Hi everyone - this is a serious post about producing games can everyone please keep their responses to an intellectual level or the thread will be shut down.

I suppose the title says it all - does the suggestion of sex sell poor video games?  Is it a good marketing tactic?  Are games that would otherwise be really boring sold by some fairly poor looking representations of the female form barely clothed?  Is it a good idea and would it be recommended as a marketing strategy especially to get published?  Also, is more realistic better - if I included models that had almost photo realistic high definition females would that be even more likely to sell?  Do females in the role of the action hero partially clothed create a response in the player that makes them want to play and ignore other elements of the game?

Thanks if you manage to reply with an appropriate response.

 

I'll try and answer the OPs questions. These are all just my opinions, so take them for what it's worth. Let's see...

I suppose the title says it all - does the suggestion of sex sell poor video games?

Yes. It does. Look at games like Juiced, various other "underground" racing games, and most 3D fighters. Innuendo and suggestion is a very big part of marketing. At my GameStop there's a floor mat with a woman who is larger on the mat than the title of the game.

Is it a good marketing tactic?

Well, it does help, but in the end if the game stinks, sales will slowly drop off once word gets out. That and your credibility will start to go down with others (in my opinion) by stooping to tactics like this to sell an otherwise poor game.

Are games that would otherwise be really boring sold by some fairly poor looking representations of the female form barely clothed?

Pretty much same as the first question.

Is it a good idea and would it be recommended as a marketing strategy especially to get published?

If you are the developer seeking a publisher, it is not really your job to do any marketing. You just make the game and pitch the game. They will handle the promotion and marketing.

Also, is more realistic better - if I included models that had almost photo realistic high definition females would that be even more likely to sell?

That depends. Sometimes attempts at photorealism leave people feeling more awkward about it than anything. When you get real close to realism, but fall just a hair short, it's almost worst than not going for photorealism. As far as the relationship to sales numbers, it's pretty hard to say.

Do females in the role of the action hero partially clothed create a response in the player that makes them want to play and ignore other elements of the game?

With some people, sure. Most gamers though will stop playing the game, then word will travel of the poor quality of the title, and then sales will decline.

Overall, I believe that using sexual content of any nature to promote or sell a video game is terrible. I frown upon any company that does this. It seems very cheap when the makers (or publishers more often) have such little faith in the selling power of the gameplay that they try to get people using suggestive images. If you are making a game, don't aim to sell this way, just make your game good so people will want to play it.

These games all have sexy girls in them, but the copies sold for each games sure were different...

Rumble Roses

DOA Extreme Beach Valleyball

Tomb Raider(the first one)

LaraCraft - Angel of Darkness

;) Sure it will help you sell some.  But if you want to sell millions and millions of copies, looks won't be enough.

MajorCache:

Hi everyone - this is a serious post about producing games can everyone please keep their responses to an intellectual level or the thread will be shut down.

I suppose the title says it all - does the suggestion of sex sell poor video games?  Is it a good marketing tactic?  Are games that would otherwise be really boring sold by some fairly poor looking representations of the female form barely clothed?  Is it a good idea and would it be recommended as a marketing strategy especially to get published?  Also, is more realistic better - if I included models that had almost photo realistic high definition females would that be even more likely to sell?  Do females in the role of the action hero partially clothed create a response in the player that makes them want to play and ignore other elements of the game?

Thanks if you manage to reply with an appropriate response.

 

This is a very cheap technique and highly frown upon. Using that kind of method is very low, and show great lacks in the gamedesigner's idea.
It's easy to tell if such a game as a crappy gamedesign. Just try to imagine the same game mechanics with another model.

Tomb Raider: still very good
Xtreme Beach Volleyball: meh...

So MajorCache, if you plan to add photorealistic model in your game, think twice if you aim for a contract for a casual game (XBLA and others), because this won't be a plus point for "originality", which is what they are aiming for in the future.

My 0.02, I guess it does help for some games if you intend to sell a particular audience. It is all a marketing thing.

Personally, it cheapens the game. IMO the cut scenes in the original Tombraider were designed to titilate. I thought that they were unnecessary. The game concept and gameplay were such that it really didn't need them.

I think that today we demand more from our games that this. I doubt that record breaking sales will persue with this sort of marketing ploy.

Game with sexual innuendo sell because computers gamers are still largely teenage boys. Sure this is changing and more and more girls are now gamers and also older people are staying gamers, but as a whole the vast majority of the audience are testosterone filled boys who are more interested in cheap thrills.

As already mentioned it will sell a few copies, but ultimately it will be the gameplay that will make you millions.