Yuke’s acquires license for lingerie football video game

There's nothing quite like promoting women's sports in an Olympic year, and video game developer Yuke's has bounced onto the band wagon. Sort of.

The developers announced today that they will be collaborating with the Lingerie Football League in creating a video game for the 'sport'.

The Lingerie Football League, for those of you who aren't perverts, stemmed from the Super Bowl Halftime Show known as the Lingerie Bowl where, well, women play football in lingerie.

Although it sounds a little gimmicky, and sexist, and like a very large backwards step for women's rights, Yuke's aren't known for turning out shabby games – they're the studio behind the WWE Smackdown series and the critically acclaimed UFC Undisputed franchise.

I think it's probably fair to say the game won't have the polished realism of the Madden or NCAA football series, but I also don't think many males will be focusing on the gameplay all that much.

While the press release says the developers will focus on "capturing the essence of intensity, speed, beauty and on-the-field action of LFL football," it seems more likely they'll just pull a Dead or Alive and spend millions of dollars making sure the players' breasts bounce correctly.

Interestingly, though, the apparent global fan base of the LFL is 60% men aged between 18 and 34, aligning extremely closely with the demographic of the core gamer.

With team names like the Baltimore Charm, Philadelphia Passion and (my personal favourite) the Las Vegas Sin, the LFL has been labelled the USA's fastest growing sports league by BusinessWeek, and will expand to Australia next year, with a European league to form in 2014.

The league has naturally received quite a bit of flak since its inception in 2004, with claims that the league sexually objectifies women, and allegations that players are fined for wearing too many clothes.

So, you've heard about the game and the controversies behind the league; the question is, would you buy it?