Male gamers: how do you feel playing games with female protagonists?

I'm perfectly fine with it but I know some people who refuse to play games with a female protaginist (I consider it their loss since they can miss out on some fantastic games) and recently when I purchased the Tomb Raider reboot (excellent game, an absoulute must play for that matter), I received some strange looks from the cashier. So how do other male gamers feel about playing games with female protagonists?

Being a male I would certianly prefer to play as a male. But I wouldn't be opposed to playing a game with a female protagonist as long as it makes sense. I'd never want to play as a female character in something like GTA or Mafia. Just wouldn't make much sense honestly.

Fine by me. Hasn't prevented me from enjoying the Metroid series, Bvayonetta, Castlevania Order of Ecclesia, or Shanoa, etc. 

Doesn't bother me in the least. 

Completely fine. Some of them are my favorite protagonists. Like Bayonetta.

Tomb Raider reboot (excellent game, an absoulute must play for that matter)RageQuitter69

Why? It's completely average and feels like it was designed to be a generic AAA game.

I prefer male protagonists but if a female protagonist is sexualized in some way or at least has a nice digital booty to look at, I don't mind. Ignorant, sexist analysis? Sure, but I don't care, lol.

I don't care, whatever benefits the game.

it's probably not right, but i consider a male protagonist to be "default." if i'm playing as a female character, i'm usually thinking "is she too sexualized?", "does she fall into one of the the usual female tropes?", or something similar.

if female protagonists were more commonplace, i'd be thinking more on a neutral ground like "is this a good character?" or "is this character a good medium for me as the player?" like i think chell in portal is a good gender neutral character and samus in metroid prime is just a great character. the optimistic side of me thinks that there will be more chells in the future, seeing as she could be of either gender and you'd expect about half of those avatar-type characters to be women.

More often than not I don't play as a female, but that's probably due to the fact that there are more male protagonists that female. However, it doesn't really bother me when I do play as a female.

Should it matter at all? I couldn't care less if or if not.

Same as with Movies or Books with female main characters, just a story of the perspective of another gender.

I prefer male protagonists but if a female protagonist is sexualized in some way or at least has a nice digital booty to look at, I don't mind. Ignorant, sexist analysis? Sure, but I don't care, lol.

HipHopBeats

"Your ideas appeal to me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter". In other words I completely agree.

I don't care.

I mostly go for the male character choice but I've had a few female characters in my history of gaming.

I make a female protagonist in half the RPGs I play and if a shooter lets me choose I'll pick a female character skin. I guess it's due to the fact male characters are so predominant I welcome the change as often as possible.Black_Knight_00

I do this too. Though I'd say 90% of the characters I play in RPGs are female.

I don't let it affect which games I play but it does lower my concentration a bit. It's like yesterday there was women's soccer on TV and I couldn't really concentrate on the game instead I was like; "i'd do her, her, her & her; damn that blonde's hair looks hot I'd do it. Zoom in on the face, yeah, want to see their pretty faces. Hah, soccer *balls*, haha!"

Or that female judge in UFC that is on sometimes, I only spend like 70% of my concentration on the actual fight, the rest 30% is drawn to her and I'm like "she's kinda tall and maleish, is she hot or not hmm I think that I--- oh fight's over"

It doesn't really bother me, I don't see why it should.

I always enjoy female protagonists moreso than Male.  Males are generic and done to death.  Females tend to be more interesting.  Much nicer to look at too if I'm going to be following one around for the whole game.

I always enjoy female protagonists moreso than Male.  Males are generic and done to death.  Females tend to be more interesting.  Much nicer to look at too if I'm going to be following one around for the whole game.

Jackc8

Interesting way to look at it. I heard in a review that Tomb Raider was originally going to have a male protagonist but the developers changed it to Lara Croft for that reason, can anyone confirm this? I find it hard to beleive.

No change in opinion. I'll play a game regardless of the protagonist's gender. In RPG's and such that allow me to create characters, I'll often select or create a female character for diversity since so many action games and the like have similar-looking male leads. 

I love the Metroid series, I've got female characters in the Souls/Elder Scrolls/Mass Effect games, and my preferred class in Borderlands is the Siren. So personally, totally accepting. 

Whenever I can pick a female, I almost always do :P.  If the character is preset, I don't care either way. 

It's simply a non-issue to me, I never think about it.

I prefer playing as a female.

I am male so I always like to go with a male character but I don't mind games with female protagonists like Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy XIII or Heavenly Sword.

The gender of the main character is never a deciding factor to me. If the game is interesting then I'll play it. However, if the game gives me a choice I will choose a male character over a female one. Since I'm male, I find it easier to immerse myself into the role I suppose. But there a lots of games with female characters I like. Beyond Good and Evil remains one of my favourite games to this day. Mirror's Edge, Tomb Raider, Metroid, etc are also all great. 

I really do prefer to play as a male character, it's a preference I've had since I was young.

As a kid, I always liked to pretend I was in the game, having a male character in game meant it was much easier to imagine myself being there.

Now that I've grown up its just programmed in me, I don't feel quite right playing a character that I cannot relate to myself. That doesn't mean I wont play games if I have to be a female (loved Mirrors Edge and Tomb Raider), but theres something about it for me personally that doesnt feel quite right.

i have no problems playing with a female protagonist in a game as long as the game is fun

if i had a choice like in mass effect or dragon age, off course i would pick a guy because the developer is allowing me to have my self image as an avatar in the game. i dont think its sexist to be that person because i dont have any interest in role playing as a woman.

i can understand the womens need to be empowered and seen in a better light, then i say get in the industry and push for more female protagonist. if the whole lot of the developers are male that really have no interest in making a game with a female lead, it doesnt mean the industry is sexist. people make games that they are interested in, and if these producers arent interested in making a female lead, then its just called prefference. now if they are demeaning women, then thats another thing altogether.

people throw around the word sexist too freely, and women call for equality but they dont realize they are really calling for preferential treatment. a lot of gamers are obnoxious, racist, sexist,homophobe wannabe alpha males because of the anonymity factor. males get insulted and harrassed just as much as women...yet women are only advocating for women. why not advocate for all gamers, male, female regardless of sexual orientation?

Dosen't bother me, my only preference is that the game is good. Though I find it weird that some people refuse to play a game with a female protaganist, this is 2013 not 1913

Does not bother me. It is not the notion of male or female that can cause a disconnect, but rather the Protagonists personality. Ive playied games where I gave up on the game soley due to the protagonists personality.

In truth Ive met about the same % of really unlikable protagonists on both sides of the sexes. Sadly a trend is to have most men seem like warmongering braindead tincans, and women helpless whiney ut suddenly "finding themselves" turning them into bloodthirsty maniacs out for "the greater good".

Bottom line, if the Devs create a female protagonist that is either really cool and a fairly deep personality then I am all for it, I for example often wished that we would play as Elisabeth in Bioshock infinite because I found her to have more depth and be far more likable then Booker, both when she was kidding around and when whe was serious.

[QUOTE="RageQuitter69"]Tomb Raider reboot (excellent game, an absoulute must play for that matter)Pffrbt

Why? It's completely average and feels like it was designed to be a generic AAA game.

AND THE AWARD FOR THE MOST TIRED TOPIC OF 2013 GOES TO...

[spoiler]

It's OK. Everything will be fine. Time to move on...

:roll:  [/spoiler]

I've never cared. If it's a story driven game, all I hope is that the writers were at least somewhat competent.

Why? It's completely average and feels like it was designed to be a generic AAA game.

Seconded

I prefer male characer because they get to have all that huge spiky sword and an awesome armor. Females on the other hand, most games just potray them as sex objects, wearing skimpy stuff and wielding crazy stuff which would actually deal 0.01 DMG. Also, most games potray women as completely overpowered, which makes the game even less interesting, along with some really cliche and uninteresting personalities. But that is not saying I'm against it, some games handle female protagonists really well and I actually feel like playing them, although in RPGs, I tend to steer away from creating female characters.

I don't care unless it affects the gameplay or my stats in a way I don't like. I honestly don't think about this at all until I see this same question pop up again and again.

I don't care what sex, race, or whatever else the protagonist is, as long as the game is good.  I can be playing as one of the paddles from friggin' Pong and be having fun so long as it's a good game.

That said, if I have a choice (and all stats, etc. are the same), I generally pick a male.  That's solely because I'm a male and I feel more immersed in the character if I can sort of see myself in them.

i think chell in portal is a good gender neutral characterLoG-Sacrament

Why? She's practically not even a character. She says nothing, she has no background story, she has no personality.

The new Tomb Raider reboot was awesome and Lara was a great character.Sushiglutton

Even though she has all of the personality of a brick and her character development happens in all of 2 minutes.

[QUOTE="Jackc8"]

I always enjoy female protagonists moreso than Male.  Males are generic and done to death.  Females tend to be more interesting.  Much nicer to look at too if I'm going to be following one around for the whole game.

RageQuitter69

Interesting way to look at it.

Not really since every other person that plays a female protagonist says the same thing.

[QUOTE="LoG-Sacrament"]i think chell in portal is a good gender neutral characterPffrbt

Why? She's practically not even a character. She says nothing, she has no background story, she has no personality.

Don't really care as long as the game and story is good. That's what matters to meThe_Last_Ride

I generally pick a male.  That's solely because I'm a male and I feel more immersed in the character if I can sort of see myself in them.

isv666

as for me I can relate to male and female characters because unless Lara Needs to embrace mother/woman hood then her gender has nothing to do with the task at hand.