Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
teenagers. Male characters get extra-broad chests and shoulders, huge muscles,
prominent jaws, and oversized hands and feet. Female characters get enormous
breasts, extremely narrow waists, and wide hips. Skimpy clothing lets them display
their physical attributes as much as possible, and sexually suggestive poses further
drive the point home (as if there were any doubt). Both sexes boast unrealistic
height, with heads that seem disproportionately small and with extra-long legs.
High heels often further exaggerate women's height.
NOTE
In 1954,
American psychiatrist
Frederic Wertham
published a book
titled
Seduction of
the Innocent
, in which
he alleged the bulging
muscles and tight
clothing of comic-
book superheroes
promoted homosexu-
ality and that Wonder
Woman's strength
and independence
meant that she must
be a lesbian. Following
Congressional investi-
gations, the American
comics industry self-
censored its products
for many years.
Kratos, from the
God of War
games, typifies the hypersexualized male character,
as do most of the male characters in fighting games. Lara Croft is the best-known
example of a hypersexualized female character among the hundreds populating
any number of video games. Comic book superheroes (male and female) are also
traditionally hypersexualized, a quality that got comic books into trouble with the
U.S. Congress in the 1950s.
Such characters obviously sell well to young men and teenage boys, but by now
these images are clichéd. So many stereotypical he-men and babes have been cre-
ated over the years that it's difficult to tell them apart, and any new game that
relies on such images runs the risk of being lumped in with all the others. This
may actually obscure any technological or game design advances you have made.
Finally, hypersexualized characters really appeal only to a puerile audience. They
actively discourage older players, who've seen it all before, and female players. Strip
clubs are male preserves; a character that looks as if she just stepped out of one
sends clear signals that female players are not wanted or welcome. (To give her her
due, Lara Croft's hiking boots, backpack, and khaki clothing do set her apart from
the common run of women clad in chain mail bikinis or skintight leather.)
In short, avoid hypersexualizing characters just for their titillation value. It limits
your market and seldom adds much. You might get away with it if it's intentionally
done for laughs; putting Cate Archer into a 1960s retro catsuit worked out well for
the designers of
No One Lives Forever
because of the game's humorous context. But
No One Lives Forever
was also an excellent game in its own right. Big breasts won't
sell a poor game, as the developers of
Space Bunnies Must Die!
discovered.
Clothing, Weapons, Symbolic Objects, and Names
When designing ordinary human beings, body shape is only the beginning. In
the real world, we have only a limited ability to change our bodies, so instead we
express our personal style through things that we hang on the outsides of our
bodies: clothing and accessories. In a video game, the player can more easily see
who is who—especially important in situations requiring snap decisions, like a
shooter game—if characters' clothing and props uniquely identify them. Indiana
Jones wears a certain hat and khaki clothes, and he carries a bullwhip. Darth
Vader's flowing black cape, forbidding helmet, and even the sound of his breathing
instantly set him apart from everyone else in the
Star Wars
universe. Crucial for
avatars, this rule applies to a lesser extent to minor characters.
