But I wonder if the air-brushing of our celebrities will fall into the valley, coming from the other direction?

I think it probably already has.

Becoming perfect is just a few mouse clicks away

Something just seems out of place...

She’s about 10-heads tall.  Comic-book heroines tend to be about 8-heads tall.  Tall runway models are about 7-7 1/2 heads tall.  Her head is disproportionately small and the end result looks really creepy.

Usually when I draw, I tend to make the mistake of making the head disproportionately bigger.  But that is also because I think that the face and eyes are the most important features.  But in this case, there is no subtlety to what the designers wanted to emphasize – her intelligence!

This is so much an industry practice that the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) created a “non-binding” committee dedicated to providing that long work hours is actually counterproductive and that most game industry employees burn out within 5 years.

Whistle while you work...

If the majority of people working in the game industry is under 30, then 5 years is just about right.  60 hour work weeks are nothing to someone who is young, single and passionate about creating games.  But someone like myself who has a wife, 2 kids, and a house and yard, working more than 45 hours a week is already intolerable.  It’s not just burnout – but that the gaming industry does not support a quality of life condusive to families.

This means that the vast majority of workers in the game industry are unmarried and without children.  Is it then any surprise that the majority of AAA games are testosterone driven, blood-soaked, cleavage filled, single-male fantasies?

"Bikini Zombie Slayers" - Who thinks up this junk?

Perhaps this is also the reason why indie games exhibit more creativity than the usual fair of blood soaked T & A.  Not only are the people involved in creating the games passionate, but they are not being milled to death to meet tough deadlines.  And quite possibly, they have more in their life than just work.

The ability to breathe and take in the life around you is the essence of true creativity and inspiration.  Otherwise, the best you can create is venting your primal rage – usually in the form of sex, violence and sexual violence.

But what I found most surprising is how little the Jezebel commenters are aware of the culture that surrounds the game itself.  Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with Japan knows that there is an astounding amount of deviant sexual behavior found in their comic books, animation and films – not to mention video games.

What is even more disturbing is how these games influence some of the top makers in the big AAA-industry.  I mentioned Hideo Kojima on how he treats women in Metal Gear Solid 4, but there are others too.  The producer of Star Ocean himself wanted to make erotic games and tried to ask permission from the previous president of Square Enix.  He was told an emphatic “no”, but I can’t help but think that he tried to get away with as much as possible with his character designs and story:

Many games show that characters are female by making them look like strippers. That is, giving them breast implants, tiny waists, heavy make-up, and skimpy clothing, as seen in Tomb Raider, Dead or Alive, Soul Calibur, and so on. This approach certainly sells games and gets banner ad clicks, but it really cheapens the whole experience. Not only is it demeaning to women, but it would also not mix well with animal characters.

It will be interesting to see the final product of David’s elite 5-person team.