I recommend you Dragon´s Crown

[kandrathe]

Societal gender role modeling, conformity, and expectations is a hard enough quagmire to wade through in a modern Internet image conscious society. I think it gets multiplicatively more complex when you toss in marketing, and sales of commercial materials, like video games who are employing artists to produce appealing content. All in all, we are talking about a product which is built to have a mass market appeal.

Now do we really have any "shock" at being a minority of consumers with "a particular conscience", when we can also note the obvious mass appeal of scantily clad buxom over-sexualized stereotyped princesses in video games. And, honestly, with many games there is an inner conflict between the father with a conscience in me, and my own puerile Id. With my children, I question how important the sexual part of Id gratification is compared to the violence part. I think sexuality is a natural thing, and being an adult I can appreciate it in 2D, 3D, VR, or real world. We probably can all agree that body image is quite messed up in our global society for both sexes (females more so). But, which is worse? Having a son who's ideal woman looks like that Dragon's Crown sorceress, or thinking that it's ok to frag his enemies, then teabag taunt their corpse? I opt to avoid both, and I don't mean to set up a false dichotomy.

For a parent selecting games for their children, then the point on the ESRB rating for the game is dead on. It pretty clearly says what it is. If you are parenting, then you should be guiding your child on appropriateness of all media purchases, until they won't let you anymore.

For discriminating consumers, C'est la vie.

If this is a part of some crusade to make a global shift on the proper non-objectification of women, then seriously, while I care and I'm on your side, I feel we've got other more important global concerns that I'll put my efforts behind (like stopping kidnapping, and sex trade of under aged girls in the real world). Let's start with changing minds of people who think that women driving, voting, or girls going to school is a bad thing, or that "shaming" the family is an extra judicial death sentence. The Rubenesque art of voluptuous female characters in Dragon's Crown are a bit of a triviality in the world of women's oppression, in the greater scheme of oppressed women. And... while I'm thinking about it... I also think the topic smacks a bit of the political correctness trumps artistic expression and freedom of expression, which I believe each of us also hold dear. George Kamitani should have the freedom to draw his artwork, good taste or not good at all, and market it as he pleases. And, of course we should have the freedom to whinge about it on a gaming forum. Thanks Bolty.