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In hindsight, what was going on with character design during the HD (PS3/X360) era?
- Thread starter Kadve
- Start date
Xenon
Member
No I am blaming geeky males, mostly white in the US, for not doing more to make the hobby appealing to people outside of their demographic. Just look at how great this has been for geek culture the last ten years, We could have had this sooner!
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Magic Carpet
Member
Lack of smiles is still a thing.
I would like a video of any time a video game character laughs in the past decade.
I think it would be a short video.
I would like a video of any time a video game character laughs in the past decade.
I think it would be a short video.
Represent.
Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Yep, it was boring. I prefer it now, we have a good mix of everything. Its not like those models have gone away, we just have others to go along with them now.
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MasterDerico
Member
Welcome to Western characters designs!
-Zelda-
Banned
Man, I remember that image and others like it. I remember seeing discussion online about the trend now is women with ponytails and tank tops with Jeans. Too many characters in video games have no unique identity. Especially in wester made games. Say what you want about Japanese character designers, but at least the character with all the pointless belts on their outfit is original.
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nkarafo
Member
What's wrong with it? The audience who buys video games are mainly white men and these generic characters are the perfect "avatars" because there's nothing that stands out too much that could break immersion.
And at least back then you knew these companies were honest and just wanted to sell their products without virtue signaling to convince you they are "better" while loving the smell of their own farts.
And at least back then you knew these companies were honest and just wanted to sell their products without virtue signaling to convince you they are "better" while loving the smell of their own farts.
FeralEcho
Member
I'd rather have those back than the papercut quirky "I'm modern" character who either is too frowny or too happy and always has either an afro or purple hair depending on the definitely not white colour of the skin they have.
Bring back the "bald space marine" I say....At least those characters had character and personalities,they werent all a fortnine clone having the only personality trait of trying to represent "diversity and inclusion" for (que critical drinker voice*) "modern audiences".
Bring back the "bald space marine" I say....At least those characters had character and personalities,they werent all a fortnine clone having the only personality trait of trying to represent "diversity and inclusion" for (que critical drinker voice*) "modern audiences".
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Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
Sushi_Combo
Member
Where's the issue?
Eimran
Member
Not sure if trolling or serious
March Climber
Member
ITT everyone discovers what a trend is.
YOU PC BRO?!
Member
It’s really simple, they catered to their target market.
I bet the Forspoken devs are wishing they had gone with a white male lead instead of a sassy black girl.
I bet the Forspoken devs are wishing they had gone with a white male lead instead of a sassy black girl.
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TheInfamousKira
Reseterror Resettler
It's exactly the same now except everyone is black and gay.
Mister Wolf
Member
Because men admire tough guy badass heroes and tough guy badass heroes rarely ever smile. Especially us Gen X/Millennials who grew up with 90s movie heroes like Arnold, Stallone, and Willis.
Hypereides
Member
No way. You too!? Can't wait for 12 year dev cycles and battles passes within battle passes.
jufonuk
not tag worthy
It was more the muted colours that I found odd. (No this isn’t code for racial diversity)
Some games had such weird colour palettes. They just stripped it all out.
The grim dark aesthetic I feel is the emo phase of gaming.
Luckily the industry has grown out of…
Some games had such weird colour palettes. They just stripped it all out.
The grim dark aesthetic I feel is the emo phase of gaming.
Luckily the industry has grown out of…
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jufonuk
not tag worthy
Though I have been told I look Greek/Spanish (by Cypriots and Spanish people themselves) and Middle Eastern by my Middle Eastern and Turkish friends
VanCityGamer
Member
Truly one of the ugliest characters I’ve seen.
PeteBull
Member
Nope, actual ones, from that woke saints row reboot game, that we as longterm fans critiqued from first reveal and devs trying to gaslight us, then the obvious thing happened- game launch where quality of the game was very low, terrible scores, terrible sales, studio clousure and few days ago it was given as free on epic games store, i claimed it and dont feel any need to play it even tho i loved whole series =/
Kadve
Member
Ok. Never seen it before.
GamesDontSuck
Member
The second from the left (woman) is the character you choose to create. That's the default boilerplate look. The rest are characters in the game and how they look.
Saints Row Reboot for those who don't know too.
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thief183
Member
I'd love to go back to this, nowadays all the characters are some wannabe edgy dressed like an idiot.(edit, people seems to have misunderstood me. Meant how everyone seems to have followed the same design language. Not that everyone looked the same. And yes not all of these are from Ps3/x360 games but i think you get the idea)
(edit 2; Yes. I can tell these guys apart. Not the point as stated above)
Ran across this image recently and had honestly forgotten how every (male) character seems to have been cut from the same mold back then. Also the entire AAA gaming industry (atleast in the west) seems to have been allergic to smiles.
Also this could serve as a bingo card. How many do you recognise/from what game without looking it up?
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
Golden era of dudebro gaming. And hair rendering, I guess?
These collages were first used as "evidence" that dudebro gaming was artistically bankrupt, and that Japan was keeping up the flag of distinctive character design. Which wasn't totally wrong per se, as those western dudes were unquestionably focus grouped to hell and back. But the real problem with the aesthetics of those games was the piss filter and the uniform gray/brown color of everything, not the characters. They were just the easy target for people understandably worried that Japanese gaming was spiralling down into oblivion.
Detractors won, but gaming as a whole didn't.
These collages were first used as "evidence" that dudebro gaming was artistically bankrupt, and that Japan was keeping up the flag of distinctive character design. Which wasn't totally wrong per se, as those western dudes were unquestionably focus grouped to hell and back. But the real problem with the aesthetics of those games was the piss filter and the uniform gray/brown color of everything, not the characters. They were just the easy target for people understandably worried that Japanese gaming was spiralling down into oblivion.
Detractors won, but gaming as a whole didn't.
Snake is one of the templates for those faces. And MGS 2 and 3 played a big part in skewing western gaming towards an era of military-setting games with gruff protagonists, tons of dialogue, and no color.Leave Snake out of it
Hugare
Member
Maybe I cant name all of them, but I can recognize all of their games (and despite being white males, they are all different)
Wouldnt be able to say the same about the diverse cast of whatever GAAS games that are being released today
phaedrus
Member
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Krappadizzle
Member
kruis
Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
These were all generic looking dark-haired men in their thirties who'd also be compatible with gamer demographics in South America, the Middle East and Asia. They were so generic for a reason, namely to make it easier for the largest possible number of male gamers to identify with them.
In later years marketeers found another way to do this: just completely hide their faces with masks or helmets and make them completely anonymous. There were numerous games who used that tactic: Halo, Destiny, Godfall, etc.
You could see a similar tactic on the covers of romance novels where the heads of either the love interest, the heroine or both were not visible so the perspective buyer of that book would not be distracted by their faces and to maximize self-identification and fantasy with the protagonists in the book.
Shifty1897
Member
I get OP's point, but there were still lots of colorful games with white male characters that stood out in the PS3 / 360 era.
Unrelated: Just looking at this screenshot makes me want to play Valkyria Chronicles through for the fourth time.
fatmarco
Member
I do genuinely think there was an issue with, at the very least, different hair colours being represented. Like was there any justifiable reason why some of these characters couldn't have been blond or red head even within the potentially enforced demographic limitations of the time?
Like the obsession over brown hair bros wasn't really something that even Hollywood was doing at the time. It's also further bizarre that the Japanese were the only ones giving their male leads different hair colours (Leon, Ken, Dante, Link, Cloud etc.).
Or was everyone just too afraid to be compared to the Duke? (half sarcastic, half genuine)
Like the obsession over brown hair bros wasn't really something that even Hollywood was doing at the time. It's also further bizarre that the Japanese were the only ones giving their male leads different hair colours (Leon, Ken, Dante, Link, Cloud etc.).
Or was everyone just too afraid to be compared to the Duke? (half sarcastic, half genuine)
kunonabi
Member
I don't think Snake, Frank West and York really fit that collage but yeah there was a real sameyness to that era. Really the only characters worth a damn to come of that era were Bayonetta, Frank West, Francis York Morgan, and Travis Touchdown.
That said I'll echo the sentiment that it's better than what we're getting bombarded with now.
That said I'll echo the sentiment that it's better than what we're getting bombarded with now.
RoboCain
Member
Honestly, I like grounded games. I prefer these characters than play yet another medieval or anime game.
That said, I always go for the girl or the black guy given the chance. I don't need to play myself in a game, just give me a cool character that fits the tone of the game.
What I did kind of hate back then was this gimmick of naming every character with a full name, just to push a brand on you. Is like when every band name was "The Strokes" or movie names like "Loving Jack", "Finding Carol", etc.
That said, I always go for the girl or the black guy given the chance. I don't need to play myself in a game, just give me a cool character that fits the tone of the game.
What I did kind of hate back then was this gimmick of naming every character with a full name, just to push a brand on you. Is like when every band name was "The Strokes" or movie names like "Loving Jack", "Finding Carol", etc.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
We could do exactly the same thing with Eastern characters.
Bond007
Member
Mostly pretty bland but I miss the days of strong male protagonist.
Im not opposed to female leads- the opposite actually, but it needs to make sense and not just replacing one for the other due to current times. Lara Croft is one of my favorites all time and it works, she is strong, independent, and sexy.
We just lean too far one way each time.
Im not opposed to female leads- the opposite actually, but it needs to make sense and not just replacing one for the other due to current times. Lara Croft is one of my favorites all time and it works, she is strong, independent, and sexy.
We just lean too far one way each time.
