Every now and then something happens within the gaming industry that is so bad that I expect to hear that it was actually a joke or a prank all along, yet in the case of the latest MSG5 controversy, I’m still waiting…
This latest controversy revolves around Hideo Kojima, one of the full-time developers of the game. He recently released a series of tweets concerning one of the game's female characters Quiet. Who like her name, is a silent character, who seems to be around just for looks rather than anything else. Kojima admitted to ordering the designers to make her “more erotic” so that they will sell more figurines and so more girls will cosplay as her. They even went as far as to release the full 3D model of the character so that cosplayers could get a closer look and start working on their costumes, and here it is…
Hideo Kojima's recently released 3D model of Quiet
My biggest issue isn't even that she’s a mute character or that there’s a female in a game wearing a bikini. That can make sense within the context of the game. The issue here is that she is supposed to be a sniper. When you think of any type of person going into battle do you think of a bikini? No, you don’t, or at least you shouldn't. Sure making her a sniper puts her slightly more out of reach, but that still doesn't make her clothing practical in any way, and now we know why. Instead of designing her to be a practical character that makes sense in the context of the game, they have actually admitted to make her an erotic sex symbol purely for the fact that they want to sell more figures and have more girls cosplay as her. The men of this game sure as hell aren't wearing nothing but underwear.
Also, it should be noted that encouraging girls to cosplay in such a manner is worrying in itself. When people cosplay they do it to go to conventions, and lately there has been disturbing stories coming out of conventions regarding peoples approach to women. There have been reports of girls getting groped by security guards, people taking inappropriate photos, men giving women their business cards in their cleavage, men assuming girls are booth babes just based on their costumes just to name a few. It’s getting scary out there for female cosplayers, and now this creepy old Japanese guy is trying to encourage them to wear a costume where the whole top half of their body is covered by about 4% clothing.
Oh, and an example of one of the series of tweets he released about this subject?
Tasteful.
We are in a time when more and more girls are fighting to be treated equally in the world of video games, not just in the industry itself but in the representation of their own gender within games. So stories like this are shocking. There has been a great rise in well-rounded, well-written female characters within games in the last 5 years. So the industry is always improving on this topic. It’s just sad to see some are still making women silent sex objects for purely creepy reasons, rather than making characters to enhance the game or even fit into the context.
This latest controversy revolves around Hideo Kojima, one of the full-time developers of the game. He recently released a series of tweets concerning one of the game's female characters Quiet. Who like her name, is a silent character, who seems to be around just for looks rather than anything else. Kojima admitted to ordering the designers to make her “more erotic” so that they will sell more figurines and so more girls will cosplay as her. They even went as far as to release the full 3D model of the character so that cosplayers could get a closer look and start working on their costumes, and here it is…
Hideo Kojima's recently released 3D model of Quiet
My biggest issue isn't even that she’s a mute character or that there’s a female in a game wearing a bikini. That can make sense within the context of the game. The issue here is that she is supposed to be a sniper. When you think of any type of person going into battle do you think of a bikini? No, you don’t, or at least you shouldn't. Sure making her a sniper puts her slightly more out of reach, but that still doesn't make her clothing practical in any way, and now we know why. Instead of designing her to be a practical character that makes sense in the context of the game, they have actually admitted to make her an erotic sex symbol purely for the fact that they want to sell more figures and have more girls cosplay as her. The men of this game sure as hell aren't wearing nothing but underwear.
Also, it should be noted that encouraging girls to cosplay in such a manner is worrying in itself. When people cosplay they do it to go to conventions, and lately there has been disturbing stories coming out of conventions regarding peoples approach to women. There have been reports of girls getting groped by security guards, people taking inappropriate photos, men giving women their business cards in their cleavage, men assuming girls are booth babes just based on their costumes just to name a few. It’s getting scary out there for female cosplayers, and now this creepy old Japanese guy is trying to encourage them to wear a costume where the whole top half of their body is covered by about 4% clothing.
Oh, and an example of one of the series of tweets he released about this subject?
Tasteful.
We are in a time when more and more girls are fighting to be treated equally in the world of video games, not just in the industry itself but in the representation of their own gender within games. So stories like this are shocking. There has been a great rise in well-rounded, well-written female characters within games in the last 5 years. So the industry is always improving on this topic. It’s just sad to see some are still making women silent sex objects for purely creepy reasons, rather than making characters to enhance the game or even fit into the context.
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