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Games Entertainment

Are Game Magazines Turning Into Men's Magazines? 147

Posted by simoniker from the slashdot-games-readers'-wives dept.
KaiEl writes "I was skimming through the latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (April 2004) the other day when I began to notice a recurring theme: pictures of scantily clad women, both virtual and real, kept popping up. Usually it's not surprising to find one or two skimpy outfits in an issue, but this one seemed crawling with them. I decided to chronicle a list of the semi-nudity in a post on my weblog. What does this surplus of sexy pictures say about the direction of the videogame industry? Is it a reaction to the success of 'male' magazines like Maxim and FHM? Is it a reflection of the video game industry's seeming fascination with the barely clothed female form (see: Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball)? Or am I just a prude who's getting worked up over nothing?"
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Are Game Magazines Turning Into Men's Magazines? More

Are Game Magazines Turning Into Men's Magazines?

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  • Rule #1 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ObviousGuy ( 578567 ) <ObviousGuy@hotmail.com> on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:44PM (#8583957) Homepage Journal
    Know your audience.

    • Re:Rule #1 (Score:4, Funny)

      by Khasmo ( 659750 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:50PM (#8584014)
      All I know is that after reading thios article, I really want to go out and get that magazine.
      .
      .
      .
      For the articles, of course.

    • Re:Rule #1 (Score:5, Funny)

      by Decaffeinated Jedi ( 648571 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @10:11PM (#8585493) Homepage Journal
      Does anyone remember the now-defunct PC Accelerator magazine from the publishers of PC Gamer? Although the magazine folded back in 2000, but it was essentially marketed as a Maxim for PC gaming set. Along with the standard news coverage and reviews, it also included features like "The Women We Love to Play" and photo shoots featuring women like Eidos' Lara Croft models and Stevie "Killcreek" Case. PCXL did its best to emulate the humor -- and even the design elements -- of men's magazines like Maxim and Stuff, but the girls/games connection just seemed a bit forced at times.

      On the other hand, I thought their gaming coverage was quite good. Thus, in summary, I read PC Accelerator for the articles. ;)

      • Re:Rule #1 (Score:2, Interesting)

        by UltimaL337Star ( 641853 )
        I remember pc accelerator, gawd I miss it. If anyone's curious, I'm quite sure it was shutdown not because of it's much more adult-male oriented content but because of lack of subscriptions. Man it would've had some good articles on dead or alive and bmx xxx... And yes, it did have quite good coverage and cleavage...
      • I guess they didn't think rule #2 through then

        1. Know your audience.
        2. ???
        3. Profit

      • Re:Rule #1 (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Night Goat ( 18437 )
        That was a great magazine. I have never laughed so much from reading a magazine as I did with that one. Too bad it's gone, it was definitely one of the more enjoyable magazines to read. Also, it was different. Nowadays, every magazine seems the same. Reviews, previews, articles about inane shit. Rinse, repeat. I miss PC Accelerator's weird articles about stuff like what games would make good drinking games.
    • Gameplay and story have taken a backseat to pretty pictures, bigger explosions, and more T&A. It won't sell any video games to me, but I guess its what the target audience wants for the most part. Gee, I wonder why?

  • Let me see... (Score:5, Funny)

    by DaveJay ( 133437 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:45PM (#8583967)
    "Or am I just a prude who's getting worked up over nothing?"

    Considering you chronicled the semi-nudity on your web site, I think you're a smart person who knows that nudity (even the semi kind) will get you a posting on Slashdot and a lot of web traffic to your blog. ;)

    And since I seem to be a very early post, I suspect a lot of people are RTFAWSN (Reading the ----ing article with semi-nudity.)

  • Don't bother guys (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:46PM (#8583972)
    The blog doesn't have any of the pictures from these magazines. Man, what a damn tease. I'm sorry I clicked the link.

  • How is this shocking? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by readpunk ( 683053 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:47PM (#8583986) Journal
    The same people who have a ton of money to blow on the endless and for the most part terrible games that the video game industry releases, are also the same people who view the other sex as objects. Why not start "reviewing" women in the magazines as well?

    • Re:How is this shocking? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:51PM (#8584020)
      Why not start "reviewing" women in the magazines as well? Because the phrase "she really sucked" has a completely different connotation with applied to reviews of women, and gamers might get confused...
    • The same people who have a ton of money to blow on the endless and for the most part terrible games that the video game industry releases, are also the same people who view the other sex as objects.


      You mean the way to get rich is to view women as objects? Didn't know it was THAT easy :)

  • Average age of the gamer (Score:4, Insightful)

    by soramimicake ( 593421 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:50PM (#8584015)
    I think it reflects that a large part of the audience who grew up with computer games has, er, grown older, and this is the kneejerk reaction of the industry to try to attract them.

    • kneejerk? (Score:5, Funny)

      by GuyMannDude ( 574364 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @07:09PM (#8584186) Journal

      I think it reflects that a large part of the audience who grew up with computer games has, er, grown older, and this is the kneejerk reaction of the industry to try to attract them.

      Um, I don't think the knee is the part of the body being jerked in this case...

      GMD

  • "Or am I just a prude..." (Score:3, Insightful)

    by paulcammish ( 542971 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:51PM (#8584019)
    Or am I just a prude who's getting worked up over nothing?

    Yes.

    And DOA:X is actually a rather good 'social game', with some rather fun subgames tacked on, even bar the semi-nudity.

    • Re:"Or am I just a prude..." (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      And DOA:X is actually a rather good 'social game', with some rather fun subgames tacked on, even bar the semi-nudity.

      True, but the part where Tecmo lost me was the actual volleyball gameplay. Yes, it can be simple and fun, but it's nowhere near as exciting as an oldie like Super Spike V'Ball (Best. Volleyball. Game. Evar!), which is another 2-button volleyball game.

      I still gotta hand it to them for creating some damn impressive polygon characters though. Between DOAX and Ninja Gaiden, Tomonobu Itagaki
      • Yes, it can be simple and fun, but it's nowhere near as exciting as an oldie like Super Spike V'Ball, which is another 2-button volleyball game. Agreed, but its less about the volleyball, but more about the social backstory and collecting. Personally I found the subgames such as the hopping game and casino quite fun and distracting.

        Also, something of note, is that the game may only use two buttons by default, but it uses the presure sensitivity of the XBox buttons to make those two the equivalent of 4 -

    • Re:"Or am I just a prude..." (Score:5, Funny)

      by prockcore ( 543967 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @08:14PM (#8584694)
      And DOA:X is actually a rather good 'social game', with some rather fun subgames tacked on, even bar the semi-nudity.

      Riight, and you just read playboy for the articles too, huh?
    • Game magazines turning into men's magazines? If you can show me a game where a buff, good looking, good guy is the hero of the game (maybe Duke Nukem Forever if it even comes out?) and it doesn't get publicized as much, then yes. Until a "female orientated/focused developing group" (no, The Sims doesn't count) publishes a (good and/or successful) game, saying that game magazines are male orientated is like saying chocolate cake is too chocolately.

  • Nearly Naked Nubiles Nothing New (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Gorgo the Slow ( 718830 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:52PM (#8584028)
    I wonder if the author has looked at much of ANY magazine, TV show or movie in the past 20 years. There isn't much of anything that isn't sold by attatching hot nearly naked women to it. Powertools to alchohol to videogames to vacations in Jamaica- all brought to you by the power of your own biological urges. This is nothing new. Videogames have rounded the bend on graphics enough to give us rendered juggy characters. Entertainment Weekly often has nearly naked women, so does Interview, so does Wallpaper, so does Vogue, so does pretty much any magazine aimed at anyone over pubescent age. Ever wonder why so many "classic" paintings from the renaissance are of nude reclining women?

  • Leisure Suit Larry? (Score:4, Funny)

    by tanksalot ( 762778 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @06:55PM (#8584066)
    I just wish that they redid the "Leisure Suit Larry" games with today's graphic capabilities.

  • prude - nope (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @07:11PM (#8584200) Journal
    Or am I just a prude who's getting worked up over nothing?

    No, I think you have a valid concern. I can be a porn hound with the best of the them but when I want to read about computer games or car modding it narks me that I'm bombarded with 'glamour' pictures. You should see the shit you get in car modding mags these days.

    I think it has as much to do with the sudden power of the editors and other staff members. It's like the sad state that guys go through as soon as they get a bit of money to spend on the art budget. You also see it in music videos. Sad no-name rap group gets told they can spen $X on a video and get some women bumping and grinding, like it's some sort of badge of honour. Gee well, done guys, you got enough $ to hire a pretty girl to stand near you for a change.

    If you really want a computer game magazine you should buy Future Publishing's Edge [edge-online.com]. It's written for and by adults in an adult style and doesn't go for the prurient. Stear clear of the sad wankers because if the need to show you some tits to make you buy their mag then their editorial must be shite.

    • Another good magazine for someone who wants to read about gaming is the aptly named Computer Games Magazine [cgonline.com].

    • Re:prude - nope (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Rallion ( 711805 )
      Stear clear of the sad wankers because if the need to show you some tits to make you buy their mag then their editorial must be shite.

      Now, I don't know the mag in question, or many mags at all, for that matter, but your logic is faulty. The above quote is fine, but you make an assumption -- that they need to put in the hotties to sell issues. Maybe they were doing fine as it was, and decided to add some nudity to boost sales even more.

      I just hate it when people say things like that.
    • If you really want a computer game magazine you should buy Future Publishing's Edge. It's written for and by adults in an adult style and doesn't go for the prurient.

      I dunno. I just went to their website, and one of their four cover stories is "E121: Digital Women Inteviews".
    • I'd generally agree with you, as for the most part Edge is the one games magazine that treats its audience as anything other than teenage boys. But the last 4 or so issues in a row have had at least partial nudity in them.

  • I for one... (Score:5, Funny)

    by cilix ( 538057 ) <timNO@SPAMnicholas.net.nz> on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @07:17PM (#8584255) Homepage
    ...welcome our new Nude overlords.

    What can I say, it's been a slow day.
    • wonder how did that whole overlords joke get started?
      • Ever watched the Simpsons? Did you see the one where Homer was an Astronaut? Remember how he opened the packet of Ruffled chips and it exploded into the weightlessness of the space craft? remember how he did that floating dance to eat the chips and then he crashed into the ant farm? And then, after all that, there was a live cross to the "Average-naut" to TV, and a big arse ant passed by the camera, and Kent Brockman said "I, for one, welcome our new ant overlords" blahblahblah... Thats where this tired, ti

  • It's Just EGM (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Kanpai ( 713697 ) <KanpaiWai&gmail,com> on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @07:43PM (#8584449)
    Electronic Gaming Monthly did a poll at least two years ago to find their target audience, and found that it was males between the ages of 17-25 or something like that. They conciously made the move to a more male/sexually-oriented format, and actually told their readers about this. Inspection of other gaming mags will show you that they're not all made this way. Like the first person to comment, they're just knowing their audience. 12 year olds read happy Nintendo Power, and big boys who like their nudity read EGM. It doesn't have much to do with games at all.

    However, DOA:X is a good illustration of how the gaming market <i>is</i> becoming more sexually oriented. Mmmm....decline of society...

    • Re:It's Just EGM (Score:4, Insightful)

      by May Kasahara ( 606310 ) on Wednesday March 17, 2004 @11:30AM (#8589224) Journal
      Inspection of other gaming mags will show you that they're not all made this way.

      Very true. I used to be a subscriber to Game Informer-- when they did a "Five Hottest Girls in Video Games" mini-feature in their 100th issue, it eventually snowballed into this big flap about how the magazine isn't respectful to its female readers (most of this coming from the sizable female readership). As a result, they came to hire a female editor, and the coverage of issues such as DOA Beach Volleyball and the new Leisure Suit Larry game was fairly tasteful, IMHO.

      (By the way, the reason why I let my subscription lapse was not because of any such gender issues-- but because of spoilers... huge, unmarked spoilers :P)

    • However, DOA:X is a good illustration of how the gaming market is becoming more sexually oriented. Mmmm....decline of society...

      I thought DOA:X bombed in sales, though. I certainly remember Conker's Bad Fur Day bombing as well. There's been a lot of coverage of "more adult" games, but fundamentally what sells is good gameplay/design/graphics/marketing et c. regardless of the market you're targeting.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @07:54PM (#8584527)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Sexual repression and the woman (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Wednesday March 17, 2004 @01:38AM (#8586583) Journal
      You know, I hear a lot about sexual objectification coming from women's advocacy groups.

      However, my guess is that sexual objectification is a pretty much necessary result of the fact that content related to sexuality is frequently suppressed. Public nudity is not okay. Social norms reduce the degree to which men and women expose flesh. Sexual activity is something done strictly in private. Society goes to incredible lengths to try and delay knowledge children learn of sexual activity.

      There are two reasons I can think of for producing such an environment. The first would be to the benefit of males -- avoiding a "cuckoo's egg" situation. Men do not want their wives fooling around when they might have to expend lots of resources raising a baby that might not contain their genetic material. Anything to avoid that situation is good. The second, and I think the more predominant, is to the benefit of females -- decreasing the availability of content relating to sexuality increases the bargaining value of each female's sexuality. This is not the '40s, and emphasis on women marrying to reach a certain economic point is not what it used to be, but it is still definitely an element of society -- I remember reading a study finding that women placed much more emphasis on the economic and other practical state of a potential spouse than men did. To some extent, I think that one could say that the sexual objectification of women is an artifact of a social phenomenen that (whether women were "responsible" for it or not) primarily benefits females.

    • Re:Prude? It depends... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Vexware ( 720793 ) on Wednesday March 17, 2004 @02:10AM (#8586693) Homepage

      People in Europe must think that Americans are complete, sexually-repressed, idiots.
      Living in France, I would not go as far as that, but I have to admit you really aren't far off the truth. Here in France, breasts on television at any hours of the day is a common happening (especially in all the shampoo adverts). When I say 'any hour of the day', I am not hyperboling and you can beleive me, that really is from morning time to prime time television, even when the smaller children come back from school. I think this is what has 'normalized' the view of breasts enormously, and seeing some continually on television when the young children are watching isn't something shocking or surprising at all here. When we heard of the whole 'Janet Jackson's breast' affair, it was something quite comic over here, and when we heard America's legislation to ban live television, the States' population's fear of a breast became something of a joke over here.

      What surprised me, more than anything, were the reactions on Slashdot. Some were comparing the situation to a televisual 'Goatse' -- though in my opinion there is a bit of difference between being taking by surprised by a gaping anus and by a breast (with a sun around the nipple, goddamit!). I don't know if the same numbers apply to the USA, but over here most boys have seen a pornographic film by the age of around 8. I just do not see how seeing a breast on television could be so shocking. Anyway, isn't the Superbowl broadcast in the evening in America? Shouldn't kids who aren't old enough to have seen a pornographic flm yet have been in bed already?

      So, to say it frankly, it is true that most French people think of you Americans not only as warmongers but also as prude maniacs. Though you say this could be the general opinion throughout Europe, I beleive that the United Kingdom does have a lower tolerance of what appears on television than in France or in Germany. In the United Kingdom, the "F word" is censored even at 10 PM, whereas in France we are allowed to hear it as soon as 5 - 6 PM. That is one of the aspects of our liberal censorship policy that I like less of, as I do feel there should be certain regulations to protect what our children car hear on daytime television. I'm 13 and I swear constantly, but perhaps my language would be more elegant had the television not repeated some language so much.

      • In the United Kingdom, the "F word" is censored even at 10 PM

        That depends on which channel, and what programme. A film on ITV1 or BBC1 that might get a lot of kids staying up to watch it may well be censored (especially ITV - watching people gun each other down while screaming 'forget you' is just silly). But if it isn't going to have a large amount of kids staying up to watch it, then they won't censor.

      • I don't know if the same numbers apply to the USA, but over here most boys have seen a pornographic film by the age of around 8.

        Perhaps this is the crux of the issue. Most boys in the US grow to be 13 or 14 before seeing a pornographic film... although it depends on what you mean by pornographic. Some people define it as simply seeing the full frontal nudity of a member of the opposite sex. Others define it as seeing 2 people engaging in sexually explicit activity (to be blunt, when you see the penis pe
      • This country is prudish in the best of times, and is really bad about it right now. Out current bible-thumping president doesn't help matters any.

        To respond to a point you made... the halftime in question was shown around 5PM-8PM (west coast and east coast, respectively), too early for the kids to be asleep.

        And so far as I know, the only time the word fuck has been allowed on broadcast TV (with advance knowledge) was when playing videos of firemen during the attacks on the WTC. These videos were shown mon
      • I'm 13 and I swear constantly, but perhaps my language would be more elegant had the television not repeated some language so much.

        Of course you do, damn it! (pardon my french).
      • So, to say it frankly, it is true that most French people think of you Americans not only as warmongers but also as prude maniacs.

        France: age ~2000 years (depends where you start counting the Gauls, I guess). Starting population probably somewhere about 1-2 million.
        Current population: 60 million.
        Starting size: roughly 550,000 sq km, current size, about 550,000 sq km.
        Current GDP $1.558 trillion, $26,000 per capita
        Role: wheezing former Great Power, desperately passing 'culture laws' forcing people to speak
    • I agree with most of what you said, but if the broadcast bare breast that you are referring to is the Janet Jackson breast, the nipple was NOT covered. Her nipple(s?) is/are pierced and what you saw was a stylized "sun" that was held in place by the bar through the nipple. And the nipple is clearly seen sticking out in the center of the "sun." So for all tends and purposes, the breast was fully exposed. I personally wish that more breasts were broadcast, but the US is too much of a prudish nation to al

  • UGO (Score:2)

    by antdude ( 79039 )
    My favorite gaming news site, Blue's News [bluesnews.com], has advertisements from UGO [ugo.com] that has advertisements with women as well. Same with IGN [ign.com]. It is not just the hardcopy magazines.

  • Aren't Games For Kids? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Benedick ( 737361 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @08:06PM (#8584627)
    Yes, I know that many videogamers these days are older. Heck, I'm still a gamer at 42. But one thing I like to do is share the joy that is video gaming with my children.

    The problems with all the emphasis on sex in video games is that makes them 1) less likely to be allowed by Mom and 2) less appealing to female gamers.

    I stopped getting video game magazines when I realized that every issue had a partially revealed hottie on either the front or the back cover. I couldn't even leave the magazines lying around.

    Eventually, the hobby will mature enough to support videogame magazines aimed at different markets: young videogamers, female videogamers, mature videogamers, and (the largest segment) horny young male videogamers. For now, though, it's just that last group being served.

    • Computer games are going the way of music, tv, and movies. The get more vulgar every year.

      Eventually, there will be a back lash and more family friendly games will come out.

      They may sell well but the developers will still make 90% of the stuff they sell vulgar because they can i guess.

  • Look to G4TV and read your answer (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AnamanFan ( 314677 ) <anamanfan&everythingafter,net> on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @08:19PM (#8584730) Homepage
    You need only to look at the about page [g4tv.com] for G4TV to understand what video game press is geared towards. The only missing word is male, but being that obvious would get them into a lot of trouble. Watch the channel and you will know that the word 'male' is implied. Had they include both genders, you wouldn't have shows that feature titles such as graphic adventures which have a higher gender mix than other titles.

    Right now the industry is approching a crossroads. Had I have time to be detailed, I would make certain paralles with electrionic gaming and early history of the film industry where the market wasn't realized until after the Hollywood monoploies were broken. Since this is a /. post, I don't feel I need to be too detailed.

    What I will say is the industry is at a point for easy money makers, similar to the 30's and 40's for film that the B-film was made for. Churn them out, get high returns with low investment. You can make a very sucessful title that for a general audience that will make mad-money (IE: The Sims, Myst, Flight Simulator), but these titles appear to be hard to make sucessful. So, we get tons of product that fits in the easy market: 12 to 34 male.

  • Is Slashdot turning into a girly website?*

    (* Hint: It is a 'blog' beneath its surface, and most bloggers are girls aged 13-17.)

  • Two words... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by JVert ( 578547 ) <corganbilly@ho t m a i l . c om> on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @09:03PM (#8585038) Journal
    Nvidia Elf

  • I Noticed the Same Thing... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by cyberMalex ( 713793 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @09:13PM (#8585118) Homepage

    pictures of scantily clad women, both virtual and real, kept popping up.

    I noticed exactly the same thing.

    I used to be a subscriber to EGM, but I eventually dropped the subscription because I felt it was taking unfair advantage of the ease with which my hormones are manipulated by random people. It seemed they were beginning to shove out the real gaming-related stuff in favor of more "lowest common denominator" stuff - such as images of the female form in various stages of undress, and I just decided I wasn't getting what I was paying for anymore, so I quit paying. ;)

    • Today I cancel my subscription to PC Pro.

      Its a clean UK magazine tarnished only slightly by the odd graphics card advert but this month it comes with a flyer for a "Mens Magazine" complete with samples of the kinds of pictures I can get.

      Well d*rn, I dont buy mens magazines cos I don't want my mind tarnished by the decietful images, and I don't buy deceitful magazines that try to tarnish my mind on the sly like PC Pro.

      I doubt PC Pro will miss my single subscription fee, but I won't miss PC Pro. I own my m
    • About two years ago, MaximumPC started putting scantily-clad models in its articles. It definitely wasn't pornographic. It was just an awkward shock to see seductive women in a geek hardware/game magazine with benchmark graphs and technical articles. Also, it smacked of flagrant manipulation. It was so transparent what they were trying to do from a marketing standpoint, it was insulting and patronizing. They think that inserting sex into the magazine is going to make for more loyal umm "readers"? Sorry, whi
      • I meant to send a letter explaining why I was not renewing my subscription, but I never got around to it. I hope they're reading this.

        No, they aren't. That's the whole point of sending the letter. If you are upset by the magazine's content, you should let them know directly. It may not make an impact on the magazine, but the editors will know they have screwed up.

      • Young male readers are supposed to be too savvy to fall for boobies? Explain to me then why any copies whatsoever of DOA beach volleyball or BMX XXX were sold. Young guys are exactly the target of ads featuring nudity and objectification of women. Of course, they're also the guys they put in the underwear ads in mens and womens magazines alike, I'm getting tired of opening Maxim so I can see hooters, and ending up with an eyeful of young manpackage instead.
        • Young male geeks are supposed to be too savvy to fall for boobies as a way to make them buy computer magazines.

          On the other hand, porn can become legitimate content if the geeks actually like smut and circuit boards in the same articles.

  • Hah! (Score:2)

    by kundor ( 757951 )
    Anyone can tell this is just an excuse for /. to link to FHM and Maxim.

    degenerate place, this.

  • Last month my issue of XBox magizne and it had a long review on the upcomming MechAssult. On every page and the cover they had a picture of a woman in a tight see thru shirt. Did they need to add that to make the game better? If I want to see half naked woman I play DOAXBV. when I play MechAsslut I play for the Mechs and distruction. I all for Adult titles I think there should be more. Just keep it in its place. -BigWurm-
  • Pick up just about any magazine from the shelves in your local newsagent. You'll find slim, scantily clad women in photos. Be it cosmo, womens day, auto, PC Gamer, whatever you get, they'll be using pretty women to sell copy.

    And they were doing it years before today. I have some original Zap!64 magazines at home (for the commodore 64). You bet, there are chicks in there too.

    The fact of the matter is, and the marketing guys have known this for a long time, women are more pleasing to the eye than men (e

  • Forniphilia (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Michael.Forman ( 169981 ) * on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @10:40PM (#8585694) Homepage Journal

    The EGM article unambiguously exemplies the sexual objectification [wikipedia.org] of women. What I find particularly disturbing are the invasive and almost abusive questions asked in the EGM America's Sexiest Gamer article. [egmmag.com] For example, in the article the interviewer asks "What's the best game to use as foreplay?", "What's your favorite position...to play games in?", and "Are vibrating controllers sexy?". Based on her asexual responses, I would be willing to argue that the sexual nature of the line of questioning was nonconsensual.

    I submit that you are not prude, rather I believe you are simply taking offense at the blatant objectification.

    Michael. [michael-forman.com]

    • Forget objectification, this is just silly (Score:4, Interesting)

      by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Wednesday March 17, 2004 @01:22AM (#8586494) Journal
      Ignoring the whole issue of whether it's ethical or not to objectify someone...can anyone really enjoy these? I mean, don't get me wrong. I like looking at good-looking underdressed girls as much as the next guy. However, isn't there a point where reading the article, you start to feel silly just because the marketing involved is *so* blatant? I mean, how can you *read* those without looking at yourself and saying "what am I *doing* reading this?"

      Besides, it's not as if anyone who wants porn can't get it. Frankly, given the Internet, it's probably quite possible to obtain porn faster than you can conceivably look at it. Why bother with some random half-assed sexual innuendo in a gaming magazine?
    • > I would be willing to argue that the sexual nature of the line of questioning was nonconsensual.

      Insightful...more like absolutely clueless. This is an interview with someone who won, sexiest gamer, a contest which involves how intentionally sexy and provoking they can be strutting around and sending in hot pictures (also note both males and females competed so his "of women" crap is out of line as well ;p)...and now sexual questions in a post interview are nonconsensual!?

      It's sad how all these claim


      • Being recognized for being attractive or even sexy is possible without objectification. Like intelligence it's a quality we all posses in some amount. The contest was seeking a woman and man who are both avid game players and are sexy. During the interview, the reporter asks three questions which allude to intercourse (2) or masturbation (1). Additionally, these questions were only asked of the female (the male was given no interview).

        These two facts demonstrate two things. The interviewer's questions
    • If you're being objectified in the first place, after all it's america's sexiest gamer, not most skilled gamer, then you should expect questions which objectify women. Put another way, if you appear in Penthouse you should expect some questions about your chachas. This is just softcore porn, right? Otherwise it would be an article about her amazing skill.

      Furthermore, given that people are all different and there are a lot of us, there must be girls who are turned on by games. I know there are plenty of gi


      • Being recognized as simultaneously sexy and a gamer is not inherently objectification. I think you'd agree that the original contest seeking sexy male and femal gamers is relatively benign. However, I believe the article referenced in my original post crossed the line when it subjected the female and only the female winner of the contest to questions with strong sexual content.

        The argument in your first sentence is that because the original contest may have a small degree of both male and female object

        • I believe it is just common sense that the questions quoted in my top post could only be asked of a person who has been reduced to the status of an object. Could you ask a coworker or boss such questions? What if they were voted first place in a sexy boss gamer competition? Would you ask those questions of a man?

          Just because the potential legal implications of asking a coworker or boss such a question rule out such an action doesn't mean the same logic applies here. Sexy means "Arousing or tending to

  • Yes you are just someone getting all worked up for nothing...

  • Looked at any "womens" magazines recently? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Muggins the Mad ( 27719 ) on Tuesday March 16, 2004 @11:33PM (#8586010)

    Most of the womens magazines are just like this too. Full of skimpily clad supermodels. The difference is they are also full of articles telling women how imperfect they are physically and why they *could* achieve a perfect body if only they weren't so lazy.

    At least the ones targetted at men usually have articles about cars or sport or computer games.

    - MugginsM
    • Yup. There are many industries (magazines, cosmetics, surgery, etc.) devoted to making women feel ugly. Sad, really. Given a woman who is comfortable with her age wearing little/no makeup and a smile, vs. someone buried under makeup and scars trying to look 19, I'll take the former any day.
  • It's not a new trend to see so much scantily clad women (be they digital or real) in a videogame mag. I remember a few years ago one even had a "game girl of the month" in one of the mags I had, which featured a full page scantily clad glamor shot of a model dressed as say, Lara Croft, or such. In the style of say, FHM.

    But back then, there was a higher percentage of content than there seems to be now.

    Now if I buy a magazine, I know I'll get to see lots of semi naked polygon girls, anime girls, real girl

  • Missing the point (Score:2, Interesting)

    by stryck9 ( 670369 )
    Most of these comments are missing the point. If you take a look at the magazine industry, Maxim, a newcomer to the scene, went from 0 to a 6 million circulation per issue in roughly 7 years... this = lots of profit. EGM and Game Pro on the other hand have about 700,000 circulation per issue. EGM has been around for 15 years and the has less than 1/6th the circulation of a magazine that is less than half its age. This equals significantly less profit. Now, the brilliant minds over there probably took note o
  • If they were ever aimed at both sexes I would be surprised... only now the age limit has shifted.

    (There were exceptions, but they were few)
  • You get shit, I havn't bought a EGM magazine in years, just cause it's lost all it's "appeal" to me. If I want half naked women I'll buy Playboy or just surf the nett.

    The only two gaming mags I buy now is Edge and GamesTM. Great magazines. ;)
  • I spend more than my fair share of time at a local Joe Muggs [joemuggs.com], drinking passable coffee and reading through stacks of magazines from all over the store.

    The only gaming magazine I've found that's worth a damn is Polygon [polygonmag.com]. All the others look like-- and more importantly are, in my experience-- juvenile crap. Their substance of badly written, uninteresting articles is all but drowned out by the flashy crapfest that Kyle partially describes.

    So, my question is: What gaming magazines out there are actually g

  • ...anyone remember PCXL [blizzard.com]?

  • If its the ad's, it means nothing (Score:3, Funny)

    by LordZardoz ( 155141 ) on Wednesday March 17, 2004 @04:22PM (#8592157)
    If the ad's are the primary source of the scantily clad images of women, then its a big nothing.

    Now, if EGM starts to run editorials about how to score with such women, then its time to reconsider why you buy that magazine.

    END COMMUNCATION
  • ...if my biggest problem with the article is that the 1000-pixel wide photo of the chick in the pac-man t-shirt is that IT'S A FUCKING GIF!?

    Seriously, she may be the "sexiest gamer," but whoever built the article is the world's stupidest designer. It's 920 fucking k! I feel dirty for even looking at it.

  • My subject is directed at the submitter of the story. My jaw hit the floor. I'm probably going to be modded down for being redundant or not intellectual enough, but after reading the Level 5 responses I found my viewpoint not being articulated strongly enough for my liking.

    So back to the subject. Welcome back from the coma dude. Sex sells. Sex sells to horomonally driven, sexually repressed teen agers really well.

    Unfortunately, the blatant objectivication of women, not to mention the trade-on on titi

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