The main female character in macho first-person shooter Bulletstorm will have somewhat realistic proportions, thanks to the game's producer.
Techland's Evan Narcisse got to the topic of debate during a recent interview with Tanya Jessen, the Epic Games producer for next year's Bulletstorm. She describes a conversation she had with the game's creative director, Adrian Chmielarz of Epic-owned People Can Fly studios.
Tanya Jessen, Epic Games: Trischka's character is very much a product of me because I wanted a strong female character that wasn't stereotypically hot. But still, obviously had a way about her that implied sexiness. You know, [sarcastically] the fight for boob size was an awesome one. It was probably a week of back and forth, like…
Techland: From B to D cup?
Jessen: It was everything imaginable. It was width. It was the cleavage showing. It was height, from top to bottom. It was the level of bounciness. It was all of that. I'm in Adrian's office, like, "Adrian, come on. No! Are you crazy? Trishka, she's our badass. She's going kick your ass and take no prisoners! She's sexy because she has the confidence. She doesn't need to have giant breasts!" Adrian is like, "She's so hot, she needs to have a giant rack. I love chicks in video games that have giant boobs." I could see his face was kind of sad. I think we came to a good middle ground. He genuinely wanted what he considers the most beautiful looking woman in the game. What I wanted is a believable, strong, not-stereotypical fighter chick.
This is a debate for less fantastic and more sensible female body types in video games that we've heard before. Mirror's Edge, anyone? It's also the first instance I'm aware of of anyone on the Bulletstorm team arguing successfully for the subtler approach. This is the game about getting points for impaling bad guys on cacti, remember?
The rest of the interview focuses on Jessen's hard working in the games industry that earned her the Bulletstorm gig, from game testing to producing a marquee game.
Origins: Tanya Jessen, Lead Producer on Bulletstorm [Techland, via Adrian Chmielarz's Twitter feed]