Alrighty, Gender inequality is a deep and indeed serious issue in our society. Should a woman be paid the same amount as me for doing the same job? Absolutely! Should a woman have equal opportunity to get a job based on her credentials? Absolutely!
Should all characters in Video games be deep and well rounded individuals who represent a realistic cross section of society? Nope. Video games are not the battleground to choose for advancing women's rights. Video games are a place where practically nobody has any rites. There are games where you can run down pedestrians in cold blood on the street. there are games where you can murder HUNDREDS of police officers in a single sitting. there are games where you tear apart entire civilizations simply for being different to yours. Heck there is even a game where you can re-enact the real world assassination of an american president in excruciating detail. Yet out of all of these subject matters the most heinous we face is that Cortana the AI voice in master chiefs head isnt a believable female character?
Ive seen Dead or Alive mentioned here as an example of exagerated female characters. Have you played ANY of the characters in a dead or alive game? There's Zack the muscle bound fast talking muay Thai DJ. Bass the retired proffesional wrestler who looks more like a side of beef than a person and then theres freakin' ninja's to boot!
Looking at other game series, Yes there are over sexed shallow and plainly offensive female characters. I personally lost all interest in trying bayonetta after watching a trailer in which the camera zooms over her leather clad anatomy while she makes sensual noises. I similarly lost all interest in Lolly pop chainsaw after merely hearing the concept (the trailers really didnt do it any favours either). These characters are as much an insult to my intelligence as yours. When you look at male characters though, the situation isnt much different. They are hyper masulated, over exagerated, over simplified and totally unrealistic. Even looking at the most famous and beloved characters this holds true. Kratos, an on again off again Greek god who goes around tearing people in half with his bare hands and a pair of blades chained to his arms. Master Chief a genetically enhanced super soldier with less than 15 seconds of dialogue in his first smash hit game (let alone the fact that he doesnt even have a face). The gears of war crew, do I really need to say anything about these slabs of meat with chainsaw bladed guns?. story line for all: COD characters, 1. appear. 2. pull of incredible feat of macho badassery 3. die dramatically 4. *loading next COD character*.
You have to look at how the industry in general conveys its characters. Not just how they portray female characters.
Now please feel free to begin your accusations that I am a female hating chauvinistic low life sitting at my manputer while ordering my girlfriend back into the kitchen to make me a sammich. After all, I disagreed with SOME of your points therefore I must be, right?
@Gravelord_Nito @icestorm32 The above video definitively proves that NOBODY wins in this situation...... well, unless you happen to be a hungry dragon with a penchant for swallowing the heads of mushroom kingdoom royalty (Then its happy days :D )
shado_kat's comments