Home Outfits: There’s Sexy, and Then There’s…
by Terra_Cide, HSM Editor
In the beginning (for me), there was scant selection in regards to clothing in Home.
Indeed, with the exception of a handful of items, there really weren’t that many outfits or separates that tempted me to spend any money on Home. Wearing default clothing didn’t carry the stigma it does today; mainly because when compared to the choices available to purchase, those default duds looked pretty good.
Prior to Lockwood arriving on the scene and more or less showing everyone how it’s done, I think I spent no more than ten bucks on my avatar’s entire wardrobe.
Sure, back then, you could dress up as your favorite Street Fighter character, or later on, the new female sidekick Sheva from Resident Evil 5 - believe me, I’m all for cosplay – but if those characters didn’t tickle your fancy, you were pretty much stuck.
Quite frankly, Cammy’s thong leotard just wasn’t (and still isn’t) my style; although I know quite a few girls (and guys) who bought it. One could say it was the very first official “sexy” outfit for sale in Home North America.
Now at the time, wearing such an item in front of the predominately male adolescent (regardless of chronological age), and apparently sexually frustrated populace was like donning a meat poncho in front of a pack of starving wolves.
To think that nowadays, Cammy’s getup looks downright tame.
Now, bear in mind, reclusive as I am, I am not a socially conservative person. Offline, I know many people who have a rather larger than life personality and sense of style – from clothing styles and shoes to body art and makeup. Others, like me, eschew the piercings and the tattoos in favor of technicolor hair (I’m partial to Manic Panic’s Rockstar Red – it matches my Nine West heels). I’ve studied nude figure drawing in my school years for both sexes. I’ve lived in the flesh market that are the southwest Florida beaches. And for the past three years running, friends of mine and I have routinely attended the local Gay Pride Parade and evening dance. In other words, there aren’t that many outward appearances that are going to get a second glance from me.
That said, even I have to raise an eyebrow at some of the most recent offerings for “clothing” in Home.
Before we even go into the specific items in question that are at the heart of this topic, remember that Sony itself sees Home as being PG-rated; it’s no coincidence that their minimum age is thirteen. For those who may not be aware of the definition, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) – who came up with the rating (and for those of you who like your movie trivia, it was 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom that was the cause of PG’s more mature counterpart, PG-13, to come into existence) – define the rating “PG” as follows:
“A PG-rating… should be investigated by parents before they let their younger children attend. The PG rating indicates…that parents may consider some material unsuitable for their children, and parents should make that decision. The more mature themes… may call for parental guidance. There may be some profanity and some depictions of violence or brief nudity. But these elements are not deemed so intense as to require that parents be strongly cautioned beyond the suggestion of parental guidance.”
So while an avatar dressed in a bikini may not be an “intense” experience, seeing a female torso (because in case you didn’t know, the clothes in Home are not layers which your avatar wears, but an actual body “segment”) for sale with a bust line that looks straight out of the Dead or Alive game franchise, covered by what digitally amounts to two Band Aids and a piece of string, I do have to wonder just how such a design was approved.
Especially if the powers that be who are in charge of such things know Home well enough to be aware of the behavior such designs elicit from the less mature users of Home – nevermind the potential predators lurking about.
I know a lot of people at this point are thinking, “don’t like it, don’t buy it,” and trust me – I won’t.
The thing is, I can’t help feel as though there’s a smattering of hypocrisy going on whenever I go into the store and see these barely-there outfits for sale, or see them being worn by other denizens, and I think about Sony’s insistence that Home is “family friendly” or whatever the current politically correct jargon du jour is.
I get that sex sells. I get that people want to look sexy – for whatever their own personal reasons may be – in a virtual world. I get the ribald humor behind the “censored” outfits that were released the week the PSN Store reopened. I get the idea of having outlandish, wacky fun with the human form – have you seen my avatar’s male alter ego, for crying out loud – and yet there’s a point where it stops being appealing to the eye because very little – if anything at all – is left to the imagination. It becomes objectifying and tasteless.
However, I’m not necessarily going to be in the majority when it comes to understanding and accepting the madness behind the methods of such creations. All it takes is for one previously indifferent parent to glance across their teen’s television while they are playing on Home and see someone streaking by in the Amazon outfit to suddenly become outraged and “oh my God, will somebody think of the children!” apoplectic.
It gets worse for everyone, should the parent in question have the tenacity and savvy to rally others to their cause and raise enough of a public, media-worthy stink that it becomes an issue blown totally out of proportion. No one wants that.
This seems to be just another indicator of the identity crisis Sony has when it comes to labeling Home. The gaming community is no longer one age demographic; it covers many generations, it covers boys, girls, and those who have yet to decide. And Home, in spite of Sony’s shift from calling it a social network for gamers to a game platform, still relies heavily on its vast social networks in order for its commerce to propagate and thrive.
In the more than two and a half years that I have been a part of Home, I have heard many people say that they would be willing to pay a monthly fee for an “adults only” Home. Now, I’m not talking solely adult-rated themes here – although it would be a good place to exclusively sell and/or wear the outfits that Mrs. Jones would flip out over, should she glimpse her sixteen-year-old daughter (or son) traipsing about in them online. Because, let’s face it – despite your teenager’s insistence that it’s just a game and that “other parents” are letting their kids buy these items (or they “don’t care” if they do), there are real people behind these avatars. And not all of them are going to be nice, law-abiding citizens, whether that law is in the virtual world, or the real one.
You can be sexy without being... raunchy
What this would be is an additional side of Home, where those who are of the age of majority and who have the means have the option of purchasing into. They can still access the current Home we all enjoy, but there would be other public spaces available, accessible only to those who pay. And also, it would be a place where the more eyebrow arching articles of Home couture could be purchased and worn.
Will it control the hormonal behavior? Probably not a chance. But having an exclusive place where the outfits that pour kerosene on such behaviors can be worn may help clean up some of the public areas of Home proper.
Or you can just choose, as I do, to vote with your wallet. Some of you probably already do, in light of the fact that the majority of the top most purchased items of clothing on Home – specifically the ladies fantasy top – are not very revealing at all.
Home is still – in the larger scheme of Internet community – in its infancy, and it offers so much more than the other 3-D virtual interactive sims that it is oftentimes charting into unknown territory. However, there is a day soon coming where Sony is really going to have to sit down and seriously define what Home’s identity is – or even decide if it needs to have multiple identities under the same Home umbrella. Certainly, it would be in Sony’s interest to have such a plan properly thought out in advance before their hand is forced, so that all it would need is implementation.
Would you buy into an “adults only” section of Home? And what is your take on the some of the more ridiculously revealing items Home has to offer, as well as the attention they garner? State your thoughts in the comments below.
(Many thanks to Olivia_Allin and xx96791DEATHxx for truly taking one for the team and dressing up for these pictures.)
June 27th, 2011 by Terra_Cide | 31 comments
Terra _Cide is the former Community Manager for Lockwood Publishing and Editor Emeritus for HomeStation Magazine.
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Would I buy into an adult version of Home?Depends on how much extra content was available.If it was an exact carbon copy just with more revealing outfits probably not,if it had it’s own games and personal spaces different from the underage Home probably.It would depend on price and content.As far as Sony allowing skimpy outfits to be worn in front of 13yr olds,and let’s face it younger,that’s fairly simple these things sell and sell well.Morals will never be the prime consideration in a free market corporation and in some cases morals will kill a business so if left to themselves business’ will do whatever it takes to make a profit.There really should be a seperate Home for adults and children for many reasons,I would even like a seperate Home where all the males are males and all the females are females but I doubt either of these would be built as it would then increase costs without the benefit of proven increased profits.
I could see it going the other way, with an additional “REALLY-THIS-TIME-WE-PROMISE child friendly” version of Home, or areas of home, or a filtering system that throws overalls on any avatar showing more than 15% skin as an option or something.. but you can’t unopen pandora’s box and take away the sexy items people have already purchased, or quench the demand for more of the same.
Personally, I feel a little ‘cold’ irl when my avi is too bare and frequently wish I could toss a jacket or shrug or shawl on oversome of the bare shouldered attire.
I don’t believe there would be that many people on an adults only Home to make it viable.
It is however, a nice thought that almost makes me want to holler, “Yeah! You got that right!”
I nost likely wouldn’t pay for adult only home- people forget, it’s not only the teenagers on home that, well perv on the females- other adults do to. As for the small ‘outfits’ im with you on it- but some my avi wears- the more ‘open’ ones shown in this piece I would never dream of buying though. There’s a large gap between- Some flesh shown and most flesh shown. Virtarul or not.
This is a wonderful article Terra. I wrote in my “Grey Gamers” article about this concept of a separate adult section in Home. But unfortunately I don’t think it will ever be implemented for the simple fact that, like my recent article about “To Young in Home” there is no ready way to verify a persons age. I doubt Sony will ever ask us for a drivers license or other more intrusive identification, and even then a kid can get those numbers somehow. That being said, I think that Sony themselves need to define what their rules on this type of clothing are. I agree, some of it is in extremely poor taste, and not for the eyes of the young.If Sony had a strict set of rules that developers had to follow in their creation of clothing type items, the problem would be solved. Though like previously mentioned, those items that already go beyond will still be out there, they could take them off the stores and prevent further abuse at least. They need to sit down like you said and think this through before it is forced on them by an angry public. Great thoughts and great read!
Does anyone know that Sony hasn’t seen developers clothes designs and approved them already?Just curious,but I would hope that Sony has been informed of everything that gets put out by developers way before they even started working on them.It would seem odd if developers were allowed to put out anything they wanted without consulting Sony,who would probably be the 1 to feel the brunt of any negative back-lash.
Doesn’t interest me at all. There are more than enough adult venues on the internet for people who are interested in adult content. I don’t think we need an area like that in Home.
I do think that some of the clothing and items being released lately are getting to push the line a bit too much. The Brimstone dancers are certainly a good example of the direction that home is heading which I’m not particularly pleased with.
I suspect money talks and these will sell very well. Interestingly enough the EU is a lot more strict when it comes to certain types of content released in Home. They limited the types of Pinups as well as some of the Lockwood bottoms to outfits which we received and they didn’t.
It will certainly be interesting to see where we go from here.
it don’t think there’s any point to an adult only home.kids are maybe half the problem while the other half are adults. and encouraging sony to make us spend more money for something that’s free to begin with is never a good idea. i love the fact the Home is completely free to be a part of. segrigating it would not make it any more of a community. while i’m not a fan of the barely there clothing either (and i do vote with my wallet), my avatar still gets the same harassments wearing capris and a tee shirt. do i let my kids on home? no. but they see the same type of outfits on TV and even commercials unfortunately. it all boils down to parents knowing what their kids are involved in and setting limits.
I think having an adults only area in Home would be a bad idea. It would only degrade from there. I wouldn’t be interested in an adult area of Home. I agree with you that one can be sexy without baring almost all. I was quite surprised when I first saw someone wearing the amazon outfit. I find it quite uncomfortable to talk with someone thusly dressed.
I have mixed feelings on the subject.
While I think that having an “adult” area on PS Home would help filter out kids pestering adults who are trying to have intelligent conversations, it would never eliminate it. There are of course immature adults that cause problems. I agree with Joanna that there are other avenues for people to find “adult content” and so that would not be what I would be interested in. I think that it would be nice to have areas that were restricted so that I at least knew the people I was talking to were of a certain age and could handle more mature conversation. I do fear that if such areas were implemented, there would be many that would abuse the concept in multiple ways. I’m sure you can think of how.
I also understand that PS Home was designed to be a family-oriented community, targetted for users ages 13 and up. However, if users that wished to access the “adult areas” were required to have their age validated and pay a fee, then Sony might consider this as an addtional revenue stream. But again, this might do more harm than good by segregating the PS Home Community, which to date has entirely open to everyone, irregardless of age.
I can see pros and cons of such a change to PS Home and would be surprised if any changes along these lines were made, but you never know. Despite the occassional attack of noobs and pervs in PS Home for which there are usually simple ways to stop, I am still pleased with it just the way it is.
I agree with most of the assessments here that segregating Home wouldn’t solve anything. But the real issue here isn’t that, it is what they are allowing to pass into the environment we already have. I think Sony needs to define for themselves and for the community exactly what rating they want in Home. Is it is PG or PG13 or what? Then they need to carefully choose what they allow as content along those guidelines. The amazon suit and the new pixelated stuff is pushing the envelope if this is supposed to be a PG environment in my opinion.
I actually LMAO harder than I have in quite some time in Home earlier today when I saw what I believe is 1 of the newer outfits.It basically looked like a skank cop that had the weirdest walk I’ve ever seen.While I found this thing laughable a female friend with me at the time became,in her words,putrifyingly sick.I found it funny because it instantly brought to my mind the old band “The Village People” and the song “YMCA” for some reason.I think Sony has already made up their mind about what kind of rating they want to have so I expect things will only get skimpier.Btw the Supreme Court just ruled 7to2 that states couldn’t ban underage sales of games based upon an uncomfy for kids idea so if any change is coming it will most likely need to come from Sony itself so as long as these things sell well we will see more and more of these things.I’d like to know who is really buying these things,I have a sneaky suspicion that men are dolling up their female avatars in these types of clothes as most of my really female friends abhor the extremely skimpy outfits while many of my male friends find them quite laughable.
Ok,I’ll admit it. I bought and have worn the Streetfighter, Cammi Costume. As a joke on the day it came out. At least 3 of my friends have it as well. And yes, one’s a guy. Anyway, we posed for a picture in our Clubhouse. And I laugh everytime I come across it. That one outfit brought us so much fun. On the other hand, I can also recall responding to an invite that very same night from some friends who were as it turned out, at Seaside of Memories. It was an eventful arrival and one that I’m sure brings my friends alot of laughter when they think back. I made my entrance in the middle of a group of malevatars who very quickly proceeded to make me feel like a dog in heat. I had to immediately sit down to avoid, shall we just say their close up attentions. I quickly left, reminding myself that I should have known better. But now I say, why? Its only a costume. It’s only a video game character. It’s not .. no, my avatar isn’t real. Sure the game may be rated “M”, but I’ll responsibly rate my own behavior, thank you very much. Why do I have to concern myself with someone else’s kids? Why aren’t they worrying about me, Cammi, and Sony? Sony sold it. I bought it. And trust me, they’d be way more offended if their kids saw the real me in a real Cammi costume. Anyway,I’m wearin it (well, not really)when I so choose. But like my sunglasses at night, just not at Seaside.
Anyway, should Home allow certain outfits only to be worn in certain spaces?
Home Fashion Police, please make some of these guys pull up their pants! And what’s with those grossly overinflated naked man chests? I mean really..
Personal rule: I don’t get involved with any guy who has bigger “moobs” than my own female equivalent; regardless of whether they are real over developed pectorals or virtual ones.
If you ask me some of these developers have a bondage fetish, and are projecting that fetish in their work in Home… To me that is just a minor chaffing in my dislike for that look, what really gets me mad is that they pawn the same look over and over, they change a strap here,,, add spikes there, I know people that buy every black strapped outfit that comes out and they mix and match and don’t realize that its just a rip off, there is no dramatic change in their appearance or the variety of choices.
Like I said on the forums, have some balance, bring us colorful summer fashions, hire some women at Sony or something, pick up a Vogue on the way home developers.
But then again Sony is going to follow the money,
they probably sell more of this clothing because people get on Home to live out a fantasy. Lets be realistic, not everyone who wears they clothes are built like enhanced playboy bunnies and have a ponytail that would weight 80 pounds.
I think Home is losing its identity as a platform for gamers, they didn’t spend the resources to bring in the hard core gamers and are constantly trying to reinvent themselves.
Drifting away from a family friendly platform might make a few extra dollars, but I think the price they will pay in the end will not be worth it.
Yeah,we need a storefront location in Home where we can go and be immersed in gaming rather than just clothing, furniture and companions.. A year round space like the E3 booth that actually focuses on the object of our affections. GAMES!
Selling is fine. Do more presale promos, highlight whats coming, focus on development, artistry and fun.
Celebrate Gaming..
Funniest comment I heard from my husband in awhile was when he cruised past this computer while I was reading this article. He saw the picture of the girl in the black leather dress with the silver chains and said, “Dang, that skirt’s so short you can tell that girl needs a haircut!”
I wonder how many of the female avatars in Home who wear the more outrageous outfits in pubic spaces realize what some of the men are saying behind their backs?
While the pure sexy emitted does tend to push the boundaries, personally do not see the echosuit as being over the top.
That said, it’s ok to drool over it a little
I think that it probably doesn’t matter to some women what men are saying as long as they’re saying it. For some it may be just another element to the game..an extention of their controller. I also wouldn’t be suprised if alot of women dress as they do on Home because its so outrageously different than their real persona. I suppose it can be fun, although I couldn’t take too much of the virtual drooling and chest banging. I should think it gets old real fast. But hey, to each her own. It is afterall a game and meant to be just that. One person’s fantasy is apparently another’s display of art. All I can tell you is that I do not really have wings.
To me, having an adults only area in home would be like making an adults only area in disneyland. some people would be grateful for an area to get away while others may never go in. but the kids will always be curious and try to find a way in. easiest way would be to make an account and fake the age which many would probably do, enforcement on an area like this would be impossible. Home is about gaming and gaming is for everyone. I personally don’t have any problem with what Avi’s wear currently in Home, the pixelated gear shows off no more than what the Avi’s do in the sims when taking a shower. I think it’s up to the user to moderate themselves and what they wear, if you know that something is completely raunchy then wear it in your personal spaces and not public. I’ve seen a few female Avi’s in full out bondage gear along with the cowgirl whip, somebody who goes to that extreme should find other virtual worlds where that is ok. common sense should be a given but that is also something that many people lack and reasoning with someone who lacks it is absolutely frustrating. but is it the dev’s who make the items or the people who wear them to blame for the lack of common sense? Hhmmm?!?
Seems to me that the whole “family friendly” thing may be a part of the root cause why Home still can be such a “prev” experience. I believe 85% of the harassment comes from people under 18. People in their mid-twenties and up generally find no fun in acting that way… but your average 13 year old sure does.
The real issue (IMO) is Sony seems clueless what to do… even though several really good suggestions have been made. So they do nothing and the “perv” experience continues.
As for an “adult” area, everyone should know that another major social networking application (Second Life) already does it. They do have a way to qualify, I think it was social security number (not sure exactly what data they get from social security). AND the adult areas go way, way beyond ANYTHING Sony may or may not do. HOWEVER, I have spent a lot of time in such areas and I gotta tell you, the people that inhabit such spaces are the nicest I have ever run across. NEVER been harassed, never see anyone hassling anyone else, it was truly amazing how nice, polite and… adult everyone is. AND they use open mic chat… which everyone here knows would be total chaos in Home… but it isn’t an issue at all there. People in general are very polite, nobody ever talks over someone else, waiting for the other to finish before adding one’s own contribution seems to be how things work.
And by “adult” I mean anatomically accurate avi’s, abilities to “play” with each other (I’m trying to put it politely!), there’s even a place to VERY frankly air one’s sexual experiences; yes, some Home characters may fell it’s too raunchy, but the point is that no matter HOW raunchy, the people frequenting such areas really are some of the nicest folks you’ll run into.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not so sure going that far will ever happen in Home, but you SHOULD know that it does exist and, raunchy though it may be, it’s FAR more polite than anything happening in Home.
It does make me ask just EXACTLY what age group Sony are targeting. There have been many suggestions for an “Adult” only section of Home which may as well be similar to current online service RLC (Red Light Center)among others, (if they are wanting to go into the titilation direction, the ‘other’ is simply a place adults can hang out without fear of being harrassed by hormonal teenagers) and yes I have been told by friends that they are willing to pay for the use of this service. Which would mean, this could benefit for a more ‘Mature’ gaming. (The arena based fighting area, I did write an article on a little before, would suit this adult area.)
Whatever direction Sony decide to take, I DO agree with you Terra that Sony should seriously sit down and reconsider which target audience Home is aimed at and move on from there.
Agrees with Riverside309, I have ‘Lived’ on SecondLife for a good part of 3 years and the people there are the nicest that you can meet. As Secondlife has been around longer, there is a social etiquette that has been formed and uniquely understood.
True, there are adult areas of which you can ‘play’ with one another, But people there are generally polite because of an old school social etiquette that has been formed. Everyone knows the rules and laws of Second Life and in disobeying them, they will be suspended or banned. So this is why. And I have agreed with Norse from the beginning, in that Sony should get tougher and adopt a more ‘Draconian’ attitude to Harassers. But this is an argument for another time.
I also have a HK acct and don’t see there the really extreme stuff available in NA. Maybe this is the way Sony perceives NA culture (note the comment above about EU acct by Joanna_Dark). TV, movies, music videos are—in my opinion—frequently *gross* and—to me—offensive. And what about the clothes sold in RL stores for little girls, inc. high heels and makeup, Yuck!
Would I want an “Adults Only” section? Whether fee-based or free, whether it was meant as a safety zone or an area of greater permissibility, no.
I don’t think I’d pay to have access to adult sections of Home, simply because it’s not really fair to make someone pay for being old enough to look at barely covered cyber-boobies. I already paid for my machine and the games I own, plus the content I’ve purchased on Home. I don’t need another fee to keep playing with the adults in Home.
Do I think it’s a fantastic idea to have separate adult Home areas? Heck yes… I’ve mentioned this to friends in the past! Do I think SONY are wrong for allowing such content to make it into HOME for kids to see? Heck yes! Do I still look at it and think “WOWZERS! Now THAT’s a SHIRT! O_O ” Heck yes!
Let’s face it folks… SONY are about money, and are just as two faced as any large corporation out there. It’s in their nature. They know sex sells and their morals look much better on paper and in the TOS than they do in action (or lack thereof).
If you ask me, this isn’t going to change until those parents you fear might go screaming about the scantilly clad avatars actually go screaming about it.
Loved the article, would just like a home space with adult feel. A place to hang and chat without worrying, its somebodys 13 year old. My is that age and we play online together. But a place to just chat with other adults would be great. Here’s to hoping. Thanks
What are the names of those 2 outfits?
Which two outfits are you referring to? If it’s the two in the featured image, the model on the left is from Tekken, and the second is the Amazon outfit, which I believe (not 100% sure, since I don’t own it) is in Costumes. You can also go to Alphazone4.com and search their extensive database for “amazon outfit” to find the exact location.
Your first impression of the then new sexy outfit seem to be close to my first impression of home… There is a point where making a profit is just an excuse anymore. Sure sex is a a good marketing strategy… Thats where capitalism will fail, as well as in many other “socialist view” Just because you can make a profit out of something doesn’t mean it’s socially acceptable.
As for the “M rated psnHome” I think it’s the last thing we need. There’s enough mature content on the internet wich is accessibe with a ps3 btw. We dont need that. Sony dont need that. And every kids who own a Ps3 and know how to get around age rating surely dont need that. They already have psHome for that matter…
I agree with this post completely regaurding how racy the clothing has become on Home. It certainly has made Home in a certain sense “not the place” it used to be. (this also having to do with the god-awful redesign) I’ve been on Home about the same time as you have and I honestly can’t stand the skimpy outfits and I’m a seventeen-year-old boy. It just entices the perverted attitudes and stuck up-ness of a lot of the community. In my opinion the developers should have stuck with the idea of Home being a social Hub for gamers, not a game platform.