Bioware uses sex to market Dragon Age once again
The following is my opinion, not the opinion of GamingAngels.com.
Many gamers are looking forward to getting their hands on Bioware’s Dragon Age: Origins. But the marketing team is only reaching out to the male audience. During E3 and many times in media interviews, the topic of sex in the title was stressed over and over again. But what else do you do if you are desperate to appeal to the male demographic to buy your game? You get sexy girls to dress up like your characters of course.
On Maxim.com, Bioware has decided to dress up models to look like their in-game counterparts.
“Fortunately, the developers included a couple of ways allowing one’s avatar let off some virtual steam: sneaky seductress Leliana and shapeshifting mage Morrigan. Both are possible romantic companions in the game—the second best kind of sex, next to the real thing!—but you don’t have to wait until the release date to fall in love with them.”
The photos are pretty tame. Definitely not safe for work, because there is one woman that decided to go a bit further than the rest in her pictures. There are only a few comments on the article about the women, but not one mentions that they will be buying the game or have even heard of the title before.
There is nothing wrong with using hot women to market your title. But I can’t say that there’s been a strong emphasis on other parts of the title. I definitely feel that sex has been pushed so much and used so much to talk about Dragon Age: Origins that I personally feel that there may not be the depth in the game I was hoping for. Marketing departments for video games have to start realizing that there is a trade-off when you decide to focus on just one aspect of the game. The trade-off for me is that you lose me as a customer. I don’t need sex in a video game to attract me to it. I want a game that has amazing depth, story, and great controls. Maybe guys have less demands then women and are easier to “fool” by talking about sex all the time.
What do you think? Are you offended by campaigns that market solely to the typical male demographic? Does it not bother you at all? Do you with games had more adult or mature content in them? I can’t wait to hear your opinion.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=488fee91-4130-407a-aa0a-76325725c8af)
Popularity: 2% [?]
Related Posts
anyone having any FFXIII parties. 
8 Comments
“…Maybe guys have less demands then women and are easier to “fool” by talking about sex all the time.”
Wow… The use of -some- would be appreciated. Even if it is your opinion, There is absolutely no reason to generalize all guys.
Sure there is a market there that they wanna nab up, Perhaps its that market that might not otherwise invest time in an RPG?
For me, the sex appeal does not influence a purchase in the least. That being said, I would rather look at pretty ladies than ladies who are not so pretty.
I agree I should have used some. Since definitely not all men fall into that category.
It seems like sexy marketing for games is going to be a reoccurring thing now. I guess it’s still not as bad as the Dante’s Inferno “Commit Acts of Sin” contest to promote that game. x.x
Vespaa: I could not agree more. That marketing campaign was disgusting.
I mean, It was intriguing, but at the same time quite revolting.
I don’t really care either way. As a woman, I see how it could be offensive but I, personally, am not bothered by it. I mean, I think we’ve all seen the ads for “Evony” where anything pertaining to the game is absent and replaced by a close-up of breasts. I don’t believe this will take away from the game, either. I have strong faith in Bioware. Sex does sell, but I don’t feel they’ve crossed the line albeit the line may continue stretching.
Honestly, I agree with Amanda. I may not agree with their marketing strategy, but it’s really just business. Bioware has always been and will continue to be for a long time one of my favorite RPG developers. Their stories are captivating and their games are beautiful at the same time — a breath of fresh air in a gaming world where graphics seem to take precedence over everything else. It’s just as Amanda said, sex sells. If slapping a nearly naked woman on the cover of a game is what it takes to sell the most copies, that’s what they’re going to do. Business people think only about business.
I don’t feel offended by this marketing strategy, just a little disappointing. Bioware makes amazing games and you would think that the in-depth story and RPG elements would be showcased instead of hot girls that look like the in-game love interests. This marketing strategy has ceased to bother me since women in ads are generally vixens with a push for a male interest, it’s just become a fact of life. (Even the women in birth control commercials are scantily clad for goodness sake!)
I find it amazing that the “writer” of this “article” completely fails to realize these are THE MODELS FOR THE CGI MORRIGAN AND LELIANA IN THE GAME.
How about getting a real writer who knows what they’re writing about next time?