Ah, one of the great laws of anime and game design. The protection provided by a female's armour shall be directly proportional to the amount of flesh it exposes. Notable exception: PN03. If you get shot wearing the thong, you die.

Games like 'Rub Rabbits' which had a much more female involved dev team, or all around gender games like Katamari, will hopefully fight this movement based on their respective sales.

43%...while I do not argue this number I question it. I am 100% sure that in the console realm this number is off by a large %. Women as stated in the article tend to play games like 'The Sims' and RPGs akin to 'WoW' neither are popular or available on a console. I would put the numbers for console gamers M:92% and F:8% give or take 4%...while on a PC I would give M:30% and F:70% give or take 4%... Women tend to dominate the numbers in terms of playing web based games and that far outnumbers the purchased game loaded on a PC... Anyhow sorry for the rant, but when a number like 43% of gamers are women I have to question it...and say not on the console side of things.

"We will defend the cleavage with our lives!" -Warren Ellis

"We Will Defend The Cleavage With Our Lives" -Warren Ellis

Um. Really? So the hunky, well muscled, blond guy is just all the rage in guys' wet dreams, right? Think about it this way baby, those avatars look like that so the players don't feel bad about what they themselves look like in real life! You are just jealous of your character's figure which you know you would never have (mostly because some of them are physiologically impossible). That said, you should focus on Lineage II for your "omg, games have are teh sexual" crap. GuildWars doesn't even have panties! Instead, if you happen to peer under a female player's skirt you just see a black space!

Judging by the woman in the picture, "the stereotype of the busty female lead" is just a reflection of reality. She must be playing Everchest. I'll be here all week folks.

So...they are playing to their audience? Sometimes it gets excessive, but I think some female players are a little oversensitive about it. You are always going to have people claim females are being potrayed in a netative/inappropriate light in games, no matter how you potray them. I'd like there to be a scientific poll that asks a variety of female gamers their oppinions about the potrail of women in games. Questions like if they are insulted if the female main character has a large bust, provocative clothing, is a victim, etc. I think with these stories we could be only hearing from a vocal subset of female gamers. I would honestly be interested in a large poll, as I'm sure the industry would as well.

So what about all the buff beefcake orcs running around in loincloths? Not only is it gender stereotyping it's RACIAL GENDER STEREOTYPING. Sorry ladies, can't have it all. Men are objects for oogling too. Or do we forget that because modern society is biased against men in the first place. .. Or is it really that some women feel that by appreciating an attractive person (male or female), they are doing something wrong and should feel threatened? It's called genetic imprinting sweeties, and if you're a fat ugly sow it doesn't really say "I am a viable mate with strong genes and our children will be healthy and live productive lives." Sure, society has evolved but deep down our genes and the drive for the successful preservation of our offspring is what still rules our lives.

"Gender inequality" is a term that gets thrown around a lot when it comes to this issue. Oddly enough, the excessive use of this phrase has created a wall between the perceptions of vocal female gamers and those of the male majority in regards to the portrayal of women in games. Just what the hell does "gender inequality" mean in the above context? It's a tricky question to answer, and for one reason: Men and women-for all the similarities they share as human beings (and as gamers, for that matter)-are fundamentally different in terms of sexuality and how they experience attraction. "What does this have to do with the topic?" you say? Perhaps everything. Men are much more visual than women as it relates to sexual attraction. We do value a great personality and will fall in love with a woman after forming a special bond with her…a lifelong partner is actually what men desire more than anything else in the end. However, it's physical beauty that gets our initial attention. Us guys can see a curvy, pretty lady from 100 feet away and instantly feel a powerful attraction for her; boom! It's an immediate reaction built into us…no build-up, sexual tension, or anticipation required. This mechanism we men share is built on our ability to objectify the female form. For us, there doesn't need to be a mind with emotions attached to the image in order to stimulate a response. If a typical guy walks past a pair of boulders and notices how much they resemble a nice rack, he'll stop, smile, and laugh to himself. Contrary to what people in the "female representation in videogames" debate often say, sexual objectification is not some evil practice invented by men for the purpose of degrading the fairer sex. It is simply how human males sexually function in mating and seeking of females with healthy, desirable appearances that signal reproductive capacity and genetic quality. That basic component of male sexuality is what enables us to drool over a busty, thong-wearing elf despite the fact that she is nothing more than a soulless assemblage of pixels. She is not a person. She is an object. She contains no abstract meaning. Women are different. Their sexual natures operate out of a place that most men are incapable of conceiving, let alone understanding. For women, attraction is much less visual. They can't objectify the human body to the degree that we can. Sure, ladies appreciate height, a handsome profile and six-pack abs; and yes, they can go out to a male strip club and really enjoy themselves…but looks have very little to do with how women perceive men on a sexual level. What women primarily respond to is emotion. They are attracted to certain traits in men that make them feel. These traits have to do with character and personality; they're intangible. If you've ever wondered why you see hot women walking around with not-so-appealing dudes, this is the reason. Those guys exude qualities that drive women wild, such as confidence, humor, integrity, sensuality, intelligence, leadership, or artistic talent, whatever. Only after a woman meets a man who makes her feel excited, protected, comfortable, sexy, and/or other feelings, does she respond to him and become open to dating or sex. Think about why male actors and musicians fascinate women on such a deep level. It's more than the great talent and success. Their movies and songs create very strong emotions within women; women associate these experiences with the performers. All this partially contributes to girl gamers saying the things they often say about female representation in games. They don't look at a hunky male avatar and feel horny within 2.3 seconds; it doesn't work that way for them. They can't get turned on by the mere sight of "buff beefcake orcs running around in loin cloths". When they see a busty, thong-wearing elf, they don't look at it as a form of flattery or as just another bimbo. They see a bigger meaning beneath the pixels-an interpretation of how men judge them and what their place is in the gaming environment. I don't mean to generalize; I'm just speaking from my own experience. Give some serious thought to these differences, and you'll see why gender equality in videogames is such a complex subject to tackle beyond any simplistic notion of majority vs. minority.

As a woman, I'm really getting tired of the rampage against female characters wearing skimpy clothes. I like to make fun of the armor that looks like it wouldn't protect against a stiff breeze, much less a sword, but honestly, I don't really care whether the armor is the chain bikini or full-coverage plate. Don't play those games if you don't like their artwork.

Have these women turned on a TV lately? Its not like games are pioneering this practice. It doesn't make it right, but I think you would be naive to think that any form of entertainment that is going to be immune to some form of this Nip/Tuck-ery.