Finding comfort in our simulated skins

In the early days of video games, programs like Pong, Pac-Man, and Galga were considered the best the medium had to offer. The avatars the industry used were just simple shapes with little to no narratives to hold them all together. In the time since, video games have transformed like no other medium. Modern video games now have complex and compelling narratives, as well as hyper-realistic graphics and avatars to offer their audience. Like most other forms of media, video games have a tendency to use over sexualized avatars in different video games.

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http://www.neogaf.com

Characters like Laura Croft from the game "Tomb Raider", female fighters in games like "Mortal Kombat", Nate Drake from the "Uncharted" franchise, and Kratos from the "God of War" games all use avatars that could leave some players wanting more from their own bodies. With video games becoming more and more popular, I wanted to look at how these avatars might affect some of the people who play them, specifically young men and women.

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Unlike other forms of media, video games have an unprecedented level of audience interaction, leading to the most immersive experience you can find in any medium. Due to this high level of immersion and the increasing realism in modern video games, it is easier for the audience to be influenced by said medium. To understand how the avatar designs affect the young male player, you need to understand the basic designs that these avatars follow. There are three basic types of male avatars aside from the many games in which the player gets to design their own avatar.

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According to "Body Image Perception: Adolescent Boys and Avatar Depiction in Video Games" there is a more realistic and proportional design that is used in video games that have a more grounded, realistic narrative. They do have some muscles, though they are typically covered, and a slim frame as well. These avatars do not look unrealistically fit, with broad shoulders that resembles an achievable body type. A franchise that uses this type of avatar often is the long running "Assassins Creed" series.

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Another type of design some games use is used for characters like Kratos, B.J Blazkowicz from the "Wolfenstein" franchise, and Bat-Man. These avatars have exaggerated muscles, shoulder width, and in most cases above average height. These avatars are the most likely to cause the player to have a negative outlook on their body because the physique of the avatar, unlike the last design, is unattainable.

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www.pcgamesn.com

The last type of avatar is used in games that usually have a lighter, more comical feel, much like the games Brutal Legend and Team Fortress 2. These avatars usually have less muscle tone, and the proportions leave the characters looking blocky and cartoonish. This avatar design is seen as the least harmful to body image in young men due to the cartoon feel these avatars present.

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Turning our attention from the boys, I started looking at how girls are affected by playing as sexualized avatars such as they would in games like "Tomb Raider", "Uncharted: The Lost Legacy", and most, if not all fighting games.

Pulled from siliconera.com

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In a study conducted by Stanford university, researchers took female participants and had them enter a virtual reality assuming control of either a suggestively or conservatively dressed avatar. Each participant was asked to do a series of tasks, such as looking in a mirror to see what the avatar looked like, and interacting with other avatars that were controlled by either another person or the simulation. The girls who controlled the provocative avatars were found more likely to subject themselves to objectification outside the experiment, and had more negative body related thoughts than the group with the conservative avatars. Immersion, again is most likely the main explanation for this result, especially due to the experiment being conducted in V.R.

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It is obvious that the video game industry is guilty of using highly sexualized avatars of both men and women which can be harmful to the audience, I would argue that the industry is pretty much par for the course when it comes to sexualizing a medium. Both the film and music industry often encourage harmful body images. Video games may have a long way to go in order to address their role in promoting unrealistic body image, but so does the rest of the media world.

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