Is the stringent attempts to de-sexualize games to please Resetera hurting the industry?

I was on Twitter today, formally called X, and noticed this eye-catching picture. Being a male I was automatically drawn to it because of the ample bosoms that initiated a primal response.

Then I looked at how rapidly the views increased, almost instantly from 7 million to 11 million, and it became apparent how effective breasts actually are.

Are Western developers shooting themselves in the foot by attempting to govern titillation in games to adhere to a stringent policy that demonizes it?

Is it actually true gaming has been de-sexualized and governed by pink hair people deliberately creating ugly characters to normalize ugliness or is this a false meme created gamers ultimately being meritless?

Or blueish hair but she's a bit pretty at least. ;o

lol :P

Not how it works. BlackRock and friends provide a lot of funding for the obscenely budgeted game and company, so company takes the money and does their bidding. Also, something about getting a good ESG score that helps them in the market. BlackRock, determined to change the brains of consumers, will always make more money from the sheer number of clients they have than they lose, and game pubs are never gonna cut down on the idiotic costs or say no to the money, so it's unwinnable. No end to fat characters, cucked, weak males, trans, gays, strong women with man jaws, whites as a minority no matter the setting, etc.

We just saw this in politics last week. Catering to a very vocal minority has consequences. In this case it’s games sales. In the past I would have laughed at such a conclusion. But I’m becoming more open to it. Especially after seeing Trump win an election by the margin he did. The majority, including folks in “the middle” that otherwise wouldn’t care, are becoming fed up with the “woke” nonsense.

Attitude Era wrestling was something else lol

There's a big reason why she got implants.

Honestly, sexualised characters do nothing for me. I'm fine either way if the gameplay and writing are good. I say do whatever games you want to and do whatever you need to improve sales and I'll play it if I'm into them.

But it's not like games with sexualised characters are braking sales records either. Overall my opinion is if anyone actively spends any of their time in culture wars, one way or the other, they're probably just a tool.

heh, titillation. great word choice

Car sales and video game sales used to be driven up by booth babes

Was gaming necessarily worse when it was targeted towards male teens?

Perhaps more outdated.

Yup. People have been saying this for a minute, too.

Men have not stopped enjoying tits. We are hardwired to enjoy them, it is litterally gods, or whatever creators will.

It's a form of enjoyment with this medium we partake in, being exactly that, entertainment.

It has been overrun with people who with to use it as a conduit to enforce their viewpoint of how the world should work on us with farce normalizing that we should ignore how we operate.

Very ridiculous.

Doesn't always have to be animetits (mods for that), but the abominations I've seen, ever since they allowed women in the workplace, have been plentiful and hurtful.

I don't see as many ugly people in real life as I do playing a western video game.

Definitely.

We have lots of tools here.

I'd say 2 big reasons 🤭

Indeed, it was concreated unilateral effort through repetition, and perceived normalization to re-attune the male mentality far-left.

And it has backfired spectacularly, on an epic global scale from recent events.

Continuing their folly, they will be too entrenched in their mindset to actually acknowledge their failure, lashing out deeming gamers nazis and incels from a self invented ivory tower that (if such a thing ever existed) has been thoroughly decimated.

The simple truth (and it is very simple), is that men like looking at woman, they like attractiveness. And no amount of man-chinned woman will change this.

In reality many of these people are themselves (Resetera) insecure, bullied, ostracized through life. Attempting to project that pain onto others so everyone lowers their standards to accept their unattractive physical appearance.

That is to say, being extremely ugly.

It's actually self-hatred. Unable to accept ones circumstance. A grandiose coping mechanism under the guise of progressiveness.

You can never have enough tools.

Well, sex sells, it has been like that since ancient times.

That's such a bad take.

I mean yes, Trump ran a very successful fear and disinformation campaign around dozens of issues, but the messaging wasn't targeted against "wokeness".

Like the debate was focused on immigration, war, genocide, fears of communism, animal welfare, maybe a single sentence about gender reassignment, and the economy. So if you think his platform was ending wokeness, that's not the core messaging he put out there to win over moderate voters.

Also, he was never going to make the argument that women in videogames aren't sexy anymore, because (a) teenagers are the only people who care, and teenagers can't vote, and (b) that would have pissed off his Christian conservative base, who would rather ban anything remotely pornographic from existing.

Anyway, isn't this all a political thread that belongs in OT? You're talking about wokeness, which automatically makes it a political discussion unfit for System Wars.

It's not working. I just started playing bg3 and boy is everyone trying to **** me. I can also have everyone in my camp be completely naked. So funny.

it's not hurting my industry. or at least i've not noticed it. i can't honestly think of a game i care about that has a female character who's noticeably unauthentic or desexualised. i hate the woke shit but don't feel like it's impacted my type of game. and i'm a big tits fan

I don't really care about super sexualized female characters in video games all that much to be honest, but I have to admit that a lot of western game developers are making so many female characters really ugly these days.

I mean when the use real life female models to design them, the characters themselves look really terrible and nothing alike as the models that they are based on while male characters on the other hand looks identical to their models that they are based on.

@Planeforger: Trump gained voters in every demographic, including minorities. And I’m pretty sure fighting the “woke” agenda was his main theme. Look, I even said the ”anti woke” stuff didn’t move the needle for me either. I just assumed it was noise on social media. But it CLEARLY resonated with folks from all walks of life. Folks seemingly believe things have gone too far. What other conclusion do you draw from Puerto Rican voters swinging 25 points in Trumps favor after being called a floating pile of garbage? Or was that just white folks playing the outraged victim on their behalf? Because that’s what it’s starting to look like…

Back on topic, I don’t care about sexualized characters in video games. I don’t require them. If it’s out of place or excessive, I don’t like it. But me and my wallet will just go wherever I want and I won’t demonize folks for what they do with theirs.

It's almost like being talked down to, told you are a piece of shit, and that we know best, had some sort of rebound effect.

Kotaku will be like "hmmmm why?"

The world will blow up now, and it's your fault.

I completely agree. Humans are hardwired to be attracted to be able to reproduce. It's what makes the world keep going. Same as animals. There's an instinct to mate and reproduce. Being attractive is not a negative.

I will never understand this. Humans are sexual creatures by nature. We try so hard to deny our sexuality, and yet we endlessly glorify violence. Weird.

@ghostofgolden: "Or was that just white folks playing the outraged victim on their behalf? "

Now you get it!

Kinda how I feel about it. Okay, given the choice, I'd rather play as an attractive female than and ugly one, but that would never be a determining factor when choosing a game. And I'm not sure it is for many people. Stellar Blade was THE GAME to bring the sexy back. It sold a million copies pretty quick but then seemed to fall off everyone's radar. Maybe it's quietly moving, but I kinda think we'd have heard about it if it reached 2 million. Bayonetta, Mirror's Edge, and Wet all sold more than that and were considered dissapointments 15 years ago. Aloy is "ugly" but her games trounced all lof those sales wise.

Sex sells, but I'not m sure it moves the needle in the kind of numbers modern success demands. Like, the new Perfect Dark will have to sell triple what the first game did to be considered a hit. Is the fact Joanna doesn't have heavy eye shadow this time going to be the thing that makes or breaks the game?

I think people overrated fanservice. Attractive characters aren't bad. I've played and enjoyed games with attractive characters:

• Dynasty Warriors
• Jet Set Future Radio
• Soul Calibur
• Resident Evil 2
• Street Fighter
• Fighting Force
• Tomb Raider
• Smite
• Paladins
• Friday the 13th
• The Witcher
• Bayonetta
• Nier Automata
• Zelda
• Hyrule Warriors
• Arms
• Final Fantasy 14 (I purposely made a sexy character for myself)
• Fortnite

I don't mind attractive characters or fanservice. Though I also don't require them, and I don't think anyone requires them. Minecraft is one of the best selling games. I liked playing Mario, Yoshi, Cooking Mama, Kirby, the Princess Peach games, Don't Starve: Together, Pokémon, etc. So long as a game has great gameplay, I don't care. Or so long as a game has great fashion options, I don't care. I even played an explicit dress up game, simply because they had great outfits *and* makeup options for black women. That wasn't not very common when I was a kid. So my sister and I played it together while commenting on the fact that such a game exists. My sister even got annoyed that games aimed at men had better makeup options than games aimed at girls. Then again... We were also weird and played Simgirls of all things. Meh...

If there is one thing the culture war has taught me, it's that men don't really look all that closely at a woman's face. Look, I won't deny developers are making an effort to tone down the sexy, but gamers really exaggerate how much they change. Take for instance Joanna Dark here. Yeah, she doesn't look like the glamor shots of her face model, but when you see her without as much makeup on, you can tell the devs totally nailed her facial structure. They aren't going out of their way to make her ugly, they just figured she doesn't spend two hours with a stylist before embarking on a mission.

Honestly if I want hypersexualized entertainment, I will watch porn.

I don't really like a lot of sex, skin, and general horniness in my mainstream entertainment; it's not entertaining and takes up time that I could be playing the game, and while visually pleasing at times, it's often done to excess which frankly makes the women look kind of ridiculous.

I like women to look good in my entertainment, I just don't think they all need to look like a half-plastic bimbo pornstar or some waifu anime girl. And if you're forcing me to choose, I'm choosing new Lara Croft over old Lara Croft, sorry not sorry. Bayonetta is not appealing.

People keep trying to equate various agendas to declining video games sales because they don't like the agendas, and they just don't want to admit that AAA has been declining in overall quality for years. They take fewer risks, they don't make as many new IP's, they take safe bets and make a 20th installment in a game series, they make remasters of remaster of old games no one really wants in the first place, and they cater towards shareholders and not their consumers.

Woke agendas and de-sexualization is not the problem. Capitalism is the problem. You want to help and see some sexy big-titted ladies? Go buy one of the many independently-made hentai or adult video games.

Honestly, a lot of very popular games are absent of fanservice. Mario, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Minecraft, Tetris, Pac-Man, the sports games, Nintendogs, Pokemon, Among Us, The Sims, etc. Heck, even going to mobile games. Candy Crush, Angry Birds, Flappy Bird, etc. Popular games don't really require fanservice. So long as the gameplay is satisfying, people will play.

@judaspete said:

@AcidTango said:

I don't really care about super sexualized female characters in video games all that much to be honest, but I have to admit that a lot of western game developers are making so many female characters really ugly these days.

I mean when the use real life female models to design them, the characters themselves look really terrible and nothing alike as the models that they are based on while male characters on the other hand looks identical to their models that they are based on.

If there is one thing the culture war has taught me, it's that men don't really look all that closely at a woman's face. Look, I won't deny developers are making an effort to tone down the sexy, but gamers really exaggerate how much they change. Take for instance Joanna Dark here. Yeah, she doesn't look like the glamor shots of her face model, but when you see her without as much makeup on, you can tell the devs totally nailed her facial structure. They aren't going out of their way to make her ugly, they just figured she doesn't spend two hours with a stylist before embarking on a mission.

I'm not saying that all female characters should look like super models with make up or anything. Like I said before I don't care for the sexualize stuff in games.

But the issue is that some of them look horribly designed.

And just to be clear I would also have this issue with male characters as well if a lot of them were also poorly designed too.

In the upcoming Fable game, the female player looked really ugly when it comes to character models not because she doesn't look like a super model but because overall she was poorly designed. But in the latest trailer the developers improved her design and she actually looks better now, and looks just like the real life woman that she is based on unlike before.

Also that new Joanna Dark doesn't bother me at all.

One thing I don't get is...how did you guys get to this current political position?

Your argument is essentially "game developers should be free to express themselves however they want, so we should reject these woke attempts to de-sexualise our games".

Okay, that's fine. You're arguing for freedom of expression in art. I like that idea.

Thing is, that idea is inherently a left-leaning concept. If you support that, then in any other era you'd be supporting the left side of politics, and fighting against the conservative right who are trying to ban and control and censor anything that they feel is immoral or a bad influence.

We as a community has been fighting against conservatives for decades. When it comes to videogames and the freedom for adults to choose what is in our games, they've never been our friends. This is the group that spawned Jack Thompson and his crusade to ban videogames. This is the group that opposes violence and sex and satanic imagery in art. The conservative right would see Stellar Blade or Doom or whatever and say "no, you can't have that".

So...uh, how did we get to this bizarro world where people are fighting for freedom of art,,but they're aligning themselves with a political positon that traditionally hates that stuff, and fighting against a political position that has always defended the industry?

Well to make an omelette you need to break a few eggs.

I really dont mind reduced sexualization in games. i dont really enjoy games with a lot sexuality in them. i prefer to keep sex and games separated.

I often have kids at home, i have a large family. I prefer game that allow me to play comfortably next to them, even if they are games that are too complex for them to understand.

@Planeforger: I think the roles have reversed a lot since decades prior. before female sexuality was seen a liberating from male oppression, now female sexuality is seen as positive only if its not attractive to straight men.

Its not whether the topic is liberal or conservative. its just the issue that currently politics is identity politics. So if something is liked by straight men, and straight men are generally considered to be the bad actors in society, then it must be bad.

as a straight man, thought, i still prefer to not have overt sexuality in games. I am there to play. If i want to see naked women, there are other venues.

Should all movies be family movies? All book family books?

No.

@uninspiredcup: I don't know why you assume I am saying that.

I simply stated my personal preference.

@nirgal:

1. I really dont mind reduced sexualization in games. i dont really enjoy games with a lot sexuality in them. i prefer to keep sex and games separated.

Implication games should not have adult content.

2. I often have kids at home, i have a large family. I prefer game that allow me to play comfortably next to them, even if they are games that are too complex for them to understand.

Implication they should be family orientated.

It was a pretty easy thing to infer.

To which pointed out other mediums that have segmented audiences.

And can also point out how this mentality has stifled creativity in the past, in practically any medium.

ding -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_nasty

The answer is easy and super super simple.

Play family games, they are specifically designed, with children in mind. Problem solved.

This is true. This is what western companies are doing right now. Japanese companies are following what western companies are doing.

To avoid it you would have to play South Korean and Chinese games. You can also avoid it by playing AA, A and indie games.

@uninspiredcup: which was very clearly my personal preference.

I never said: I think other people should not enjoy sex in games.

Everyone knows that best selling games are games sexualize or hyper sexualized characters. 🙃

hate when people say that. its not sex. its beauty sells. these woman work out every day and hard work to be fit like that now they want to show woman that sits and does nothing in magazine leaving those woman to be on only fans.

@gifford38: to be honest, a lot of young people are fit without trying much.

I don't think this needs to be moral. sexy people get more views.

For me, it's a non issue in games.

...

This was three years ago and he is still being frequently quoted.

Thing is, that idea is inherently a left-leaning concept. If you support that, then in any other era you'd be supporting the left side of politics, and fighting against the conservative right who are trying to ban and control and censor anything that they feel is immoral or a bad influence.

Left-leaning is not equivalent to radical left (Wokism), as much as centre-right isn't in the same ballpark as extreme-right. I guess these nuanced perspectives ain't hip in peoples polarized brains anymore.

Yes, everything is sterile and the edges are sanded smooth.