body-image posts

"In general though, when I'm playing as Marcus Fenix or Nick Drake (or whoever), their body is my body. I don't compare it, I inhabit it. This may be unique to my experience, but I doubt it."

This was Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins in a recent post, referring to the idea that some gamers find video game depictions of human bodies to be somewhat off-putting. To be sure, if you're in the habit of comparing yourself to the heroic ideal portrayed in games, you're bound to come up short in some respect or other. But as Tycho says, he doesn't compare his body to the game's protagonist, he becomes it. This begs the question: how big a problem is this? Does it amount to anything practical? What's the solution?