This isn't a gotcha thing I'm doing, I was watching this AI vs artist Arch was doing where he did one before with black April O'Neil and he's done another with dark skin Velma this time. Some flaws here and there but a massive improvement over the HBO show, at one point, he puts out the idea with what I like to refer to as 'milfy Velma' was having it that she was detached from the group, is a reporter herself and events brings her back with her old friends, so like the show just, not shit.
One of the immediate things that detached me from even trying to watch it was how ugly the self insert Velma was yet if this AI made hotter Velma was in it, I might at least give it an episode.
But a key part of this is that watching shows is passive, you're not interacting so for games it depends for me. Does it fit the setting as if it's a game about giant mechs then it isn't really a factor. If there's character customisation beyond just selecting outfits, then it becomes a big factor as if I want to create a really hot character, the game itself shouldn't limit me. Same as if there's 'romance' choices and all of them are fugly.
I've gotten to the point where having attractive guys but ugly women in a game is a massive red flag for me as then it means this is a self insert game and there's likely to be a lot of ideology in the narrative too. So just want to hear your guys takes if having attractive female characters even affects the shows and games you play/watch.
I honestly think games like Returnal (old slag protagonist) and Jedi Fallen Order (bug eyed Debra Wilson) do worse in sales because of these choices. People can't say exactly why but the disgusting visuals fill them with an instinctual revulsion, resulting in lower sales. Lara Croft was famously made busty 'by accident' but you can't tell me a flat-chested problem-glasses gender studies major would have become a gaming icon as the lead in a series of unforgiving hardcore platformers.
Behold the ten billion Skyrim/Fallout mods that make the women in the game into super models, from the queen all the way down to the dirty beggars.
When you see a hot women your eyes are wired straight to the arousal/dopamine center of your brain and you become interested before you are consciously aware of it. So in a way you could say these games aren't engaging in deceptive marketing to trick your limbic system and you can judge them on their merits. But I do enjoy playing a game a lot more if the women in it are pleasing to look at, it's just basic biology.
Jedi Fallen Order is actually an excellent example. That's a game I might have actually looked into - protag is a white male, doesn't look like an idiot, combat seems okay, atleast pretends a little to be more Prequel than Disney...
...and then we have his, what, mentor? That looks like a straight up half-human half-alien, and I'm basically 'nope'. Not happening. Fuck that. I'm out.
The funny thing is there is another character in the game who is a total babe, but has like zero interaction beyond her little sub story. If the Jedi mentor had been a normal old guy (even a black guy) it would have been better.
I doubt modern game devs could pull off a Jolee Bindo.
I wouldn't complain if they did, though.