NetherRealm Studios

I want to take some time to talk about what I consider to be the most sexist game company: “NetherRealm Studios.” This game company is best known for the series “Mortal Kombat” which I touched on in my last post. The problem is not that the studio used to have poorly designed characters, the problem is that they still have poorly designed characters.

Their games such as “Mortal Kombat” and “Injustice” are actually a lot of fun to play.  I personally really love fighting games, and the studio’s decision to be over the top gory in all of their games sets them apart from other fighting games. The gameplay tends to be quick, and the stories themselves are really fun. Each game I have played by them has offered something new from the last one to keep the games from just being repeats of each other.

But then you have the design of the characters. Every female I have seen has had a tiny waist and giant breasts. In many of the games there is even an animation to make the girls’ breasts jiggle when they move. Do people really need that in their game? On top of that, they always seem to be wearing next to nothing. Their design is straight up offensive.

For the most part, the female characters do have well thought out personalities though. Characters like “Sonya Blade” in the “Mortal Kombat” are tough individuals who really kick butt in their stories. The female characters are always shown to be able to hold their own against the rest of the characters. So it is very frustrating that characters who have a lot of potential look so horrible.

Overall, this company does a bad job of representing females. As a girl, I hate spending money on a game that feels of misogynistic, but the solid gameplay always wins me over. It feels like they care more about appealing towards the male audience than making a game that everyone can enjoy. I think if they worked on the physical design on their characters it would be a lot better. Luckily, this is one of the worst examples in the industry. Next week I will talk about a company that does a much better job with their characters.