@doctorsanity submitted:
I present to you… nameless green giant warrior from the One Piece mobile treasure cruise game… Now I don’t know if these designs are by the big guy Eiichiro Oda himself but… she’s pretty much a good representation for what One Piece has devolved into tbh. (You’ll also notice high heels)
I believe Treasure Cruise has a leveling system and this is her first form to upgraded form?
Male giants for comparison:
I live in a house with a staggering amount of One Piece merchandise throughout it and would never have picked this as being vaguely related without being told.
That’s not to say that One Piece doesn’t dip into the usual fan service tropes but compare the above to say…
Seriously, boobs and generic dudes are not an acceptable substitute for off the wall wackiness. They could at least have tried to make these designs interesting or at least entertaining.
– wincenworks
I think the biggest thing gamers fail to recognize when discussing sexism in video games is presentation. This is the biggest reason why I can never see characters like Zangief even be remotely equivalent to female characters. Disregarding every other difference that sets them apart, when was the last time you saw the camera creepily do a pan across Zangief sensually massaging his breasts and ending on his stuck out ass? His walk cycle isn’t him wildly shaking his hips. None of his animations flaunt his body in the sense that you’re supposed to be attracted to him. And to top it all off I know that, if this actually happened, it would be done as a joke.
Thank you for this post! It’s a nice concise explanation
on why male power fantasy is not the same as female sexualization.
It’s tedious at this point when we see someone claim that characters like Conan/Kratos/Zangief are equally “empowered” as their boob-flaunting female peers (because bare chests?). Hope this helps.
~Ozzie
I think the biggest thing gamers fail to recognize when discussing sexism in video games is presentation. This is the biggest reason why I can never see characters like Zangief even be remotely equivalent to female characters. Disregarding every other difference that sets them apart, when was the last time you saw the camera creepily do a pan across Zangief sensually massaging his breasts and ending on his stuck out ass? His walk cycle isn’t him wildly shaking his hips. None of his animations flaunt his body in the sense that you’re supposed to be attracted to him. And to top it all off I know that, if this actually happened, it would be done as a joke.
Thank you for this post! It’s a nice concise explanation
on why male power fantasy is not the same as female sexualization.
It’s tedious at this point when we see someone claim that characters like Conan/Kratos/Zangief are equally “empowered” as their boob-flaunting female peers (because bare chests?). Hope this helps.
~Ozzie
doctorsanity submitted:
Congratulations Capcom! Now instead of having 1 out of 3 women in your video game have a decent transition with all of her design choices, you have… none! Give ‘em a round of applause everyone.
Anyway, the new costume for Chun Li is a downgrade from it’s last appearance, if you couldn’t tell. I’ll go over the specific changes:
First and foremost, her hair is noticeably different, trading in buns for small pigtails in the front on long hair in the back. The cloth around her neck seems to be smaller, or at least it’s positioned that much more shoulder is being shown. The thong cloth whatever is noticeably thinner, and no longer is positioned to go over some of her thighs (now just being between her thighs). The metal designs on the ends of them either aren’t there and have been changed to cloth patterns, or the angle the new costume is in simply shows them poorly. Her shoes are a different color (though I actually really like that change the pink on the original is pretty stupid). The spiked bracelet has inverted colors, nothing really wrong with that. Her red braid on her stomach is clearly just a designed little charm now, as they also removed the bun hair with the other red braids on them to go with the old stomach ones. They added gold swirl designs which draw attention to her breasts from where they were put.
I don’t know if it’s the physics engine screwing up, but the fact that the thong is just so smashed between her thighs and not covering much at all makes it really strange to look at.
And don’t get me started on the Cammy one!
What I find most amazing about this is that these are pre-order costumes and they’re basically trying to re-invent history while trying to convince fans to buy the game before it’s released.
“Wearing one of her signature black dresses, Chun-Li always fights in style!”
What? Since when? Her “signature” black dress only got introduced in Streetfighter IV and went pretty much ignored (except by modders who wanted to make it look better). Seriously, was there something about her that suggested she went in for cocktail dresses and fighting with her boobs hanging out to someone? Her primary likes were always sweets and stopping crime, and her demeanor…
Look Capcom, I know the fighting game market has gotten tough since the 90s and that it’s getting even tougher with the rise of Indie games… but I’m going to give you some advice. Less taking your leads off your competitors like Soul Calibur (who are also struggling) and more taking leads of people like Killer Instinct.
And give us back our fierce, driven and yet adorkable crime fighting Chun Li! She’s a lot more fun and interesting than… whatever you’re trying to make her into.
– wincenworks
whereismywizardhat submitted:
The ride never ends.
The kindest thing I can say about this armor is no high heels
doctorsanity submitted:
R. Mika, after and before
(It’s not just that they made her show more breasts, more stomach, and… u-underarm? (Why did they-?), but the posing in the new shot is simply atrocious. Hands down.)
Oh Street Fighter… you were a pioneer franchise for the fighting game genre and now you’re trying to follow along with the Tekken and Soul Calibur… shame on you.
– wincenworks
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
doctorsanity submitted:
Charlotte from the latest Fire Emblem Fates. If you look closely you can see she has high heels on.
While I understand her gimmick is wooing richer men to spoil herself, I basically find the design embarrassing.
I feel that the biggest flaw with these designing a character around them being seductive approaches is that they sort of disregard for the idea that:
- Seduction is a personal and intimate thing, particularly if it’s for something longer than overnight.
- People with wealth and power can usually have attractive company any time they like without being seduced and fleeced.
- Advertising that you’re trying to be seductive and sexy probably doesn’t help them relax and slip into being seduced.
From what I can gather about Charlotte… part of her being a seductress is she’s trying to pretend to be innocent and she’s also meant to be a mighty warrior. I can’t help but think that maybe more armor would help her with both of her goals.
– wincenworks