Princess Bubblegum

I'll be the one who puts you in the ground.
On Break
Oct 25, 2017
10,335
A Cavern Shaped Like Home
The reason Ubisoft, ActiBlizz, etc don't get banned is because a) banning anything popular on this site is an ordeal in itself and b) EVERY major developer/publisher has skeletons in their closest, every last one. Misogyny is rampant in the industry and it's not just women that get put through hell too. We focus on specific games and products for a reason, that's "manageable" for us.
 
Jan 11, 2018
9,966
Ah, so it's Dead or Alive for the 2020s.

To play the Devil's advocate a bit, ever since the fifth game Dead or Alive has actually made a bigger effort to at least be an equal opportunity offender by offering various beach wear and "sexy" costumes for male characters as well, even though they're well aware that's not where their bread is buttered. That doesn't make the sexualisation of its female cast any less problematic by itself, but maybe softens the blow a bit? I would assume a lot of women feel like it's adding insult to injury when there's a more obvious sexist power dynamic on full display, like in Stellar Blade where men are fully covered up while the women all just happen to wear skimpy outfits and gratuitous angles / camera shots.
 

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,505
2024 and we got the "im an incel" trifecta of

"When I go to the gym"
"My totally real wife"
"Pronouns!"

Genuinely what a loser. One who probably has typed "Everyone else is an NPC" at some point.
They're going to have a heart attack when they realize they've been using pronouns to refer to their own identities their entire lives.
 
Jan 11, 2018
9,966
They're going to have a heart attack when they realize they've been using pronouns to refer to their own identities their entire lives.

It reminds me of bigots who say they're absolutely not cisgender or heterosexual, because they're so uneducated they don't know what either of those terms actually mean and assume they have to be "leftist propaganda".
 

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,505
It reminds me of bigots who say they're absolutely not cisgender or heterosexual, because they're so uneducated they don't know what either of those terms actually mean and assume they have to be "leftist propaganda".
I recently had this conversation with someone I know. They complained about the word cisgender and I asked them if they were heterosexual and they said they were, I asked them to think about what the words cisgender and heterosexual are actually referring to and after a moment of thought it was like a cartoon, I almost saw a light bulb appear over their head for a brief second... before they resorted to the usual talking points.

Anyway, sorry for going off topic. I shouldn't let posts like that get to me.
 

plufim

Member
Sep 29, 2018
1,183
To play the Devil's advocate a bit, ever since the fifth game Dead or Alive has actually made a bigger effort to at least be an equal opportunity offender by offering various beach wear and "sexy" costumes for male characters as well, even though they're well aware that's not where their bread is buttered. That doesn't make the sexualisation of its female cast any less problematic by itself, but maybe softens the blow a bit? I would assume a lot of women feel like it's adding insult to injury when there's a more obvious sexist power dynamic on full display, like in Stellar Blade where men are fully covered up while the women all just happen to wear skimpy outfits and gratuitous angles / camera shots.
Oh yeah, I'm referring to the era of DoA3, when the characters were most doll-like. It's no surprise that when the costumes were a little more sensible and the faces a little more varied in DoA5 that a certain contingent got mad.

But then they got the ficking Extreme games, which, jesus christ.
 

NexusCell

Member
Nov 2, 2017
858
(On a side note, I'm not sure how many people are aware that NIKKE, the gacha game that the Stellar Blade devs are behind, is actually the third or fourth most profitable gacha on the market right now, behind Genshin and Honkai Star Rail. But most people in the mainstream have likely never heard of it compared to the other two. Why is that? I say 'profitable' for a reason, Genshin and HSR are far more well known due to the sheer number of players, while NIKKE in comparison has a much smaller population overall but way more coomer whales spending in that game. I'm not really one to tell people how to spend their money, how devs should make their games, or what they should like, but they shouldn't go surprise Pikachu face when they end up with much less respect from everyone else for it.)
NIKKE being so profitable is crazy considering they give out free currency like hot cakes. Like getting SSR units is extremely easy, so all the money is coming from whales who buy every season pass or buy loads of tickets for the costume lottery.

Basically coomers have deep pockets.
 

Majunior

Member
Jun 20, 2019
1,279
NIKKE being so profitable is crazy considering they give out free currency like hot cakes. Like getting SSR units is extremely easy, so all the money is coming from whales who buy every season pass or buy loads of tickets for the costume lottery.

Basically coomers have deep pockets.
I doubt it comes mostly from the costumes lol. We see significant bumps in revenue based on whatever character banners were released that month. A meh chararcter normally means that Nikke is going to have a weak month.
 
Feb 24, 2018
5,453
General Question, how do feel is the best ways to design and write femme fatales in video games and what are some of your personal favourites (evil, neutral and heroic)?

Was looking at some of my old original fiction I wrote as a teenager and cringing at it.
 

Kenai

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,484
General Question, how do feel is the best ways to design and write femme fatales in video games and what are some of your personal favourites (evil, neutral and heroic)?

Was looking at some of my old original fiction I wrote as a teenager and cringing at it.

It's kind of a spoiler if you haven't played the game I think (?) since a lot of times a fem fatale will betray one of the MCs after they let their guard down throughout the story and thus it's a decent plot twist, but I really liked
Olivia
in Grim Fandango

image.png


Super affable and a snappy beatnik right up until she isn't, and is completely unapologetic about it
 
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grand

Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,486
Uhm...

NSFW:



View: https://media.giphy.com/media/l3q2K5jinAlChoCLS/giphy.gif

PQube used to be known for publishing ASW games in Europe. They've become such a joke...

Honestly, this is just on brand marketing for Konosuba. According to the fandom wiki, this VN's premise is:

A sequel to Judgment on this Greedy Game! that takes place after the second season of the anime, the game's all-new story begins when Kazuma's party finds a "Black Slab", a magical item that has the ability to generate clothes. However, they are accused once more by Sena, this time for theft from a nobleman, and are threatened with banishment. Even worse, Kazuma finds out that the Slab is also cursed to make anyone's desire the opposite upon usage. With the usual masochistic Darkness turned into a ruthlessly sadistic dominatrix, Megumin turned into the founder of a lolita alliance, and the dysfunctional Aqua turned into an actual proper goddess, Kazuma must find a way to generate clothes that satisfy their desires and return them to normal.


So yeah, it was a lost cause from the get go
 

ap_2

Member
Jan 23, 2021
828
gotta love those completely useless pauldrons. no clue about the belt situation. it looks like a weight lifter's belt (or is it a corset?) design is a mess, even outside the t&a component.

but hey, 38 years old! most jrps would call that "ancient beyond comprehension".
 

doops.

Member
Jun 3, 2020
2,739
With everything surrounding Stellar Blade lately, I'm betting that Buzzfeed 'video games appeal to the male fantasy' woman that got memed on relentlessly in the 2010s is feeling pretty fucking vindicated in speaking truth right about now.

(to be fair, there have been a lot of other games in recent years where the above would be true too.)


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuFlRs6KQMU
 

ClickyCal'

Member
Oct 25, 2017
60,409
And of course you have all the people that are like "no wait...let him cook!" As if anyone is taking him at face value.
 

Kainazzo

Member
Dec 13, 2017
672
Stellar Blade really feels straight out of the era of Bloodrayne, BMX, PN03, DoA, etc.
I've felt the same vibe since it was revealed. It's also like they vaguely remembered Heavenly Sword and filled in the blanks.

Edit: The screenshot in that tweet above is like they took the most objectifying angles of Miranda from OG Mass Effect 2 and made a whole universe around it.
 
Dec 2, 2021
869
Is anyone truly busty without some good ol' fashion boob sock and side boob? I mean, for all we know those could be some damn fine pecs!
It's the only way to tell! The solution is we need more men to dress like Illumi in PR. Before when he wore clothes without these traits(and the boob window), he might have been mistaken for a woman and I'm glad for the clarity.
KhgxXM.png
 

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,833
I love how the stellar blade dev called their decision to focus on the main characters ass as "brave".

My, what a hero.
Speaking of, when's straight pride month? /s

I'm glad it's 2024 because remember when how we somehow had like, 15 years of people who were genuinely hailing Yoko Taro and Hideki Kamiya, two incredibly cis men who have genuinely expressed opposite feelings on the matter as paragons of feminism for *checks notes* having the exact same objectification/framing/sexualization/menwritingwomenvibes in their games as many other devs but like, they were posting on twitter about it?

I still can't believe it took 3 Bayo games for people to realize that she was the embodiment of this meme and always Kamiya's, not even barely disguised but very open fetish:
origin.png

untitled-1-1309280387.jpg

d8d10562-17f0-4038-872a-27f1ea2d78b1.png
 
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Ry.

AVALANCHE
Member
Oct 10, 2021
1,308
the planet Zebes
Speaking of, when's straight pride month? /s

I'm glad it's 2024 because remember when how we somehow had like, 15 years of people who were genuinely hailing Yoko Taro and Hideki Kamiya, two incredibly cis men who have genuinely expressed opposite feelings on the matter as paragons of feminism for *checks notes* having the exact same objectification/framing/sexualization/menwritingwomenvibes in their games as many other devs but like, they were posting on twitter about it?

I still can't believe it took 3 Bayo games for people to realize that she was the embodiment of this meme and always Kamiya's, not even barely disguised but very open fetish:
origin.png

untitled-1-1309280387.jpg

d8d10562-17f0-4038-872a-27f1ea2d78b1.png

yeah, I feel like we're at this crazy tipping point in western culture where we are simultaneously experiencing the most accepting and understanding phase of society along with this intense, last, loud, screaming temper tantrum from a vocal minority.

In this particular case, men who just can't handle the fact that many people don't like having to see their sexual fetishes advertised to them everywhere.
 

Paroni

Member
Dec 17, 2020
3,551
yeah, I feel like we're at this crazy tipping point in western culture where we are simultaneously experiencing the most accepting and understanding phase of society along with this intense, last, loud, screaming temper tantrum from a vocal minority.

In this particular case, men who just can't handle the fact that many people don't like having to see their sexual fetishes advertised to them everywhere.

It's especially weird since there has also never been a better time to get all the sexualized content they could ever want from independent artists, writers and gamedevs, there is no shortage of supply and it is not ever going away. They still insist that their preferred softcore imagery absolutely must be present in mainstream media.
 

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,833
yeah, I feel like we're at this crazy tipping point in western culture where we are simultaneously experiencing the most accepting and understanding phase of society along with this intense, last, loud, screaming temper tantrum from a vocal minority.

In this particular case, men who just can't handle the fact that many people don't like having to see their sexual fetishes advertised to them everywhere.
Been like that for a decade tbh.
 

Ry.

AVALANCHE
Member
Oct 10, 2021
1,308
the planet Zebes
It's especially weird since there has also never been a better time to get all the sexualized content they could ever want from independent artists, writers and gamedevs, there is no shortage of supply and it is not ever going away. They still insist that their preferred softcore imagery absolutely must be present in mainstream media.

Yeah it will never fully leave, but I do think it will be pushed even more out of the limelight as time continues. At least now it's a conscious choice to shove tits and ass in the viewers face, as opposed to the blanket "sex sells" default paradigm that ran unopposed for the last, oh, 40 years or so lol
 

Princess Bubblegum

I'll be the one who puts you in the ground.
On Break
Oct 25, 2017
10,335
A Cavern Shaped Like Home
The designs don't make up for firing their own staff to appease witch hunters
9bZBvYe.gif

I'm tired of this gotcha. I made the (now abandoned) OT for Limbus Company! \o/ I followed all that shit as it was going down. (As best as somebody who doesn't speak nor read Korean could.)

VellMori's story CGs are very much missed and everything around it was bullshit that we'll never have full details on. (Not anytime soon since she is likely under an NDA and probably got compensation given she's been silent on social media ever since.) Kim Ji-hoon will forever be on my shitlist for that and many more things he's done or not done. Leviathan's original artist, monggeu, being given outlandish deadlines and treated like shit when she was having (mental) health problems, MIMI very likely had ridiculous deadlines too given how rushed Wonder Lab's ending was and the fact that she had it taken down/made non-canon, and then Watson leaving the English localization team because of them being harassed online for years.

There's still good people working at/for Project Moon and as well as other women on the art team, but Kim needs to be gone or not president of the company.
 

xendless

Teyvat Traveler
Member
Jan 23, 2019
11,105
9bZBvYe.gif

I'm tired of this gotcha. I made the (now abandoned) OT for Limbus Company! \o/ I followed all that shit as it was going down. (As best as somebody who doesn't speak nor read Korean could.)

VellMori's story CGs are very much missed and everything around it was bullshit that we'll never have full details on. (Not anytime soon since she is likely under an NDA and probably got compensation given she's been silent on social media ever since.) Kim Ji-hoon will forever be on my shitlist for that and many more things he's done or not done. Leviathan's original artist, monggeu, being given outlandish deadlines and treated like shit when she was having (mental) health problems, MIMI very likely had ridiculous deadlines too given how rushed Wonder Lab's ending was and the fact that she had it taken down/made non-canon, and then Watson leaving the English localization team because of them being harassed online for years.

There's still good people working at/for Project Moon and as well as other women on the art team, but Kim needs to be gone or not president of the company.

I don't mean it as a gotcha, I mean it more as, a company could be putting out the coolest looking characters and it still doesn't measure up in the end
Believe me as a former Overwatch stan, Ana and Sombra are some of my favourite designs ever, but that effort ends up feeling empty in the end with everything else happening around the company
 

Hrist

Member
Jun 30, 2023
284
It's especially weird since there has also never been a better time to get all the sexualized content they could ever want from independent artists, writers and gamedevs, there is no shortage of supply and it is not ever going away. They still insist that their preferred softcore imagery absolutely must be present in mainstream media.

The *same people* will turn around and attack these independent artists, female streamers that look "too sexy", etc. It's really more about controlling women than sexualized images itself, I think - both in who is allowed to be sexual, and the type of sexual content, at these dudes terms and their terms alone.
 

apathetic

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,920
I'm just happy to have a place that every time Stellar Blade is mentioned, even if only pointing out bad aspects of it, it isn't followed by a bunch of "day one" "looks amazing can't wait" posts. Shit is something I've had to completely detach from. Even normal gaming podcasts I listen to are full of that.