Slashdot Mirror
Are Game Magazines Turning Into Men's Magazines?
KaiEl writes "I was skimming through the latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (April 2004) the other day when I began to notice a recurring theme: pictures of scantily clad women, both virtual and real, kept popping up. Usually it's not surprising to find one or two skimpy outfits in an issue, but this one seemed crawling with them. I decided to chronicle a list of the semi-nudity in a post on my weblog. What does this surplus of sexy pictures say about the direction of the videogame industry? Is it a reaction to the success of 'male' magazines like Maxim and FHM? Is it a reflection of the video game industry's seeming fascination with the barely clothed female form (see: Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball)? Or am I just a prude who's getting worked up over nothing?"
Know your audience.
I have been pwned because my
"Or am I just a prude who's getting worked up over nothing?"
;)
Considering you chronicled the semi-nudity on your web site, I think you're a smart person who knows that nudity (even the semi kind) will get you a posting on Slashdot and a lot of web traffic to your blog.
And since I seem to be a very early post, I suspect a lot of people are RTFAWSN (Reading the ----ing article with semi-nudity.)
The blog doesn't have any of the pictures from these magazines. Man, what a damn tease. I'm sorry I clicked the link.
The same people who have a ton of money to blow on the endless and for the most part terrible games that the video game industry releases, are also the same people who view the other sex as objects. Why not start "reviewing" women in the magazines as well?
./revolution
I've noticed kind of a similar thing w/ electronic stores and video game stores...borders are getting fuzzy. EB starts selling used games, Funcoland starts selling new, both start selling DVDs and hobbyist toys, Best Buy sells laptops and PCs, CompUSA starts selling big TVs and stereos....sometimes it feels like it's going to become one big store type...
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
I think it reflects that a large part of the audience who grew up with computer games has, er, grown older, and this is the kneejerk reaction of the industry to try to attract them.
Yes.
And DOA:X is actually a rather good 'social game', with some rather fun subgames tacked on, even bar the semi-nudity.
I wonder if the author has looked at much of ANY magazine, TV show or movie in the past 20 years. There isn't much of anything that isn't sold by attatching hot nearly naked women to it. Powertools to alchohol to videogames to vacations in Jamaica- all brought to you by the power of your own biological urges. This is nothing new. Videogames have rounded the bend on graphics enough to give us rendered juggy characters. Entertainment Weekly often has nearly naked women, so does Interview, so does Wallpaper, so does Vogue, so does pretty much any magazine aimed at anyone over pubescent age. Ever wonder why so many "classic" paintings from the renaissance are of nude reclining women?
I just wish that they redid the "Leisure Suit Larry" games with today's graphic capabilities.
"I am not denying the existence of stupidity, or of stupid people." - phyruxus
I think it reflects that a large part of the audience who grew up with computer games has, er, grown older, and this is the kneejerk reaction of the industry to try to attract them.
Um, I don't think the knee is the part of the body being jerked in this case...
GMD
watch this
Or am I just a prude who's getting worked up over nothing?
No, I think you have a valid concern. I can be a porn hound with the best of the them but when I want to read about computer games or car modding it narks me that I'm bombarded with 'glamour' pictures. You should see the shit you get in car modding mags these days.
I think it has as much to do with the sudden power of the editors and other staff members. It's like the sad state that guys go through as soon as they get a bit of money to spend on the art budget. You also see it in music videos. Sad no-name rap group gets told they can spen $X on a video and get some women bumping and grinding, like it's some sort of badge of honour. Gee well, done guys, you got enough $ to hire a pretty girl to stand near you for a change.
If you really want a computer game magazine you should buy Future Publishing's Edge. It's written for and by adults in an adult style and doesn't go for the prurient. Stear clear of the sad wankers because if the need to show you some tits to make you buy their mag then their editorial must be shite.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
...welcome our new Nude overlords.
What can I say, it's been a slow day.
Remember Next Generation magazine? That was the last seriously credible game review mag - and I was pretty upset when they folded.
Everybody I know uses online game reviews no (eg: Gametab and Metacritic). I'm not sure that a pure game print mag is able to survive anymore. Those that are left are probably still alive because they've resorted to using sex to try and help sell themselves.
games are good. hot chicks are good. if you can combine them both, thats great. dont start that shit with us. youll alert stupid concerned groups that are getting bored with manhunt and vice city.
Electronic Gaming Monthly did a poll at least two years ago to find their target audience, and found that it was males between the ages of 17-25 or something like that. They conciously made the move to a more male/sexually-oriented format, and actually told their readers about this. Inspection of other gaming mags will show you that they're not all made this way. Like the first person to comment, they're just knowing their audience. 12 year olds read happy Nintendo Power, and big boys who like their nudity read EGM. It doesn't have much to do with games at all.
However, DOA:X is a good illustration of how the gaming market <i>is</i> becoming more sexually oriented. Mmmm....decline of society...
Or am I just a prude who's getting worked up over nothing?
It depends on what, in particular, about the images of scantily clad women got you worked up. If you were just annoyed because you felt that you paid for a gaming magazine and got something else, then, no, you aren't a prude. Nor are you a prude if you were annoyed that the magazine publisher basically ignored their female readers. On the other hand, if you were upset that a semi-nude female form was in plain view, then, yes, you are a prude.
Ironically, I have to wonder if the reason for the phenomenon you point out is prudishness. Think about the absurdity of the U.S. Senate holding hearings because a breast (with the nipple covered) was shown on network television. People in Europe must think that Americans are complete, sexually-repressed, idiots. And it may be the "forbidden" nature of sex in the U.S. that makes pseudo porn (the images you mentioned, FHM, Maxim, etc.) so appealing. If U.S. beaches were topless and network television showed nudity, how much of a draw would it be to put images of "hot babes" in gaming magazines?
My favorite gaming news site, Blue's News, has advertisements from UGO that has advertisements with women as well. Same with IGN. It is not just the hardcopy magazines.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
The problems with all the emphasis on sex in video games is that makes them 1) less likely to be allowed by Mom and 2) less appealing to female gamers.
I stopped getting video game magazines when I realized that every issue had a partially revealed hottie on either the front or the back cover. I couldn't even leave the magazines lying around.
Eventually, the hobby will mature enough to support videogame magazines aimed at different markets: young videogamers, female videogamers, mature videogamers, and (the largest segment) horny young male videogamers. For now, though, it's just that last group being served.
You need only to look at the about page for G4TV to understand what video game press is geared towards. The only missing word is male, but being that obvious would get them into a lot of trouble. Watch the channel and you will know that the word 'male' is implied. Had they include both genders, you wouldn't have shows that feature titles such as graphic adventures which have a higher gender mix than other titles.
/. post, I don't feel I need to be too detailed.
Right now the industry is approching a crossroads. Had I have time to be detailed, I would make certain paralles with electrionic gaming and early history of the film industry where the market wasn't realized until after the Hollywood monoploies were broken. Since this is a
What I will say is the industry is at a point for easy money makers, similar to the 30's and 40's for film that the B-film was made for. Churn them out, get high returns with low investment. You can make a very sucessful title that for a general audience that will make mad-money (IE: The Sims, Myst, Flight Simulator), but these titles appear to be hard to make sucessful. So, we get tons of product that fits in the easy market: 12 to 34 male.
AnamanFan - Trying to find the Truth, one post at a time.
(* Hint: It is a 'blog' beneath its surface, and most bloggers are girls aged 13-17.)
Nvidia Elf
Wait until the Playboy Game starts getting covered by the Mags. You think they look like a Men's Magazine NOW?
Wait 2 months.
pictures of scantily clad women, both virtual and real, kept popping up.
I noticed exactly the same thing.
I used to be a subscriber to EGM, but I eventually dropped the subscription because I felt it was taking unfair advantage of the ease with which my hormones are manipulated by random people. It seemed they were beginning to shove out the real gaming-related stuff in favor of more "lowest common denominator" stuff - such as images of the female form in various stages of undress, and I just decided I wasn't getting what I was paying for anymore, so I quit paying. ;)
degenerate place, this.
Last month my issue of XBox magizne and it had a long review on the upcomming MechAssult. On every page and the cover they had a picture of a woman in a tight see thru shirt. Did they need to add that to make the game better? If I want to see half naked woman I play DOAXBV. when I play MechAsslut I play for the Mechs and distruction. I all for Adult titles I think there should be more. Just keep it in its place. -BigWurm-
Pick up just about any magazine from the shelves in your local newsagent. You'll find slim, scantily clad women in photos. Be it cosmo, womens day, auto, PC Gamer, whatever you get, they'll be using pretty women to sell copy.
And they were doing it years before today. I have some original Zap!64 magazines at home (for the commodore 64). You bet, there are chicks in there too.
The fact of the matter is, and the marketing guys have known this for a long time, women are more pleasing to the eye than men (even to women). Therefore, women sell magazines and cars and PC games and cosmetics. Go look at the covers in your local agency. You'll find around 90% of the magazines have a woman on the front.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
The EGM article unambiguously exemplies the sexual objectification of women. What I find particularly disturbing are the invasive and almost abusive questions asked in the EGM America's Sexiest Gamer article. For example, in the article the interviewer asks "What's the best game to use as foreplay?", "What's your favorite position...to play games in?", and "Are vibrating controllers sexy?". Based on her asexual responses, I would be willing to argue that the sexual nature of the line of questioning was nonconsensual.
I submit that you are not prude, rather I believe you are simply taking offense at the blatant objectification.
Michael.
Linux : Mac
Yes you are just someone getting all worked up for nothing...
Creative Demolition
Most of the womens magazines are just like this too. Full of skimpily clad supermodels. The difference is they are also full of articles telling women how imperfect they are physically and why they *could* achieve a perfect body if only they weren't so lazy.
At least the ones targetted at men usually have articles about cars or sport or computer games.
- MugginsM
Stuff is much funnier! Oh yeah it has chicks also
It's not a new trend to see so much scantily clad women (be they digital or real) in a videogame mag. I remember a few years ago one even had a "game girl of the month" in one of the mags I had, which featured a full page scantily clad glamor shot of a model dressed as say, Lara Croft, or such. In the style of say, FHM.
But back then, there was a higher percentage of content than there seems to be now.
Now if I buy a magazine, I know I'll get to see lots of semi naked polygon girls, anime girls, real girls, etc, but I'm pretty sure I won't find out anything interesting on the games....
Ignoring the whole issue of whether it's ethical or not to objectify someone...can anyone really enjoy these? I mean, don't get me wrong. I like looking at good-looking underdressed girls as much as the next guy. However, isn't there a point where reading the article, you start to feel silly just because the marketing involved is *so* blatant? I mean, how can you *read* those without looking at yourself and saying "what am I *doing* reading this?"
Besides, it's not as if anyone who wants porn can't get it. Frankly, given the Internet, it's probably quite possible to obtain porn faster than you can conceivably look at it. Why bother with some random half-assed sexual innuendo in a gaming magazine?
May we never see th
You know, I hear a lot about sexual objectification coming from women's advocacy groups.
However, my guess is that sexual objectification is a pretty much necessary result of the fact that content related to sexuality is frequently suppressed. Public nudity is not okay. Social norms reduce the degree to which men and women expose flesh. Sexual activity is something done strictly in private. Society goes to incredible lengths to try and delay knowledge children learn of sexual activity.
There are two reasons I can think of for producing such an environment. The first would be to the benefit of males -- avoiding a "cuckoo's egg" situation. Men do not want their wives fooling around when they might have to expend lots of resources raising a baby that might not contain their genetic material. Anything to avoid that situation is good. The second, and I think the more predominant, is to the benefit of females -- decreasing the availability of content relating to sexuality increases the bargaining value of each female's sexuality. This is not the '40s, and emphasis on women marrying to reach a certain economic point is not what it used to be, but it is still definitely an element of society -- I remember reading a study finding that women placed much more emphasis on the economic and other practical state of a potential spouse than men did. To some extent, I think that one could say that the sexual objectification of women is an artifact of a social phenomenen that (whether women were "responsible" for it or not) primarily benefits females.
May we never see th
* Natalie Portman, naked and petrified
* Hot grits down the front of one's pants
* First post
May we never see th
After the Strawberry Shortcake strip, I think we're all curious to see what Gabe and Tycho do with Playboy.
May we never see th
What surprised me, more than anything, were the reactions on Slashdot. Some were comparing the situation to a televisual 'Goatse' -- though in my opinion there is a bit of difference between being taking by surprised by a gaping anus and by a breast (with a sun around the nipple, goddamit!). I don't know if the same numbers apply to the USA, but over here most boys have seen a pornographic film by the age of around 8. I just do not see how seeing a breast on television could be so shocking. Anyway, isn't the Superbowl broadcast in the evening in America? Shouldn't kids who aren't old enough to have seen a pornographic flm yet have been in bed already?
So, to say it frankly, it is true that most French people think of you Americans not only as warmongers but also as prude maniacs. Though you say this could be the general opinion throughout Europe, I beleive that the United Kingdom does have a lower tolerance of what appears on television than in France or in Germany. In the United Kingdom, the "F word" is censored even at 10 PM, whereas in France we are allowed to hear it as soon as 5 - 6 PM. That is one of the aspects of our liberal censorship policy that I like less of, as I do feel there should be certain regulations to protect what our children car hear on daytime television. I'm 13 and I swear constantly, but perhaps my language would be more elegant had the television not repeated some language so much.
"Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect" -- Linus Torval
Most of these comments are missing the point. If you take a look at the magazine industry, Maxim, a newcomer to the scene, went from 0 to a 6 million circulation per issue in roughly 7 years... this = lots of profit. EGM and Game Pro on the other hand have about 700,000 circulation per issue. EGM has been around for 15 years and the has less than 1/6th the circulation of a magazine that is less than half its age. This equals significantly less profit. Now, the brilliant minds over there probably took note of the meteoric success of Maxim and its ilk, looked at the demographics and saw a pattern, i.e... most people who buy Maxim are in the same demo as the people who buy their magazine. If they make it more like Maxim then perhpas they can get a piece of the 5.3 million more readers Maxim has. This equals more profit. End result, EGM looks more like Maxim. The net effect maybe that hardcore gamers are alienated by the more Maxim like coverage; however, this positions the magazine For the maxim crowd.
The other misconception here is that games are a male dominated industry, if you take a look at the sales numbers you will see that the top selling game is the Sims. The Sims, sells predominately to a female audience at roughly 70 to 30 split. While Killathon 3 , may get more hype, make no mistake, as games move towards the mainstream, there are and more women gamers. Make no mistake, there isn't a major publisher out there who isn't working on a strategy for women. Industry wise games have to go down that road otherwise they risk imploding and having what happened to the comic industry happening to them.
In the end the Maxim-ization of EGM not only does a disservice to the industry but to the gamers who got them where they are today as well as the women audience who are expanding the market. EGM should focus on what it does best, cover games, rather than chase a subscriber base that belongs to someone else.
I agree with most of what you said, but if the broadcast bare breast that you are referring to is the Janet Jackson breast, the nipple was NOT covered. Her nipple(s?) is/are pierced and what you saw was a stylized "sun" that was held in place by the bar through the nipple. And the nipple is clearly seen sticking out in the center of the "sun." So for all tends and purposes, the breast was fully exposed. I personally wish that more breasts were broadcast, but the US is too much of a prudish nation to allow that to happen.
NarratorDan
"If you're not confused by quantum mechanics, you really don't understand it." - Niels Bohr
Today I cancel my subscription to PC Pro.
Its a clean UK magazine tarnished only slightly by the odd graphics card advert but this month it comes with a flyer for a "Mens Magazine" complete with samples of the kinds of pictures I can get.
Well d*rn, I dont buy mens magazines cos I don't want my mind tarnished by the decietful images, and I don't buy deceitful magazines that try to tarnish my mind on the sly like PC Pro.
I doubt PC Pro will miss my single subscription fee, but I won't miss PC Pro. I own my mind and I try to control what goes into it.
Sam
blog.sam.liddicott.com
If they were ever aimed at both sexes I would be surprised... only now the age limit has shifted.
(There were exceptions, but they were few)
You get shit, I havn't bought a EGM magazine in years, just cause it's lost all it's "appeal" to me. If I want half naked women I'll buy Playboy or just surf the nett.
;)
The only two gaming mags I buy now is Edge and GamesTM. Great magazines.
Simply retarded
In the U.S., the Superbowl is a special case. It really is the most viewed event every year. Many parents will allow children to stay up later to at least watch the first half of the game.
They expect a violent game with a lame song and dance number in the middle. Usually, the Superbowl is targeted as an all ages event. Unfortunately, this year, we had commercials that warn about four hour erections and Janet's boob. (Personally, I didn't need the former and preferred the latter)
The only gaming magazine I've found that's worth a damn is Polygon. All the others look like-- and more importantly are, in my experience-- juvenile crap. Their substance of badly written, uninteresting articles is all but drowned out by the flashy crapfest that Kyle partially describes.
So, my question is: What gaming magazines out there are actually good? Which ones are well-written enough, or at least well-designed enough, that they would be at least a little bit interesting to someone who hasn't been 15 in a good long time, or who doesn't have a completely unbalanced interest in games? I've read that 1UP is good-- are there any other worthwhile gaming zines?
Unfortunately, this year, we had commercials that warn about four hour erections and Janet's boob. (Personally, I didn't need the former and preferred the latter).
I disagree. I could do a lot more with a 4-hour erection than I could with Janet Jackson's boob.
"It's better to have a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have it." ~ Christian Slater, True Romance
Two things finally did it for me. One was a half page feature a few months back on "lines from Star Wars that sound dirty but really aren't". Unfunny, lame, and came across as almost desparate. The other was a condescending editorial from Shoe to a parent about how EGM is "a magazine for adults", etc. Uh huh.
Personally, I'd like to read a game review without a weak attempt at sexual humor in every other paragraph, but that's just me. Although I doubt I'm the only one.
I don't know if the same numbers apply to the USA, but over here most boys have seen a pornographic film by the age of around 8.
Perhaps this is the crux of the issue. Most boys in the US grow to be 13 or 14 before seeing a pornographic film... although it depends on what you mean by pornographic. Some people define it as simply seeing the full frontal nudity of a member of the opposite sex. Others define it as seeing 2 people engaging in sexually explicit activity (to be blunt, when you see the penis penetrate the vagina, for instance). For the former, I'd say 8-10, but 13-15 for the latter.
Americans, in general, are more prudish than Europeans. I personally see this as both a positive and a negative. It's a positive because it seems to be working. More married couples now are staying together rather than getting divorced, teenage pregnancy is decreasing, drug use is down, average income is up, unemployment is low (compared to most European countries), etc. It's a negative because I feel it's one of the primary issues that segregates America from the rest of the world. Perhaps if we didn't censor the F word on TV, or allowed topless beaches, we wouldn't have quite as many differences between living here and living in Europe.
Regardless, parents in the US are more overprotective of their children than any other country that I can think of. They've passed laws to stop all lanes of traffic when a school bus turns on its flashing lights, for instance. One of the aspects of this overprotectiveness is wanting to protect the children from the "evils" of sexuality... thus, the Super Bowl incident.
If it helps to understand, Americans aren't only overprotective of children. In fact, they're overprotective of everyone, and everything. The main theme seems to be "I know what's best for you better than you do." Ironically, while America is supposed to be the bastion of freedom in the world, this idea of protecting everyone else from themselves is the complete polar opposite of freedom. To protect someone, you do so by placing restrictions on them... thereby destroying the concept of freedom.
Sadly, I don't think there's a good example of a country that has it right yet. America is too prudish, while other countries place restrictions in other ways... like increasing tax rates for different salaries, or prefering one group of people to another. Hopefully, in the future, we can create a world where each of us has true freedom... I doubt it though.
"It's better to have a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have it." ~ Christian Slater, True Romance
I agree with most of what you said, but if the broadcast bare breast that you are referring to is the Janet Jackson breast, the nipple was NOT covered. Her nipple(s?) is/are pierced and what you saw was a stylized "sun" that was held in place by the bar through the nipple. And the nipple is clearly seen sticking out in the center of the "sun."
;-)
I guess it's safe to assume that you watched the Superbowl on TiVo.
Americans, in general, are more prudish than Europeans. I personally see this as both a positive and a negative. It's a positive because it seems to be working. More married couples now are staying together rather than getting divorced, teenage pregnancy is decreasing, drug use is down, average income is up, unemployment is low (compared to most European countries), etc.
Whoa! The divorce rate is higher in the U.S. than any major European country. It's almost double the rate of Denmark and Sweden, both of which are among the most sexually open countries in the civilized world. We have a drastically higher incidence of rape in the U.S. as well as a much higher incidence of murder. Our teen pregnancy rate is far higher than that of most European nations.
As to the economics, have you seen *any* reputable studies which show a correlation between repressing sexuality and income or employment? (Okay, if some guy spends 9 hours per day yanking himself off while looking at porn, then, yes, it probably will affect his income and employment. But that's an extreme.) But having an exposed breast on TV during a shampoo commercial or a half-time show? Just what effect would airing such material have on the GNP?
...anyone remember PCXL?
- colin
I'm surprised no one has mentioned "Stuff Gamer" www.stuffgamer.com the newest hot chicks/video games magazine. I bought a copy hoping it would be as good as PC Gamer, but no. The articles are unbearable. Tons of lame jokes, total waste of time, and every third page was the SAME n-gage ad. Go read a copy of PC Gamer, then if you need to finish yourself off, grab a copy of Maxim, it has the same hot chicks, and its a whole lot funnier.
I wish they'd quit with the all-sex games and make more games in the 3rd person Adventure Genre.
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb comes to mind as an adequate adventure game, with the bonus of a really hot chinese chick named Mei Ying. And no, Indy couldn't keep his eyes off her either. :-)
Sure, sex sells, and I understand the whole point is to make money in the video game world. But if I want eye candy I can get it for free off the internet, and they're fully nude, too... none of this bikini stuff. And none of this 40 bucks a pop to see two bikini girls fight each other. I'd rather spend my money eslewhere.
And what about Final Fantasy X2? There's another adventure game with a few cute chicks. In both of these games, the bikini-clad girls just ADD TO the game instead of being the WHOLE FOCUS.
My two cents.
I'm 13 and I swear constantly,
For a French 13-year-old you have remarkably good English, and a lot of world experience.
In the United Kingdom, the "F word" is censored even at 10 PM, whereas in France we are allowed to hear it as soon as 5 - 6 PM
Wha-? It's a different language; how can it be compared? Swearing in different languages is rarely strictly controlled. 'Merde' isn't generally censored in the UK for example.
Like the poster said above, they are relying on the lowest common denominator to sell. All you have to do to sell is appeal to Joe Sixpack "Gamer." They don't care about what the reviews say, they want their boobies and sophmoric humor ("Look Bubba, teh two dogs are humping LOL!!!!!").
DOA could be argued that it sold because unlike bmx, there was actully a ok and playable volyball game in there. But I still say people only use that part as an excuse to make is seem that they were not sold on the sex.
If the ad's are the primary source of the scantily clad images of women, then its a big nothing.
Now, if EGM starts to run editorials about how to score with such women, then its time to reconsider why you buy that magazine.
END COMMUNCATION
This country is prudish in the best of times, and is really bad about it right now. Out current bible-thumping president doesn't help matters any.
To respond to a point you made... the halftime in question was shown around 5PM-8PM (west coast and east coast, respectively), too early for the kids to be asleep.
And so far as I know, the only time the word fuck has been allowed on broadcast TV (with advance knowledge) was when playing videos of firemen during the attacks on the WTC. These videos were shown months later with warnings about the language.
Cable can show whatever they like, although the uncensored South Park movie isn't shown until 1am.
"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." - A.B.
If you truly are only 13, you make your point even stronger than it already is. First your entire post was very well written, well thought out and you made several excellent points.
The fact that a 13 year old in France can express him or herself so eloquently on such a topic, while the typical american 13 year old male would post something like "Tits ROOOLZ!", this speaks volumes about each society's impact on its young people.
...if my biggest problem with the article is that the 1000-pixel wide photo of the chick in the pac-man t-shirt is that IT'S A FUCKING GIF!?
Seriously, she may be the "sexiest gamer," but whoever built the article is the world's stupidest designer. It's 920 fucking k! I feel dirty for even looking at it.
c-hack.com |
I'm 13 and I swear constantly, but perhaps my language would be more elegant had the television not repeated some language so much.
Of course you do, damn it! (pardon my french).
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
This is nothing new at all; I remember home computer games magazines back in the Eighties, specifically for the UK Sinclair Spectrum, and they often used adverts with scantily clad women, including an infamous one by a Page 3 model for the game "Barbarian". One of the biggest selling games was strip poker based on another page 3 model; to be fair to thw PC game market, nothing like that would get into the top 100 these days (or so I hope). On the whole, I'd say the market is less sexist, but that probably has more to do with changing times.
P.
These pancakes you speak of... where are they now?
You decided to chronicle a list of the semi-nudity . Dooood. Get out more!
My subject is directed at the submitter of the story. My jaw hit the floor. I'm probably going to be modded down for being redundant or not intellectual enough, but after reading the Level 5 responses I found my viewpoint not being articulated strongly enough for my liking.
So back to the subject. Welcome back from the coma dude. Sex sells. Sex sells to horomonally driven, sexually repressed teen agers really well.
Unfortunately, the blatant objectivication of women, not to mention the trade-on on titillation for game-play in many video games now, has so thoroughly pissed me off I can barely stand to flip through a soft pr0n, I mean, gaming magazine any more. Hell, I can hardly stand to play the games for that matter. I was at the airport just this past week in a book store, and I picked one up to flip through to kill time. Talk about content free. Biggest remarks about preview games? "Looks good." Just like all the eye candy. It all looks good.
And, the vast majority of it sucks.
Sucks a lot.
Just like the gaming magazines.
Just like the industry as a whole for the most part.
Most of the morons advertising for the games can only think of stupid things like.... " hey I know, let's throw in an implied nipple... that's GOTTA sell more games !!"
But blame the game makers and the publishers for not trying to put actual CONTENT in the games !
If you really want to see scantily clad women in magazines pick up one that targets teen-adult girls such as Victoria Secret, and all those glamour mags that have guys wearing their underwear and women in almost nothing!
Creative Demolition
So, to say it frankly, it is true that most French people think of you Americans not only as warmongers but also as prude maniacs.
:)))
France: age ~2000 years (depends where you start counting the Gauls, I guess). Starting population probably somewhere about 1-2 million.
Current population: 60 million.
Starting size: roughly 550,000 sq km, current size, about 550,000 sq km.
Current GDP $1.558 trillion, $26,000 per capita
Role: wheezing former Great Power, desperately passing 'culture laws' forcing people to speak the language and clawing at any opportunity to squeak "we're still important! really! we are! quit laughing!"
USA: age: ~230 years, Starting population basically null (since we pretty much exterminated those that were already here). Current population 292 million.
Starting size (I'm not going to take the time to add them, but pretty small), current size 9.6 million sq km.
Current GDP $10.45 trillion, $36,000 per capita.
Current Role: World Superpower, world's largest consumer marketplace, and engine of economic and technological development.
We may be warmongers and 'prude maniacs' (and frankly, now we're about the LEAST warmongerish and LEAST prudish as we've ever BEEN historically), but in just about any given measure, we're kicking YOUR ass. So either it's a benefit or simply not a negative thing, in terms of national success. Thanks for playing, heh heh heh.
-Styopa
Have you ever checked out PCGamer and PCGamer UK? The UK version reads like it was written by 12 year olds. How about an intelligent, insightful gaming magazine? An Economist of gaming, anyone?
WeRelate.org - wiki-based genealogy
Personally, I don't care that Janet Jackson briefly flashed the audience. However, people have some right to complain. They intended to watch the Superbowl. They didn't turn on MTV, HBO, or some other cable channel. For whatever reason, they were offended. They complained. Good for them.
I was a bit disgusted of the lame excuses that came out afterwards. "It was a clothing malfunction." How gulliable do they think we are? Just say you did it to keep up with Madonna and Brittney. Just say, you feel like a has-been, and you need to shock to prolong your 15 minutes of fame.
People have a right to be prudes. People have a right be horny. We've got a pretty good system in place that allows both horniness and prudishness. The system is maintaining itself quite well. We'll most certainly complain when they censure us to far.
What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean....