This is what video game characters look like with realistic bodies
In the world of fictional video games, it’s true that the industry has come a long way. It’s kind of crazy to look back at the games of decades past so we can really understand how much the technology has grown and evolved. (Can you believe we used to play those retro handheld games only twenty years ago?)
While video games are experiencing some serious upgrades — 3D motion-capture technology is creating even more immersive experience, with games like L.A. Noire and Heavy Rain giving voice actors the opportunity to portray their characters down to every single micro-expression — there are some aspects of games that could stand to continue changing. One of the most important, understandably, is the depiction of female body types.
The website Bulimia.com, which strives to bring awareness to eating disorders, decided to portray some of the most famous female video game characters a little more realistically for a change. That means we’re not as likely to see breasts that defy gravity and waistlines that appear to be shrinking while you look at them.
There are definitely some kickass female characters in video games, that’s for sure — but if video game companies are spending so much energy on making their games as realistic as possible, that should definitely extend to the human body — which isn’t a carbon copy or a disproportionate cutout. It’s so important that all forms of media diversify their beauty standards and reinforce the notion that all bodies are beautiful, not just one prototype that—in the case of video games—is largely unattainable.
In altering these fan favorite characters, the folks behind this project are demonstrating that realistic portrayals of women — even fictional women — are not impossible. Check out a few of our favorites below, including Tomb Raider‘s Lara Croft, Final Fantasy‘s Tifa Lockhart and Halo‘s Cortana.
[Images c/o Bulimia.com.]
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