Gamer Seeks Open-Minded DLCs

Sometimes I wonder why video game creators haven't taken the steps towards making some of their games more customizable in their sex appeal tactics.   I mean, let's face the facts:  video games nowadays are injected with just enough sensuality to hone in on a particular target market.  When the target demographic is male, video games have generous helpings of amply-gifted women whose bouncing breasts can be extras in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon thanks to their skills in defying gravity.  Or the violence meter skyrockets.  When it comes to games that can appeal to women as well, on the other hand, you have loads of colorful imagery, or a heady dose of emotional moments.   Occasionally you have games that try to appeal to both, with both male and female characters dressed suitably enough to tickle the imagination.

Snake versus Samus.
Not bad for a butt battle, eh?

Considering games nowadays are made to have the ability to incorporate new downloadable costumes, music, and the like, why not go the extra step in innovation and make the games customizable to favor what the player hopes to see.  Think of it as having a tweak board where you can have the game favor variables that can be set to a player's preferences.

Heavy Rain decided at the last minute to cancel the peen shot.
Although there are naked women in the game.
Why are people so afraid of the penis?

For example, you have the game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
The game clearly was made to target the male demographic.  Action abounds in the game, but this is nothing compared to the numerous number of beautiful women who are revealing in "just the right way."  Add to that a stress system which can be abated by using the L1 button to stare at breasts during the FMV sequences, and you have a great game with the trappings of serving male fantasies.



And yet, truth be told there have been female and gay players who enjoy the game as well.  I know I was finding the game pretty fun, and while my bisexual side relished the stupidly fun breast peeking moments, it wondered why didn't the game have accommodations to play a similar flirty approach towards the male characters?  Solid Snake, for an old man, was given a fantastic firm ass that deserves to have ogle-options.  Raiden looks bishonen-esque enough to serve the purposes of those into that.  Even Otacon has the adorkable look going.

The Freedom to choose.

Admittedly, this would entail the need of some extra coding, which obviously equates to more work that probably would be the main reason financially why this wouldn't be done.  But let's try a step backwards and take advantage of what already exists.   In MGS4, Snake can wear different forms of clothing for camouflage.  Would it have been too hard to have the option to have him try his missions in nothing but boxer briefs, for the gay gamers would think it would be hilarious to play that way?  Or maybe even an option for Solid Snake to complete a mission dressed in drag?  (James Bond did it)

Wrrarrrr...

Lots of other games currently exist with the option for downloadable content.   Why not capitalize on creating content specifically for your market's preferences that can slip onto your game.  Marvel vs Capcom can easy increase their sales if they offered downloadable skins of the characters in different "artist styles."  I know I'd love to play with Wolverine dressed as he was in Astonishing X-Men.  And I'd have fun if I could play with Megaman dressed in an outfit suggesting how Jim-Lee might have drawn him.

Some modes I think that video game creators should really consider would be the following:

RUSH looks better than that upcoming Voltron movie.

1) Alternate art mode
Can you imagine playing your favorite video game with the main hero appearing more like a painting done by Van Gogh?   Or playing a game like MegaMan, but the graphics are rendered to look photorealistic?  Maybe this is too difficult for now, but it would make playing through a game real fun.   I'd love to have a game that allows me to play from 8-bit look to photo-realistic and anywhere in between when I want it.

There are... hotter images out there.
But I decided to choose the safest looking one hahah!

2) Underwear mode
Clearly this spoof mode would be most popular.  Can you imagine a whole session of Dragon Age with all the cast in the game in their underwear?  Or even if the effect applied ONLY to your character.  The hilarity of a game like Dynasty Warriors when played with heroes stripped to loin cloths and carefully placed leaves would be so crazy it would work.  After all, admit it, when you played SIMS, didn't you at least once try to have the character naked for a long period of time?

I'd so love to play the game with them all looking like this!

3) Wider-range of alternate outfits
Games of the same studio can capitalize on this the most.  Imagine playing FF13, but Lightning instead is dressed like Yuna.  Or in a Moogle outfit.  Or try playing Gears of War, but your heroes are all dressed as civilians instead?  Or highschool football team players?  Wouldn't you want to try playing Heavy Rain with all of them dressed instead for the summer?  Seriousness is not the point, after all.  These are just meant to make replay value fun.

Wouldn't YOU want to play with this Mario Brother?
I know I would!  Hahaha!  The hell with the Princess :-)

4) Alternate target mode
Imagine a typically-male targeted game like God of War, but imagine having the option to play it with the game being more favored towards treating him instead of the women as the sexual objects.  So the camera lingers on his body more.  Any other male characters in the game are dressed provocatively (think 300 if you believe men cannot look sensual and yet still time-appropriate).    Dragon Age already explores the idea of having gay relationships, an idea which I loved when it was first added to The Sims.  Why not make this a DLC for other games?

Tee hee!

5) Alternate build mode
Wouldn't you be curious to see Solid Snake as a hairy bear rather than the gym bunny he is?  Or maybe have fun seeing Kratos as a twink?  I'd love to have the option to have my favorite Dynasty warriors all looking raggedy sweaty and hairy from their battles.  That would add to the hotness of an already testosterone-bloody game.   And I know I'd be curious to see how the same group of heroes would appear if they all had bodies befitting lanky teenagers, just for fun.   (The thought of seeing a geeky man appear, to be reacted to with cries of "Its Lu bu!!!! RUUUUUN!!!" would probably crack me up so much I'd kick the PS3 down.)

My Little Silent Hill Pony for the WIN!

I know these are all unlikely to happen.  A wish thrown out towards the rainbows, I guess.  But I thought it best to share it and who knows... maybe someday someone would be crazy enough to make such a game.  I know I'd buy it.

Geekwood: Megalith

Few would probably recognize today's choice for Geekwood.  Many years back, while I may have been a huge fan of both Marvel and DC Comics, there was a less known comic line which captured my interest.  The line was interesting in the sense that its comics seemed to have little fear about showing much more gruesome scenes of injury and battle but at the same time show an incredible sense of  empathy towards emotion and sexuality.  It was a comic where both the men and the women were deliciously illustrated, and given characters and personalities which seemed cookie-cutter at first, but revealed greater depth as the issues progressed.

He's got muscles on his muscles!

The comic group was known as Continuity Comics, and the brand had a comic which told the story of a young man who was trained by an organization to compete in the olympics, only to become an unwilling athlete-for-hire.  After a failed attempt to try and rescue his parents who were held hostage by the group, the man whose name was Joe Majurac, became Megalith the Ultimate Man who continues to search for them while learning to embrace his new life as someone who isn't quite ordinary anymore.

Damn the artists knew how to make him hawt!

Created by Neal Adams and illustrated by Mark Texiera and Rudy Nebras, Megalith was a comic character whom I greatly admired for his immense strength, well defined (although somewhat exaggerated) physique, mental focus and emotional sensitivity.  While the likes of Superman and Majestic can get away with being detached from humanity to some degree, Megalith was pretty much like a young boy with a very impressive man's body.

And of all the muscles that the light touches, guess which one caught my eye the most?

Comic Attack.net covers his back story far better than I could ever hope to do so, which is why I hope you will all pardon me for simply directing you to this site to read up more on his past.  While the comic felt extremely dated (it was based during a time with the Russians were still... how do we put this... suspect.  And Reagan was still in power) I felt the comic told the story of Joe Majurac with a nice balance between action and emotion.  In some occasions, his lack of true experience in being a superhero was highlit in the narrative, with him struggling to comprehend why there were people attacking him.  He had a temper, and it was one which was sorely tested whenever his parents were threatened in any way.

A mama's boy at heart.  Awww...

But more than just muscles, he too had an interesting approach to being The Ultimate Man.  In one issue, Megalith was grievously injured and his unconscious body became the very stage for the story to unfold.  Inside his form, a naked projection of himself was suddenly the focus of the story as Majurac mentally conditioned himself to repair the damage his body was suffering from by creating numerous naked duplicates of himself to force the wounds closed.

The comic, however, was short lived and failed to gain enough momentum to last as long as the bigger titles that were out there in the market.  Still, Joe Majurac deserves some attention and I will congratulate in advance all of you readers out there who chance upon copies of his comic book that might still be out there: undiscovered treasures of delectable man meat in bargain bins that most would overlook. 

Sorry Joe, but Marvel and DC beat you bad.

Megalith, you remain an Ultimate Man in my eyes.
Here's to visualizing your many naked bodies helping me close my wounds each time I get hurt from now on.

A growing boy indeed.