Akiba's Trip and gender representation
May 10, 2014 1:35:29 GMT -5
Post by wyrdwad on May 10, 2014 1:35:29 GMT -5
Apologies for starting a thread about a game I'm directly involved in publishing here, but I wanted to talk about something we just announced today (that I've been DYING to tell people about for like, two months now!) which I'm really proud to be a part of, and which I feel is kind of a big deal -- assuming anyone actually cares about it and follows precedent, anyway!
For those who don't know, we announced Akiba's Trip 2 for a summer release in North American on PS3 and Vita, under its new name "Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed." In a nutshell, it's a story-driven beat-em-up about Tokyo's Akihabara district being taken over by manmade energy vampires called Synthisters ("magaimono" in the Japanese, but written with alternate kanji), and a group of otaku who rise up to fight them by using a smartphone app to identify them, then beat their clothes off so they melt in the sun.
It's irreverent, it's silly, and it's wildly satirical of Japan's otaku culture and internet culture in general, while also celebrating its quirkiness -- cynical, yet accepting. Understandable, since it was developed by a company that operates out of the heart of Akihabara, fronted by a man who is himself a die-hard Akiba otaku.
We've had some discussions about the game on here before, and one of the claims I tried to make in those discussions was that, for all its fanservice and "pandering," Akiba's Trip is NOT a sexist game. Unlike a lot of other titles, Akiba's Trip is pretty nondiscriminatory when it comes to gender -- you beat and strip men and women in equal measure, and the only traces of sexism that occur during the story (what few there are) exist as very blatant social satire elements designed to lampoon the rampant sexism in modern Japanese nerd society.
...However, what I didn't tell you is that game does ever-so-slightly tip the scales in favor of sexism during boss battles with prominent female characters, since each time an article of clothing is removed from those characters, you get a quick cut-in portrait of their now-exposed underwear... and once you've defeated them completely, you get a full-screen image of them lying helpless and subdued in their underwear, which you can then use as wallpaper for your in-game smartphone.
Don't stop reading here, though! There's a reason I neglected to mention this part, and it's because I knew something I couldn't tell you at the time!
Despite our recent glut of game releases with arguably sexist elements in them (and I would absolutely argue a lot of these with you guys!), we ARE aware of how women have been depicted in games lately -- particularly Japanese games -- and we do take notice when games manage to buck that trend. And Akiba's Trip came so, sooooo close to bucking it, but those strip portraits really did tip it just a bit over the edge.
We're not ones to remove content due to social stigma, though, so... we decided to try something a little different. We asked Acquire if they'd be willing to draw equally helpless and subdued cut-in portraits for all the prominent male boss characters (most of whom are female-XSEED-employee-certified hot!)... and to our surprise, they actually agreed!
...And boy, did they ever follow through! The North American release of Akiba's Trip will be including these male strip portraits -- six of them, exactly as many as there are female strip portraits -- and will be offering them as in-game smartphone wallpapers after their respective battles, 100% paralleling how they function for the game's female boss characters. And let me tell you, Acquire did NOT half-ass these -- these men are subdued like WHOA, and are every bit as sexualized as their female counterparts.
In effect, we have tipped the scales back and given this game 100% gender equality through the addition of male fanservice. There is now honest-to-goodness equal representation here!
Of course, this wasn't actually the headline of news articles about the game -- rather, that honor went to the fact that we're also offering dual audio in our release, which you can read about in more detail here:
www.siliconera.com/2014/05/09/inside-recording-booth-akibas-trip-undead-undressed/
And while dual audio is a HUGE deal (especially for a game with this much voice-acting in it!), it's the added male fanservice I was most excited to talk about with people... because I think this is an important test case for what I hope becomes a future trend: gender equality in games not through throttling sexualization, but through embracing it and just making sure there's "something for everyone."
I've said it before, but I think that if you're into games that have no sexual content whatsoever, there are PLENTY of options out there. But just as there are irreverent, offensive yet brilliant shows like South Park out there, so too should the gaming landscape be able to accommodate those of us who enjoy a little bit of naughty every now and again.
The problem is, since video games have been seen as a "boys' club" for so long, it's the boys who call the shots, and so that "little bit of naughty" that pops up in games is almost always centered around the objectification of the female form, leaving straight women and gay men with very little real "naughty" of their own.
The bottom line, I believe, is that game designers need to stop relying on the "traditions" of the industry. If you're making a game about sexy half-naked women, that's all well and good... but if you're making a game about stripping EVERYBODY, why limit your fanservice to only half of everybody?
So, yeah... I wanted to bring this up here and get your takes on this. We're trying something new and experimental here -- progressivism through the ADDITION of risque elements -- and I'd love to see it catch on in the industry. For every pair of boobs, let us also have glistening pecs! Then we can all wallow happily in our shame together!
-Tom
For those who don't know, we announced Akiba's Trip 2 for a summer release in North American on PS3 and Vita, under its new name "Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed." In a nutshell, it's a story-driven beat-em-up about Tokyo's Akihabara district being taken over by manmade energy vampires called Synthisters ("magaimono" in the Japanese, but written with alternate kanji), and a group of otaku who rise up to fight them by using a smartphone app to identify them, then beat their clothes off so they melt in the sun.
It's irreverent, it's silly, and it's wildly satirical of Japan's otaku culture and internet culture in general, while also celebrating its quirkiness -- cynical, yet accepting. Understandable, since it was developed by a company that operates out of the heart of Akihabara, fronted by a man who is himself a die-hard Akiba otaku.
We've had some discussions about the game on here before, and one of the claims I tried to make in those discussions was that, for all its fanservice and "pandering," Akiba's Trip is NOT a sexist game. Unlike a lot of other titles, Akiba's Trip is pretty nondiscriminatory when it comes to gender -- you beat and strip men and women in equal measure, and the only traces of sexism that occur during the story (what few there are) exist as very blatant social satire elements designed to lampoon the rampant sexism in modern Japanese nerd society.
...However, what I didn't tell you is that game does ever-so-slightly tip the scales in favor of sexism during boss battles with prominent female characters, since each time an article of clothing is removed from those characters, you get a quick cut-in portrait of their now-exposed underwear... and once you've defeated them completely, you get a full-screen image of them lying helpless and subdued in their underwear, which you can then use as wallpaper for your in-game smartphone.
Don't stop reading here, though! There's a reason I neglected to mention this part, and it's because I knew something I couldn't tell you at the time!
Despite our recent glut of game releases with arguably sexist elements in them (and I would absolutely argue a lot of these with you guys!), we ARE aware of how women have been depicted in games lately -- particularly Japanese games -- and we do take notice when games manage to buck that trend. And Akiba's Trip came so, sooooo close to bucking it, but those strip portraits really did tip it just a bit over the edge.
We're not ones to remove content due to social stigma, though, so... we decided to try something a little different. We asked Acquire if they'd be willing to draw equally helpless and subdued cut-in portraits for all the prominent male boss characters (most of whom are female-XSEED-employee-certified hot!)... and to our surprise, they actually agreed!
...And boy, did they ever follow through! The North American release of Akiba's Trip will be including these male strip portraits -- six of them, exactly as many as there are female strip portraits -- and will be offering them as in-game smartphone wallpapers after their respective battles, 100% paralleling how they function for the game's female boss characters. And let me tell you, Acquire did NOT half-ass these -- these men are subdued like WHOA, and are every bit as sexualized as their female counterparts.
In effect, we have tipped the scales back and given this game 100% gender equality through the addition of male fanservice. There is now honest-to-goodness equal representation here!
Of course, this wasn't actually the headline of news articles about the game -- rather, that honor went to the fact that we're also offering dual audio in our release, which you can read about in more detail here:
www.siliconera.com/2014/05/09/inside-recording-booth-akibas-trip-undead-undressed/
And while dual audio is a HUGE deal (especially for a game with this much voice-acting in it!), it's the added male fanservice I was most excited to talk about with people... because I think this is an important test case for what I hope becomes a future trend: gender equality in games not through throttling sexualization, but through embracing it and just making sure there's "something for everyone."
I've said it before, but I think that if you're into games that have no sexual content whatsoever, there are PLENTY of options out there. But just as there are irreverent, offensive yet brilliant shows like South Park out there, so too should the gaming landscape be able to accommodate those of us who enjoy a little bit of naughty every now and again.
The problem is, since video games have been seen as a "boys' club" for so long, it's the boys who call the shots, and so that "little bit of naughty" that pops up in games is almost always centered around the objectification of the female form, leaving straight women and gay men with very little real "naughty" of their own.
The bottom line, I believe, is that game designers need to stop relying on the "traditions" of the industry. If you're making a game about sexy half-naked women, that's all well and good... but if you're making a game about stripping EVERYBODY, why limit your fanservice to only half of everybody?
So, yeah... I wanted to bring this up here and get your takes on this. We're trying something new and experimental here -- progressivism through the ADDITION of risque elements -- and I'd love to see it catch on in the industry. For every pair of boobs, let us also have glistening pecs! Then we can all wallow happily in our shame together!
-Tom
