There's a game coming out featuring a female protagonist in a very Devil May Cry kinda game.
It's called Bayonetta.
Not much is known yet but the protagonist is a witch, fighting monster/angels with guns and not just any guns. But with one on each hand and one on each boot... and in my opinion that's really kinda awesome...
but then the crotch shot... if you want to see what I mean check out the trailer here (not safe for work)
Even for video games the objectification is extreme.
However the thought struck me as I listened to Bayonetta talk... she was very tongue and cheek and it reminded me of another extreme character whom I happen to love: Naga The Serpent from Slayers with her 'Battle Bikini'
Slayers is an affectionate parody of the fantasy genre. Naga is a satire of the chain-mail-bikini trope much to the ire of main character Lina Inverse, the sensibly dressed red head. Naga goes through the movies and OVAs as a big ditz who nonetheless is a talented sorceress whom Lina can't seem to shake after Naga declares herself Lina's Greatest Rival.
I started to think... could Bayonetta be a complete satire of video games these days? We all know women in video games rarely escape the role of sexual object, could Bayonetta actually being making a statement the way Naga pokes fun of the same trope in fantasy stories? It is a very short and vague trailer and Bayonetta breaks the fourth wall showing she could be very genre savvy...
Or am I just kidding myself? After all one of the things that makes Naga work is her juxtaposition with Lina. So far Bayonetta has no such counterpart. Given the track record of video games these days the idea that this game is anything but what it appears to be at first glance seems almost insanely optimistic. Maybe I just really want the game to not be so blatantly offensive because... well those gun boots are cool and I want them...
One thing I do know, satire or not, if the game is going to shove Bayonetta's crotch in my face in every cut scene I'll be too busy feeling physically ill to enjoy any ass-kicking with gun-boots...
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Unfortunately, even if the intent IS satire, it doesn't matter of a majority of people see it is another hot babe they wish they could get it on with. And seeing as how most gamer nerd guys probably don't think objectification needs to be satired, (why poke fun at something so awesome?) they will probably just see it as they want to.
I'll wait for my boyfriend to stumble upon the review and tell me what it's gag-factor will be.
sorry I fail at embedding images... I knew I should have just coded it in the first place. Anyway here are the images I ment to have in my post there:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/ReiSilver/bayonetta1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/ReiSilver/bayonetta2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/ReiSilver/LinaNaga.jpg
also if anyone can tell me what the code is for cutting a post it would be much appreciated
It does look like a really fun game. I don't know anything about it or other games in the genre, but the video doesn't really make it seem like a satire to me. The video is a mixture of offensive shots and camera pans and really cool action.... but I don't know if I would find that the action made up for the shots of her butt/crotch. Sorry I'm no help.
I don't play video games to often, but I just bought Red Alert 3 for the PC because I loved the first one. I was so excited about the box having Natasha looking really strong and tough (see here), only to open the box and see that it came with what's basically a pinup poster of Natasha and the other female soldiers, 6-8 of them, barely dressed (I can't find a picture online, but this is Natasha and this is one of the other girls). It was so disappointing. I don't think I would have bought it if I had known Natasha's jacket only just overs her breats. Plus, when you win a mission you get a picture of one of the female soldiers (the one blonde one shown above) showing off her cleavage and celebrating your victory waving a little flag. It really takes all the fun out of winning. I'm going to keep playing, since I already payed so much for it, and I really hope there are no more offensive surprises.
I know it's not the same or an equivalent feeling, but the stupidity of all that really does kill some of the joy for at least some male gamers. It's offensive to the intelligence along with everything else.
I like her attitude, but the crotch shots are ridiculous! I think you can make out the shape of her genitalia!
She has an attack where her clothes come off!
She looks like she could be an interesting character, much love to the tough woman protagonists, but that is so obviously fap material.
Well, right off the bat, the music sounds a bit campy. It's upbeat piano, instead of grinding rock or stripper pop that's usually the background music of choice for objectifying imagery. My initial impression was that this is probably satirical, as you suggested.
After that, my flow of thought went "OK, nice action shots...ugh, crotch shot...back to action, lots of action, nice fighting sequences, this looks like a lot of fun! ...oh great, there go her clothes...more action."
I think I'll wait for the early reviews. If the gameplay is good enough, I'll give it a shot and apply some feminist criticism. I'm a game reviewer, but Bayonetta doesn't fall under my site's game coverage (we only cover RPGs), so I'll have to review it independently.
After seeing the trailer, I have mixed feelings. It does feel campy and a bit upbeat, Bayonetta comes off as extremely confident (even arrogant), and she appears unattainable (as opposed to pliant, submissive, and available for male enjoyment like some female stereotypes). Maybe it really is lampooning the stereotypes. The crotch in your face is so extreme that it does almost seem like satire. Usually they just pan up the legs and ass or show some jiggling jugs.
Maybe they just picked the scant few objectifying shots and threw those in the trailer to hook the drooling male demographic. Trailers can be somewhat deceptive.
That said, I've seen companies use female sexuality to sell mediocre games -- even games that don't have any actual sexual content.
For example, Success/Atlus released yuri cheesecake artwork for both Izuna games. For the first game, there was a picture of one female character grabbing another's breasts. Fanboys over on GameFAQs predicted that the first game would be awesome because it had omghawtlesbians. The actual game had no lesbian imagery whatsoever; it was just a mediocre dungeon crawler. For the second game, they were relaxing in a hot tub together, with Izuna drinking something and licking her lips in a seductive manner. I don't know if the second game has any actual sexual content, but I doubt it does.
So, all the crotch and ass shots could just be a way to sell a mediocre action title. A good game relies on fun gameplay and/or immersive storytelling to sell itself (Mirror's Edge, Shadow of the Colossus, Katamari Damacy, Final Fantasy series). If a game lacks these, sometimes they have to lure players in with boobies (DOA Beach Volleyball, anyone?).
Whether this is satirical or playing into the same old tropes as usual, we shall see.
This kind of stuff pisses me off, I am an 19 year old male, at university with disposable income. I am part of the key video game demographic, and the blatant sexism here just removed any chance I had at buying this game.
I am however glad that today some development teams are mature enough to make decent games without relying on objectification (I thought the new Prince of Persia was pretty good). It really is sad though that it is incredibly hard to find good old fashioned super violent, badass games that just cuts out the sexism, the only one that comes to mind is Left 4 Dead (4 players, guns and the inevitable zombie apocalypse).