Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Why are asian produced games characters so feminine looking?
Yamota
Member UncommonPosts: 6,593
There are games out there, like this one, where the MALE characters almost look more feminine then the female ones and that for me prevents me to enjoy those games.
So the question is why is that? I have been in east asia and their adults sure dont look that feminine (even if they are generally shorter and has less bulky bodyframe). Maybe it is because computer games over there generally target young boys?
Comments
You know... that's a good question.
We all know why the females are overly sexy, but why such mysogyny with the males?
All I can think of is popular fashion/styles. Here in the west we go for something more macho, even if that relates to being a coked out hasbeen on jersey shore who is waaay too fashion savvy. Over in the east though, you'll notices a lot of metro-looking guys with highlights and other crap. We beat those kinds of dudes up here in the states, and God forbid they wear a pink shirt. That's a death sentence.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Well men should be masculine, that is kinda the definition of the word. If men are feminine we might as well scrap the two words because then they dont mean anything.
My gaming blog
You ever been over there? The young men (well not all but) are as concerned with fashion and hairstyle as women.
Also they aren't exactly an ethnicity known for producing big beefy men.
it does seem a bit weird... perhaps they find effeminate looking males less threatening for some reason.. ?
But masculine is a bit in the eye of the beholder.
I know women who cringe at the stereo typical tough guy "man's man" type of man.
And I know women who only consider "tough guys" or muscular rough looking men "real men".
Case in point, my girlfriend doesn't like any of the "manly" tough guy or bad boy type of men (nor does she like pretty boys) but prefers the BBC masterpice theater/BBC special type of guys.
to answer your question, I have come across some posts by people who claim to have experience with eastern culture and if these posts are to be believed it seems that eastern culture values both the masculine and the feminine as balancing aspects to life.
So in their eyes, incorporating the feminine might not be a bad thing at all and might just be something that is desired for a complete aesthetic idea.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
A lot of it has to do with culture. I compare it a lot to the Egyptians, at times. For both males and females, there is a focus on elegance and beauty. In most of their cultures, there is a focus on expression as well, and one of the best ways to express oneself is through physical clothing, demeanor, and attribution, using make up, piercings, etc. Combine the want to express beauty, elegance, and yourself, and you get what you have. Because the female figure in most cultures is deamed as the most beautiful, even men aspire to appear feminine in many Asian cultures. They are also considered more elegant, so those attributes carry over as well. If you want an in depth look at some of this, look into the old Tokegawa culture of Japan and a lot of the stuff surrounding Ukiyo-e culture. Note, there is often an aspiration to be masculine as well, but it is usually considered better to hide your masculinity than to wear it brashly.
I hate to use the easy dodge that "Its cultural" but in this case it is true.
This link may help to explain the art style and why it is used.
Bish?nen
If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, riddle 'em with bullets
You guys sound like the types who piss on the toilet seat just to prove that you are "man enough"...
Different cultures have different preferences. Why must women always have DD breasts and size 0 frames in western games? Why are men always portraied as if they are 6'5" and 220 pounds of muscle? Because that is our image of the genders and our rendering of them follows this ideal.
Then again, David looks sorta feminine too...
Can you name some of these games? Lineage 2 or Aion for example don't have "feminine" characters, well maybe the females can be...Those are the 2 most popular Asian MMO's.
When I was a lad I ate 4 dozen eggs every morning to help me get large!
And now that I'm grown I eat 5 dozen eggs so I'm roughly the size of a baaaarrrgeeee!
Perhaps you are the inspiration for the modern David..?
I think one can look at the dark elves and the light elves and see some aspect of the "feminine".
Or perhaps the term "metrosexual" applies.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Oh man I bet he drives the ladies wild!
I dont think this is general for the east asian cultures. If you look at my avatar you will see Ken Watanabe, a japanese actor, as he was in Last Samurai and he does not look the least feminine.
So what I am seeing seems to be an MMORPG thing, or rather a game thing. Somehow games in east asia seems to target mostly young teenagers. Just look at these screenshots from Aion and Lineage 2 (that someone claimed did NOT have feminine looking "males"):
And they clearly look like oversized boys in their lower-mid teens.
Compare this to western type games:
I mean the difference is like night and day.
My gaming blog
BUUUUUURP!!!
Grab me 'nuther beer, Madonna!
A Modest Proposal for MMORPGs:
That the means of progression would not be mutually exclusive from the means of enjoyment.
ROTFLOL
Ok, this meets all my requirements for comedy gold! Thanks for the laughs my friends.
If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, riddle 'em with bullets
Where are "ladyboys" popular and accepted? 'Nuff said.
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.-
-And on the 8th day, man created God.-
By people who aren't ignorant bigots *coughyoucough*.
Where I live there's a high population of your so called "LadyBoys"
Which are called transgendered or transsexuals. Dont' be rude please, that's not nice
.
Maybe your perception of masculine is just different. Society's overall perception changes with time anyway. Maybe you should stop basing masculinety on physical appearance and more on actions.
Then again I tend to like my male characters in games to look a certain way as well. So I can somewhat understand what you are saying. Of course I'm a guy that dates other guys, so go figure. I prefer more muscular frames, but that's just me. I wouldn't not play a game or feel less masculine because my character didn't have a bulky frame.
Maybe you should watch a movie called Butch Factor. It's goes over the question of masculinty, and what makes a man a man. It is focused on the gay community because they deal with that issue more so than straight men. However, it's a decent movie for any guy to watch. It goes from very butch body builders to more feminine slim guys. It asks us why we consider one more masculine than the other. If being masculine is strength, enduring hardships, etc...would that make the more feminine guys more of a man than the naturally tough looking guys. They had to deal with jokes and possibly physical torture their entire lives. Just some stuff to ponder. One of the guys in the movie talks about that very thing.
It's an honest question, and much of it's because asian people look different. Western and Eastern cultures share clearly difficult physical attributes. Asian men are typically (not always, but usually) shorter and less bulky, and a lot of that is due to diet, genetics and the kinds of physical activity they do. It's a cultural thing, is all.
Games are largely an art form, the look and style is predetermined in the form of concept and storyboards. Those artists are going to be inspired by the world as they know it, likely their immediate surroundings. Its the same reason heroes in manga are nowhere near the bulk of heroes in say, Marvel comics.
That said, it doesn't necessarily make the characters 'effeminate.' Rather, what we think of as feminine qualities may not be so to another culture.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
gaeanprayer ........ lol i think u think u know alot huh lol
Classic...telling someone not to be rude after you call them an ignorant bigot.
Are you suggesting coconuts migrate!?
Different cultures different perceptions of masculinity.
Anyway Western developers are guilty of doing it too with races such as elves...and emm elves
Probably ten years from now western games will have “feminine looking” men as research shows the younger generation of girls prefer the feminine pretty boy look rather than the traditional man.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7457138/Why-women-now-prefer-Johnny-Depp-to-Sean-Connery.html
I mean you can see it already
Times are just changing...girly boys are in it seems.
March on! - Lets Invade Pekopon
For goodness sakes.... Is (or should it be a problem to at least see the difference between a man and a woman?"Gosh. One might think the problem wouldn't be wther or not to tell if it's a man or a woman. That's sad to me...
King of the world
The short answer is that the heros much be attractive. I think it also has something to do with the way beauty is valued in Asia and that femanine looking men are more highly valued than in the western world. But they very, very rarely have ugly heroes.
For instance, when EverQuest 2 moved into Asia, they had to re-do their character art because the evil races had to be made attractive in order to appeal to Asian players, otherwise they wouldn't play Ogres and Trolls and the other less pleasant looking EQ2 races. Where as in the west, we want an Ogre and a Troll needs to be hidious looking, especially as player characters.