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

[Erttheking]

Eh, I don't really care. As long as the game is fun and there's compelling story/characters, their designs don't really mean much to me. Also, whenever i think of breasts in gaming, I think of Diana from Shin Megami Tensei
Warning, may kinda NSFW, even though she is fully clothed
[spoiler may]

[/spoiler]

.......What in all of the seven Hells IS that thing!?

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Honestly, it's not so much the body but the behaviour that tends to annoy me. I'm fine with female characters with breasts of any size, but when large-breasted characters act like bimbos the entire time or - and this is particularly annoying in manga and anime - when a small-breasted character cannot stop drawing attention to how small their breasts are, then I get annoyed. Borderline annoying are the serious characters who happen to have large breasts and part of their character is that they occasionally do something sexy without realising it, a reasonably common manga/anime trope as far as I know. As far as clothing, I like it to suit the universe, that's all I ask.

Basically, I like it when the outfits match with the setting. Skimpy is fine in the Dead or Alive Volleyball games, but not so good in a combat situation.

The difference is that some characters perform the same soldier/warrior role as other similar NPCs, whereas some are meant to be the type that needs agility and won't get hit anyway because they're that good. In other cases, it's useless because enemies can obliterate you no matter what armour you're wearing, and in other cases still the character has some other way of avoiding damage/their clothing lends power somehow. But yeah, if they're a grunt in the same position as any other foot soldier I'd like to see appropriate armour.

 

[The Lugz]

You know, at this point i am thinking it really is an armour and context problem more than one of pure character design.. ( although, jiggle-physics needs to be heavily re-thought... ) as people are pointing out there are appropriate and inappropriate times for any person to be naked and or attempting to be sexy or attractive the main issue is some ( or even a majority ) of these characters seem to exist ONLY for that purpose.. if you equip them with full armour, you'd probably be surprised to see even extreme breast sizes pushed back and made more streamline and less obvious, used correctly you could make a reveal in an appropriate way later in some kind of appropriate setting, if there is one in said game such as an infiltrate the enemy camp, seduce target x, or what have you.

I think this is where games like doa: volleyball gets something of a free pass, because they do fit the situation well in countries where it's perpetually sunny volleyball players would be half naked and people do show off all the assets they can, because deep down, you know if you got it you want to flaunt it, it's human nature.

the thing is our games are reflections of us, and part of what makes us is our sexuality so completely ignoring it is probably as bad as overdoing it to the ludicrous extents that some games have.

that said not every game needs sexualisation, of any kind. if you have a medieval warfare game, i expect to see farmer's wives milking cows and less than 5% of the female population involved in any sort of combat, purely because that's essentially how it happened. ( women were discouraged from fighting, but some did anyway to protect their homes ) and not every one of them should be the most attractive woman on earth either, or ludicrously over sexualised.
it could be argued that in this situation a particularly rugged strong female character would be more attractive in that role anyway as both 'yes you can, you go girl' and a dam, she kicks all the asses and looks pretty fine.. ( at-least to some ) and not 'need' any over the top super-sexualising.

basically, sex is a thing it happens, it's part of life. but uberjigglephysics is generally just worth rolling your eyes at but it could be both tasteful and helpful to the game if it were done right. ie, in an extremely subtle way.

we should make a poll : 'bring back subtle sexualisation' or 'nah it's fine trolololol'
i'm sure that would go better. but it really makes no difference, games will be made and bought with silly jiggles and oversized thighs, just avoid them if you want to feel better about it, really.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Never understood my anyone would care if someone was offended? If you don't like something, don't buy it, you don't have any right not to be offended though, nor influence the product beyond the effect of you not buying it.

And people don't have a right to lobby for games being made the way they prefer it?

 

[Schadrach]

Prime example of the month: Dragon Crown. In my opinion this game is just disguisting (the proportions, poses etc are just too Rob Liefeld for me). But on the other hand, I don't have to play it. Or expose myself to it. So I don't do exactly that.

I kinda assumed Rob Liefeld was exactly what they were going for. I mean it's not just the busts on the Amazon and Sorceress, look at the male characters too -- the Knight is a fuzzy pea of a head on top of a giant tin can and the Dwarf is almost spherical. Only the Wizard and Elf look remotely human proportioned.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Never understood my anyone would care if someone was offended? If you don't like something, don't buy it, you don't have any right not to be offended though, nor influence the product beyond the effect of you not buying it.

And people don't have a right to lobby for games being made the way they prefer it?

Right to lobby? Maybe... harass, bully and sneer at those who are just trying to exercise their right to make the game they want, from a self appointed "moral high ground", less so I'd say.

The "-ism" brigade are very vocal but definitely a minority even on here where they are far, far more prevalent than in the real world... The poll shows some people don't agree vehemently and most people don't care.

Caving in to vocal minorities who set themselves up as "moral" is an increasing worry in the modern world; not just the far left "-ism" brigade but the old school right wing, everyone's at it - it's no longer enough to have an opinion and ignore what you don't like, now you have force it on everyone else through... lobbying...

Calm down, dude, you're throwing pretty big words around here.

Freedom of expression is not freedom from response. If someone feels the need to slap big bouncing breasts on all female characters, I've the right to criticize that if I don't like that. It's not like us "feminists" want extreme stuff. Better characterizations, better storytelling, attire that fulfills its purpose and thus is more immersive... that's what a lot boils down to. But some people are very vocal fighting that. Speaking of vocal: As long as, for example, game reviewers who give games with sexist content good ratings don't receive rape threats and the like from feminists, I wonder which "minority" is the more "vocal" one...

 

[s0p0g]

[...]Do you REALLY have a huge problem with sexy female characters in games?

no, i do not have a problem with sexy female characters in games (and other media; and non-media, a.k.a. real-life)... BUT:
i honestly do not find those exaggerated, way too big, way too jiggly boobies sexy. (shocker, i know, but there are men who do prefer a more realistic approach, and - as way too big breasts are possible and thus realistic, thanks to silicone - who prefer smaller than double-F cups)

i do not really care about the - EQUALLY! - unrealistic proportions of both male and female characters in games, in the sense that they undermine a genders integrity, insult them in their entirety, etc. pp. ad nauseam, though - it's the same injustice for everyone, i guess (although male character models tend to be a bit more realistic and/or are more often realistic than female models), and i think both men and women should be able to live with them. many do, in point of fact. but as always these are those who do not talk about this "issue" because, well, it's not an issue for them (i count myself among these people - why am i posting then? because you said sexy = way too big breasts, and that's just not true )

so long story short: i can live with unrealistic/exaggerated proportions for both genders, but i do not prefer them/find them sexy. they do work within certain artstyles (the entire game's aesthetic has to fit), but i'd take, say, Mass Effect's Shep's (esp. femshep) proportions over the exaggerated ones any day (that's actually one of the things that really stuck out for me: the different, non-cardboard cut proportions of humanoid characters; sure, many of them were the same, but there are differently proportioned models for males and females - me likey!)

 

[Sofus]

For some reason I just don't find big breasts to be attractive as they usually don't look natural. In the case where they do look natural compared to the rest of the body... well, those people are usually large people (big/wide/fat).

 

[BakaSmurf]

If a female character is well-developed from a characterization point of view and serves a purpose in the story (and is either realistically endowed for her profession, or is adequately handicapped by her overt chest getting in the way) I don't mind her being overly well-endowed (I will admit to liking it when sexy ladies are justifiably sexy however), if she exists purely for the sake of ass and titties however... Yeah, no please. It won't INFURIATE me, but it will lower my opinion of the game in question.

EDIT:
This extends to the character's clothing as well, if it can't be justified in a believable manner, there's no excuse to have the women running around in stripper-iffic "clothing."

 

[BitterLemon]

Stuff like the Sorceress really turn me down on the games. I don't have any problem with sexual depictions at all when sex is the theme and it's relevant somehow. I can see a movie like "9 Songs" just fine and it's a movie about... having lots of sex for weeks and is very graphic about it, but it's relatable in a certain way, there's a slice of life represented there.

But when is just for the sake of showing tits, it pushes the wrong buttons in me. I can't buy the arguments that say that the characters are all equally deformed... the artist is not naive about what it does, most female characters have sexual attributes overly exaggerated... the amazon fights with it's butt facing the camera at all times, this kind of stuff is not accidental, it's meant to have sexual appeal. This is so recurrent in games that it can't be denied, female representation is poor most of the time in videogames... poor almost in the porn level poor when is something like that.

My girlfriend had her tits grabbed by strangers in two different ocasions on the street. Just walking on the street and some random dude grabs her tits. What the fuck. Woman objectification is something very real and I really avoid to put money in things that contribute to the notion that the power fantasy of girls is having gigantic tits capable of making a dicks hard.

 

[Doclector]

It makes me feel awkward, and like someone is just trying to sell me something.

I ain't gonna pretend like I don't have male needs and wants, but when I want to just stare at a pretty girl, I've got the internet for that. It ain't what I play games for, and when someone puts it in games, it's just stinks of desperation, like they thought the game wasn't strong enough to sell without sex appeal.

 

[FallenMessiah88]

I don't really mind, as long as it's not the character's sole defining trait. The same goes for male characters. As long as the character has an interesting personality and/or backstory, it's all good.

 

[Yuuki]

This thread's poll is quickly becoming a reference point in most other Escapist Sexism Threads (lets shorten that to EST for giggles).

It makes me feel awkward, and like someone is just trying to sell me something.

I ain't gonna pretend like I don't have male needs and wants, but when I want to just stare at a pretty girl, I've got the internet for that. It ain't what I play games for, and when someone puts it in games, it's just stinks of desperation, like they thought the game wasn't strong enough to sell without sex appeal.

Wait, you're completely disregarding games like DoA:XBV, dating sims and pretty much the entire Japanese sexy-visual-novel industry which entirely revolves around combining pretty girls and interactive elements (i.e. being a game).

I get you in particular prefer gaming and sexy-time to be completely separated, but the multi-million dollar industry out there would indicate that there is very much an insane number of consumers who enjoy having the two combined.

You probably didn't word your post correctly because I think I know what you mean by "trying to sell me something", i.e. you're referring to games that don't belong in the sexy/pandering categories (like what I listed) but still have oversexualized females anyway, and you don't like that. Is that correct?

 

[Doclector]

This thread's poll is quickly becoming a reference point in most other Escapist Sexism Threads (lets shorten that to EST for giggles).

It makes me feel awkward, and like someone is just trying to sell me something.

I ain't gonna pretend like I don't have male needs and wants, but when I want to just stare at a pretty girl, I've got the internet for that. It ain't what I play games for, and when someone puts it in games, it's just stinks of desperation, like they thought the game wasn't strong enough to sell without sex appeal.

Wait, you're completely disregarding games like DoA:XBV, dating sims and pretty much the entire Japanese sexy-visual-novel industry which entirely revolves around combining pretty girls and interactive elements (i.e. being a game).

I get you in particular prefer gaming and sexy-time to be completely separated, but the multi-million dollar industry out there would indicate that there is very much an insane number of consumers who enjoy having the two combined.

You probably didn't word your post correctly because I think I know what you mean by "trying to sell me something", i.e. you're referring to games that don't belong in the sexy/pandering categories (like what I listed) but still have oversexualized females anyway, and you don't like that. Is that correct?

Well, I wouldn't really be interested in those kinds of games anyway. DOA as a series always put me off to the point that I barely even have an interest in it. As I hear it, there's better fighting games anyway.

As for dating sims and the like, I don't really like anything that revolves around romance. Besides having tastes leaning away from such narratives, romance is kinda a boring motivation for a character to me. Maybe it's just done far too much, maybe I'm a cold bitter husk of a man, whatever. Point is, I wouldn't be interested in those kinds of games anyway.

 

[Kaymish]

i really don't care either way i just wish we could have some variety i am getting a bit tired of all the sameness sure you can keep your huge boobed out of proportion monstrosities but give me some A,B,C,D,DD cups as well in stead of all GG hell i still care about real boobs given that they are soft and nice and since we are being honest we all like things that are soft and nice. but i have stopped caring about the giant melons that are all we seem to get in video games these days hell i have stopped caring about pixilated boobs in general just give me something different as well please for the love of the non denominational deity of your choice even if its a guy's character in a female model

 

[I.Muir]

I would normally just post that it's not a problem I have and it's not a problem others should have either. It has a right to exist and you are not being forcefully exposed to it. To improve the lot of women in video games the logical choice would be to try and apply change from the inside and as uphill a battle as that is, just complaining about it won't cut it.

However in truth all I have to say is
"look at the sales"