Assassin's Creed has been getting a lot of hype for a while now, and with good reason; it looks like it's going to be awesome. But I can't help but wonder if some of the hype is not because of the game, but because of Jade Raymond, the game's producer. Pretty much every preview of the game has made some mention of Jade's hotness, or feminine charms, or - well, look, here's just a sampling.

IGN, 10/24: "Stalkers start your engines: Assassin's Creed producer - and all-round pretty lady - Jade Raymond is meeting members of the public at Oxford Street's HMV store, as part of the London Games Festival, on Saturday, October 27.... She'll even be signing merchandise - although not your merchandise, if you know what we mean. First person to mail us something reading, "Dear IGN, I think you rock! Love Jade.", gets a big wet kiss from us... If you want to meet the good lady in question, head along to HMV, 150 Oxford Street, London. Raymond is giving two presentations, starting at 3pm and 4.30pm. Entry is free but it may get a bit crowded. And sticky."

Kotaku, just do a search for Jade Raymond:
1. "I'm personally hoping she announces a new game where you just move the camera around a 3D model of her person for hours at a time."

There's also this "official, unofficial site": http://www.jade-raymond.com/

From this Gamernode interview: "Everybody loves Raymond. Jade, that is. I mean, how could you not? In a male-dominated industry, it is once in a blue moon that a female producer emerges to bring us one of the most ambitious and eagerly awaited games of a console generation. Plus, she's absolutely beautiful, plays the SH*T out of videogames, and is named Jade - that's awesome."

etc. etc. My point should be clear: according to the gaming press, the most important thing about Jade Raymond is NOT that she's the producer of a highly anticipated holiday title, but rather that she's a smokin' hot babe. Is it me, or is that just totally creepy and wierd?

If the gaming industry is ever going to be taken seriously, its press has to be a bit more mature than this.

EDIT: Now that the game's gone gold, there's already a bunch of new, incredibly creepy stories online. Here's the first 3:

1. Voodoo Extreme's headline: "Jade's A$s. Has Gone Gold"

2. IGN Xbox: "'Huge' and 'solid' purrs game producer Jade Raymond"... "Everyone's favorite pin-up producer Jade Raymond had this to say regarding the news..."

3. Actiontripdoesn't even quote the press release: it just says the game is "rated M for Mega-Hot-Producer", and then gives us a picture of her - not the game, just a random picture.

This is somewhat beyond creepy,now; this is borderline harras$ment. People might wonder why there aren't more women in game development; this would be a pretty good answer, wouldn't it?