Study: Buff game characters give males negative body image

by Justin McElroy on Dec 30th 2008 11:15AM

Hey, it's-a me, Mario. You know, mah life, it's-a not fire flowers and princesses. Sometimes, it can be-a downright depressing. I see that Marcus Fenix walking around with his big muscles and I staht to feel a little silly about-a my tummy. It's-a getting worse too. Yesterday, I was wearing my racoon suit, and some lady thought I was a koala bear, if-a you can believe that.

And I'm not the only one! Researchers at Kansas State University say that 15 minutes of viewing extreme body images in games were enough to give both males and females a negative impression of-a their own body image. Me, I'd love to slim down, but I'm not really sure what else I can do. I'm-a freaking fungotarian, for-a crying out loud.

Source

Tags: mario, research

Reader Comments (87)

Umm... duh?

Shutup preppy.

No! Saved by the Bell flashback!!!

That would explain why all the Nintendo fanboys are so rabid about defending Mario games.

I kid, I kid!

Ugh god, I just remembered how he always called Jessie "mama"... *shudders

Well, that memory makes me feel like my dick is going to fall off, somebody get a crack research team together and we'll see if others are similarly emasculated on a generalizable basis.

I think the link they're drawing here is pretty tenuous since the only thing they're seemingly going off is survey responses. It'd easy to say this was likely from a 1st year sociology course, except one was a professor and the other a grad student.

Sigh.

here you go brodo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4

This is baloney. I've played Square-Enix games for decades now, and they haven't given me a complex at all.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go vomit into this wastebasket and get fitted for vaguely androgynous clothing.

No, playing any JRPG (mainly, ones made by Squeenix) makes you feel more secure about your masculinity.

Squeenix games have led me to spend a fortune and run up huge debts buying hair gel.

They really will do studies for anything now a days wont they...
What was that one about gamers ejaculating premature? That was a good one, so random

Tanooki suit FTW!!!!!!!!!!

Man. I hope that your avatar is an actual picture of you, because you would look like one mean son of a bitch in a Tanooki suit.

ROFLMAO!!!!!!

Good Job Cliffy B, making your main audience feel worse about themselves 15 minutes at a time! lol, only game i can really think of for females would be Dead or Alive, of course dunno how many girls play that

Cliff doesn't do the character models, stupid.
The man you're looking for is Kevin Lanning, I believe.

Never been a problem with me, but i don't really play those kinda games often.

Though one must think that the disbelief factor would help negate any kind of insecurities. Like if a flat-chested woman got insecure watching, well, pretty much any anime ever. Sure they put you to shame, but they're not real

Stupid.

Yeah. Macrus Fenix has big muscles. He also has one of the ugliest faces I've ever seen.

I can understand girls getting depressed because of magazines, television, or even video game chicks. But if a guy starts to feel depressed after playing Gears of War or Halo, then I'm sorry but you are GHEY.

Exactly what I was thinking. The characters in Gears don't look even remotely realistic, particularly Cole. Anyone who plays that and thinks they should have arms like tree trunks has problems.

"The characters in Gears don't look even remotely realistic, particularly Cole."

Actually, Cole and Tai are the only Gears that don't look realistic. Pop the game in and play a round of submission. You'll notice that even with the armor on, your almost the exact same size as Chap and Franklin (the meatflags)

Cole is pretty realistic... He's basically Lester Speight in body armour with more vascularity

I really don't think idealized images are as much of a problem for men as they are for women. Of all the problems that men and women face, men are more likely to reinforce the unrealistic images of women than women are to reinforce the unrealistic images of men.

Put more simply: if you can find a great girl who isn't especially fixated on the ideal male physique, then why sweat it? Women don't all have it as easy.

Let us examine this post in a bit more depth shall we:

Can Marcus jump higher than 3 times his height?
Can Marcus lift a giant bomb many times his size and which no doubt weighs at least a few tonne?
Can Marcus then proceed to throw said bomb at least 5m in distance?
Can Marcus grab a giant lizard which must also weigh at least a few tonne?
Can Marcus then proceed to throw said lizard a large distance?

In conclusion Mario is more manly than Marcus Fenix.

Mario also tames dinosaurs, flies through space, throws fire and (presumably) nails a princess

Still has the physique of Ron Jeremy so your just wrong...oh wait.

Who could compare this to a panda?

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i225/LuiginDaisy/mariorealistic.jpg

I wish I looked more like Old Snake...

... wait, what?

Who wouldn't want a tight ass like that?

''Feels like I'm wearing nothing at all!''

:-|

^^ROFLMAO!!!

hell Nathan Hale was even cut in that Sentinel Suit......

Stupid sexy Snake!

http://fc35.deviantart.com/fs20/f/2007/277/f/7/Stupid_Sexy_Snake_by_maddoxfanx.gif

Stupid sexy Samus!

It's the moustache that does it for me.

That picture is made of so much win!

Nice try, Zertoss.

"Beautiful naked big-tittied women just don't fall outta the sky, y'know!"

I dont think theres a single guy on the planet that wants to look like Marcus Phoenix. What kind of guy would want to look like 5 pieces of sausages strung together into a meat popsicle?

Marcus Fenix is ugly as sin. Not even a mother could love that face. When I play Gears, I genuinely feel bad for him and wonder what kind of harsh childhood he must have had.

This is bullshit. If you want to look like any of these manly video game characters all you need is a little hard work. I looked up to Mario when I was a kid, so instead of developing a complex like some kind of pussy, I went to work. Now I have a mustache AND a pot belly. Did I have to eat a little more than was probably safe for me at times? Of course. But do I resemble my role model? Absolutely.

I'm not worried -- I have Chris Redfield's arms, Kratos' pecs and Nathan Drake's half-tuck.

Also, Isaac Clarke's delusion.

Poor Isaac Clarke...

Never write a paragraph like that again. Lord knows how many brain cells died doing that stupid Mario impersonation in my head.

In your head?

I did it OUT LOUD!!!

(But not too loud, I didn't want my dad to overhear and think I was nuts.)

Why do they still do these kinds of studies? Shouldn't they know the answer by now?

grant money needs justification.

It won't spend itself.

Must be nice to be a professional money waster.

Suggestion for people with a negative body image:

- Eat less and exercise more

Lots of people have a negative body image because they look bad and have unhealthy habits. Let your negative body image motivate you towards better choices.

Eat *right*, not less. Well, depending on who you are. I barely eat anything but it's obviously the wrong stuff because I'm not very thin right now. If I eat the right stuff, the weight pours off.

Yes, that's right. Pours.

Less. Over time, eating less works. If it's not working over time, it's still too much.

There's lots of diet mumbo-jumbo about what's "right" and what's not. But less is less. You can measure it.

Rapid weight changes are usually related to water-weight and are limited and unsustainable. The storage of energy as body fat changes slowly over the course of weeks.

Games don't make me feel unfit, but Japanese games make me feel old.

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Study: Buff game characters give males negative body image

Reader Comments (87)

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