Some people really don’t like the art in the upcoming beat-em-up Dragon’s Crown. The new title from developer Vanillaware, due out Aug. 6 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, features characters of extreme proportions wearing little clothing as they fight monsters.
Dragon’s Crown designer George Kamitani spoke out recently about his art, but that did little to quell the swirling controversy. Now, other game developers are weighing in, as Destructoid first reported.
“[This is] actually something that made its way into a basically finished video game?” Gearbox artist Shaylyn Hamm wrote on the message board for website The Escapist. Hamm was referencing Dragon’s Crown’s Sorceress character that has large breasts, long legs, a tiny head, and a revealing outfit.
“Some juvenile delinquent kid in my fifth grade class used to draw girls that looked like that — only without the creepy, blank featureless samefaces and wizards hats,” Hamm continued. “I think he was actually better at it [than Kamitani]. I also think he’s in jail now.”
This isn’t the first time that someone suggested that Kamitani’s art is juvenile, although it is the first time a developer compared him to a criminal delinquent.
“I want to see more women getting interested in games and game development,” wrote Hamm. “But stuff like this only serves to further cement the idea that you’re stepping into a male hobby rather than something that is more inclusive.”
Hamm’s employer, Gearbox, produces games like Borderlands and Duke Nukem — the latter features busty women in schoolgirl uniforms making oral-sex jokes.
We’ve reached out to Gearbox to see if Hamm wishes to expand on her remarks. We will update this story with her comments.
That’s not to say Dragon’s Crown doesn’t turn off female gamers. Based on the reaction, it obviously does with some. It is weird, however, to read a developer criticize another developer for not making an inclusive game when many feel their company is guilty of the same thing.