Ken Levine "disappointed" by focus on breasts in Bioshock Infinite
OXM UK: "Irrational Games boss Ken Levine has told OXM he's saddened by the section of Bioshock Infinite discussion that has focused on leading lady Elizabeth's eye-catching physique."
(BioShock: Infinite, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
It just a women with big breasts. Females have breasts. Is that something to be ashamed or shy off? At least it is reasonable size not the japanisque-oversized melons!
exactly.....not like her breasts are covered only by a gem or something, shes still very clothed. i mean if i go outside i will see cleavage. from the old, underage to people my age. boobies are everywhere.
thats like being upset about a focus on hair or a face -_-. aslong as its not ridiculous like rumble roses then theres no prob
besides, corsets always make breast look like that. so whats the prob?
Agreed. I has reached a point where a woman having big breasts in any type of media is a problem. I had friends who had very ample breast sizes and they were still smart, funny,interesting women.As long as that isn't the main focus of the character who cares what size her breasts are? What, do you have to be flat chested to have a personality or something?
***At least it is reasonable size not the japanisque-oversized melons!***
That technically isn't reasonably sized though. Most women don't have breasts that size unless they had surgery.
That said, Levine if you don't want people to focus on it perhaps you should NOT make it that large and then have a low cut to the point where I feel nipples are about to pop out.
Just a though to the master mood and story teller....
^^ Those are not over-sized. She is wearing a corset so they are popping more than in normal clothes but I would say she is a full C-cup. Definitely not bigger than D so pretty average.
I like boobs of all different sizes from these to the "Japanisque-oversized melons". The more boobs the better so I say bring 'em on.
OMG I couldnt beleive the headline so had to read this... seriously, how fricking stupid is this story? There are men complaining about getting a boner off girl with cleavage in a video game?? Because it will distract them?? And the producer is interviewed and now having to defend it? To men??? By the way those are NOT huge or only achievable by surgery. That is just ridiculous and shows inexperience! looooooool!!!
"instead of this incredible game " What makes it incredible? It isn't out yet.
It could easily be trash, probably not, but it could. Don't instantly put faith into a game just because the previous titles were good (BS2 not so much...) or they will stop putting effort in and release trash that they know people will buy, it happens all the time and it has happened to other series.
Anyway, on topic. Boobs... so what? It's a game. It doesn't matter either way. I like the cartoony approach they have taken with her character in general.
From the comments above, it doesn't seem like people understand the issue.
It's not that breasts are at all unpleasant. I'd argue that many people in the world actually find them *very* pleasant.
However, if the purpose of making big, cleavagey breasts doesn't serve characterization or aesthetics, then all it does is pander. Why do you think there are so few decently-developed female characters in gaming?
Levine is just spouting some plastic chivalry right there. That character design was carefully crafted and approved because it hits right to the core audience - socially isolated/inadequate males. What better fetish than a doe eyed tezuka-meets-hefner waif to cry over them, and to need them?
He is trying to make an emotional game, and he wants people to care about Elizabeth because of the character she is.... not because of her boobs.
I mean, they are not trying to make Lara Croft, a character who only became famous due to sex appeal.
Ken Levine wants to make an emotional game, and the fact that people are only interested in the game because of Elizabeth's boobs makes him sad.
For all that effort he put into the story and world are being overlooked by a pair of digitally made tits.
Im getting this game because I love Bioshock and I really love the story and this world Ken and the rest of Irrational has created. Elizabeth being very attractive is just a bonus
@Jbaby343
The reason is because in 1943 that was the style of dresses that "the wealthy" women wore. By showing excessive clevage, it indicated your status to the rest of the people around you. I dont recall what it is called but that is why she shows clevage
Irrational though that gamers were mature enough.... but they forgot how every soccer mom has bought her kid an xbox 360...
She has unusually large breasts for her tiny frame. I think her waist is about the size of my wrist, yet she has fairly substantial curves. If you make any character with such unusual proportions, the audience tends to notice, especially males. It seems to be a basic common sense issue to me. You wouldn't get nearly as much attention focused on her body if they had given her more realistic proportions. It's the fact that her breasts are enormous for her frame, not the outfit. If she had normal sized breasts proportional to her frame in the same outfit, no one would make big deal out of it.
I certainly have no problem whatsoever with a curvy figure, but their design of Elizabeth looks so top heavy and disproportionate that she might tip over if a breeze hit her.
Maybe I'm used to seeing women with curvy figures (I love them) but she does not look that disproportionate to me. As I stated above she is wearing a corset which causes her boobs to "pop" a more than normal clothes would but otherwise she looks like about a C-cup which is not strange even for a small frame.
As much as I would like a build such as Love Hewitt's to be common or typical, it just isn't, and I can assure you every guy in the room notices her figure everywhere she goes. Not the design choice you want to go with if you don't want people to notice her figure.
@ AKS. Jennifer Love Is one of my favorites. Good eye for detail. I'll tell you what. It is about the whole package for me. When she put his hands around her neck and was crying, I felt the emotion. Boob or no boobs. With good writing (Ken will deliver), she will be an awesome character.
I am not saying she won't be a great character. I'm just saying that Levine shouldn't be surprised or upset that Elizabeth's figure is noticed by so many considering the look they gave her. She might still be an awesome character in a great game. I hope that's how it turns out.
Ken is 'saddened' by the discussion of the big breast HE put in the game! Ha ha! If he doesn't think it's relevant he could always change them for smaller ones. But he doesn't, why do you think that is?
If anything, to me her beautiful breasts just add more beauty to an already beautiful game. Strangely enough, her beautiful breasts happen to match her amazing personality. Win, win....
People are totally missing the damn point here. What he's annoyed about is not the fact that she has big breasts. It's that, instead of focusing on the enormity of a new Bioshock title and discussing the plethora of preview info out there, people are talking about the damn boobs.
Really guys? Really? You talk like boobs aren't a big deal. Great, they aren't. You contradict yourselves, however, when you fail to realize that the discussion boards are lit up with threads about her tits. If you ask me, that is people making a big deal about boobs. Those people not being Ken Levine, but the gamers (who, here, are giving him shit for making a deal out of the boobs).
Long story short, this scenario is similar to people going to see Michelangelo's Statue of David and then focusing all their attention on size of the dude's the schlong. I.e. -> they are missing the bigger picture.
I was gonna say the same that you just did. This just proves that people don't even read the articles and just go ahead and make bold statements just to get votes on "Agree". I would be disappointed too. Why? Because I would like the whole game that I am developing to be discussed, not just one character that is part of it who has very sexy and nice boobs...
Well boobs aint sexual parts of the body. They are used for keeping a baby or young child healthy with good nutrients from the milk. In the USA boobs have become so sexualized that many women are to ashamed to breast feed their own baby!
I'm sorry but you're wrong. Breasts are a point of sexual arousal on the female body and contribute to the pleasure they feel in their entire body during intimacy. It's not true for all women, but it is for most when handled properly. I've even heard that a woman can climax with just having her breasts being the focus of all intimate action. It's true that their primary function is to breast feed, but it's not true that they aren't a sexual part of the body.
Actually, a lot of the world if you walked in on a women naked, they would cover their belly button. Plus, womens necks are also a point of arousal and it's not considered a sexual part. Touching in general really.
@ theonlylolking..... Mens genitalia are used more for urinating than sexual intercourse. But they too are a sexual organ. So your devils advocated argument is stupid. EVERYBODY knows that breasts are arousing.
*snort* you know, you might as well just come out and say you've never kissed a girl already... i mean... no offense, but that was one of the most naive statements i've ever read.
Does it though? The original two Bioshock games had no sex appeal at all. They were just really, really good games...and that's what made them sell. Their quality, not their sex appeal.
I think it's silly to say a Bioshock needs to rely on sex to sell. People aren't buying the game to stare at Elizabeth's boobs. They're buying it because it looks like a great game.
Was I the only one who had a rough time reading that article?
It's hard to connect with the character in any other way at the moment since all we really have are screenshots and videos. I'm sure once the game is out, people will be connecting with her the way Ken intended.
I see the point he is making, the focus on bewbs detracting from the game must hurt, but he shouldn't be so naive and have confidence that the rest of the game will be good enough to give it more depth than the initial sexual titillation.
From what I've seen thus far, the bewbs might be on show, as indicative of the period the game is trying to mimic in its sci-fi way, but the gameplay is still looking quality and interesting enough.
Perhaps he's drawing more attention to them by making these remarks, perhaps its part of a carefully orchestrated piece of marketing.
If it were any other game series that needed to cheapen its character's sexuality to hide the game's mediocrity, I don't think it'd be a problem...but it's Bioshock...arguably one of the best gaming series in the past years. Don't get me wrong...sexuality in video games, when done right, adds a sense of maturity and story development. But boobs just for the sake of boobs...grow up.
Boobs for the sake of boobs? A character who happens to have large tits isn't just a case of boobs for the sake of boobs, it's a design decision.
Boobs for the sake of boobs would be if they were constantly panning the camera to them, going out of their way within the game to point them out. That would be boobs for the sake of boobs.
I love the atmosphere of this game and Elizabeth so far seems like a great character. I'm dying to know just what that giant robotic eagle wants with her and why she considers going back a fate worse than death. I also would very much like to motorboat those boobies for hours at a time.
I can understand frustration at the focus on boobs instead of other elements of the game but you can't really expect straight males to pretend they don't notice a fine pair of boobs at all. It irritates me that these days finding a woman physically attractive is considered the behaviour of only the dumbest most immature losers. I don't care if you're Einstein, Hawking or Tesla, if you see boobs like that you have to notice them. Maybe you don't spend so much time focusing on them that you miss the many other elements of this great looking game but they at least deserve a mention.
Yes, to me the boobs are just another reason to fall in love with a great character.
Straight men like boobs = fact, get over it.
My imagination was also captivated by the idea of that being a fate worse than death, however, the whole video I downloaded was laden with surreal, trippy, outlandish ideas that seem to be the next step up conceptually and artistically and are way ahead of their time(generally speaking).
In the previous generation (PS2-Xbox-GameCube era), I bought games anyhow on launch day or shortly after... some great, others not.
In this generation, I've been very picky on what games to buy... in the collection, there's not one that am disappointed in. My buy has been based on media (trailers, ViDocs), interest in the franchise & most importantly, reviews. But my buying of the games has been $40 & below (I wait a few months for the prices to drop)... it's only a few titles I've bought at $60 shortly after launch day. I game on both the PS3, X360 & PC... to enrich my collection on both platforms, it's why I wait a few months to buy two games for the prices of one.
I have BioShock on the X360, which I bought at less than $30 on Amazon. But BioShock 3 (Infinite) looks to be a huge release/great game; besides, it's being lead by The Man (Levine)... at $60, I can cough up that amount for the game soon after launch.
He shouldn't be surprised by this since some kids are just gonna notice them. I didn't notice until this article. I am just anxious for this game and am amazed set pieces and what to expect.
the only thing that saddens me is the fact that everytime you "gamers" see boobs you all bitch and complain. this is why NO ONE takes games and gamers serious. The fanbase are a bunch of bitching complaining tools and so are the people who write these posts.
Movies have good looking people with boobs ALL THE TIME. Its just was sells. Gaming will never go further with this much of an immature fanbase.
Girls have boobs and sometimes they are huge, and yes girls LOVE to dress up and show them off ..... get over it.
Things didn't used to be like this. Something went seriously wrong this generation and I hate to say it but the only foreseeable solution is genocide.
Not just referring to annoyances within the video game community. Every community has been poisoned over the last 6-7 years.
Hate to say it but many people are unworthy, have dropped below any reasonable standard to warrant their lives continuation and refuse to improve themselves or open their eyes/minds. Oh and while they remain willfully ignorant...they are also insistent on multiplying and spreading their stupidity wherever possible.
Typical online warriors. Out of all the videos and screenshots I have seen from this game, not once have I said "WOW THOSE HUGE BOOBS." If this was the same case with that Resident Evil case where Capcom showed absolutely about the characters or the game and simply focused on the tits and ass, I would have understood the complain. But honestly, there has been way more shown from the this game, from gameplay, environment, to characters and their personality to make a enormous unnecessary fucking deal about the breasts.
I find it comical that you can look at Playboy and get attracted. /S
Women in the media today are no better than game or anime characters with the amount of photoshop and cosmetic surgery around. Everything is fake these days, but that doesn't make things any less arousing. You obviously never would have survived when porn was hand-drawn because there wasn't photography.
I find it a bit ironic that exaggerating women like this is a huge deal, yet you don't see guys complaining about looking like Kratos or something similar....Do guys ever look like him? No.
If women didn't attempt to "look good" then people wouldn't portray them like this.
an awesome point. how come they can make a guy thats 6 feet tall handsome as hell has a 6 pack and 20 inch arms in every game and no one complains about that... but as soon as we see a good looking women gamers bitch and complain.
Its so stupid. Real men lose their hair and have a gut. not many people complaining about not portraying men in a real light. But as soon as we see boobs all hell break loose.
I mean mass effect 3 it happened and the devs even lowered the boob size. That new Resident evil game people bitched and now this.
its immature and sad and its the reason why most outlets will never take gaming serious because its fanbase and its journalist are a joke.
Well, he probably should have expected that sort of response when he and the team decided to put two huge melons on the main actress. It's not generally easy to ignore.
Now - Join us on Filmwatch as we celebrate the release of Star Trek Into Darkness this month with a must-have collectible for Star Trek fans! | Promoted post
Now - Join us on Filmwatch as we celebrate the release of Star Trek Into Darkness this month with a must-have collectible for Star Trek fans! | Promoted post
60°
230°
80°
40°
Ad 
80°
30°
20°
20°
20°
20°
It just a women with big breasts.
Females have breasts. Is that something to be ashamed or shy off?
At least it is reasonable size not the japanisque-oversized melons!
thats like being upset about a focus on hair or a face -_-. aslong as its not ridiculous like rumble roses then theres no prob
besides, corsets always make breast look like that. so whats the prob?
That technically isn't reasonably sized though. Most women don't have breasts that size unless they had surgery.
That said, Levine if you don't want people to focus on it perhaps you should NOT make it that large and then have a low cut to the point where I feel nipples are about to pop out.
Just a though to the master mood and story teller....
That said, I like it and hope they keep it!!! :D
I like boobs of all different sizes from these to the "Japanisque-oversized melons". The more boobs the better so I say bring 'em on.
She's wearing a corset, they can make average bosoms looks big....lol...bosoms.
He's just mad that people focus on her boobs instead of this incredible game
A hot naked woman is spreading her legs in front of you but she's happen to have her hair done.
10 out of 10 will not notice the hair.
Point is Ken, when you make boobs like those, nobody's going to notice her eyes.
There are men complaining about getting a boner off girl with cleavage in a video game?? Because it will distract them?? And the producer is interviewed and now having to defend it? To men??? By the way those are NOT huge or only achievable by surgery. That is just ridiculous and shows inexperience! looooooool!!!
What makes it incredible? It isn't out yet.
It could easily be trash, probably not, but it could. Don't instantly put faith into a game just because the previous titles were good (BS2 not so much...) or they will stop putting effort in and release trash that they know people will buy, it happens all the time and it has happened to other series.
Anyway, on topic. Boobs... so what? It's a game. It doesn't matter either way. I like the cartoony approach they have taken with her character in general.
It's not that breasts are at all unpleasant. I'd argue that many people in the world actually find them *very* pleasant.
However, if the purpose of making big, cleavagey breasts doesn't serve characterization or aesthetics, then all it does is pander. Why do you think there are so few decently-developed female characters in gaming?
Take that how you want.
He is trying to make an emotional game, and he wants people to care about Elizabeth because of the character she is.... not because of her boobs.
I mean, they are not trying to make Lara Croft, a character who only became famous due to sex appeal.
Ken Levine wants to make an emotional game, and the fact that people are only interested in the game because of Elizabeth's boobs makes him sad.
For all that effort he put into the story and world are being overlooked by a pair of digitally made tits.
Im getting this game because I love Bioshock and I really love the story and this world Ken and the rest of Irrational has created. Elizabeth being very attractive is just a bonus
@Jbaby343
The reason is because in 1943 that was the style of dresses that "the wealthy" women wore. By showing excessive clevage, it indicated your status to the rest of the people around you. I dont recall what it is called but that is why she shows clevage
Irrational though that gamers were mature enough.... but they forgot how every soccer mom has bought her kid an xbox 360...
I certainly have no problem whatsoever with a curvy figure, but their design of Elizabeth looks so top heavy and disproportionate that she might tip over if a breeze hit her.
http://images3.wikia.nocook...
http://corset.pagesperso-or...
As much as I would like a build such as Love Hewitt's to be common or typical, it just isn't, and I can assure you every guy in the room notices her figure everywhere she goes. Not the design choice you want to go with if you don't want people to notice her figure.
I am not saying she won't be a great character. I'm just saying that Levine shouldn't be surprised or upset that Elizabeth's figure is noticed by so many considering the look they gave her. She might still be an awesome character in a great game. I hope that's how it turns out.
I'm just here for the breasts. :)
Her face isnt even natural nor is anyone's . It's a game with a distinct somewhat cartoony design , not some attempt at realism
Really guys? Really? You talk like boobs aren't a big deal. Great, they aren't. You contradict yourselves, however, when you fail to realize that the discussion boards are lit up with threads about her tits. If you ask me, that is people making a big deal about boobs. Those people not being Ken Levine, but the gamers (who, here, are giving him shit for making a deal out of the boobs).
Long story short, this scenario is similar to people going to see Michelangelo's Statue of David and then focusing all their attention on size of the dude's the schlong. I.e. -> they are missing the bigger picture.
dont mess with this man.
Mens genitalia are used more for urinating than sexual intercourse. But they too are a sexual organ. So your devils advocated argument is stupid. EVERYBODY knows that breasts are arousing.
*snort* you know, you might as well just come out and say you've never kissed a girl already... i mean... no offense, but that was one of the most naive statements i've ever read.
I think it's silly to say a Bioshock needs to rely on sex to sell. People aren't buying the game to stare at Elizabeth's boobs. They're buying it because it looks like a great game.
honestly, hes naive to expect any different. And hes probably not naive, so I'm guessing hes trying to appear noble to the wifey
"yea like I totally care about your character development baby."
It's hard to connect with the character in any other way at the moment since all we really have are screenshots and videos. I'm sure once the game is out, people will be connecting with her the way Ken intended.
I see boobs, I click
like 3some?
From what I've seen thus far, the bewbs might be on show, as indicative of the period the game is trying to mimic in its sci-fi way, but the gameplay is still looking quality and interesting enough.
Perhaps he's drawing more attention to them by making these remarks, perhaps its part of a carefully orchestrated piece of marketing.
Boobs for the sake of boobs would be if they were constantly panning the camera to them, going out of their way within the game to point them out. That would be boobs for the sake of boobs.
I can understand frustration at the focus on boobs instead of other elements of the game but you can't really expect straight males to pretend they don't notice a fine pair of boobs at all. It irritates me that these days finding a woman physically attractive is considered the behaviour of only the dumbest most immature losers. I don't care if you're Einstein, Hawking or Tesla, if you see boobs like that you have to notice them. Maybe you don't spend so much time focusing on them that you miss the many other elements of this great looking game but they at least deserve a mention.
Straight men like boobs = fact, get over it.
My imagination was also captivated by the idea of that being a fate worse than death, however, the whole video I downloaded was laden with surreal, trippy, outlandish ideas that seem to be the next step up conceptually and artistically and are way ahead of their time(generally speaking).
In this generation, I've been very picky on what games to buy... in the collection, there's not one that am disappointed in. My buy has been based on media (trailers, ViDocs), interest in the franchise & most importantly, reviews. But my buying of the games has been $40 & below (I wait a few months for the prices to drop)... it's only a few titles I've bought at $60 shortly after launch day. I game on both the PS3, X360 & PC... to enrich my collection on both platforms, it's why I wait a few months to buy two games for the prices of one.
I have BioShock on the X360, which I bought at less than $30 on Amazon. But BioShock 3 (Infinite) looks to be a huge release/great game; besides, it's being lead by The Man (Levine)... at $60, I can cough up that amount for the game soon after launch.
A game must be SPECIAL to pay $60 for.
What i really like about the character is the face - very pretty.
And her personality...and stuff.
Movies have good looking people with boobs ALL THE TIME. Its just was sells. Gaming will never go further with this much of an immature fanbase.
Girls have boobs and sometimes they are huge, and yes girls LOVE to dress up and show them off ..... get over it.
Not just referring to annoyances within the video game community. Every community has been poisoned over the last 6-7 years.
Hate to say it but many people are unworthy, have dropped below any reasonable standard to warrant their lives continuation and refuse to improve themselves or open their eyes/minds. Oh and while they remain willfully ignorant...they are also insistent on multiplying and spreading their stupidity wherever possible.
Yeeeaaaaahhh....fuck planet Earth
p.s. lol
Women in the media today are no better than game or anime characters with the amount of photoshop and cosmetic surgery around. Everything is fake these days, but that doesn't make things any less arousing. You obviously never would have survived when porn was hand-drawn because there wasn't photography.
If women didn't attempt to "look good" then people wouldn't portray them like this.
Its so stupid. Real men lose their hair and have a gut. not many people complaining about not portraying men in a real light. But as soon as we see boobs all hell break loose.
I mean mass effect 3 it happened and the devs even lowered the boob size.
That new Resident evil game people bitched and now this.
its immature and sad and its the reason why most outlets will never take gaming serious because its fanbase and its journalist are a joke.
It's not generally easy to ignore.