised, to the point that gay relationships are even designed to appeal to women. This is done usually by making their appearance distinctly feminine, but its mostly due to their filling stereotypical personality types, sometimes in a parody of what girls are apparently into (like the troubled boy type). Games could definitely sell if they follow that same pattern. It would be incredibly shallow, though.