Kojima On MGS 5's Quiet: I Meant Sexy, Not Erotic

[Karloff]

Kojima On MGS 5's Quiet: I Meant Sexy, Not Erotic

"Industry full of man babies," Tweets 343i designer, in response to MGS 5 character design.

When Hideo Kojima said he wanted Metal Gear Solid 5 characters to be more erotic [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127464-Hideo-Kojimas-Making-MGS5-Characters-More-Erotic-For-Cosplay], he actually meant more sexy, according to a clarification Kojima made at a Los Angeles Q&A. Sexy, to Kojima, is something nebulous, that je ne sais quoi that comes with torn tights on a battlefield. "Sexy could be for guys, weapons, vehicles, it's really that characteristic," he said. Characters won't be talking much in Metal Gear Solid 5, so it's important to Kojima that they show who they are and what they're about in other ways. Even the weapons and vehicles are going to be "sexy," claims Kojima.

He was speaking at a round table with model Stefanie Joosten, who's to portray mute sniper Quiet in-game. "Of course, I was surprised to see Quiet's outfit at first," says Joosten. "I don't think I'm allowed to say a lot about this, but, well, Mr. Kojima has his reasons for deciding why Quiet [is] wearing what she's wearing. Players will just have to look forward to that."

Meanwhile over at 343i, makers of Halo, one designer decided to make his disapproval of the latest character designs known. "[Quiet's] character design is disgusting," David Ellis the MGS 5 designs were lazy and exploitative [https://twitter.com/DavidEllis/statuses/375883420171128832].

The original Kojima comment that sparked this off was aimed at cosplayers [https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/375207199468830720]. It will be interesting to see what cosplayers actually make of Quiet; no doubt we'll find out soon enough.

Source: Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2013/9/6/4700386/hideo-kojima-explains-his-sexy-approach-to-metal-gear-solid-5s]


Permalink

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Do people actually care about this stuff or are they simply seeking attention by trying to appear as politically correct as possible? Because I honestly couldn't care less. Does that make me a bad person?

 

[Cecilo]

Do people actually care about this stuff or are they simply seeking attention by trying to appear as politically correct as possible? Because I honestly couldn't care less. Does that make me a bad person?

It makes you jaded. Like me.

 

[dumbseizure]

Honestly, I loved Bayonetta, but to me the "sexuality" came off more.....creepy than anything else.

Plus, I don't think someone from 343i can talk, I SEE MASTER CHIEFS ARMOR BECOMING MORE SCANTILY CLAD!

 

[Casual Shinji]

Wait a minute though... Wasn't it the developers of the current Halo games that sexed up Cortana eventhough she it's a freaking computer program?

Anyway, The only female characters in MGS that aren't designed to be sexy are the Boss and Sunny. And even the latter got a creepy lolita upgrade in Revengeance. So nothing new on that front.

 

[LiquidGrape]

Do people actually care about this stuff or are they simply seeking attention by trying to appear as politically correct as possible? Because I honestly couldn't care less. Does that make me a bad person?

I hate how people have gentrified that term to such an extent that someone can casually apply it to any discussion pertaining sexism, racism, homo/transphobia, et al. and the people who originally posed a complaint are immediately discredited as facile.

There's a very good reason to call Kojima out on his nonsense, because nobody should be exempt from criticism. And colour me skeptic as to what grand ulterior purpose Quiet's bikini top will play. Considering Ocelot was granted the benefit of a proper coat to deal with sunstroke and dehydration in the same trailer, I think the intention is rather transparent.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

She's mute and scantily clad? Sounds like the perfect woman. XD (Joking (mostly)).

 

[Andy Shandy]

Not saying I disagree, but maybe when it comes to that Ellis guy, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Because of course the fucking AI needed prominent boobs. >.>

And is it really that much of a surprise that there's stuff like this in a Metal Gear game? I swear, the majority of people complaining about this stuff must have never played one before. This is a series, after all, that has had bare-ass naked Raiden in it.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

Do people actually care about this stuff or are they simply seeking attention by trying to appear as politically correct as possible? Because I honestly couldn't care less. Does that make me a bad person?

It makes you jaded. Like me.

I agree. It SHOULD be a big deal because enforcing these stereotypes prevents the industry from growing, but we're so used to it that all our f**ks have already been given. Now we're just tired and want people to shut up already. Sometimes we should speak up about sexism, prejudice and all that, but some people just can't take the hint (like Kojima). In these cases I think it best to sweep these comments under the rug and focus on highlighting the good stuff people do. Reward it, give it air time, front page space, extra reviews; all that leads to extra sales, which devs/publishers will take notice of and hopefully mimic. Instead that happens to shit like this.

 

[Flippincrazy]

Kojima, you sly old dog you. I'm sure that's what you meant.

Whilst I agree with Kojima's distinction between the words sexy and erotic, I'm finding it a little hard to believe that he couldn't find some other way to demonstrate a character's personality other than making them half-naked. I guess subtlety isn't part of his creative vision.

But claiming that the industry is 'full of man-babies' based solely of off this? Really? Stellar example of unnecessarily inflammatory use of language. Especially when this is coming from a developer of 343, that features a nude, distinctly female AI as its main female character. Probably inaccurate too, especially the developer's use of the word 'lazy', Kojima probably spent a long, long time designing Quiet... At least this particular 'man-baby' can construct a decent story-line, nameless developer from 343!

But I digress, if Kojima wants to portray his characters in this way, it's his right as a developer to do so. It may not be progressive, but not every developer will do progressive things. Hopefully there is decent reason underpinning it, though.

 

[J Tyran]

Gonna go with others here, the people behind Halo have no room to comment. Each game they have worked harder than the last to make Cortana's breasts larger and more anatomically accurate.

 

[Casual Shinji]

And is it really that much of a surprise that there's stuff like this in a Metal Gear game? I swear, the majority of people complaining about this stuff must have never played one before. This is a series, after all, that has had bare-ass naked Raiden in it.

It also has crotch grabbing and a guy shitting in an oil drum. And that bandaged guy in the MGS5 trailer where you can see the crack of his ass through his scrubs.

This kind of stuff is a staple by now.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

There's a very good reason to call Kojima out on his nonsense

If you want to call him out on something, call him out on his ridiculously bad writing. All these years he had David Hayter, an insanely good screenplay writer do the voice of Snake, but he never thought of letting him help out with writing.

 

[Jumwa]

I hate how people have gentrified that term to such an extent that someone can casually apply it to any discussion pertaining sexism, racism, homo/transphobia, et al. and the people who originally posed a complaint are immediately discredited as facile.

It's done to everything these days.

We live in a society where everyone is labelled "entitled" for any imaginable reason. "Entitled" or entitlement, used to be great words/concepts. Now instead of being lobbed against actual entitled people, it's just used to shout down anyone who has the nerve to complain or ask for better from anyone or anything.

 

[LiquidGrape]

But remember everyone:

That has to be the most laughably false equivalency I have seen in a while. Consider the Sorceress in her actual context, contrast her with the equivalent male counterpart, scrutinise the gendered aspects of the visual design and yeah, Dragon's Crown comes off as pretty goshdarn sexist. Removing her from that backdrop for the purposes of some silly attempt at "gotcha!" doesn't do the discourse any kind of justice. The issue was never boobs and boobs alone. Only the people who've tried to deflect the criticism have suggested that.

Trying to make people with legitimate complaints look like hypocritical puritans seems to be a popular tool amongst gamers these days.

 

[Angelous Wang]

They seem to enjoy it so far:

Spoiler

See this is what I said.

Hideo was concerned nobody would cosplay a bikini only sniper. So he "sexed" it up by changing the bottoms to phantyhose in order to make it far more cosplayable, because now the bottom half of the character is mostly covered.

It wasn't just sex appeal to sell more game as everyone scream about.

Hideo's English is bad and everyone just jumped on him with their social justice sexism hammers.