Skullgirls Dev Dismisses Cries of Sexism

[Zenn3k]

The game obviously has a sense of humor, which I think makes it all okay.

The fact she did "Berserker Barrage" says it all...thats Wolverine's move, lol.

So they have boobies? So what? Doesn't EVERYONE love boobies? Even straight women I know love boobies.

FREE THE BOOBIES!!!!

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

He's lying his ass off, or is outright delusional; the point of the cast is sexism, or they wouldn't be walking fetish stations. And it's done for the same reason as Arcana Heart or Vanguard Princess did it; to get extra attention from the people who dig such things. And of course they're "strong, powerful women"; it's a fucking fighting game, you twit.

The sexism is justifiable in its own way, if sad and a show of a developer with little confidence in his product as an actual game, but claiming that's not your aim is plain pathetic.

As for the lead designer being female, women aren't immune to exploiting their image for money any more than men are; that claim is even more inane than the original one. That's like saying a brothel isn't sexist because it's owned by a woman.

 

[Ragnarok185]

All I see is a fighting game with extreme animation. where the hell is all the sexism comments coming from

 

[Abedeus]

I am offended by them being offended.

It hurts my feelings.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Is porn sexist?

Fuck no.

Titillation exists for a reason. This was made with titillation in mind. It is not sexist; if it was subversive in any way I might have said so, but it's blatant. Oh, so blatant. It'd be sexist if it mocked women's rights in any way, or painted them to be sex objects, but he's made it very clear they just wanted something sexy and awesome. Not sexist in the slightest. At least, not what we've been shown, anyway.

 

[IronicBeet]

This game wouldn't be getting the same kinds of complaints if it had some male characters as well. This is like Cho Aniki except the characters don't do blatantly sexual moves and they're not all in string bikinis. I think it's safe to say that anyone honestly offended by this is the same type of person that doesn't like advertisements for food on billboards because "they make poor people feel bad".

 

[IronicBeet]

He's lying his ass off, or is outright delusional; the point of the cast is sexism, or they wouldn't be walking fetish stations. And it's done for the same reason as Arcana Heart or Vanguard Princess did it; to get extra attention from the people who dig such things. And of course they're "strong, powerful women"; it's a fucking fighting game, you twit.

The sexism is justifiable in its own way, if sad and a show of a developer with little confidence in his product as an actual game, but claiming that's not your aim is plain pathetic.

As for the lead designer being female, women aren't immune to exploiting their image for money any more than men are; that claim is even more inane than the original one. That's like saying a brothel isn't sexist because it's owned by a woman.

"Walking fetish stations" just proved that you haven't even looked at the characters who are in the game.

And how about this: You start making your own game. (This isn't a "Why don't you make a better game" argument) You fill it with ugly female characters who wear unattractive clothing. See how well it sells.

 

[Grahav]

He's lying his ass off, or is outright delusional; the point of the cast is sexism, or they wouldn't be walking fetish stations. And it's done for the same reason as Arcana Heart or Vanguard Princess did it; to get extra attention from the people who dig such things. And of course they're "strong, powerful women"; it's a fucking fighting game, you twit.

The sexism is justifiable in its own way, if sad and a show of a developer with little confidence in his product as an actual game, but claiming that's not your aim is plain pathetic.

As for the lead designer being female, women aren't immune to exploiting their image for money any more than men are; that claim is even more inane than the original one. That's like saying a brothel isn't sexist because it's owned by a woman.

"Walking fetish stations" just proved that you haven't even looked at the characters who are in the game.

And how about this: You start making your own game. (This isn't a "Why don't you make a better game" argument) You fill it with ugly female characters who wear unattractive clothing. See how well it sells.

The last paragraph actually happened with the female side of the horde races in WoW. They are the least played templates in that game. That was one of the reasons for the Blood Elves being in the horde later.

 

[Rainbowloid]

He's lying his ass off, or is outright delusional; the point of the cast is sexism, or they wouldn't be walking fetish stations. And it's done for the same reason as Arcana Heart or Vanguard Princess did it; to get extra attention from the people who dig such things. And of course they're "strong, powerful women"; it's a fucking fighting game, you twit.

The sexism is justifiable in its own way, if sad and a show of a developer with little confidence in his product as an actual game, but claiming that's not your aim is plain pathetic.

As for the lead designer being female, women aren't immune to exploiting their image for money any more than men are; that claim is even more inane than the original one. That's like saying a brothel isn't sexist because it's owned by a woman.

"Walking fetish stations" just proved that you haven't even looked at the characters who are in the game.

And how about this: You start making your own game. (This isn't a "Why don't you make a better game" argument) You fill it with ugly female characters who wear unattractive clothing. See how well it sells.

You know that there's quite a bit of middle ground between ultra-sexy and ugly, right?

 

[Grahav]

You know that there's quite a bit of middle ground between ultra-sexy and ugly, right?

You got me thinking. So I tried to remember middle ground characters.

Very tough, because I don't think there is a ground where a woman is completely not ugly and not atractive at the same time.

My very first female Last Boss.

A beauty, with real armor.

Last Blade girls.

One of my favorite Street Fighter Characters.

Lots of SNK here.

Even with cleavage she is quite modest for a Darkstalker.

She was in a game once. The very definition of cool female hero.

 

[Smertnik]

Now I'm just disappointed that this game isn't coming out on the PC/MAC. Looks fun.

I remember reading on the devs' Twitter a while back that they are considering a PC version but it's too early to make definite plans for that.

 

[Rainbowloid]

You know that there's quite a bit of middle ground between ultra-sexy and ugly, right?

You got me thinking. So I tried to remember middle ground characters.

Very tough, because I don't think there is a ground where a woman is completely not ugly and not atractive at the same time.

*snip*

Wow, I've never even seen any of those characters before. I was thinking about making a similar type of list and edit it in later, but it looks like you did the work for me.
Although I would like to add that the point I was trying to make is more that a woman can still be attractive an without being overtly sexual, which is a concept that many people seem to have difficulty grasping. So I was thinking less "not attractive" and more "not having her boobs hanging out." But I do consider all the ladies you posted to be attractive and not sexualized, so I guess that all works out.

 

[Grahav]

You know that there's quite a bit of middle ground between ultra-sexy and ugly, right?

You got me thinking. So I tried to remember middle ground characters.

Very tough, because I don't think there is a ground where a woman is completely not ugly and not atractive at the same time.

*snip*

Wow, I've never even seen any of those characters before. I was thinking about making a similar type of list and edit it in later, but it looks like you did the work for me.
Although I would like to add that the point I was trying to make is more that a woman can still be attractive an without being overtly sexual, which is a concept that many people seem to have difficulty grasping. So I was thinking less "not attractive" and more "not having her boobs hanging out." But I do consider all the ladies you posted to be attractive and not sexualized, so I guess that all works out.

I posted a new topic in gaming discussion about this. I am interested in what characters you have in mind

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.332030-Middle-ground-between-ultra-sexy-and-ugly

In the end I think that with someone want use the ultra-sexy more for a personal artistic view than for a comercial view they should go with it.

Personally, I like a variety of designs: sexy, cool, artsy, modest, ugly... Many flavors is what make the world interesting.

 

[Verlander]

Dead or Alive was sheer sexual exploitation. This? This is a clearly defined and established "style". If you don't like it, don't buy it. Viva la capitalist democracy!

 

[Rainbowloid]

I posted a new topic in gaming discussion about this. I am interested in what characters you have in mind

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.332030-Middle-ground-between-ultra-sexy-and-ugly

In the end I think that with someone want use the ultra-sexy more for a personal artistic view than for a comercial view they should go with it.

Personally, I like a variety of designs: sexy, cool, artsy, modest, ugly... Many flavors is what make the world interesting.

I certainly don't think that we should do away with sexy. I like sexy. I just find it rather upsetting that it seems to be the norm for female characters, and even more upsetting that people think that if a girl isn't showing her tits off she must be ugly.
I'm working on making a post in that thread right now. Give me a bit of time!

 

[Mikkel421427]

Steve Hughes had a great point when he said this:

http://youtu.be/C9HRLvfbauA

So this is what I'll tell this woman. Be offended.

 

[G-Force]

*goes to check game with his own eyes, comes back*
Heck even the concept isn't that sexist to me. So its an all female fighting game, but one that doesn't really emphasize sexuality unless you really want to make a big deal out of it.
Could have been an all lads fighting game (a few of the characters would likely be half naked to show off their manly muscles and pecs so would beat this game on the nakedness factor) and would be same thing in my eyes.

We do have games like that. Wrestling games, UFC games and boxing titles are more than willing to fill out the "buff half-dressed men" quota for us.

 

[ShadowKatt]

My solution after this game release a fighting game with noting but a bunch of sexy men.

My solution is this:

If having all women is sexist, take out the women. If having only men is sexist, take out the men too.

I propose a fighting game that doesn't have any fighters. You simply stare at a black background until the timer hits zero and then nobody wins or loses.