Tina Armstrong

Others were completely redone for Dead or Alive 2, due to Itagaki feeling they weren't quite where he wanted them in terms of presentation, though he had to be careful with the workload given to the motion capture team as they had limited time.

He specifically chose Texas as the origin for Tina and Bass to help solidify this image, and he was pleased when fans from the state told him they considered the characters very Texan.

[1] Itagaki further observed that of the cast Tina was the most popular with American audiences, which led him to develop other characters such as Lisa to help a wider cultural playerbase feel included.

Tina's breasts are the largest amongst the series' primary cast, an aspect along with her "joyful" personality they felt significantly contributed to her high popularity in location test surveys for the first game's arcade release.

[10] With Dead or Alive 5, her model was significantly redesigned,[11] part of an effort by the developers to reduce the game's sexualization of the female cast in response to feedback from Koei Tecmo's overseas branch.

[15] By Dead or Alive 6, Tina has formed a wrestling group with her father and MMA fighter Mila, hoping to use the exposure to run as a state governor.

[30] As part of a cross-promotion with Tecmo Koei, Sega featured Tina and other Dead or Alive characters on digital cards that were added to the PlayStation Vita release of their game Samurai & Dragons.

[32] Brazilian magazine SuperGamePower's editor in chief expressed surprise when readers voted her their favorite female video game character among a wide selection, though understood why, praising her design for having "thick legs and a lot of opulence".

[33] The staff of Kakuchopurei stated her moves and fighting style were "in-your-face and graceful", comparing her to the character King of the Tekken series "but with a svelte figure that somehow hits hard like a Mac truck [sic]."

[23] Meanwhile, Mike Fahey of Kotaku praised her design change for Dead or Alive 5, calling her previous appearance "a meaty amazon" compared to her new "lean, mean wrestling machine" look.

[11] Hiroyuki Endo of Japanese website Game Watch called her father-daughter dynamic with Bass one of the best aspects of the Dead or Alive series, and further praised how he supported her privately as "somehow warm and comforting".

"[34] Dengeki Online writer "kbj" stated that while he initially had a "slightly flashy image", but upon seeing her revamped character design for Dead or Alive 5 he was surprised by her cuteness and how attractive she seemed, and felt games like Venus Vacation portrayed her actual personality as "always positive and powerful.

[38] Various publications were more critical of Tina's appearance, such as the book The Psychology of Entertainment Media, which cited an image of her in a bikini as an example of a "sexualized, objectified video game character" and its impact on societal perception.

[39] The book Sex in Consumer Culture cited her as an example of a hypersexualized female character in video games often portrayed as having "uncharacteristically large breasts and unusually small waists".

He particularly called out the decision to give Tina additional animations that "make her breasts flop about while most of the other characters remain stationary" alongside clothing options that emphasized this aspect, and felt it served to "appeal to the lowest common denominator of who they think are playing the games: Men who stare at boobs.

"[41] In contrast, Zachary Miller of Nintendo World Report appreciated the attention to detail, citing Tina as one of the best examples of breast physics in modern gaming due to how naturally they reacted to clothing, though at the same time he felt they were unnatural on her model, particularly in how they should rest on the character's chest, and this caused a similar feel with her animations.

[42] Others offered a contrary point of view, such as the book Femme Fatalities that cited Tina as an example of a trend of strong action heroine characters introduced in video games, something the authors regarded as a response to a growing demographic of female gamers.

Patterson further argued that elements such as sexualized attire, which included items such as a cow print bikini, helped illustrate her racial and cultural identity as an "explicit pleasure" for players to enjoy.