Did the Dead or Alive girls just get hotter, or lose their anime innocence?

Times have changed for Tecmo, and since the departure of series founder Itagaki, Dead or Alive (DOA) has taken a step forwards into a new realm.

[RaidensRising]

They looking more westernized now. Not sure if that's a better direction for the series.

[Lucretia]

i dont think they look westernized at all. Western characters still arent even close to that beautiful. please name one who gets close if possible.

The style is called Manga Realistic. Manga like Berserk, Vagabond, ninja scroll and plenty of other anime/manga use this style.

i personally think it looks far better than the old doa models. Im glad with the direction they took.

Even Tekken and Soul Calibur are Manga Realistic so I dont see the problem

[Hellsvacancy]

I watched Ninja Scroll two days ago, I aint seen it since i was a kid, its AWESOME

And i do agree, these "girls" look nothing like western women, unless you count those women who have customized themselves, you know, porn stars

[ronin4life]

Yep. Now everyone can be exactly the same...-_-;;;

Although, I miss sc2 art style, which was pretty similar to the old doa, soooo... I guess I'm not necessarily one to talk on this matter...^_^;;

[Darrius Cole]

Lara Croft
Chloe from Uncharted.

I would say Eleana Fisher, but so much of Eleana's appeal as a character is from from her behavior instead of just raw, sexpot looks or oversexualized behavior.

I agree with your premise that Western video games just don't give as much fanservice as Japanese video games do.

[SilentNegotiator]

"i dont think they look westernized at all. Western characters still arent even close to that beautiful. please name one who gets close if possible"

Out of just the creepy games designed for 13 year old shut-ins with 90% of the focus on making sexually attractive characters, or any game in general?

Because I'll give you a tried and true example; the Uncharted series. Those female characters are modeled VERY well. They just don't happen to be designed half naked for the sexual thrills of teenage boys.

Fanatics of Japanese media that say things like that are so ignorant.

[edgeofsins]

Berserk is western styled and it is supposed to be because of its setting and story type.

Soul Calibur is not "Manga Realistic". It is westernized. Look at the levels and look at every character other then the women which are supposed to be a little anime like.

[knowyourstuff]

Japanese gaming girls have always looked westernized. No one looks Japanese, even in anime, they're always westernized unless they really, really want the character to look Asian, in which case they'll use exagerrated slanty eyes. The girls have looked exactly the same in every DoA game.

But really, who cares, they're digital pixels.

[MaxXAttaxX]

They just don't look so much like plastic dolls, copy pasted models with different hair and clothes.

Still focuses a bit on oversexualized female characters. It tries too hard. Tekken is still the best :)

[Kurt Russell]

They look really good as they are now. I have to agree with Lucretia, it's by no means western. They all seem to have more realistic skin textures to me.

[Pozzle]

I don't know if "Westernized" is quite the right word, but they certainly look less anime-esque. And I'm not just talking about their facial features, but their hair and body proportions seem to be more "realistic" (though they're still obviously exaggerated to an extent) than they previously were too.

[wishingW3L]

Their bodies look western but their faces don't. Lei Fang doesn't look the slightest bit western. The shape of her face, her eyes, her hair-style and the way she dresses is all Chinese.

Tina, Sarah, Christie, Mila, etc. look western but they are supposed to be from the west.

[Lucretia]

i agree with you partly.

just curious how their bodies look western....they look like bodies...lol.

and in western gaming design bodies are vvery rarely so nicely shaped.

i can't think of a western game with nice female bodies. the closest may be god of wars random nude girls

[AC130-Gunship]

The bodies look the same dude. Overly exaggerated breast, length of legs, skimpy Bikinis. This is a freaking fighting game. How characters look is secondary to the fight mechanics. The fight mechanics alone will break this game if they suck. Not eye candy.

[greenpowerz]

Don't see any change at all. The graphics are barely better.

I don't see how better lighting, more detail and more polys = western art.

Is FF western because it does what said above better than DOA?

[MmaFan-Qc]

go see the optometrist ASAP.

[greenpowerz]

The eyes and hair is more detailed with slightly better lighting that doesn't make it western looking.

I don't see different art I see improved engine/graphics. Better lighting and more detail resulting in more natural looking color temperature.

Lips, eyes, mouth nose exactly the same shape but now Tina Has *nostrils on her nose* with real time lighting in eyes. The only argument you have is Tina no longer has stickers on her eyeballs representing cornea's with baked in lighting. The new game has more polys

NG2S
http://uk.playstation.com/m...

NG3
http://cdn3.digitaltrends.c...

Is NG3 more western because it has improved graphics?

[wishingW3L]

is not the graphics, it's the art-style.

[OhMyGandhi]

I agree, I really don't think the game has changed much from other DOAs.
Add texture to their skin so they are at least on par with the dirty toys of Toy Story and I'll notice a difference.

[Flavor]

It's just more realistic. The further we get from Moe, the better.

[lonesoul65]

the sad part is you are arguing about the hotness of digital constructs. Here's some advise...go take a shower..lose some weight...and go find a real girl!!!

[Maddens Raiders]

"They looking more westernized now. Not sure if that's a better direction for the series"

aka ... it looks like they received the treatment all other "big" 3rd party westernized games get before being unleashed upon the typical non-discerning NA gamer. Don't worry, hardly anyone in the target audience will notice. 1st Party Sony and Nintendo FTW.

[claud3]

Nope, because they are not real

[Parappa]

Yes they are.

[LKHGFDSA]

ironic that your avatar picture is heavily photoshopped.

[abzdine]

innocence ?
they are just better made and they dont have that porcelain doll effet anymore cause they're more realistic

[MattyG]

Boobs in the title pic. 1000 degrees in 3...2...1...

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

i think it's 'cause the graphics are better now and they're not as cartoony looking. they look more realistic, imo.

[ZoyosJD]

Sigh...It's not East vs West as those are represented by clothing (not much of in these shots) and facial features (again, not much emphasis in these shots) but, there are clearly some for each side if you care to see their non swimsuit pics.

On the Anime vs Realism scale they are clearly leaning more and more towards realism, but that can be expected as graphics improve and the demographic shifts.

[ronin4life]

There is this theory were the closer you come to realism with subject that are not actually real humans, there is this barrier that makes the subject disturbing and creepy(yes, I'm serious. Though it is mostly applied to robotics).

In cartoons, anime(a combination of Japanese design sensibilities and Disney) goes in the opposite direction from the attempt to copy visual reality(which doesn't work so well) by focusing on emotional display(hence, the huge eyes, head and mouth; an enhancement of the most striking visual traits our brains focus on when dealing with one another) to give life to its characters.

The problem most people had with doa art style however was the lack of emotional display, which resulted in creepy looking doll like characters. However, doa dimensions did show better emotional response in its design while keeping the original art style, proving it can work.

Wether this is a good direction for doa, I don't know. But it is a little disheartening to see a unique fighter move closer to emulate every other game in its genre. Lets just hope it doesn't follow soul calibur in too many other ways...

[Bimkoblerutso]

You refer to the uncanny valley, and the Japanese often love to skirt ridiculously close to the edge, for some reason.

I think it's because they like to keep the proportions and physics ridiculously unrealistic, even as things like skin texture, hair, and geometry become more and more convincing.

[ronin4life]

Yes, the uncanny valley. That's it^_^

I get shivers thinking about some of those robots>.<;;;

[wishingW3L]

worst uncanny valley was Xenosaga II and Star Ocean IV. They look like creepy dolls from hell:

http://images.bit-tech.net/...

http://www.pureportals.com/...

[kesvalk]

they never had any innocence to begin with...

[TheSpoiler]

Exactly. I remember when the original director referred to the girls of DOA as his "daughters".

I'm not sure how many dads dress their little girls in slutty clothing, and I'm sure I don't want to meet them.

[Darrius Cole]

Of course I want to meet those dads, and you do too. How can I can kick their ass if I don't meet them? Now if you show me how to do that, then I can do without meeting them.

[NBT91]

Not sure to be honest, some of them suit the new art style more than others I think.

[FrankDaTank]

I think they look too airbrushed for my taste.

[claud3]

Sad so sad

[Gazondaily]

Irony

[DivineAssault]

judging by your avatar, u belong in DOA 5 too... Whats the deal w the chicks all having rosy pink cheeks? I doubt chicks would be putting on blush when theyre getting ready to scrap

[omarzy]

They should add a loli fighter.

[Snookies12]

Hahahaha, not my thing, but that would still be hilarious... Wait though... I dunno with DOA's outfits... Could border on being too weird. o_o

[ReconHope]

they look hotter.

[amaguli]

It seems like they are moving away from the anime influenced style for a more realistic one. Personally, I think the characters look great.

[DivineAssault]

honestly the characters needed an evolution.. They looked the same since DOA 2 so im all for the change of pace.. Not like u can stare at the face during battle.. Just the boobs lol

[perfectCarbonara]

Looks better now, tired of anime crap.

[sjaakiejj]

Looks great, really quite looking forward to this game. Will probably wait until the CE gets a price drop though.

[claud3]

Nope. They are not real and anyone that thinks that

Get a bloody life

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

who said they were real? they just look more realistic. and wow... YOU telling people to get a life after you've used all 3 of your comments on this article? lolz

[Athlon]

Ok Know this is off-topic, but I wonder if we're gonna see another Rumble Roses game? I know that was done by Konami, but you have to admit the gameplay and the girls on it were pretty edgy. I'll never forget the look on the female cashier's face when I bought it at best buy when it had first come out for the PS2. lol I was thinking to myself the whole time, "I should have bought it online."

[TheCopyNinja]

DOA lost the anime look. Which is a good thing though. I've always liked their anime style but keeping that they can only change so much to the characters looks and make the game look more realistic. The characters all look better now than they have ever looked before.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

A toned down realistic look is for the better. It gives the characters more personality in there appearance alone such as there eyes and mouth, and I noticed more motion and movement.

Before they were like lifeless dolls with a cold stare that were nearly pre-rendered animations that looked good for a while, but started to show its rendered age.

I love the new direction with this game and I'm definitely buying it day 1.I played all of them, and I don't planning on stopping, DOA 5 will be no different.

[Feylynn]

they are ugly you are all hoolegins that dont know wat reel bewty is

anime has reel soul that your stupid call of duty grafics dont have

[0pie]

im tired of these 15 yeard old suggestive anime japan game. They wonder why japan game doesnt work anymore... Im gonna tell you why, because as a gamer we grew up and all these lolita/anime/pedophile Japanese game now sucks and most of the time are aimed at 14yr old virgin who are excited by seeing a girl wearing a bra. (yeah i said pedophile cause a lot of japenese game have some pedophile alusion).

I still remember at the turd that was dead or alive volleybal where you could max out the size of the boobies of the player. That was ridiculous and pathetic.

Japenese developpers are a bunch of sick and twisted individual obsessed by everything around the sexuality. The problem with that is they think everyone are.

btw, just look at this AD : http://www.youtube.com/watc... and tell me seriously that japense are not a bunch of retard and sexually obsessed.

[bakasora]

Ohh... They should make another doa volleyball based on these models.

[ALICE666]

I prefer the older designs. Yes I love anime but I dont think it looked fully anime style... to me it just had a certain charm to it. The art style now looks good but pretty generic IMO. Still gonna buy it though.