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by Jenova The recent trend in games seems to be the stripping away of male clothing. What might the reason behind the increase in the male eye candy to female eye candy ratio be? Is it simply the result of better graphics capabilities, a change in the way developers make games, or a fundamental change in the audience? Perhaps it's a combination of all three. Certainly better graphics capabilities play a part. While FF4's Cecil and FF6's Edgar get their share of lovely fanart, it's hard to tell whether a guy made of 16 bits is cute or not. Modern rendering allows players to judge just how attractive a character may (or may not) be. However, Cecil and Edgar got to wear suits of armor, while their counterparts, like FF4's Rosa, and FF6's Terra and Celes, were left with little more than leotards. (Celes got an armored leotard, yes, but it was still a leotard.) The implication of female eye candy has been in games for years, but it's the high-end graphics of recent games that allow people to argue over just what Tifa's bust size is supposed to be. However, men are not only looking good now; they are definitely wearing less. Sydney of Vagrant Story and Kuja of FF9 are ample evidence of this. Sydney is shirtless throughout the game, and Kuja's bare torso draws attention to his scanty thong. Even the designs appearing for FF10 feature a main male character showing an impressive amount of bare chest. What could motivate the designers to show more skin now than ever before? Perhaps they've noticed that gaming is moving toward the mainstream, and they want to become an influence on fashion the way movies and television already are. It seems this is already happening to a degree. Last time I was at the mall, I saw mini skirts, long sweater-jackets, fur-collared leather coats, and cowboy-style double belts. One could put together a respectable Squall and Rinoa cosplay with no sewing and no shopping beyond the mall. Perhaps in a year, Kuja's thong look will be in. (I can always hope, anyway.) Maybe beautiful, sexy males are a reaction by game designers to the popularity of Sephiroth. It's certainly likely he was an influence on Kuja's white-haired, pretty look. Tidal of FF10's bare chest also harkens back to Sephiroth's design. Beyond that, however, any influence is vague. Also, it's possible designers are just creating what they'd like to see. More women are entering the game industry than ever before, and it's only natural that they would design characters they find attractive. Of course, more women are playing the games than ever before, and I think that is the true root of the movement. Ultimately, the games are made so that the audience will think they are worth the fifty or sixty dollars they spent on them. Because they're targeting girls as well as guys, it makes sense that they would create characters who will appeal to girls as well as characters that will appeal to guys. While sex appeal won't make women buy a game any more than it will men, it certainly doesn't hurt. Women like to look at a sexy, mostly-naked man as much as men like to look at a sexy woman, and it's recognition of this audience that has lead to these characters. The recent trend of scantily-clad men in RPGs has surprised some, but Kuja and Sydney are simply joining the ranks of Tifa and other female characters who sacrificed costuming realism to keep the players happy. As more women begin playing RPGs and make themselves known in the fanbase, designers will continue to even the number of sexy guys to sexy girls in an attempt to keep everyone happy. |
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