BioShock Infinite

[syntheticgerbil]

I guess in another way, I see that cover as alienating female games at the same time, so why not try to appeal to a broader range instead of the shooter bros?

This is partly biased in that the only two people I know who seriously love the Bioshock series are women.

[ThunderPeel2001]

This is partly biased in that the only two people I know who seriously love the Bioshock series are women.

Strangely, as much as I loved BioShock, the only person I know who LOVES that game is a girl, too. Check out her tat!

[youmeyou]

I'm more interested to see how Elizabeth is portrayed inside the game. Currently it reads as a super traditional princess rescuing story and I sincerely hope there's more to it than that. If it doesn't rise above the patriarchal vibes the trailers give, I can see that being off-putting. But I don't see how this cover is going to alienate women. It is not doing a lot to appeal to them either, I will agree with that.

[syntheticgerbil]

Yeah alienate was a strong word for me to use, I should have just said appeal, sorry about that.

Also, image is broken Thunderpeel!

[BigJKO]

I dunno that sounds like being up in arms to me.

Yes.. up in arms about the cleavage, not that she's pretty/has large boobs/a silhouette. I am up in arms, because it's a bullshit choice to make that only means my girlfriend is going to give me funny looks when playing this and I'm going to feel just a tiny bit embarrassed about video games for the umpteenth time..

[ThunderPeel2001]

Also, image is broken Thunderpeel!

Really? Should be working. Anything now?

[elmuerte]

wow.. must be a true fan to dedicate such a large part of your body

[ThunderPeel2001]

I don't know, but I'm guessing that there's some deeper connection with the game that's more than just being a fan. Great design, though!

[osmosisch]

It's not "frat boys", it's the mainstream gamer they're after. People like us are going to play Bioshock Infinite because we were fans of System Shock and Bioshock -- the cover doesn't matter. To the majority of gamers who are unaware of these games, it's important that the cover appeal to them. (I don't see what's so difficult to understand about this!)

This whole kerfuffle reminds me of the Dragon Age marketing.

[syntheticgerbil]

Really? Should be working. Anything now?

There it goes. Very cool, I love how it has a Mike Mignola sort of touch going on with the black shadows.

[melmer]

My comment was supposed to be manly about the cover. I just added the tits remark at the end to be dangerous and provocative

You never know, after playing through the game Booker might come across as a real badass mans man and after dispatching the 500th dude with a tomgun and giving Elizabeth a backhander for giving him some backchat, you might glance at the cover and think that a pretty fair representation of what I'm playing. Could happen

[TychoCelchuuu]

This whole kerfuffle reminds me of the Dragon Age marketing.

Back then at least it was the new shit.

[BigJKO]

My comment was supposed to be manly about the cover. I just added the tits remark at the end to be dangerous and provocative

You never know, after playing through the game Booker might come across as a real badass mans man and after dispatching the 500th dude with a tomgun and giving Elizabeth a backhander for giving him some backchat, you might glance at the cover and think that a pretty fair representation of what I'm playing. Could happen

Yeah, I got a bit carried away. Should've realised you weren't serious..

[melmer]

So true about being embarrassed by this stuff though, so often when im playing something like dead or alive i think god I hope someone doesn't walk in on me

I can't wait until dragons crown comes out, that's a whole nother level of embarrassment

The warrior woman in the left must only fight against miniature people as she only needs armour in her shins... But if that the case that axe is some serious overkill

[ThunderPeel2001]

Soul Calibur IV is the absolute worst.

[subbes]

My chest hurts just looking at that.

[Argobot]

I can only imagine the back pains that lady must have.

[TychoCelchuuu]

If you're worried about women with back pain I'd be more concerned about the lady in the background who has to hold up the roof 24/7.

[Twig]

I wasn't aware Elizabeth's breasts were something people complained about until I saw everyone ragin' about it in this thread.

I need to try harder to keep up with What Makes Gamers Angry, I guess.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Well, "basically every time women are portrayed in video games, they have massive breasts and are dressed in costumes designed to pander to the male gaze, even if that costume is not period appropriate or thematically appropriate or the least bit comfortable looking" is a criticism you can pretty safely assume people are making before you hear about it (thankfully).

[Twig]

I never really thought it was bad. I see women dressed in worse shit every day I walk to work, if it's warm enough. Although, I guess they aren't wearing corsets, which would definitely be considered uncomfortable, these days.

I was always more captivatedslashrepulsed by her weird-ass face, although I did eventually get used to it, and... then they changed it.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Women choosing to dress like whatever they want to wear on a warm day is entirely different from an entire medium's depictions of women falling into a very narrow category of "designed to pander directly to the male gaze at the expense of interesting characterization, sensible costume design, and basic anatomical truths about human beings" but I really don't have the energy for the 800th "explain why the video game industry's treatment of women is subpar" discussion of my life so I'll just leave it there and wait for Sarkeesian's videos to come out some day.

[Twig]

There are times when the fight is worth it. When it makes sense.

I'm not sure why you think "I have no issue with the way Elizabeth looked" is synonymous with "Soul Calibur IV is A-OK and not at all grody", but okay.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Soul Calibur is silly because they break the laws of physics and anatomy with those breasts, but few games go that far. The problem with the depiction of women in the gaming industry is not that every game is like Soul Calibur. The problem is that basically ever depiction of women is designed to pander to the male gaze. Cortana, Elizabeth, Lara Croft, Ash, Miranda, and literally every asari in the Mass Effect games, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in the Batman games, the native lady in Far Cry 3, the stripper nuns and the lady in the shower and the strippers in Hitman: Absolution, the female characters in literally any MMO... they are all hypersexualized. It's a consistent pattern of unnecessary oversexualization that results in a toxic climate, not any individual depiction.

but why am I even beginning to write this post i just want to wait and let sarkeesian do the work for me she's getting paid to do it

[Twig]

Yeah okay whatever I don't know why I let myself respond.