Is your argument that video games are for boys so all the girls should piss off? Is that what you are going for?
Christ, dude.
As for the romance novels... they are pandering trash that exist in a very, very niche market. The comparison isn't even close.
That's not true
As mentioned earlier, the volume that represents the basis for this extended series of posts on human sexual desire is
Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam's
A Billion Wicked Thoughts (2011). These authors carefully describe the
nature of women's escapist fiction, tailor-made to so many of their tastes. And they also take pains to underscore how prevalent—and profitable!—it's been as a form giving voice to female eroticism.
For example, they report that in 2008 the genre generated some $1.37 billion in sales, constituting "the single largest share of the fiction market."
Additionally, in that year at least 74.8 million people read a romance novel, over 90 percent of whom were women (p. 87).
These numbers are compared with the approximately 100 million men in the U.S. and Canada who accessed porn online in 2008. And the authors note that although women aren't willing to pay for such typically male-oriented
visual porn, they're quite happy to pay for the privilege of reading romance fiction. So happy in fact that such erotica actually produces
more revenue than does online
pornography for men.
Even more curious is the fact that while
sex is ever-present in romance, it doesn't really appear to be crucial to the woman's enjoyment. What
is crucial? Ogas and Gaddam cite Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan's book on the subject (
Beyond Heaving Bosoms, 2009), which reflects that the central fantasy in such fiction is the "awakening to
love" (p. 88)—which is glorified all the more by a
sexual awakening. But even then, sex scenes depicted in romance novels are comparatively tame as compared to erotic stories written with males in mind. And there's far more emphasis on the emotions and relationship of the two principals than in male-fashioned fiction. Which might well explain why generally people are inclined to talk about "erotica" for women and "pornography" for men. (And in this respect, see my earlier post
"What Distinguishes Erotica from Pornography?".)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...iggers-sexual-desire-pt-2-what-s-erotic-women
Or if you want a secondary source
https://www.rwa.org/page/romance-industry-statistics
Or you can take the "poster books" of the last generation, and do note the translation into many different languages/cultures as unsurprisingly women in different corners of the world may seek after the same fantasy stimulation. Just as games are translated into many different languages, and porn, heck it doesn't even matter what language is spoken (briefly) in it. The
whole world can be watching the same video.
The 100 million mark puts EL James' trilogy about the torrid -- and kinky -- affair between a billionaire and a college student in elite company. Other series that have hit that milestone includeTwilight, Harry Potter, Sweet Valley High and James Bond.
The first book, Fifty Shades of Grey, was released in March 2012 (based on a self-published piece of Twilight fan fiction). Sales hit 10 million about six weeks later. By the end of 2012, sales had risen to between 65 million and 70 million copies.
All told, the three books have sold 45 million copies in the U.S. and an additional 27 million copies in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries. Sales have topped 1 million in France, Germany, Spain, Brazil and the Netherlands.
The series has been translated into 51 different languages, including Hebrew, Thai, Icelandic and Mongolian.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fifty-shades-grey-sales-hit-683852
They simply cater for many women who to the irony in this topic often get brushed aside/not listened to because they do not conform to certain opinions. Opinions/sources that often show that women do and can enjoy taking part in sexualisation/sexual fantasy, but due to some of what that psychology today link I posted states it may manifest in a different way than men, on average. Look at the poll above, 84% female bias for romance novels. Over 90% in the first link. Compare and contrast that to how some genres in gaming are heavily male dominated
https://quanticfoundry.com/2017/01/19/female-gamers-by-genre/
And the above is based on looking at what male/female interests are IN the actual game
https://quanticfoundry.com/2016/12/15/primary-motivations/
Unsurprisingly, a lot more is going on under the surface to influence what the sexes may, on average, seek out in video games. You can't just
cook the books to try and hit 50/50 as some target of equality. This is a hobby, and like other hobbies, sometimes there can be a predominant difference between the sexes. Not necessarily for a nefarious reason. I mean look at sports games
Is anyone really panicking about trying to get that 2% higher? That more female gamers
need to be playing FIFA and Madden? Could it be that HIGHLY competitive games like that, as per men having competition lead the way primarily in their motivation, ends up favouring a sports game? Worth thinking about.
A difference with gaming though as I mentioned earlier in this topic is more female gamers are trying to get into games, and play games. Yes, even some of the genres stacked 60~70%+ in favour of males above. With romance novels I seriously doubt many men at all are even trying to get into them. It's just not much of a cross-over interest, largely because they aren't visually stimulating. This is why we do see more female gamers asking for diversity and more opportunity, which is indeed healthy. Understanding why things happen though, such as why if 80~90% male developers are creating content it's going to largely cater to themselves, should be somewhat enlightening when backed up with science/reasoning. As I'll say below though, sometimes knowing why, on a deeper level, doesn't seem to be what some truly want. It's much easier just to try and reinforce your already made up opinion/belief with soundbites and sassy one-liners to expain what is undoubtedly a more complex reality.
This is why debate happens in such topics as this, as when people start throwing around pretty serious accusations and/or believing their worldview is 100% representative of the larger world, it can cause others to challenge them. It's not necessarily personal, it's challenging opinions/representation of
facts. Or summed up in one word, debate.
Everyone wants a debate, until a debate gets tricky/hits close to home/really challenges you, then it's not as comfortable or fun. Easier to just state anyone not sharing my opinion is my enemy/one of those in the other camp. It should be fun though, we exist to have our innermost feelings and beliefs constantly under
threat to make sure we're always learning and growing.
No worries, I don't feel picked on. :)
As you suggest, visual stimulation is a huge component of sexualized content for me. The term "eye candy" comes to mind. I am one of those gamers that typically plays as a female character when given the choice simply because I find them more pleasant to look (gawk?) at. Skin and skin-tight clothes, boobs and butts... these visual elements enhance certain gameplay experiences for me.
That said, stuff like "love story roleplay" is also great (I very much enjoy the romances in the Bioware games, for example). Accents don't do much for me one way or the other, but I am certainly inclined to find some voices sexier than others, which does add to the fantasy as you put it. These elements definitely can enhance the titillation effect from sexualized character designs.
Personally, this titillation only goes so far for me though. Video games will never replace porn, just as porn will never replace real intimacy with another living, breathing human being... at least not for me. But CG porn is getting pretty impressive, and I can easily see it becoming more popular and being just as titillating for men as real nudity. So, I could definitely see the video game industry competing with the adult film industry down the line, as the potential for pixels to yield highly erotic experiences is there. Not gonna lie, I'd probably try an XXX RPG or adult Sims-style game if one was ever developed.
Thanks for the response, I presume some wouldn't feel comfortable speaking as openly. As I mentioned earlier I think to try to get some wider scope research done into some of the questions I asked you would be interesting. A poll of a few hundred, if not thousands, would be enlightening. I don't have the ability or financial backing to do that properly, a survey on surveymonkey or something isn't as robust as a proper MSM gaming outlet or gaming stats think-tank doing it. Maybe I'll ask politely if Kotaku (Jason even) or if anywhere else would consider trying to do a well-thought out piece, with polling, of what male gamers are looking for in games when it comes to sexual stimulation (purely visual vs all the other considerations). My guess hypothesis is as I said earlier, as games routinely last 10~40+ hours, actually liking the character may well play a bigger role than some think, alongside their breasts, butt and tight clothing. Many love 2B and Bayonetta, but besides being sexy they are well fleshed out and pretty bad ass characters. Quiet, as much as she's the most polarizing of all, is still a bad ass character, from the point of view she's totally overpowered. Both in gameplay and through story-telling. I still think her story is pretty garbage, as is much of the storytelling in MGS5, but I can be honest and accept that she is a powerful character. People often state they want this kind of feedback, to try and explain why, but sometimes when it appears it may be more multi-faceted/complicated than "asshole disrespectful sexist male gamers" some aren't
as interested in deeply exploring the hows and whys.
I'm not surprised you stacked things in order of
importance at the end, as it's pretty "normal" that many while they enjoy fantasy, and all the craziness it can display due to dealing with make-believe, it still doesn't top real intimacy/real life. Even if real life isn't about having sex on top of a flying dragon in a world made of candy like something from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When it comes down to it real life isn't just visual stimulation, it's touch and feelings sensitivity too. Feelings, something that I'm trying to propose can play more of a role in fantasy in games, if it can be proven male gamers do appreciate a fun/enjoyable/friendly character.... with the big breasts. At the end of the day, for most of us, the real "wish" is to find a partner we are best friends with... shocker, love. Most relationships that exist purely based on cosmetics/looks, often end up incredibly depressing/empty after any
hooneymoon period. Couples that don't get along as friends either don't manage to stay together long-term, or they make each others lives miserable. Ironically, you do not have any of that issue with fantasy, as if it's either romance novels, or video games, or even porn, whoever is in it exists to satisfy and pleasure you without any of the baggage of real life. As you said though, while that may be stimulating to some extent, like a sex doll would be a subservient sex toy, you can't beat everything real life brings along with intimacy, friendship, feelings and of course not many people are going to stack masturbating/imiginary sex above actual sex.