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Playboy strips down girls of gaming...again

October's gentleman's rag will feature sirens of cyberspace in the buff for second year running.

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The debate over the portrayal of women in games may never end. Some take offense to the unrealistic body types, and others love them. Many of gaming's most famous heroines are top-heavy, hourglass-figured females imagined by a population of character designers dominated by males. It all truly began with Tomb Raider's Lara Croft, whose ability to navigate the precipices of an ancient civilization was second in popularity to her own precipices.

For all gamers who took a gander at a digital dame and thought, "She could be in Playboy!" a pictorial last year in an issue of the magazine that Hugh Hefner built confirmed just that. Several gaming icons, including BloodRayne and Mileena from Mortal Kombat, shed for the spread.

The success of the issue, which also included articles on the industry and picks for the holiday season's top games, prompted Playboy to go for round two. According to CNN's Chris Morris, eight female game characters will once again rerate themselves as AO for Adults Only in October's issue of Playboy.

Scott Alexander, senior editor for the magazine, told Morris, "Last year, we were selling a new concept [to publishers]. The response we got last year and the huge promotional bump resulted in companies lining up at our door. I literally had to turn away six or seven publishers."

So which lucky video vixens will be baring all in the issue? Jacqui, a cheerleader from Midway's Blitz: The League will be in her god-given under-armor. Carla Valenti from Atari's Indigo Prophecy, who plays a detective solving a rash of murders in New York City, will cleverly deduce that she's nude in the issue. Capcom's Darkwatch will offer two beauties, the arresting Cassidy, a blonde deputy in the Old West, and Tala, a vampiric femme fatale who also appeared in last year's pictorial when Darkwatch was still under the watch of Sammy Studios. Alexa, a reporter from VU Games' 50 Cent: Bulletproof, will, to quote 50, not only "party like it's her birthday," but party in her birthday suit.

Rounding out the octet will be characters from Sony's God of War (who likely already appeared nude in the game), Namco's Hellgate: London, and, fittingly, Hip Games' Playboy the Mansion: Private Party.

The pictures will appear on eight trading cards, four of which will be printed in two different versions of the magazine. When positioned together correctly, the eight cards form a ninth picture.

Playboy has been tapping into the growing gaming market in recent years. In addition to Playboy: The Mansion, which puts the sin in Sims-style gameplay, the empire has offered downloadable pictorials formatted for Sony's PSP.

79 Comments

  • Coolyfett

    Posted Jun 7, 2010 9:46 pm GMT

    these are no name brand chicks!! Where is Zelda or Chun Li?

  • knowltz

    Posted Dec 5, 2008 1:38 pm GMT

    while we are on the topic of masturbation I just thought I would share that it is independently proven that regular masturbation is good for you, not only does it feel good, but helps drain any toxins from the prostate gland which lead to cancer and disease of the prostate.

    Masturbate on gamespoters, masturbate on....

  • nintailedhokage

    Posted Nov 30, 2008 5:04 pm GMT

    well I want pictures of it

  • Bakahashi

    Posted May 2, 2008 7:02 pm GMT

    Masturbation and gaming all in one go. I like it.

  • Donnyp

    Posted Mar 26, 2008 7:35 pm GMT

    lol. and safer

  • megadisc

    Posted Mar 14, 2008 1:33 am GMT

    jerking off is fun
    dont you think so ?
    10 times better than taking drugs

  • nizich1

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 9:16 pm GMT

    my life often consists of a switch between video games and sexual activity so why not kill two birds with one stone?

  • Xeiphyer

    Posted Jan 8, 2008 4:50 pm GMT

    I don't think its right for 13 year old kids to be commenting on this, If your under age dont worry about it because you can't buy it anyways.

    And If you don't like it, Don't buy it.

    Some people here are very passionate about the issue, its kind of pathetic.. Many guys (and girls) enjoy videogames and some of them want this sort of material, so instead of complaining about it, just accept it and go save the rainforest or something that really matters.

  • step2ice

    Posted Nov 13, 2007 6:48 pm GMT

    How about Hustler and video games. But Playboy pfff.

  • thanatose

    Posted Nov 11, 2007 11:14 pm GMT

    LOL!! The number of people compaining is funny, half of them will probably go pick up the issue of Playboy these are printed in anyway.

  • Iceye

    Posted Nov 6, 2007 11:33 am GMT

    Wow. I don't think there's anything wrong with guys wanting to look at pretty girls, but then I didn't think there was anything wrong with hardcore gaming girls either. I must have so much to learn about the world. Hey, Soccerballs, if I go to therapy for my gaming tendencies, will you seek help for your idiocy?

  • Vermilion2 posted Nov 6, 2007 12:02 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Vermilion2

    Posted Nov 6, 2007 12:02 am GMT (hide)

    this is ridiculus.

  • SOCCERBALLS posted Nov 4, 2007 7:52 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    SOCCERBALLS

    Posted Nov 4, 2007 7:52 pm GMT (hide)

    oh yah and, go lok up some real porn for christ sakes.

  • SOCCERBALLS posted Nov 4, 2007 7:50 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    SOCCERBALLS

    Posted Nov 4, 2007 7:50 pm GMT (hide)

    ok 1. girls dont play alot of games anyway. IF your a girl and your a hard core gamer, there is something wrong with you in the first place. 2. guys, WE ARENT COMPLAINING! we want girls naked, DUHHHH the sales will go up DEAD OR ALIVE 4

  • mxpower

    Posted Nov 1, 2007 6:54 pm GMT

    I love all these negative comments from guys pretending they have GFs. Get over it people. Sex sells no matter what form it comes in. You really think anybody would have played Tomb Raider if it had a fat ugly chick running around? I think not. Besides this is old news and kind of a lame idea. I think Playboy was just trying to cash in.

  • elmejicano

    Posted Oct 31, 2007 5:00 am GMT

    Hypocrites all of yah, HA!!!

  • DJ_Quack_Quack

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 12:37 pm GMT

    Play Dead or Alive 2,3 and 4.

  • Mad_Loser

    Posted Oct 27, 2007 11:32 am GMT

    That's right, when guys get off of cartoons...not only does it disturb you! BUT IT KILLS A KITTEN OMG!!!!!1!1!!!

  • RockaWuzHur

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:33 am GMT

    Playboy and Video game should not be used in the same sentence.

  • rikhan_z

    Posted Oct 24, 2007 4:10 am GMT

    I dunno what kind of game is that? i don't want to play with playmates on my television screen, I see nothing wrong with playing with them in reality . Why would I need a game?

  • adityafunda

    Posted Oct 22, 2007 9:33 am GMT

    whatever u say, playboy isn't worth a game. it's highly overrated to me.

  • Tripwolf

    Posted Oct 22, 2007 3:10 am GMT

    A bunch of nobody characters? Who cares?

  • buffdaddy69

    Posted Oct 21, 2007 2:09 pm GMT

    I think its funny that people are responding to news from 2 years ago. And about 90% of people on this website alone probably looks up porn...girlfriends or no girlfriends.

  • tatton777

    Posted Oct 21, 2007 10:37 am GMT

    I am amazed at the number of uptight, politically correct zombies on this forum. Humans are sexual creatures hardwired to respond to visual stimuli. It's who we are, it's what we do. Do we have to make a judgement call on this tame expression of sexuality? Is it necesarry?

  • RomisSandthief posted Oct 20, 2007 7:17 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    RomisSandthief

    Posted Oct 20, 2007 7:17 am GMT (hide)

    Sad and Pathetic! Get a girlfriend people!

  • Pixiecrap posted Oct 19, 2007 8:54 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Pixiecrap

    Posted Oct 19, 2007 8:54 pm GMT (hide)

    i agree with MariusSE, disturbed 40 yr old virgins r clearly the freaks behind this... crap! and i dont care wat ur idea of beuty is, slappin ur monkey to animated characters is wrong on every level. period.

  • Srinivassa

    Posted Oct 19, 2007 10:20 am GMT

    I don't like the line-up. Just like in real life, all the classy video game heroines turned the Hef down. Other than that, I thought this was a good idea.

  • MariusSE

    Posted Oct 18, 2007 1:59 pm GMT

    Sick.. rather stick to real girls..

  • Rayze78

    Posted Oct 14, 2007 8:33 am GMT

    My co worker, who is in his 50's, said that Luann on King of the Hill was "kinda hot for a cartoon." It was pretty disturbing and I have never looked at him the same...Maybe I will tell him about this.

  • ps2host93

    Posted Sep 30, 2007 4:03 pm GMT

    I just find the subject odd...and rather disturbing if you think about it.

  • hilanderhilande

    Posted Sep 25, 2007 6:38 am GMT

    Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder

  • CrushedGroove posted Sep 21, 2007 8:50 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    CrushedGroove

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 8:50 am GMT (hide)

    So now, airbrushed pictures of women who have already been cosmetically altered to the point of being considered more plastic than human is not enough for Playboy? They have to take it a step further and use stills of nude CG characters? I want to see the sad, poor schmucks who get off to that...second thought...maybe I don't.

  • Lan_EX_Hikari

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 3:46 pm GMT

    Again, sexism is shown in our exclusively masculine videogame world...
    Not suprising at all, but it's a fact that men still take over the industry.

  • listlurker

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 9:43 pm GMT

    Kind of funny how, in real life, a lot of the "famous" women who pose for Playboy are actually lesser-knowns looking to be more famous, so too these eight digital "girls of gaming" aren't exactly the celebrities Playboy hypes them to be.

    I mean, c'mon. A reporter from the 50 Cent: Bulletproof game? Whether you're a fan of 50 or not, the game was a buggy, half-finished POS by all accounts. Who cares about a minor character from that game, clothed or unclothed?

    Of all the digital women mentioned, the only ones from an actual big-hit game would be the girls from God of War -- and weren't they just nudie eye-candy there too? Not exactly characters in their own right, or "girls of gaming".

    Ah well, if the article featured the *real* girls of gaming (Lara Croft, Cortana, Alyx from Half-Life 2 -- you can all fill in the rest of the obvious candidates, I'm sure) there would be a huge scandal and outrage.

    Playboy may say that they had to turn some publishers away, but judging from which ones they accepted, they hardly got the true "girls of gaming" -- and we're probably better off that way.

  • EskimosAreReal posted Sep 17, 2007 3:53 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    EskimosAreReal

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 3:53 am GMT (hide)

    You've got problems if pixelated vixens get you off...

  • Alandree

    Posted Sep 9, 2007 3:05 pm GMT

    The objectification of women. Typical. Not surprising though.

  • 3Dpaper

    Posted Sep 8, 2007 1:38 pm GMT

    great now WOW players will complain that no night elves are in the issue

  • AnalogOdyssey

    Posted Aug 5, 2007 1:06 pm GMT

    lol

  • darkchaostitan

    Posted Jul 23, 2007 8:06 pm GMT

    Wow this does wonders for the gamer's repution in ESRB and anyone else who hears of this srip down of these characters. Gamers have enogh problems with AO content degrading credibliiy, bringing in Senators, representives, the AMA,etc. This is great just in what aspect you're looking at it from.

  • King9999

    Posted Jul 23, 2007 11:37 am GMT

    Creepy stuff...

  • fkholmes

    Posted Jul 22, 2007 3:57 am GMT

    Lol.

  • Raykuza

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 9:43 pm GMT

    While gratuitous sex does not appeal to me, you have to admit that this is pretty smart. There is a market for sex, and there is money to be made there.

  • -R4zi3l-

    Posted Jul 5, 2007 11:01 am GMT

    nether was half life(1) for the ps2

  • jack4571

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 9:05 pm GMT

    half life 2 wasn't like that

  • kfogleman

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 8:36 pm GMT

    DOA Extreme Stripper Edition anyone? After Extreme Volleyball and Playboy promotions it makes sense! When will X-rated games become more common. I can see it happening, if there is a market -- and there is -- then perhaps a company will brave the censors and release a game with more adult themes.

  • Ahson_Khan posted Feb 24, 2007 10:08 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Ahson_Khan

    Posted Feb 24, 2007 10:08 pm GMT (hide)

    This is wieeerrrrd.... I'd rather stare @ a real chick than a game girl any day... i mean.... Look at all the hot women out there and then @ the game girls... Polys do NOT look gud in print. Being a sloght pervert at times is gud but every year???? WTF??? i just dont get it... But still... KASUMI!!!!

  • grim_fandango

    Posted Feb 20, 2007 4:54 am GMT

    Lol amusing concept.

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