Sex Sells. Or does it?
- Thread starter Angst
- Start date
Perhaps some designs if done with “class” can perhaps get a copy sold. I mean you could be walking and you see Nier automata with stylish 2B pose I guess it could make a potential buyer stop and check the back cover for a description of the gameplay.
In this industry, "sex" is always going to equate to pure titillation, not actual meaningful sex or romance.
i wouldn't really say the designs in those vita games are made with class, yet they still sell
Yep but they're selling to a niche audience that wants that.
I'm still not sure why the complete disregard of human nature is so commonplace these days. It's not that complicated.
This right here.
The vast majority of super-sexualized (borderline soft porn) games sell niche numbers, with only a few exceptions breaking outside of that. The real mainstream games don't have that sort of porny content.
DoA5 LR was going to be a slightly more conservative take on the series but the bikini/sexy DLC sold so well they said they had to stick to it. They've made hundreds of new costumes. As of last year according to a gamefaqs thread the total cost of all the dlc is around $700 USD.
I'm not sure if those games you're referring to sell all that much though. It seems to me that they have a niche otaku audience that they target specifically and that is enough to keep those types of games coming out, especially with how low budget they all look.
I mean, it sells, I wouldn't say well.
Most of the examples people have brought up relying on sex appeal to sell don't break a million sales. They do fine in their own right and their developers stay open, but they will never reach the top 50 best sellers of the year.
Dare I say, the only games I can think of that's sold well overall while relying almost solely on sex appeal is Xenoblade 2 AND that's a pretty okay game (gameplay wise) and it's a sequel of two well-regarded games that didn't have sex appeal as a front-facing factor when it came to marketing.
Oh? Name a AAA game that had a physically unattractive character as it's lead, and on the cover. :)
Loadout.
That being said, find me a AAA game whose marketing was solely mired in the idea of sex appeal that still sold 2 million. You will find that to be much more difficult.
Good lawd....yeah, she definitely counts as the following. What did this game sell? Also THIS is not the norm. lolLoadout.
That being said, find me a AAA game who's marketing was solely mired in the idea of sex appeal. You will find that to be much more difficult.
Loadout did alright. Eventually went F2P if I remember correctly but it had it's moment. Granted, the hook of that game is that everyone in it is pretty hideous.
More than that, it uses 0 sex appeal to sell that game, something the previous games tried to do by hinging on the dumb sex minigames that didn't make up more than a minute of actual gameplay.
Kratos is a good looking dude with muscles. I'm a straight male, and even I can acknowledge that fact.
Becky-chan is life.
I mean...if you're into dad bods...
I think sex sells to a specific, hardcore audience, but you need serious solo merit and IMO avoid sexualization to reach true, mainstream appeal (at least in the US).
When I went to see Infinity War the girl next to me, while talking to her friends admitted he was watching the film only because Benedict Cumberbatch was in it.
So, yes, good looking male actors and light fanservice sells.
Anyway, back to question, answer is a sounding yes and it's not really possible to really understand how many are influenced just by asking because those kind of survey are influenced by social desirability bias.
You can't make those kind of questions expecting a truthful response, which, I guess, it's even more likely to be influenced by social desirability given how objectification and over-sexualization is such a massive point of discussion in games.
Lol not for me when we aren't talking about real humans. Can't relate at all to animated/cg sex appeal.
That’s not what a dad bod is, Kratos has the opposite of a dad bod.
As someone with the platinum trophy in this game i feel personally attacked by this post
People like to see eye candy as much as they like to eat tasty food or get a good night's rest.
It's a biological impulse that many people have. A so called "base" instinct, as some have called it.
We are as much desiring creatures who enjoy basic sensations like eating a piece of cheesecake or looking at a beautiful man, as we are complex thinking creatures.
On some level these basic desires and comforts, influence our spending habits.
It's a biological impulse that many people have. A so called "base" instinct, as some have called it.
We are as much desiring creatures who enjoy basic sensations like eating a piece of cheesecake or looking at a beautiful man, as we are complex thinking creatures.
On some level these basic desires and comforts, influence our spending habits.
Ain't no one buying Just Dance because of them though.
That's what I'm talking about, the marketing became the product. It's the worst possible outcome for the people who bought/use the marketing.
Indeed.
We all joke about Cindy from FF15, but that game probably was just as well served from the super HD food porn Ignis creates as the mechanic in short shorts and a zipped down jacket.
Sex sells in every medium and product my friend.. Not just video games... As long as human beings with fully functioning reproductive systems exist, sex will always be used as a tool to sell ideas, entertainment, products, material goods, services etc.
Sex appeal isn't what I'd call a "reliable" seller. Unless you're only interested in whales or a quick buck, you're not building a franchise off of it.
Nowadays, it's mostly used to draw eyes to a product, particularly games in niche genres such as shmups, beatemups, or dungeon-crawlers.
Nowadays, it's mostly used to draw eyes to a product, particularly games in niche genres such as shmups, beatemups, or dungeon-crawlers.