Poll: Let's Get Some Honesty, Shall We? (Regarding Big Breasts/Sexy Female Game Characters)

[NoeL]

I can't really answer this poll. Let me give an analogy: I love eating meat, but I'm completely aware and for the most part in agreement with the grievances put forward by vegetarians - the ethical issues, environmental impact, etc.

Likewise in gaming. I like looking at big boobs and would like to do so as often as possible, but I'm aware of the implications of having the market oversaturated with boobs - particularly how it can be isolating for female gamers.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

and most people with huge boobs are fat, not thin.

And most people aren't capable of doing back flips, climbing mountains, kill hundreds of enemies or casting magic spells. If we made videogames about what 'most people' are like, they would come out really really boring. Who cares about the majority of people? 70% of the people in the US are overweight, 35% are obese, where are the fat ugly protagonists?

You can complain that the idealized female form is wrong if you want. But saying 'most people aren't that way so video game characters shouldn't be either,' is an absolutely silly argument.

 

[frizzlebyte]

You know, I really think it's fine for a character to have cartoonishly large breasts or be overtly sexual, and speaking as a man, I honestly see it as a harmless fantasy. I don't expect real women to look or act like this (aside from the few genuinely large-chested females that I know of), so it doesn't really affect my interactions with women.

Now, do I think it is overdone? Yes, but that is another issue.

 

[EHKOS]

I love breasts. They're awesome. That being said, I hate them in games/movies because I get distracted. I start thinking about sex, and then I get the urge to...ahhh...well if we're being completely honest here, masturbate. Then it ruins me having fun with a game until I go take care of the problem. So when there's shit like a female outfit that just barely covers areolas, then I have a problem with it.

Jill didn't really have that problem in Revelations (latest example for me). And I'm not saying women shouldn't have breasts because that would be ridiculous. I'm just tired of having people use it for marketing.

 

[Weaver]

I just honestly do not care either way. Like, not even at all.
The size of their breasts, big or small, do not bother me. I just don't care.

In the case of Dragon's Crown, I just find them blatantly hilarious. It just makes me laugh really, because I think the design is silly. I'm not upset at it, and I'm not offended because others might be.

 

[Something Amyss]

[Actually I'm pretty sure the question asked boils down to "Do you like sexy/curvaceous female characters in games? Yes? No? Or Don't Care?" As the topic title implies: I'm looking for honest answers...specifically to see how many escapists out there actually PREFER scantily clad and well endowed female characters. In truth I think the "I really don't care" option winning by a landslide so far is pretty telling, and is giving me exactly the answer that I'm looking for: it's NOT that big of a deal to most people.

You're reading a bit too much into a rather simple question, as I already know it's the objectification factor that pisses people off, not necessarily the fact that any characters in question are voluptuous.

If that was the case, what was with all the superfluous text/questions within the original post?

Hell, why did you specify contrary to that simplicity?

Maybe you should pare down all that excess material if you don't mean it.

 

[Something Amyss]

and most people with huge boobs are fat, not thin.

And most people aren't capable of doing back flips, climbing mountains, kill hundreds of enemies or casting magic spells. If we made videogames about what 'most people' are like, they would come out really really boring. Who cares about the majority of people? 70% of the people in the US are overweight, 35% are obese, where are the fat ugly protagonists?

You can complain that the idealized female form is wrong if you want. But saying 'most people aren't that way so video game characters shouldn't be either,' is an absolutely silly argument.

I don't know about you, but I DEMAND realism in my mystical fantasy characters.

Besides, we don't know the anatomy of a spellcaster. Maybe those also store her mana reserves. Maybe in the DC universe (not THAT DC), you can tell someone's general magical potency by cup size. Maybe it's something very different for men. Maybe that's why the male sorc wears that cloak.

Maybe I'm being ridiculous.

 

[sweetylnumb]

Alright, seems everyone still has their panties in a bunch over the whole Big Boobs in Gaming thing, in particular with regards to a certain caster class in a game called Dragon's Crown. The purpose of this poll is just as the topic's title says: a search for some honesty. Specifically: is it REALLY that big of a deal for a female character to be designed with a sexy figure? To have big bouncing breasts that jiggle with every step she takes? Are game designers completely missing the mark by continuing to design female characters that way? Or are they actually justified in doing so because a lot of people like it?

Feel free to leave a comment if you want, but I'm hoping the anonymity of the poll - allowing you to just click an option and move on with no one else seeing what you voted for - will indeed bring out honest answers. Are you complaining about it just because everyone else is and you don't wanna look like a chauvinistic pig in front of your peers? Or do you REALLY have a huge problem with sexy female characters in games?

I have a slight problem with your description of giant titties "sexy" it may be sexy to some people (sure isn't to me) but it isn't THE default form of sexiness. Personally i think the elf is way sexier. I don't think anyone has a problem with attractive females, although some ugly ones every now and again would be nice. But all in all i chose the i dont really care option, becuase i don't, itd just be nice if it wasn't everywhere all the time.

 

[Lunar Templar]

eh. doesn't bother me, and since we're being all honest and shit, this whole thing about big tits is starting to sound like that waste of a month that was the 'ME3 ending controversy'.

besides, whining about how a game has a character who's design is strictly based on sex appeal means fuck all when said game is making tons and tons of money. Not that just 'not buying' that game will work, the publishers generally aren't smart enough to under stand why things don't sell even when there told. All they'll see is the game didn't sell and can the whole thing thus damning what ever good elements said game had to the void as well.

It's also highly possible I'm just losing respect for my fellow gamer due to all the whining I see about things that really do not matter or bring up issues that smack fully of 'I need something to complain about'

 

[RaikuFA]

I see nothing wrong with big breasts... except when they're the ONLY kind.

Also, the Sorceress's are kinda gross.

Oh, and looks like Senran Kagura Burst's getting localized, so this debate's about to start all over again!

It already has, Kotaku bashed the game in the same announcement as it's release.

 

[rob_simple]

Didn't vote because there wasn't really an option for, 'I don't like it but I can put up with it.'

For me, it all comes down to how the men are represented in that same work. If the men all look and dress normal, but the women are running around with gigantic boobs flopping out all over the place, then I assume that it has been done to appeal to my primitive male mind, and I take offense to that.

That being said, when it does happen in a game, I'll generally just roll my eyes and get on with it, rather than scream, 'fuck this' and flip a table.

 

[TehCookie]

I personally dislike them because they fall right into the uncanny valley. People do not have boobs that huge, and most people with huge boobs are fat, not thin. When you go that over the top it's ridiculous. Not to mention jiggle physics look painful. I do not like my boobs to jiggle, that's why I wear a bra. If someone else likes titty monsters, whatever floats their boat. I don't find them offensive, just hideous.

And most people aren't capable of doing back flips, climbing mountains, kill hundreds of enemies or casting magic spells. If we made videogames about what 'most people' are like, they would come out really really boring. Who cares about the majority of people? 70% of the people in the US are overweight, 35% are obese, where are the fat ugly protagonists?

You can complain that the idealized female form is wrong if you want. But saying 'most people aren't that way so video game characters shouldn't be either,' is an absolutely silly argument.

I think you should of read the rest of my post instead of one sentence, like the whole uncanny valley, me finding it to be ugly and not idealized beauty and if you like it that's fine too.

And I even repasted it if you were too lazy to scroll up.

 

[Estarc]

I think your poll is too limited. It doesn't encapsulate the nuances of the discussion. In trying to break this complex issue down into something simple, you've missed the point, which is why I and a lot of other people chose the neutral answer.

Having a female character who is sexy is okay. But a lot of videogames take this to ridiculous extremes, or shoehorn it in inappropriately. Anything from Team Ninja is usually fucking retarded for example. Rachael from Ninja Gaiden is so over-sexualised that it is painful to see her on screen. And hell, as for big, jiggling tits? Yes, that is sort of bad. It is such a juvenile concept of a sexy female image. A woman's cup size is such a tiny part of her overall sexiness.

Now, to be fair, I like looking at attractive female characters in games as much as the next man. But when your male characters are all wearing platemail or powered armour and the chicks are wearing skin tight bodysuits or are half naked, come on, doesnt that just strike you as a stupid, cheap move to try and sell a few more copies to male gamers by shaking some booty in their face?'

 

[VodkaKnight]

I don't have anything against them, but it's when they put more work into jiggle physics than other things, then it annoys me.
If the fact there are tits in the game is a selling point, I won't play it.
Or if they use a female character AS a selling point.
People got angry over Dragons Crown, but the art style seemed to be GOING for ridiculously exaggerated body types regardless

 

[Racecarlock]

Alright, seems everyone still has their panties in a bunch over the whole Big Boobs in Gaming thing, in particular with regards to a certain caster class in a game called Dragon's Crown. The purpose of this poll is just as the topic's title says: a search for some honesty. Specifically: is it REALLY that big of a deal for a female character to be designed with a sexy figure? To have big bouncing breasts that jiggle with every step she takes? Are game designers completely missing the mark by continuing to design female characters that way? Or are they actually justified in doing so because a lot of people like it?

Feel free to leave a comment if you want, but I'm hoping the anonymity of the poll - allowing you to just click an option and move on with no one else seeing what you voted for - will indeed bring out honest answers. Are you complaining about it just because everyone else is and you don't wanna look like a chauvinistic pig in front of your peers? Or do you REALLY have a huge problem with sexy female characters in games?

It's fine to have sexy females in games. Just not exclusively sexy females in games. And that's the thing. Every woman in a game ever has been designed to look like playboy's plastic surgery special magazine. It also promotes unhealthy body standards. Unhealthy. As in, some people will starve themselves or eat far too much or do some crazy surgery to look like, say, the females in DOAX 2.

Games don't exist in a vacuum. These problems are real.

 

[MetalMagpie]

Video games are a visual media. So it's nice if the visuals are appealing. Providing it's appropriate for the character and setting, I like characters of both genders to look good.

(For what it's worth, I'm taking the "sexy" side of your "big-breasted/sexy" choice. Big breasts don't automatically make a woman sexy and small breasts don't make a woman unsexy.)

 

[Dominic Crossman]

Sexy females are overused, sure. I'd like more ugly and monstrous females. (Along with females who are stupid, lazy and evil. These traits are almost overwhelmingly given to males)

Fat female charcters (not people!!!) Tend to be stupid and/or lazy from my experince, although I don't see any evil ones to be fair.
To me I don't like having ugly protaginst in 3rd person games (either gender) as I have to look at them for the duration of the game
Not saying big is always beautiful though, nillin from remember me is good looking but small boobage wise.

In regards to dragons crown (with undoubtably inspried this thread) I think it'll be intresting to see the stats on how many people do/don't choose the big boobed one first (magician?)

 

[The Lugz]

There's been some good points made here, the poll is lacklustre and honestly it needs some kind of grading beyond just yes no and I don't care, however the forum posts are most telling ( assuming they aren't just the overly vocal minority ) there's actually a lot of useful information here and it seems to point out that people like attractive characters, they don't want 'super-sexualisation' at all.. it seems? and I'm in agreement that too-much and too silly is a problem and not a selling point.

however, i think the op had it right with the first comment 'knickers in a twist' because, really. honestly. do we actually NEED to care? are there men looking for these women with legendary gravity defying breast tissue? are women trying to inject themselves with helium to inflate the size and gravity-defying jigglyness of what they have?*

i'd bet the answer is no and it's getting played off in a similar vein to most other slightly childish grabs for attention, with rolled eyes and an uncomfortable sigh.

as to 'body aesthetics, and self image' humans have NEVER been satisfied with this. it is built in. we are self-loathing self-improving madmen ( and women )


*body modification pre-dates games, computers and even electricity. it's more common now because there are more people and the media spreads the idea, the same as literally everything else.

want to see some really gross things we do to ourselves.. well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_modification

flick through them..
games, they seem so pretty and harmless now don't they?

i was going to link the history of breast augmentation, however it's pretty much NSFW territory.
they started in the 1960's, needless to say modern media didn't exist and couldn't possibly have been a driving factor in this.
( although the fashion and cosmetics industry was alive and well, perhaps we should blame them, instead of games? )

the oldest documented tattoo belongs to Otzi the Iceman who died in 3300 B.C**

Today, body modification is considered by some to be "pathological, deviant and self-mutilating," but other consider it a means to "forge a self identity, achieve higher states of consciousness, fulfill a spiritual need, achieve group affiliation or disaffiliation, enhance sexuality or for aesthetic reasons.
Piercing was a popular body modification of the past, and it has recently experienced an increasingly widespread presence and popularity in modern society. Piercing can be traced as far back as 5,000 years***

sources:
**http://www.fragrancex.com/Fragrance-Information/the-history-of-body-modification-around-the-world.html

***http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall2000/Keith/piercing.html#history

 

[dementis]

I like my characters sexy regardless of gender, that's part of the reason I love the original Devil may cry series but I've never liked big breasts on female characters, everyone knows anything more than a handful is a waste.

I don't really understand the issue with the sorceress in Dragon's Crown its not like every female character has blimps glued to their chest, its just one of many over stylised character designs that the game seems to be about. From what I can see the elf is a female but she's completely covered up and doesn't have much of a figure at all.