I pick this topic this week for two reasons. First, the recent game Bayonetta apparently has a shameless level of sexualization. That got the idea in my head, but then I came across another interesting tidbit. The highly anticipated Mass Effect 2 has come out as a sequel to the very popular Mass Effect. One thing that many touted as a high point of Mass Effect was the several possible romance paths which all ended in sex. For as much hype as there was, the sex was rather lame showing nothing of particular interest. Now there's Mass Effect 2, which also has several girls you can get in bed with. I'm not sure how this works out if you make a female character. But in any case there was a problem this time, people got rather mad at Mass Effect 2 for making the sex scene "far too tame". Apparently, this was one of the biggest reasons people wanted to get this game. To the developers credit, they told these people to more or less go to hell: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98112-Mass-Effect-2s-Nudity-Level-Decided-by-Dictatorship
I'm glad to see that the developers arn't make serious changes to their plan just to make people happy, but there is a problem hidden here. The point of a game is to entertain the player, and part of that is listening to what the player wants and giving it to them (see previous post regarding sequels). The game suffers badly if the developers make it for their sake rather than the player's. Case in point: Too Human. But that is mainly for gameplay changes, not how steamy the bedroom gets. This makes me worry that most bought the game for the sex, not the game. Also, is Bioware is going to put only what they want to in their games, then I have to wonder why the sex is there at all. Well, the obvious answer is the age old standby that sex sells. But I take issue with this statement....
Ok, sure, sex sells and Mass Effect 2 may well prove that. But, if all the developers have latched onto it and so it is packed into everything, then of course it sells because it's in everything! It is a never ending cycle in that it appears to sell so it is packed in until it is the only thing that sells. Try making something without any sex in it, it may well sell incredibly. There are many players (and/or their parents) who find this trend disgusting and such a game would be eaten up by them.
To show how ingrained "sex sells" is, it is used as a tool to try and save a crappy game. My example: Age of Conan. This MMORPG is based on the Conan the Barbarian comic books and movies. I never touched the game, but it touted itself as a wonderous player versus player experience. This is largely why I avoided it, but apparently even those who adore PVP decided the game was awful and went back to World of Warcraft. So how did AoC try and get its lost players back? Sex. AoC is the only game I know of that has banner ads that state "More Death, More Slaughter, More... Cleavage!" Add to that the other banner stating, "Death never looked so good..." over a picture of a disturbingly well endowed girl and there you have it. It may get player to try the trial, but it's the gameplay that will keep them. The gameplay makes or breaks the game and that's what developers need to remember to focus on... unless they're making a Mass Effect game.
Ming Numara from Lost Odyssey
The most blantly sexy mage I have had in my party in years.
Well said. Zelda doesn't do sex, and yet the series seems to sell "pretty well".
ReplyDeleteI think that game developers, just as anyone who produces a product to sell, need to know their market. Knowing it doesn't mean pandering to it (pun intended). They make decisions all the time about what to put in and what to take out, and anyone with any sense will understand that it shouldn't be driven by popular vote: if it was, then everything would look the same.
What has ALWAYS bothered me about "cleavage", or in general how women are constructed in such games, is that NOT all women are built like that! Women come in different shapes and sizes, just like men do.
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