@pcty Lol, very true, and Princess Peach certainly doesn't look like a centerfold model. And look at the female characters in Sonic. Who knew the platforming genre was actually so ahead of the curve:P
@Cptmcrofl Yep nothing wrong with that, more females can definitely be included in some of these games, but calling for them to be the main protagonist in some situations just doesn't make sense (not saying that you are doing so).
@wolfbm You make some good points. There probably should be more games with realistic looking figures men and women, but when it actually comes down to it, most people would rather play as a tall, muscular, male with a striking jawline, or as a voluptuous, toned female, compared to their more realistic counterparts.
Alot of gaming is about escapism, so the main goal isn't always to make everyone feel great about their body.
As for the lack of female characters, that is more a problem of demographics than anything else. If more women play video games, more female characters will emerge.
I feel that maybe she's being a bit too simplistic. She states that the character of Lara croft is objectionable to women presumably because of her skimpy clothing and shapely figure.
Well, I challenge her to find a main male protagonist who is out of shape or not in prime condition. They're many videogames with "built" male characters who are often shirtless or have the option to be. I guess Kratos's carved up body is now objectionable to all male gamers. Hell, pretty much every male NPC or character in Skyrim, even the older ones had toned abs and large arms. And yet, no one finds this a problem, and they shouldn't because all of the concepts are very romanticized.
Then later on in the article she calls for complex female characters. A noble notion, but in doing so she implies that they're a host of complex characters in gaming to begin with. The reality is that gaming is still a relatively infantile medium and even the number of "complex" or three-dimensional male characters is small at best.
To address the "too many d*cks" well, its not a particularly complicated argument-a large majority of popular video games focus on some aspect of conflict, fighting or war. Who has historically been more involved in these types of conflicts? In Gladiator should Russell Crowe's character have been a strong female? Not to mention the fact that many many games are period pieces that take place in times or areas where it would make little sense for the main character to be a woman. Should John Marston have been Joanna Marston?
No one is denying that women haven't faced unjust hardships or oppression (or atleast I'm not) but, once again, I must reiterate that Anita is being undeniably simplistic.
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