According to FoxNews, a segment of gamers are going berserk over the sexualization Laura Croft because of an E3 promo video that shows an implied almost rape scene.
Whether the scene is playable or not, gamers were adamant that using violence as titillation was offensive, sexist and unnecessary.
In general, I enjoy FoxNews; in fact, I read the site daily. With that said – WTF? What part of this video was titillating? Maybe for gamers with offbeat fetishes or younger gamers that hope and pray for a glimpse of a digital tit.
Is the scene Unnecessary? Yes. Offensive? I’m not so easily offended.
Crystal Dynamics has said they want gamers to protect a vulnerable Miss. Croft. Whatever. I just hope the game is decent. In the meantime, I got a kick out of reading all the comments on the GameTrailers forum.
Atelier and Neptunia
[Adult Content Warning – The next few links are NOT safe for work, and probably not anywhere else for that matter. You have been warned!]
Now if you really want to talk about the sexualization of female gaming characters, meet Atelier Meruru. Not that I’m complaining; I like the series for what it is, and I don’t think playing it makes me a pervert. Who am I to judge myself?
Keeping with the theme of sexualized girls, for your amusement, according to the unwashed masses, the Hyperdimension Neptunia series is all about the sexualization of young girls. In face, some would say Neptunia is too over the top, solely concentrating on the ogling of the lolita characters, and to be honest … well, play Neptunia or Neptunia mk2 and judge for yourself …
Neptunia’s premise is a thin excuse for a role-playing game that revolves around hypersexualized young girls.
Apparently Neptunia V is more over the top that ever, but at least one of the girls will be more, how shall I say it, endowed than previous characters, perhaps making the game more accessible.
You really have to take the Neptunia series with a grain of salt – you either “get it” and enjoy playing this sort of JRPG, you “get it” but realize that the gameplay mechanics are not on par with other JRPGs, or you just don’t get it.
I pick up pretty much all manner of JRPGs, especially collector and premium editions. If nothing else, I can always flip them on eBay down the road for a nice profit. I would be remiss to not point out that the production values from NIS America for their Atelier and Neptunia releases are second to none, which at least shows that video game sexualization of young girls can be done in style.
