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Is There Any Fanservice In Western Games For Straight Men Anymore?

Because it was a tired retread? The previous games did well enough. Are you trying to imply the reason it bombed is the lack of sexy costumes and if it at least had a few it'd have sold great or something?

Its not the only reason but it helped.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Its not the only reason but it helped.
So how did the previous games sell well? The first of them enough to spawn two sequels even? And where's your evidence? You personally didn't buy it because it didn't have such costumes?

Either way isn't that a good thing still? That their hand wasn't forced to include stuff just to get more sales but instead the developers were free to make what they wanted how they wanted? :)
 
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#Phonepunk#

Banned
it is sad that we still don't have an og classic costume for Lara.

i enjoyed the 3 reboots but the sex factor was definitely lacking. it's a bit like taking away the sex from James Bond. you end up with an entirely different character.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
They probably just thought og costume looks dumb with modern graphics, rather than too sexy.

They have the old costumes in Lara Croft Go (lovely game btw) where they look pretty fitting.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light/the Temple of Osiris games had the classic stuff too.
 
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So how did the previous games sell well? The first of them enough to spawn two sequels even? And where's your evidence? You personally didn't buy it because it didn't have such costumes?

I dont have any evidence and so are you, but i see a lot of complaints from gamers in youtube videos, twitter and other places so it seems a lot of people didn't buy it because of the lack of sexy outfits, i didn't buy it and a lot of my friends because we thought she looked like a buff young man in this game.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Wow, great. My evidence is the first two games selling fine, hardly the same as random people commenting on youtube or this thread.

Great that you're so into gaming you don't care whether the game is good nor not, just check videos of all costumes before a purchase.
 
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Wow, great. My evidence is the first two games selling fine, hardly the same as random people commenting on youtube or this thread.

Great that you're so into gaming you don't care whether the game is good nor not, just check videos of all costumes before a purchase.

I mean, the game itself is not that good, the graphics is not great and the gameplay is mediocre so i was trying to find something that justifies paying 60$ for it.

where are you from? the east? china? russia?

UAE.
 

azz0r

Banned
Give everybody else a break and quit overreacting.

Can you explain how it's overreacting? I'd assume if you have a problem with overreacting you might point out the original post which is highlighting the struggle of the straight mans plight that game characters are wearing clothes and he now has to rely on porn instead of video games.
 
Maybe devs are simply finally free from having to have such designs for once? Maybe game sales for once can be high without such designs?

Hypocricy is to be against "censoring" yet want to force the type of costume you want in games and accuse every convenient thing as the reason behind the lack of it when it could just be what the devs want
Sure. When problematic depictions of women were in games it was alienating real women, non-inclusive, sexist, and devs just weren't aware of the nefarious messages they were sending, and the bad influence they had on our culture.

But now that they're listening to intersectional feminists, the developers are finally free to do what they want! Thank you feminists, you freed us from the evil men who forced us to put sexy women in our games! You removed the gun that was threatening us to put cleavage and bikini armor in our games. Thank you!
 
Can you explain how it's overreacting? I'd assume if you have a problem with overreacting you might point out the original post which is highlighting the struggle of the straight mans plight that game characters are wearing clothes and he now has to rely on porn instead of video games.

Ghettoizing sexual content only to the realm of literal pornography is dangerous.

Is there really no middle ground between a little eye candy and full on porn?
 

ROMhack

Member
I don't count myself as bothered personally but I think OP is largely right.

Most feminists I know don't give a shit about it - in fact most girls I know love sexy dames, straight or gay or somewhere in-between - but a tiny minority seems to have made developers uncomfortable about what might happen. They've reacted inappropriately to fear of a threat, like building a bomb shelter for a mild storm.

where are you from? the east? china? russia?

It's Rurouni Kenshin dude. 19th century Japan would be my guess.

Hoo boy...

I'll just be over here respecting gaming's right to grow up and stop portraying most women as dolls for male amusement.

I think gaming could do a lot more to grow up than covering women's titties. It's sometimes just a shallow solution to a bigger problem.
 
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Saruhashi

Banned
Hoo boy...
I'll just be over here respecting gaming's right to grow up and stop portraying most women as dolls for male amusement.

What does this even mean?

I totally do not understand this idea that "games" need to grow up.
Surely within the entire medium of games there is room for genres that are not "grown up" and also room for games with fanservice character designs?

It's somewhat childish in itself to not understand that there is room for all types of games to exist and that a couple of games that have hot women in them just being hot is hardly the scourge of the industry.

Fuck, how do you even look at the range of games available RIGHT NOW and not see that gaming has already "grown up".

Whatever the fuck that means anyway. Shit, even my lowly Commodore 64 had games with stories and themes and thoughtful design back in the late 80s and early 90s.

If sexy Lara Croft isn't profitable these days then, fair enough, devs might want to consider not going there.
What I'm not really understanding is what would be the problem if they did decide to go with Sexy Lara?
Do Horizon Zero Dawn or Uncharted Lost Legacy suddenly not exist because I developer went in a different direction?

Personally I believe that the new Tomb Raider games would have been better if they had stuck more to Lara Croft's roots and just ran with it. Everyone knows what Tomb Raider is and how it made itself a recognizable name and I think a sexualized campy Bayonetta-esque style would be more popular.

Of course it's funny that the efforts to make Lara Croft more "inclusive" they have basically turned her into Discount Nathan Drake.

If "growing up" means taking one of the most iconic, recognizable and bankable character designs (Lara Croft) and turning it into an inferior knockoff of an already bland and uninspired design (Nathan Drake) then why would we even want that?

The new Tomb Raider embraces mediocrity solely to avoid community backlash. It's sad.
Sure, they'll get their pats on the back for "growing up" with their philosophy on character design but is it really worth it?
 
I can't say I've paid even the smallest amount of attention to how sexy/unsexy western game characters have become. Like not in the least. I thought the re-designed Lara was fine.
 

KiteGr

Member
I pretty much hate all these Otaku dedicated Idol/moeblob/pantyshot-filled echii anime for covering 80% of the new releases and most of them being uninspired trash with few exceptions.

However in Videogames the situation has kind of reversed. Ever since the industry realized that girl gamers existed all along, rather than simply offering fanservice for the other team, they instead started turning everything into a politically correct mess. What few eye-candy we get (mostly from Japan) gets removed by the localizers, because "blood and gore are more ok than showing some extra egotism". The final nail in the coffin is Japan pretty much falling behind and slowly abandoning the Video game industry in favor of mobile trash, and Sony moving over to the Amerikas adopting the puritan ideals of the area.

While in Anime it's the bane of the industry, in video games I kind of miss that stuff.
Anyone remembers how in Ghost in the Shell for PS1, they chose to go with Shirow's sexualised art style, instead of following the ultra serious style of the 1995 movie or the hybrid of the SAC series?
 

magnumpy

Member

bullshit. based on your elocution and speech patterns you are not Arabic. you are clearly an American teenage male attempting to hide your nationality in order to obfuscate your obvious misogyny. you have been exposed as a liar and if any mod would care to look up your IP this could be easily verified. هل تفهمين ما الذي يعنيه ذلك؟
 

ROMhack

Member
I pretty much hate all these Otaku dedicated Idol/moeblob/pantyshot-filled echii anime for covering 80% of the new releases and most of them being uninspired trash with few exceptions.

However in Videogames the situation has kind of reversed. Ever since the industry realized that girl gamers existed all along, rather than simply offering fanservice for the other team, they instead started turning everything into a politically correct mess. What few eye-candy we get (mostly from Japan) gets removed by the localizers, because "blood and gore are more ok than showing some extra egotism". The final nail in the coffin is Japan pretty much falling behind and slowly abandoning the Video game industry in favor of mobile trash, and Sony moving over to the Amerikas adopting the puritan ideals of the area.

While in Anime it's the bane of the industry, in video games I kind of miss that stuff.
Anyone remembers how in Ghost in the Shell for PS1, they chose to go with Shirow's sexualised art style, instead of following the ultra serious style of the 1995 movie or the hybrid of the SAC series?


I'm fairly sure it's because in those instances, females do exist as passive entities largely for the sake of sexual gratification. They're like puppets and I think that's what any vocal critic in the West tends to hate. I've personally never heard women I know complain about sexiness if the character isn't a complete weakling. I don't doubt it happens but I think crappy characters + gratuitous sexiness is the thing people are against. Unfortunately developers don't really get it so have used 'covering up' as some sort of idiotic simple solution.

Ghost in the Shell is a brilliant example to bring up, although I'll have to disagree that the 1995 movie is bad because it's serious. The sexualised art-style of Motoko is well known as a strong deconstruction of female body image. Motoko initially exists as a puppet lacking free-will. In the beginning she has nude scenes and could easily be considered as existing for sexual stimulation, but over the course of the story grows more human-like. The philosophical themes of free will and technology mean she stops being defined by her body (and ergo sexuality). She ends up offering strong characteristics that make her both an excellent hero and an autonomous being. NieR Automata does a similar thing with 2B.

You've said the movie is too serious so maybe you'll disagree but I think this is exactly the point of Matoko (and the American movie is WAY more po-faced by avoiding it!).

radewagon radewagon This is perhaps a better example of what I meant when I said games could do more than just covering up tits.
 
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mitch1971

Member
Oh look it's one of those threads where internet intellectuals judge someone for having completely innocuous desires and proceed to ejaculate all over the thread with their holier than thou attitudes.


I know another site that does that all the time.
 
bullshit. based on your elocution and speech patterns you are not Arabic. you are clearly an American teenage male attempting to hide your nationality in order to obfuscate your obvious misogyny. you have been exposed as a liar and if any mod would care to look up your IP this could be easily verified. هل تفهمين ما الذي يعنيه ذلك؟

Your arabic is bad, you wrote " do you understand what this mean?" but like you are talking to a woman. you should say "هل تفهم ما الذي يعنيه ذلك؟ "
you obviously used a google translate, i think there is arab members here, i saw one called khalid here, they can talk to me and see if im from UAE or not, also i can tell you that most arabic gamers hate SJWs and we laugh at them in our Arabic language forums all the time.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Every character in every game is a doll made for the player's amusement.

How their appearances has turned into a political football is just laughable; it's a point of concern so trivial in the grand scheme of things to be concerned about, and yet here we are.
 

Geki-D

Banned
However in Videogames the situation has kind of reversed. Ever since the industry realized that girl gamers existed all along, rather than simply offering fanservice for the other team, they instead started turning everything into a politically correct mess. What few eye-candy we get (mostly from Japan) gets removed by the localizers, because "blood and gore are more ok than showing some extra egotism". The final nail in the coffin is Japan pretty much falling behind and slowly abandoning the Video game industry in favor of mobile trash, and Sony moving over to the Amerikas adopting the puritan ideals of the area.
If you're talking actual games where this stuff matters (games with scenarios, not phone games, puzzle games) then I'd be pretty comfortable in saying that I'm sure there are more female anime fans than girl gamers or the numbers are at least extremely close to one another.

I don't think they realised there are actual women playing, first off I just don't think western devs have honestly ever been too big on fan service or at least nowhere near the levels you can see in Japanese games. Most likely a cultural thing but one that's been in our culture from about 50-odd years. Secondly and most importantly I think that devs in the west evade fanservice, not because of anyone playing but because they know it'll get them negative attention from the outside. So yeah, they didn't want to appear on Fox News about 18 to 30 years ago and now they don't want rainbow colored hair Twitter profiles tweeting at them. ...And most likely still appearing on the news.
 

lefty1117

Gold Member
I think the true answer is a bit more practical and basic, which is the industry realized there's 50% of the population out there that they haven't served very well. ie, potential sales. Maybe it would be a good idea to cater to them a bit.
 
I think the true answer is a bit more practical and basic, which is the industry realized there's 50% of the population out there that they haven't served very well. ie, potential sales. Maybe it would be a good idea to cater to them a bit.
By completely shifting to the other side. Right.

Well, we've seen how that worked out for Battlefield V, everyone's Battlefield.
 

Wimbledon

Member
It's not just video games though, for some reason appreciating the erotic nature of the female form, is sacrilegious. Even more so today with feminism. I kinda wish we were like Japan and just go full throttle with it.

Just to clarify i want developers to create a character the way they want to, i'm all for that. Just like i want developers to take risk with those characters, and take on elements that won't sit well with a lot of people.

One of the major problems at least to me is how stagnant the industry has become , since it's become more political.
 

Saruhashi

Banned
I think the true answer is a bit more practical and basic, which is the industry realized there's 50% of the population out there that they haven't served very well. ie, potential sales. Maybe it would be a good idea to cater to them a bit.

This point of view never really made much sense to me either.

Sure, there is an untapped user base out there that the general, generic, video games is not necessarily appealing to.

The way it's presented though is as if McDonald's should change the Big Mac because they have a potential untapped vegan and vegetarian customer base out there.

Surely, the correct solution is to offer alternative products for these under served populations?

The main arguments I see are that games need to "grow up" and the like but this doesn't seem like a solution.

I think you would cater to a new audience by offering new products to that audience?
No by adjusting the product and hoping that the lost customers are outweighed by the customers gained?

I'm not sure, for example, to what extent a redesign of Lara Croft's character encourages more sales or even encourages more ladies to pick up a Tomb Raider game?
 

Mihos

Gold Member
I am old fashioned, but I kind of liked fantasy in my fantasy games. It should be equitable across the board, but there is nothing wrong with my wife wanting to see Aquaman because she thing Momoa is hot. What fun would it be to tone that down?
 

Senhua

Member
Lol, even some Japanese games more and more looking for another route like the recent release of God Eater 3 more focused at otome/fujo.
 

petran79

Banned
If you're talking actual games where this stuff matters (games with scenarios, not phone games, puzzle games) then I'd be pretty comfortable in saying that I'm sure there are more female anime fans than girl gamers or the numbers are at least extremely close to one another.

I don't think they realised there are actual women playing, first off I just don't think western devs have honestly ever been too big on fan service or at least nowhere near the levels you can see in Japanese games. Most likely a cultural thing but one that's been in our culture from about 50-odd years. Secondly and most importantly I think that devs in the west evade fanservice, not because of anyone playing but because they know it'll get them negative attention from the outside. So yeah, they didn't want to appear on Fox News about 18 to 30 years ago and now they don't want rainbow colored hair Twitter profiles tweeting at them. ...And most likely still appearing on the news.

Had you played western computer games in the 80s-90s, most notably 16bit systems, the amount of fanservice and nudity was on par with the Japanese.
 
I think the true answer is a bit more practical and basic, which is the industry realized there's 50% of the population out there that they haven't served very well. ie, potential sales. Maybe it would be a good idea to cater to them a bit.
That's the thing, though. Do "50% of the population" (i. e. women, I guess) not like or even despise sexy depictions of women? In my experience that just isn't true. Of course, there is a difference often what women and men perceive as "sexy" but the current crop of colorless and bland (western/American) gaming figures satisfy no one or only a tiny vocal minority, I wager. It's almost as if there is finally a female version of the "bald space marine".

I freely admit that my opinion is anecdotic and based on real life observation, not some hard facts.
 
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Aurelian

my friends call me "Cunty"
Sexy appearances for women are fine, but there should be a sense of agency to that choice, a positivity to it. Think Bayonetta; she revels in it, she owns it, but she also doesn't just exist as eye candy.

The problem is, the OP and some others don't really seem to care about that. It sounds more like they're just looking for some masturbation material. "An ample amount of cleavage really isn't necessary for this character in this situation? Don't care, I want to jerk it!" You don't have to celebrate that they toned things down, but good gawd, if you're complaining loudly that Black Cat 'must' pour out of her top in a video game, you need a girlfriend... or at least some porn.
 

ExpandKong

Banned
Sexy appearances for women are fine, but there should be a sense of agency to that choice, a positivity to it. Think Bayonetta; she revels in it, she owns it, but she also doesn't just exist as eye candy.

The problem is, the OP and some others don't really seem to care about that. It sounds more like they're just looking for some masturbation material. "An ample amount of cleavage really isn't necessary for this character in this situation? Don't care, I want to jerk it!" You don't have to celebrate that they toned things down, but good gawd, if you're complaining loudly that Black Cat 'must' pour out of her top in a video game, you need a girlfriend... or at least some porn.

Isn’t Black Cat typically exactly the kind of character who “owns it” as you say? I was going along with you until you chose her as your example. EDIT: and accused the OP of being some kind of girlfriendless dweeb who needs some porn, apparently.

Besides, there are degrees to this kind of thing. This version of Black Cat looks like Marvel did a crossover with fucking PJ Masks.
 
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S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
Sexy appearances for women are fine, but there should be a sense of agency to that choice, a positivity to it. Think Bayonetta; she revels in it, she owns it, but she also doesn't just exist as eye candy.

The problem is, the OP and some others don't really seem to care about that. It sounds more like they're just looking for some masturbation material. "An ample amount of cleavage really isn't necessary for this character in this situation? Don't care, I want to jerk it!" You don't have to celebrate that they toned things down, but good gawd, if you're complaining loudly that Black Cat 'must' pour out of her top in a video game, you need a girlfriend... or at least some porn.
Why wouldn't somebody want to look at something that is good looking rather than a purposely made mediocre character (appearance wise) to pass off as politically correct? How is that in 2018 western female characters have become uglier purposely? Or realistic? Do these people even go out? Women have a wide range and can be beautiful it's not something rare. I never understood this whole "wow get a gf you nerd" approach dismissive people take when somebody dares question why devs these days started making humble ass looking fictional characters.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Sexy appearances for women are fine, but there should be a sense of agency to that choice, a positivity to it. Think Bayonetta; she revels in it, she owns it, but she also doesn't just exist as eye candy.

The problem is, the OP and some others don't really seem to care about that. It sounds more like they're just looking for some masturbation material. "An ample amount of cleavage really isn't necessary for this character in this situation? Don't care, I want to jerk it!" You don't have to celebrate that they toned things down, but good gawd, if you're complaining loudly that Black Cat 'must' pour out of her top in a video game, you need a girlfriend... or at least some porn.
What is the moral imperative for this to be followed?

This line of thinking is ripped straight out of the Puritant playbook.
 

Horns

Member
Help me understand the OP?! A couple of examples not oversexualizing female characters means no fanservice in Western games for straight men? Please tell me people don't buy into this self victimization.
 

Flapples

Member
And ill just sit here like a normal person and acknowledge that video games aren't real and should be enjoyed from anyone's point of view.
Hoo boy...

I'll just be over here respecting gaming's right to grow up and stop portraying most women as dolls for male amusement.
 
Help me understand the OP?! A couple of examples not oversexualizing female characters means no fanservice in Western games for straight men? Please tell me people don't buy into this self victimization.
I'm sure you can present some examples of your own to debunk his argument then, right?
 
D

Deleted member 77995

Unconfirmed Member
It's hard to say without any numbers. I started gaming with the SNES and Western games never seemed to have as much sex appeal as Japanese titles and I don't think YouTube comments are proof that anything has changed.
Ghost in the Shell is a brilliant example to bring up, although I'll have to disagree that the 1995 movie is bad because it's serious. The sexualised art-style of Motoko is well known as a strong deconstruction of female body image. Motoko initially exists as a puppet lacking free-will. In the beginning she has nude scenes and could easily be considered as existing for sexual stimulation, but over the course of the story grows more human-like. The philosophical themes of free will and technology mean she stops being defined by her body (and ergo sexuality). She ends up offering strong characteristics that make her both an excellent hero and an autonomous being. NieR Automata does a similar thing with 2B.

You've said the movie is too serious so maybe you'll disagree but I think this is exactly the point of Matoko (and the American movie is WAY more po-faced by avoiding it!).
You're not wrong but...
 

Filben

Member
who deserve everything that's coming to them.
Like not having hyper-sexy outfits in a video game franchise that wanted to be taken just a bit more seriously than a tomb raiding chick in an ice cavern? In shorts? That's not something I consider "coming to them/me", but that could just be me.

On the other hand, I still find Lara sexy. I also found Charlize Theron in Mad Max damn sexy because of her attitude, how she gets shit done and other things. Sexyness doesn't always work via cleavage revealing outfits. I don't think that adding fan-service really add something to game. With that being said I don't mind having them if there it's optional. Still many games that cover that kind of fan service, although there are might be a bit fewer ones than roughly a decade ago.
 

Aurelian

my friends call me "Cunty"
Isn’t Black Cat typically exactly the kind of character who “owns it” as you say? I was going along with you until you chose her as your example. EDIT: and accused the OP of being some kind of girlfriendless dweeb who needs some porn, apparently.

Besides, there are degrees to this kind of thing. This version of Black Cat looks like Marvel did a crossover with fucking PJ Masks.

Well, I'm not sure if she does, really -- in this case it's not as if she's some huge champion of sexual positivity in the game (in the comics it could be another matter).

And think about it... if you're so upset about the absence of T&A in your games to create a lengthy post bemoaning it, what does that say about your priorities? Never mind relationship status... there's this thing called porn that shows way, way more than a bit of cleavage, and it's typically free! You're chasing up the wrong tree if you need your games to serve as titillation.
 

bilderberg

Member
It's okay to sexualize if they got a fat ass, but big boobs and cleavage now a days is a big no no. Have y'all seen Lara's booty in Shadow? I swear it keeps getting bigger and bigger, but boobs just get smaller. I wan't both god dammit.
 
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