Fifteen minutes spent reading articles about studies like this always improves my self-esteem greatly. I feel like a god damn genius not wasting my time producing bullshit studies riddles with holes so big a three year old could find them.

well, about the wrestling game, i disagree, since it is an accurate portrayal of how large (and fucking stupid) those characters look.

however, about the beach volleyball game / soul calibur / etc etc, i have to say that the portrayal of women is... lets go with "unrealistic". sure, its just an extension of our society's (our global society's in some cases) views on what is attractive. just like how disney gets a bunch of shit for their animated characters being like toothpicks, its no surprise that video games get the same treatment (i'm surprised its not worse, actually).

so i think the study does have a "point" in that the portrayal of people in video games is sometimes unrealistic and absurd. however, they didnt need a study to say that, and to me they should be focusing on these airbrush obsessed magazines that try to actually convince people that the fantastical proportions found in video games are actually a real thing. video games are fantasy. magazines pass themselves off as reality.

so, in conclusion, video games do fall victim to the same "social presets" of beauty in our society, but they are not nearly the worst offenders, and, in my opinion, are taking steps in the right direction.

I don't need video-games to help me feel shitty about my body, I have Television and Society for that.

I guess this is why most gamers prefer First Person Shooters?

Like movies? And TV shows? And...

@cainball

well the most recent evidence i can think of off the top of my head of the video game industry getting better about their portrayal of women is the reduction of lara croft's breasts. i mean, jesus they were huge. sure they are still big, but a step in the right direction.

plus you get a lot better clothed characters for the most part. for instance:

http://www.megagames.com/news/images/gow_anya.jpg
or
http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/galleries/61/alyx-vance-2.jpg

i havent played gow more than just a bit (PC gamer here, havent picked it up), but alyx vance would probably not be featured in a fashion magazine. plus, shes a central character, a very intelligent character, and is, in my opinion, one of the best portrayals of women in >any< media in the last few years. personally, i'd like to see an episode where people get to play as her, but im not sure that will happen.

also, chell from portal. i doubt she would be featured in any magazine with that full jump suit lol.

pictures like that can hurt my self-esteem because i already know i would have no chance at being with a girl like that. looking at anything that looks better then me can hurt my self-esteem.

NO SHIT?!

I'm glad we have these studies telling us things like "looking at people who are better looking then you can make you feel like you don't look as good as them =("

@pygmy

sure, theres nothing wrong with portraying more beautiful people than the player / viewer / reader in media. the problem arises when there is an overwhelming amount of portrayals of unrealistic beauty. then its just harmful. however, like i said, video games definitely arent the most guilty offenders.

I wouldn't mind being loosely related to her.

@MotoRobo:

As someone who gladly owns all three current-gen consoles, I have no shame whatsoever in saying go fuck yourself.

Asshole fanboy...

I don't want to sound like a shill, but the Vic Viper's multiplicative offensive capabilities have done more damage to my ego than any school project I've ever failed at.

This study sounds bunk to me. One of the pillars of psychological research is that your subjects shouldn't have a preconception about what you're testing if it has a chance of affecting their subjective results. They obviously knew what the researchers wanted them to say, and I'd be willing to bet that many of the subjects did just that.

Free link to the study here: [pdf].

They were playing Wrestlemania 2000 for N64, and "Extreme Heat Beach Volleyball" for PS2.

Considering that the volleyball game in question is actually called Summer Heat Beach Volleyball (unless he was playing the working alpha build of that 5-yr-old game, which did use Extreme in the title).

The research student who authored the study also made a math error in the published study. He probably reported the wrong average height for his sample, but the BMI numbers don't add up.

You just got learned

Love the pic. How about...yes...you are fat and flabby and you suck and you're going to die from heart disease...Nothing wrong with realizing you are gross and dying is there? So...instead of being a lazy bunt and sitting on your ass staring at these people, how about go out and exercise to try to be healthy? Body image is based on the healthy. I'm sorry...but that's the way it is. You've eaten and sat yourself into a pit of lard and shit. Sorry...you suck...pick up a barbell...WORK OUT OR PLAY A SPORT!!!! These people feel bad about themselves because they SHOULD. Otherwise if you're getting laid...who cares. Or if you can make it up the stairs without huffing and puffing. GOOD!....otherwise...goodnight, you need to sleep and eat and work out...simple as that. Stop whining and stop making excuses for McDonalds and any other fatty shit shop business out there.

Fuck man...FUCK I HATE PEOPLE.

I'm a psychologist and I once read about a case like this. a 14-16 year old was troubled because he couldn't look like the main character from FFVIII (forgot his name) because this girl he liked really liked this character.

In the end is just a simple case of being able to draw the line between what's real and what's just plain fantasy.

i dont coz im a big fat meathead myself so i dont care and is it me or does that girls face look a little *too* young!

Yet again Jim Sterling fails to differentiate between a contributing factor and a root cause. Obviously any time anyone finds any type of fault with a videogame, they're part of the Thompson-ite anti-videogame agenda, because it's not like idealised human figures have caused body insecurity in any other form of media, right??

I so want to puke due to too much alcohol, but wont do too physique jealousy. Nah, fuck it, if I do it'll be from the alcohol.

compared to some of the other "studys" with games i wouldn't really be surprised if this is true.

"Yet again Jim Sterling fails to differentiate between a contributing factor and a root cause. Obviously any time anyone finds any type of fault with a videogame, they're part of the Thompson-ite anti-videogame agenda, because it's not like idealised human figures have caused body insecurity in any other form of media, right??"

Yet again someone without an avatar fails to grasp a single thing I've said. Obviously any time I make a sarcastic comment, it's part of my apparently new problem of being unable to differentiate between a contributing factor and root caus. It's not like the fact that idealized human figures in other form of media actually proves my point over videogames being singled out, right?

Please, avatar-less people. You're trying so hard as to appear desperate now.

Oh, by the way ... just tell us where you got the original photo! I need a new desktop wallpaper! ;)

NEWS FLASH! Low self esteem can be caused by looking in a magazine, or watching films and TV. Im pretty sure that advertising agencies are much better at giving people low self esteem than a video game, but what the fuck do I know! I don't take 'science' Kansas state U.

great read, also, i see how it is realated. [;