Poll: Confess: How Much Does Sex Appeal Factor Into You Deciding What Games to Buy?

[Farseer Lolotea]

The closest I've gotten is buying a game based on finding the graphics generally appealing. While "the characters are pretty" (not necessarily "sexy," mind you; just aesthetically pleasing) may factor into whether or not I like the graphics, it's never a real consideration on its own.

 

[WorldCritic]

Almost never, I'm one of those weirdos who played Dead or Alive because I genuinely wanted a good fighter, not because of sex appeal. In contrast, Bayonetta is a game I haven't played because to me the only thing noticable about it is the sex appeal.

 

[MotenaiRonin]

I am proud owner of both Rumble Roses releases, the PS2 and the XBOX 360 release. Hmm I think that about says it. Outside of that category, I bought Arcana Hearts for the PS2 cause of the moe factor. I suppose that's related, as a fighter its not all that great. I would be quoting somebody I don't know, but whoever said if you gotta look at the back side of an avatar your whole gaming experience, let it be that of an attractive female (or gender of your preference).

Hooray I'm in the brave 2%! I revel in showing these types of games to my friends by the way, its worth it for the look on their faces.

 

[Savagezion]

I wouldn't say rarely but it isn't often. I can be persuaded to spend money at times by the gratuitous display of the opposite sex and any man that denies that is a liar or gay.

I will say though, I don't seek it out.

That is a huge generalization.

None of the games I own were purchased based on sex appeal. Just naming games I've played recently, Portal 2, Bioshock, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Pokemon Black and White, Left 4 Dead 2, Minecraft...

I have never gone into a store, seen a game/sought out a game just because one of the characters was sexy. I don't get to buy games that often, I'd rather buy a game based on the story/gameplay versus chest physics.

Nope, it is just stating human nature. #1 rule of marketing is sex sells and it does, I work in sales. You know how many guys will buy something if the salesperson is a cute girl that flirts with them? Damn near every one of them. Either this poll is a bunch of people denying their natural impulses for the sake of a quiz. (Totally believable) OR We have found the most sexually indifferent group of people to ever migrate to one place on the net. 23.2% of 198 people will admit it plays a factor.

Here is the kicker, most of the people that voted in this poll is teenagers to mid twenties. That is most of the population on the escapist. The horniest males on the entire planet. And yet, 76.8% say it rarely, if EVER does. I think some people are lying.

When I was that age (hell, even now at 30) if I walked into a game store and saw this on the shelf:

I will reach for it guaranteed. Will I buy it? I don't know I have to investigate. But don't think for a minute that as I am turning it over to see the details on the back, I ain't thinking "Please be good, please be good, please be good." I am hoping she is in the menu screens and everywhere they can throw her in on a good racing game.
Don't even think I ain't grading it on a slight curve hoping that is the case. That is brutal honesty. I have picked that game up like a dozen times now in game shops before I look at the back and go "Oh yeah, that is that one I decided sucked" but when I see it I say "Oh yeah, there is that game with HER on the cover, what was on the back of that again?". I have never bought it but I have picked it up and gave it a once over quite a lot more than some other games that don't have something similar on the cover.

THAT is factoring in. I didn't buy it no. But I sure as hell considered buying it. That is factoring in. That is what the poll is asking and it does factor in sometimes. Even this made me pick it up:

But those anime chicks always look 12 and it disturbs me so she doesn't entertain me long. I was distracted by an ass being thrown in my face. But I looked at the back and considered it. That shit still managed to factor in and make me give the game a shot. I mean hey they are letting me know what I will be staring at through most of the game right? It had that going for it.

I don't believe for a second that all of the sexually "pure" saints found this thread and voted. I think people give themselves more credit than they care to admit to. Don't think that hearing about the sex scene in Mass Effect didn't chalk up a "+1" for me. Because I ain't gonna think for a minute that the crowd here didn't merit that in the "pros" section of their pro/con list for whether to buy or not.

 

[godofslack]

Well, I've tried games (not bought) based around that and something else. So yes, it's a factor, albeit a very, very small one.

 

[razelas]

So I've come to notice that so far there is not one mention of Tomb Raider... kinda suspicious.

 

[Shanannara]

It's kind of a factor. I love games liike Dragon Age because I can make an attractive character. I do like games where the characters are attractive/pretty/sexy/etc. It's so much nicer to play than watching some ugly figure bobbing around my screen. Also, games are about escapism, that's the whole point right? In my day to day life I don't get to stare at pretty women, particularly scantily clad pretty women and everyone (well, a lot of people) like to look at pretty women.

 

[Vrex360]

Honestly, not much.
I've certainly never flocked out to buy a game because there are big breasts on the cover. My favorite games, Halo, Bioshock, Mass Effect*, Portal, Psychonauts, Saint's Row 2 etc have very rarely used sex to appeal to the main market and in the cases where they did, it wasn't the reason I bought the game in the first place.

[sub]*unless you count that stupid controversy, which I don't. One blurry second of Gunnery Chief Ashley William's bottom is NOT 'pornography'[/sub]

Point is, when ever I see games that DO use sex to sell right up in your face, I find it annoying and I avoid them. To be clear though, sex appeal does help from time to time (I flipped my shit and went into frenzied excitement when the virtual Catwoman showed her face in the Arkham City trailer for example) but it's far more an added bonus then an actual incentive to go and play a game.

For example, Halo is a great game series. Fun action, cool aliens, kickass weapons, interesting story, amazing music, witty writing from time to time... oh and hey Cortana's pretty sexy.

That sort of thing. It's not going to sell to me and if they try to hard I won't be interested, but the occassional bit of sex appeal can serve as a nice bonus.

 

[Hypertion]

oh should point out i havent bought a game based on sex appeal technically.

i just manage to find it in places on what i do buy every few seconds.

 

[Savagezion]

So I've come to notice that so far there is not one mention of Tomb Raider... kinda suspicious.

Haha, I actually avoided that one because that is one that drew me in with sex appeal and kept me a fan because of gameplay. I am a Tomb Raider fan and I so can't wait for the reboot this fall. I always thought Lara had potential to be a great character but they never really fleshed anything out. The problem was here sat Lara, an actual good foundation for an epic tale and she was being misrepresented as a sex object and the series was getting slammed and hurting because of it. I honestly thought that Underworld was going to revamp it.

I dig Lara but I have been a fan of her since the PS1 days when I was first drawn in by her. I honestly don't even see her as a sex symbol in gaming anymore but rather a gender symbol. She is actually a great female character but man her writers and marketing team in the past have done more harm than good to her appeal.

 

[Biosophilogical]

Rarely, if I want more sex appeal I install a mod.

Usually I get affected by the possibility of being evil in the game.

I do like being evil in games (I rarely am, even given the option, but it is nice to have the alternative).

I don't factor sex appeal into a game. I do like good character designs. I mean, they can be alien, ugly, devoid of fashion sense, whatever, but if the protagonist fits the role (in their looks, so a goody-two-shoes wouldn't have satanic tattoos, glowing red eyes or the decapitated head of a small child) then it can influence me to buy it. So yes, looks can influence me towards or away from a game, but that's aesthetics, not sex appeal.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Never.
Art style, however, has been known to sway me on more than one occasion (especially anything with watercolor effects or intricate machinery). Oh, I bought the recent MGS games because I have what my friends have described as an "exposition fetish" (as in a love of exposition bordering on the slightly creepy).

My mental condition usually renders me far too dispassionate towards other people to care.

 

[brinvixen]

Back when I was (much) younger, and sex was still an interesting yet distant thing, I asked for a copy of Sims 2 because this Sims could "Woo-Hoo" in it. And boy, that undercover, bump-and-grind firework show was well worth it. So fascinating.

But now that I'm older, and sex has revealed to be a tangible feat with not as many fireworks, I haven't bought any games based on sex appeal.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Never. I buy games if they look fun. If sex appeal is part of it well then I get a bonus.

 

[Pyrokinesis]

Not very often, usually only when its the JRPG or something of that color I might pay more attention to one over another due to the pretty box art. But i tend to look at a game before i buy it, so its going to need more than a pretty face to buy me.

 

[zpm4737]

I buy games very rarely, so when I do buy a game, my purchase is based on what I've heard about the game, and pretty much nothing else. The las game I bought was Amnesia. Besides, if a game is trying to sell itself on sex appeal, you can be pretty sure it's trying to compensate for being otherwise overall weak.

 

[The Lunatic]

Never.

I'm gay. A women wearing a shoelace and two shards of cloth just makes me worry how cold she's going to get.

 

[JMeganSnow]

I voted for the lemons, although I'm not sure what that means. I just like lemons.

Anyway, I'm not AVERSE to a little beefcake in my games (or cheesecake, either, I guess), but that's not why I buy the game. I buy it because I think it looks fun and/or interesting.

I mean, heck, I spent something like $300 upgrading my computer so I could play Oblivion (which I very much enjoyed) and the people in that game looked like someone had run around Cyrodiil with an entire truckload of ugly sticks.

 

[Idsertian]

There was no out and out "never" option, so I have refrained from voting, but well...never. Every game I have bought has been based on whether or not I think it's cool. Sexy female characters/voice actresses are just a bonus. (Mmmm, Jennifer Hale...)

 

[LinkasZelda]

This is the whole reason I bought Hyperdemension Neptunia and the Ar Tonelico series. Not because it turns me on, but I find hilarity in the bawdy, over-sexualized contexts.