Learn The Origin of The Mighty Skullgirls

I'm a student game artist, and I love drawing sexy girls.

You might not have noticed, but they're in pretty much every game you play.

Dont hear people saying stuff like this to all the games they play, though.

@onan said:

I am still absolutely not digging the "Slutmare Before Christmas" vibe this game seems to be going for. Is there anyone who finds these character designs appealing?

It's like they saw Mileena and decided, "We want an entire game of that, except with more of a knock-off anime aesthetic."

Seriously, who is this for?

Its for people who don't take video games too seriously and people who aren't afraid of sexuality. I bet you got mad at Bayonetta too.

As a girl gamer, and one that's looking forward to Skullgirls, I don't see what everyone's talking about regarding the sexualized characters. The game is extremely stylized, the girls consisting of curves here and lovely lady lumps there, and crazy non-realistic proportions. It's not trying to be sexy, it's trying to be silly.

Or maybe I'm just not as focused on the breasts (not that I fault men for having a general fixation on the "sexy" bits). If I were, maybe I'd have a different opinion.

@Dogma: bet she isnt reallly hetero

"Assault with a headly weapon"
 
...goddamnit.

@Goldanas said:

Here, save for the cartoon girl, it's fucking peaches and melons day at the fruit stand and everything's half off.

Paha.

@Alita_99 said:

As a girl gamer, and one that's looking forward to Skullgirls, I don't see what everyone's talking about regarding the sexualized characters. The game is extremely stylized, the girls consisting of curves here and lovely lady lumps there, and crazy non-realistic proportions. It's not trying to be sexy, it's trying to be silly.

Or maybe I'm just not as focused on the breasts (not that I fault men for having a general fixation on the "sexy" bits). If I were, maybe I'd have a different opinion.

The same here (except that I'm a man :p).

The girls are so stylized and crazy that the game really does not convey a lot of sexuality. Context is important even for sexy pictures! It's crazy, it's cool, it's stylish. You can dislike the design, but saying that it's pandering or that it's there only to titillate to fetishists it's unfair.

@Alita_99 said:

As a girl gamer, and one that's looking forward to Skullgirls, I don't see what everyone's talking about regarding the sexualized characters. The game is extremely stylized, the girls consisting of curves here and lovely lady lumps there, and crazy non-realistic proportions. It's not trying to be sexy, it's trying to be silly.

Or maybe I'm just not as focused on the breasts (not that I fault men for having a general fixation on the "sexy" bits). If I were, maybe I'd have a different opinion.

Thank you for getting it. If only others would, too.

So a quick look over the comments and...

• The usual nonsensical "it's sexist" bullcrap
• Really silly "this game looks like it plays cool but I'm not getting it because of its look" bullcrap
• Still no "omg it's trying to be anime" bullcrap though

On the last point: maybe people have stopped being dumb and realize it's neither anime nor trying to be, despite drawing partial inspiration from it (and a great many art styles)? Or is it because Icemael hasn't shown up yet?

On the first two: people are dumb, what can you say? Hopefully the haters don't outnumber the rest.

As a man, I'm tired of this kind of stuff in games. It's distracting and then I have to deal with "No, we're not all like this." No one thinks that way about movies, but video games are still too new. I will find my boobs on the internet if I so choose to look at them.

It's always hilarious to see all the men tripping over themselves to be put off by the sexual themes of this game. Putting aside the implication that "gamers" will be judged for playing a game like this (because it's 2012 and everyone plays video games now), I'll instead mention the guy who's talking about "tatas" and "melons" and "vaginas" all over this comment section, as if there's any actual nudity to be found, softcore or otherwise. It's okay to not care for the sexual themes and all, but don't talk about a game with bouncing boobs and panty shots like it's a hentai game where everyone's literally flashing their privates or you just look like you're stretching the truth so you can be more offended.

If it lives up to its promise, it'll be the first western-developed fighting game worth buying.

I just think this game is dumb looking, yo.

@Maitimo: It'll likely be worth buying, but plenty of western fighters have been worth it in the past.

@gorkamorkaorka: Nonsense wrapped in silliness. The correct answer to anyone judging you for playing this, pulling the "are all guys like this" line, is a firm "piss off."

As for movies, I hope you're not serious. If so, you're rather delusional about sex selling in modern film.

@Ratman: You're referring to me and I'm afraid you've misinterpreted my comments. I'm not over-exaggerating when I say "tatas and mound", I'm colorfully describing the situation. While you don't see nip or cunt, I never say that you do. You do however, see lots of breast and mound. I do refer to "nip and cunt" in one of my arguments but I am not referring to this game, just the entertainment industry as a whole and there I do use hyperbole.

If that one particular comment confused you, I apologize, but I was not referencing this game, just making a broad generalized statement--which admittedly one really shouldn't do on the Internet.

That's partly why I don't want to continue going over this, and why I typically don't try to carry on conversations like this in a message board forum. In regards to some of the other comments, there's too much room for misinterpretation and for people to wholesale gloss over your points. No one in this thread is referring to this game being sexist, but people want to suggest that they are. People are trying to make the argument "Oh but if a girl did it, it would be okay." That's foolish. If she did this exact same thing, I would still find it pandering. The style, by itself, is entirely unappealing to me. In either event, the artist has stated many times, he intended for this to be "sexy", so you cannot argue that this isn't what it is trying to be.

As for Bayonetta, she was indeed sexualized, but the concept of sexuality was embraced on many levels in her character and within the game itself. In this game, all the characters "just happen to be really sexy": The artist's own words. There are many ways we could compare the two, but this has gone on long enough, and I don't need to type out another couple of paragraphs just to have them glossed over for someone to say, "The main designer for Bayonetta was female, so you're saying it's okay."

It's a conversation better suited for being in person, and I don't have the faculty to properly convey it here, so I'll just bow out on this.

@Axelhander said:

@Maitimo: It'll likely be worth buying, but plenty of western fighters have been worth it in the past.

I haven't found this to be true, but I'll grant that some do things that might appeal to people other than myself.

the human body is disgusting

@Slaegar said:

@onan said:

I am still absolutely not digging the "Slutmare Before Christmas" vibe this game seems to be going for. Is there anyone who finds these character designs appealing?

It's like they saw Mileena and decided, "We want an entire game of that, except with more of a knock-off anime aesthetic."

Seriously, who is this for?

Its for people who don't take video games too seriously and people who aren't afraid of sexuality. I bet you got mad at Bayonetta too.

Oh no, I loved Bayonetta. I'm a huge fan of smut in my games. I've even imported and played through all of Michigan: Report From Hell. There's just nothing titillating about a girl with no eyes in her head, but arms made of multiple eyes, or her face peeled off and sewn back together, regardless of how much cleavage you slap onto it. There's just something about the art style and character designs that rubs me completely in the wrong way. The only other game I can think of that fails this badly at it would probably be Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (and that was tragic because I loved that series).

I knew this autistic kid in elementary school that was absolutely obsessed with the macabre. He was constantly drawing death, decay, dismemberment, torture, monsters, etc. This art style is kind of what I'd imagine his sketchbook looked like once he hit puberty and discovered girls and an interest in cartooning.

The concept was executed on way better when it was Darkstalkers. At least aesthetically.

@onan said:

@Slaegar said:

@onan said:

I am still absolutely not digging the "Slutmare Before Christmas" vibe this game seems to be going for. Is there anyone who finds these character designs appealing?

It's like they saw Mileena and decided, "We want an entire game of that, except with more of a knock-off anime aesthetic."

Seriously, who is this for?

Its for people who don't take video games too seriously and people who aren't afraid of sexuality. I bet you got mad at Bayonetta too.

Oh no, I loved Bayonetta. I'm a huge fan of smut in my games. I've even imported and played through all of Michigan: Report From Hell. There's just nothing titillating about a girl with no eyes in her head, but arms made of multiple eyes, or her face peeled off and sewn back together, regardless of how much cleavage you slap onto it. There's just something about the art style and character designs that rubs me completely in the wrong way. The only other game I can think of that fails this badly at it would probably be Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (and that was tragic because I loved that series).

I knew this autistic kid in elementary school that was absolutely obsessed with the macabre. He was constantly drawing death, decay, dismemberment, torture, monsters, etc. This art style is kind of what I'd imagine his sketchbook looked like once he hit puberty and discovered girls and an interest in cartooning.

The concept was executed on way better when it was Darkstalkers. At least aesthetically.

You heard it here folks, if you like Skullgirls, you're autistic.

This is the same game that will have MALE characters with jiggle physics. The whole thing is tongue-in-cheek and you're retarded.

@CaptainInvictus said:

@onan said:

@Slaegar said:

@onan said:

I am still absolutely not digging the "Slutmare Before Christmas" vibe this game seems to be going for. Is there anyone who finds these character designs appealing?

It's like they saw Mileena and decided, "We want an entire game of that, except with more of a knock-off anime aesthetic."

Seriously, who is this for?

Its for people who don't take video games too seriously and people who aren't afraid of sexuality. I bet you got mad at Bayonetta too.

Oh no, I loved Bayonetta. I'm a huge fan of smut in my games. I've even imported and played through all of Michigan: Report From Hell. There's just nothing titillating about a girl with no eyes in her head, but arms made of multiple eyes, or her face peeled off and sewn back together, regardless of how much cleavage you slap onto it. There's just something about the art style and character designs that rubs me completely in the wrong way. The only other game I can think of that fails this badly at it would probably be Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (and that was tragic because I loved that series).

I knew this autistic kid in elementary school that was absolutely obsessed with the macabre. He was constantly drawing death, decay, dismemberment, torture, monsters, etc. This art style is kind of what I'd imagine his sketchbook looked like once he hit puberty and discovered girls and an interest in cartooning.

The concept was executed on way better when it was Darkstalkers. At least aesthetically.

You heard it here folks, if you like Skullgirls, you're autistic.

This is the same game that will have MALE characters with jiggle physics. The whole thing is tongue-in-cheek and you're retarded.

It's not the character design that's bad, it's the quality of its execution and no amount of tongues in cheeks excuses that. The in-game art looks OK in motion but the character stills in this trailer don't command much respect. It's that breed of home-made anime you see in people's avatars or engaged in sex acts on google image search, and that only amplifies the unpalatable elements of the design.

@Maitimo said:

If it lives up to its promise, it'll be the first western-developed fighting game worth buying.

Hope so. It certainly looks that way, especially if you follow Mike Z's posts in the Skullgirls threads on Dustloop and SRK. Many many smart decisions and even more, he's put in features that were suggested by people in those threads. If there's something in the game, system wise, that bothers you, he'll come on and say this is why it's there, this is the reason for it, and goes on at length about the development process behind every given feature in question. It is incredibly refreshing.

At this point the only thing that could potentially hinder the game are bugs not found in QA that cause the launch to be a little rocky (alla Super Meat Boy).

@onan said:

I knew this autistic kid in elementary school that was absolutely obsessed with the macabre. He was constantly drawing death, decay, dismemberment, torture, monsters, etc. This art style is kind of what I'd imagine his sketchbook looked like once he hit puberty and discovered girls and an interest in cartooning.

Does this guy have an online portfolio? He sounds awesome. :D

I'm never entirely sure how turned on I should be by the characters in this game.....

@CaptainInvictus said:

You heard it here folks, if you like Skullgirls, you're autistic.

This is the same game that will have MALE characters with jiggle physics. The whole thing is tongue-in-cheek and you're retarded.

Riiight. That shows a great lack of reading comprehension on your part. Go ahead and call me a retard if it makes you feel better, someone else is a nazi, blah blah blah. I'll admit I haven't seen a single thing about male characters appearing in Skullgirls, so I take it you're way more invested in it than I am if you've resorted to name-calling. I'm glad you found something to like about the art in this game. I didn't. Both views are valid here.

To clarify: I consider Skullgirls to be an ugly game and I find it hard to play through ugly games, regardless of the mechanics or praise lavished on it by the gaming press. The look and design are primarily what they've been marketing, so that's what I'm commenting on. I don't see what relevance the inclusion of a Voldo knock-off has. Stick 20 dudes in there with jiggly bits and it won't be any less ugly.

The game itself is competent from what I've played of it (early builds), and I do like fighting games, but if I'm going to play an all-female fighter, it'll probably be the Arcana Heart series over this. I might try it again at some point depending on how the final game turns out, but I'm still going to be cringing over some of these artistic design decisions unless it manages to win me (and my dollars) over with some other aspect.

i like the system, i played it and it was fun, but the art is so...... i don't want to say terrible because it's well drawn.... stupid looking? its a really well drawn picture of a dog turd.... does that make sense? I'm so conflicted!

i like the system, i played it and it was fun, but the art is so...... i don't want to say terrible because it's well drawn.... stupid looking? its a really well drawn picture of a dog turd.... does that make sense? I'm so conflicted!

A lot of people posting comments here don't have the first clue about art. Including, but not limited to, anyone saying any of the following: Skullgirls resembles anime, Skullgirls promotes sexims, Skullgirls is ugly, Skullgirls is more ugly than Arcana Heart.

That last one is particularly moronic.

@Axelhander said:

A lot of people posting comments here don't have the first clue about art. Including, but not limited to, anyone saying any of the following: Skullgirls resembles anime, Skullgirls promotes sexims, Skullgirls is ugly, Skullgirls is more ugly than Arcana Heart.

That last one is particularly moronic.

Sticks and stones, man.

To sum up, it sounds like you're saying "People who don't like Skullgirls' art are wrong because they're stupidheads." Why don't you explain why you like it so much, or why it's such great art?

I personally don't love anime as a form of entertainment, but the style of it can be pretty impressive, and if something is going for an anime aesthetic, it should actually reach that point or confidently carve its own path. This style is sort of like the anime uncanny valley, almost anime, but not quite, and not really sure of itself. A few western-made products actually do a good job of it: Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is phenomenal, and it was made by a Canadian team, Capybara. I also appreciate the style in Teen Titans and the new wave of anime-style western art.

When it goes wrong, it's by inches, not miles, and it just looks really, really off.

Perfect example, the art from Sudeki. If you like art from this game, you probably thought that looked pretty good too.

This stuff is more of an over-sexualized, anime-inspired take on Jhonen Vazquez's art. It stopped just short of being appealing. I'm all for any of those things individually, or even in pairs, but all at once isn't something they've really mastered.

Over-analysis aside, with the big heads, squat bodies, and odd proportions, some of the character designs just looks like slutty garbage pail kids.

Not really my thing.

@onan said:

@CaptainInvictus said:

You heard it here folks, if you like Skullgirls, you're autistic.

This is the same game that will have MALE characters with jiggle physics. The whole thing is tongue-in-cheek and you're retarded.

Riiight. That shows a great lack of reading comprehension on your part. Go ahead and call me a retard if it makes you feel better, someone else is a nazi, blah blah blah. I'll admit I haven't seen a single thing about male characters appearing in Skullgirls, so I take it you're way more invested in it than I am if you've resorted to name-calling. I'm glad you found something to like about the art in this game. I didn't. Both views are valid here.

To clarify: I consider Skullgirls to be an ugly game and I find it hard to play through ugly games, regardless of the mechanics or praise lavished on it by the gaming press. The look and design are primarily what they've been marketing, so that's what I'm commenting on. I don't see what relevance the inclusion of a Voldo knock-off has. Stick 20 dudes in there with jiggly bits and it won't be any less ugly.

The game itself is competent from what I've played of it (early builds), and I do like fighting games, but if I'm going to play an all-female fighter, it'll probably be the Arcana Heart series over this. I might try it again at some point depending on how the final game turns out, but I'm still going to be cringing over some of these artistic design decisions unless it manages to win me (and my dollars) over with some other aspect.

The look has not been the main focus of their marketing at all...mostly all of that has been focused on gameplay mechanics such as the anti-infinite system, team partitioning, and the uniqueness of the characters.

@lordofultima said:

The look has not been the main focus of their marketing at all...mostly all of that has been focused on gameplay mechanics such as the anti-infinite system, team partitioning, and the uniqueness of the characters.

Just going based off of the videos posted on Giantbomb, you wouldn't think that.

http://www.giantbomb.com/skullgirls/61-34082/videos/

I've heard about how it's ultimately supposed to be a fighter's fighter, but almost everything I've seen of the game (i.e., that I've come across while not actively looking) has been about the art and the characters. Where is it that you're looking? I'm betting a site like Shoryuken probably has more technically focused coverage, it's probably tailored to each outlet. It's not like they're putting out commercials or anything. I'm basing the statement on GB's coverage.

Looks like we got a early candidate for the Best Story award.

Been burned by fighting games so much; I will watch how this one goes and give it a rental or borrow it from a friend and test it out. Looking good though but still, not taking anymore chances with fighting games.