Eating disorder awareness group asks game developers for more realistic character designs.
Tight waists are de rigueur for female character designs in games but, if you have taken a look around, their general dominance isn’t exactly an accurate reflection of the world we live in. Seeking to spark discussion on the topic of depicting women in games in a manner more in line with reality, Bulimia.com (a website providing information on eating disorders including bulimia and anorexia) has released a series of images showing what a variety of characters might look like if they conformed to the measurements of an average American woman.
Some of the images are more dramatic than others. Jade from Mortal Kombat winds up with a more subtle treatment than, say, Rikku of Final Fantasy X-2, who appears squished down more than anything. Other notable characters include Tifa Lockheart (Final Fantasy Disidua 02), Lara Croft (Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness), and Cortana (Halo 4).
To explain the motivation behind the making of the images, the site reads, “Some gaming studios boast their hyper-realistic lighting techniques, touting natural cloud movements as the latest features of their games. And with that kind of attention to detail, it makes us wonder, why can’t they accurately portray the female body?”
Certainly game designers could make the decision to depict less toned flesh. Technology is clearly up to the task, they merely need the desire to do so. It’s worth noting that Bulimia.com does not condemn the developers behind the idealized source material nor claim that such bodies are impossible, rather that they are unrealistic as a standard.
Source: Bulimia.com
