Big boobed characters in video games

[Facet]

It's definitely a problem in terms of prevalence, I don't think anyone wants to prohibit licentiousness where it's due, and that's pretty hard to define, but it really shouldn't be the status quo for mainstream media.

Why is it so prevalent though? I guess that there's so little actual and frank sexual content of any persuasion in commercial games (in terms of narrative) that it's inclusion tends to be clumsily overstated in the superficial outlet that it does have; that being boobs etc, and so tick the 'mature' box (along with violence) that has a large male audience.

Edit: that all sounded like ass, cropped but idk.

[Ryumaru]

Much of this boob-discussion is colored by people being afraid of having the designs they like getting taken away.
Even in MMO:s where you get an option to play a female, often times they don't give you the chance to wear the clothes you want. (Aion, Tera?) Its like they are scared that people will not play the overly sexualized characters. :l

It wouldn't be such a problem if both sides were exposed and treated in a similar way. Im sure most of you can distinguish between a powerful male and a sexual male. I've seen a lot of people claim that males are objectified just the same way, but the difference is that the male character is intended to look badass while the female is intended to look lust-inducing.

If a male character whose only clothes were stripper armor or codpieces would be inappropriate, would it be right to have females who have the equivalent type of armor?
So I guess I just want there to be an equivalent amount of sexualization of both genders, and preferably an option that isn't for those who aren't impressed by it such as myself.

Until then I just play male characters.

Edit: And yes, Im actually saying that sex is not a positive thing to everyone. There are people who have no interest in sex or courtship. It'd be nice to have a choice for those people too.

But do you understand that the objectification is equal, just different? just as it would be silly to attract a man by drawing broad shouldered females with large muscles and long swords, it would be equally silly to display a male with wide hips in stripper clothing. If you look at my post above I showed 3 examples of games that I argue show men at an equal, perhaps even more sexualized manner.

[HughSpectrum]

A few more points of my own: the way I see it, females are generally quite an "issue" in games, even today. They either do not appear at all (which is just as problematic in my opinion) or are often over sexualized. Games like TERA and the like just do what they think is best for the game: create something appealing for the mostly male audience. We can see that didn't work, though, as they just recently shifted to free to play. Or, to put it differently, they failed horribly with their subscription concept. Which is probably because the game itself is bad, and only the characters are appealing. So, obviously, that doesn't "save" a game. And yet it is done fairly often, when it just isn't required. No women at all in games (take Call of Duty and the like as an example) also tends to be very boring. I mean, why the heck not, anyway?

Hyper-sexualized female characters has been the norm for awhile now in Korean MMOs, so it's more likely that they were following an expectation set by earlier games like Linage II than actually having put much thought to how it would benefit them.

[Ymedron]

But do you understand that the objectification is equal, just different? just as it would be silly to attract a man by drawing broad shouldered females with large muscles and long swords, it would be equally silly to display a male with wide hips in stripper clothing. If you look at my post above I showed 3 examples of games that I argue show men at an equal, perhaps even more sexualized manner.

But the males that are being displayed here are not to attract females, they are to attract males. Even the ninja and Sephiroth are meant to be cool with accidental sexual innuendos. After all, otherwise they would have a pose more like http://static9.depositphotos.com/1549192/1108/i/450/dep_11084593-Sexualized-Male-Body-Shot.jpg this.

I can't say much about the soul calibur guy, since I haven't seen how he behaves in the game. However, you have to admit there is about one guy to ten females that have this treatment given to them.

[Seiseki]

But do you understand that the objectification is equal, just different? just as it would be silly to attract a man by drawing broad shouldered females with large muscles and long swords, it would be equally silly to display a male with wide hips in stripper clothing. If you look at my post above I showed 3 examples of games that I argue show men at an equal, perhaps even more sexualized manner.

You're still talking about mens power fantasy, I remember seeing a study that compared what kind of men women and homosexual men were attracted to.
For the women it was more feminine men, while the homosexual men wanted large biceps and 6 packs.
Of course, I assume that's very generalized and I don't have any sources to back it up.

[Dusty]

But do you understand that the objectification is equal, just different? just as it would be silly to attract a man by drawing broad shouldered females with large muscles and long swords, it would be equally silly to display a male with wide hips in stripper clothing. If you look at my post above I showed 3 examples of games that I argue show men at an equal, perhaps even more sexualized manner.

But the males that are being displayed here are not to attract females, they are to attract males. Even the ninja and Sephiroth are meant to be cool with accidental sexual innuendos. After all, otherwise they would have a pose more like http://static9.depositphotos.com/1549192/1108/i/450/dep_11084593-Sexualized-Male-Body-Shot.jpg this.

I can't say much about the soul calibur guy, since I haven't seen how he behaves in the game. However, you have to admit there is about one guy to ten females that have this treatment given to them.

My sisters have been pretty vocal about their attraction to many male characters. It may not be the same sort of approach you see to female designs, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't cater to what women may look for in a man.

My sisters would lose their shit over Leon, for example. Absolutely drooled over him:

Even characters like Link tend to make the girls swoon.

I feel overly manly masculine men are to appeal to male gamers, while handsome are more what females like to see, but this is just based off of my experience as a gamer growing up in a house full of women.

[Ryumaru]

But do you understand that the objectification is equal, just different? just as it would be silly to attract a man by drawing broad shouldered females with large muscles and long swords, it would be equally silly to display a male with wide hips in stripper clothing. If you look at my post above I showed 3 examples of games that I argue show men at an equal, perhaps even more sexualized manner.

But the males that are being displayed here are not to attract females, they are to attract males. Even the ninja and Sephiroth are meant to be cool with accidental sexual innuendos. After all, otherwise they would have a pose more like http://static9.depositphotos.com/1549192/1108/i/450/dep_11084593-Sexualized-Male-Body-Shot.jpg this.

I can't say much about the soul calibur guy, since I haven't seen how he behaves in the game. However, you have to admit there is about one guy to ten females that have this treatment given to them.

How many homosexual male gamers do you think there are? if by " attract" you mean in the more general term, I see where you are going with it,  but it has to do more with male competition and our tendency to " size up" other males, rather than anything that could be called attraction.

If you think ninja and sephiroth points are accidental then you don't know how purposefully people design characters. I will say that in the ninja case some of it comes from the natural forms of the body that point to the pubic area, but that is the same across both genders.

The point I'm trying to make is that there is a reason females read romance novels and males watch porn ( very generalized statement). Both are tailored to each sex's  desires and I believe video games do something similar in their treatment of gender. You have to think about what each different gender is after in a mate and apply that to a scale and see how sexualized they are, you can't say a male isn't sexualized just because he doesn't show a lot of skin, or isn't in a " sexy" pose because neither of those innately show power, dominance, or the like.

Edit: I should make it clear that there are a lot of exceptions to the points that I make above that I don't formally address, and that is because when you are talking about a demographic it is useless to weigh the few as equal to the many.

[PixelPiledriver]

I think gamers are a bunch of jerks in general.

So much of this is big picture.
On some levels that is useful but on others it is not.
The game industry is not a unified being.
I know and interact with lots of people that work on games, from small indie start ups to big companies like Valve.
There is a wide variety of opinions on this matter from both genders.
As rikfuzz has said, I know just as many women that create and enjoy designs like that Tera image, and just as many men that avoid it in their art and consumption.
Personalities will always break out from generalizations.

Past or current examples of either side don't really mean that much.
The games we're pointing out are done and shipped.
Attacking the product and asking them to change wont actually accomplish anything.
Issues like this lead to a pretty solid stalemate.
It's correct, not many opinions will change here.
We can only compare thoughts and reformulate our own opinions.

But not to say this is a waste of time, the energy is just misguided.
What is useful is comparing designs for art purposes.
How can we do this different?
I don't have time to draw right now I'll have to come back with some.
A subject that's been on my educational back burner for a while is basic construction of clothing.
I have some assumptions and theories, but my girlfriend sews her own dresses and I have NO idea how that works at all.

I want to make a game, but there are a lot of steps between then and now.

The number of steps is less than you might think.
With dedicated focus you could be making a game within a couple of weeks or months.
There is a massive amount of material out there for free.
You should make games as you want them to be.
If you, or anyone, needs links or wants to ask questions I am more than happy to provide.

[Tenshi]

I've calmed down a lot (no, seriously) in recent years but I was entertained to see this topic near the top of my list after having not logged in for some time.

[Ryumaru]

A friend posted this online and I thought it was both relevant and refreshingly light hearted. Note how both genders appear ridiculous when you try to apply one's mannerisms to the other.

http://greatist.com/fitness/men-women-switched-roles-gym-video/#