90°

California’s second lady: Games need to ‘think bigger’ about portrayals of women

VB - At the Game Developers Conference, Jennifer Siebel Newsom implored game developers to feature strong women in their games rather than highly sexualized figures.

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venturebeat.com
majiebeast4039d ago (Edited 4039d ago )

Just what we need politicians giving their opinion on gaming...

Women have less interest in the tech field then men, there isnt some guy screaming you shall not pass, to every woman wanting to work in tech.

jeeves864038d ago

That's not true. There have been a lot of stories regarding women facing discrimination in the workplace, particularly in the tech field.

Are you purposely closing your eyes to these issues, or did you just not know about them?

dedicatedtogamers4039d ago

She's wrong. Here's why: the majority of female characters don't care about the portrayal of women, or even men, for that matter. Remember, over 50% of gamers are women, but a lot of these play smartphone games, puzzle games, stuff like that. Nothing wrong with those games, by the way, but can you notice the common thread between those sorts of games? Ahah! You guessed it: storyline is non-existent. The majority of women gamers do not care about storyline (some women do, of course, but statistics don't lie). The portrayal of a woman (or a man) is something related to storyline. If the majority of female gamers don't pay attention to story, then where is the business value (please take special note of that phrase "business value") of how we portray women? Male gamers form a much higher percentage of those who purchase games for the storyline.

I'm not saying turn women into sleazy sex objects, but the reality is that, looking at the big picture of gaming, the videogame industry is very respectful of women. Sure, not all games are, just like not all...say, chick flicks are fair in their portrayal of men. But hey, males aren't the target demographic of chick flicks, so they don't change.

DasTier4039d ago

Hmmn, I think there need to be a line between Gaming on a console or PC Gaming rig and playing on a smart phone.

If my calculator had a mini game on it does that count as gaming?

dedicatedtogamers4039d ago

What I'm pointing out is that - across all styles of gaming - over 50% are women. However, a fraction of those actually play the "gamer games" that you're talking about. And that's my point.

Out of the 10s of millions who buy Call of Duty, let's say 50% were women. Okay, if that was the case, I can see the reason why we should portray women differently. But we know its not the case. So, women are portrayed in a way that is attractive to the biggest demographic, males.

I used the example of the chick flick. Men are portrayed very stereotypically in such movies. I'm married. I've seen my fair share. I've noticed that women like the way men in these movies are portrayed. But men aren't standing up and demanding that the "chick flick market" starts giving men a fairer portrayal. It would be silly, because these movies are aimed at women.

The same goes for videogames. Why are the male-focused games being held to such a standard? Women don't typically play these games. It's a silly "vocal minority" thing.

RememberThe3574039d ago

I agree with her point. Luckily Bioshock: Infinite just came out as well as Tomb Raider and both of those games are great examples of strong women in vastly different roles. Tomb Raider gives us a very attractive main character that through tragedy, hardship, and pure necessity, becomes a super badass chick; sexy and takes respect, my type lol. Bioshock gives us a character that is so in tune with the world and your character, you begin to actually care about her as if she was real.

I actually feel like the gaming industry has done a really good job portraying women, especially in recent years. Think Elika from Prince of Persia, Elena and Chloe from Uncharted, Madison from Heavy Rain, and now Jodie form Beyond. None of our big games really objectify women as they're too busy glorifying war. So even though I share the concern of young men objectifying women I don't think the the gaming industry has a very bad track record on that front.

auragenz4039d ago

Hasn't "thinking bigger" about portrayals of women gotten the industry in enough trouble already?

MegadethAndy4039d ago

I'm sure she spends more time doing her hair in one morning than playing video games in one month.
Maybe she should give Mass Effect a go.

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130°

70 percent of devs unsure of live-service games sustainability

With so many games fighting for players' attention and interest losing out over time, time sink games are at risk of eventually losing steam.

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gamedeveloper.com
thorstein1d 3h ago

It was worrisome to begin with.

It's a niche genre with only a handful of hits that can stand the test of time.

Cacabunga5h ago

I like the sound of that!! I will for sure never support these gaas games.
Sony must be shocked at gamer's reaction, making them cancel a few of these and hopefully go back to the good heavy hitters they had us used to..
now bring on that PSPro reveal and show us some SP 1st party awesomeness.

CrimsonWing691d 2h ago

What’s to be unsure of!? Look at the ratio of success to failure!

DarXyde9h ago

It's pretty ridiculous.

Imagine having a breadth of data at your disposal to see the statistically low success rate of these games, only to be laser focused on the exceptional case studies.

shinoff21831d 1h ago

Yes. Stop all the live service bs.

jznrpg1d ago

Only a few will catch on. You need a perfect storm to be successful in GaaS and a bit of luck on top of that. But a potential cash cow will keep them trying and some will go out of business because of it.

MIDGETonSTILTS171d ago

Helldivers 2 manages just fine…

Keep production costs low… don’t just make custscenes until the mechanics and enemies are perfected first.

Make so much content that you can drip extra content for years, and the game already feels complete without them.

Most importantly: make weapons, enemies, levels, and mechanics that will stand the test of 1000 hours. This might require more devs embracing procedurally generated leveled, which I think separates Helldivers 2 from Destiny’s repetitiveness.

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60°

The Battle Pass Is The Worst Thing To Happen To Modern Gaming

Nameer from eXputer: "Some exceptions aside, I don't think the battle pass is a net positive for gaming with how they're implemented in most live service titles."

got_dam1d 4h ago

Battle passes AND meta gaming both.

DivineHand1251d 2h ago (Edited 1d 2h ago )

I like the way Helldivers 2 does battle passes. It allows you to make purchases on each level of the battle pass and gives you the option of choosing which item to unlock first. The more purchases you make using medals the further you progress. There is no timer and you can earn medals towards purchasing stuff via personal orders and Major orders.

I haven't played much live service games that have battle passes but I remember some games that have battle passes where you progress through it linearly using an exp system. What makes it really bad is that the battle pass will have like 50 or more levels with the cooler stuff being closer to the end. They also have an in-game shop that sells exp boosters so you can reach the end of the pass before it refreshes. Everyone ilse will have to grind their way through.

lucian2291d 2h ago

battle pass in fortnite is perfect; buy one and it buys the rest for every other season as it gives you more money than the first cost. so 8.50 and season ends with you getting 13.00, it pays for the next and you have some pocket change to save up for cash shop. All of which is optional

470°

PS5 Pro specs leak video taken down by Sony

Sony is taking actions as video by Moore’s Law is Dead, has been issued with a copyright claim.

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videogameschronicle.com
andy851d 22h ago

And people say it's all fake because Sony haven't said anything 😂 conveniently forget the PS4 Pro was only announced 2 months before release.

BeHunted1d 22h ago

It's fake. There's no factual evidence other than his own made up specs.

Hereandthere1d 21h ago

What were the specks Sony was afraid of showing?

Shikoku1d 21h ago (Edited 1d 21h ago )

Digital foundry put a video out saying what he leaked was exactly what they also knew about the PS5 PRO. So no it's not just stuff he made up

Babadook71d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

If it’s fake what copyright does MLID infringe upon?

😂

andy851d 17h ago

Aye because they'd go to the effort of copyright claiming it if it didn't exist 🙃😂 you'd have to be a special kind to be thinking its not a thing by now

Cacabunga1d 17h ago

They need to reveal it with uncharted killzone or a heavy hitter like this

Ironmike1d 17h ago (Edited 1d 17h ago )

U mean the specs that we'll established digital foundry which said these are the actual specs published a video on 2 weeks ago I mean they are only one of most trusted sites for tech information but they just made up a video for the sake of it

Christopher1d 3h ago

I would love for it all to be fake, but lots of people are saying they've seen/heard the same thing. But, man, we 100% don't need mid-gen upgrades when we're failing hard to optimize current hardware.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 1d 3h ago
Seraphim23h ago(Edited 23h ago)

if I recall Sony lowered sales expectations for PS5 earlier this year. if that is the case we won't hear anything about a Pro until next year or shortly before/when it's dropping. After all, if the Pro was dropping this year/fiscal year they wouldn't have lowered expectations.

As for squashing rumors. Yeah, shit like this prevents potential buyers from adopting now, just like slim rumors in the past. It only makes sense to keep things under wraps from a business perspective. Despite living in a technological age of unfettered access to information we don't need to know whats going on behind closed doors be that at Sony, Nintendo, MS, or amongst any development studios. When the steak is done we shall feast.

JackBNimble22h ago

By the time games are actually made to take advantage of the pro spec's the ps6 will be released or close to it.

jznrpg1d 21h ago (Edited 1d 21h ago )

Just announce it already! I want to preorder one asap. But in reality they don’t want to lessen PS5 sales until Pro is ready to launch so I understand the business part of it. September is probably when they announce it with an early November launch like the PS4 Pro

Ironmike1d 17h ago

Pro won't lessen sales sames ps4 pro never and the ps4 pro was more relevant at the time cos move to 4k this not needed

RaidenBlack1d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

Yea, my brother got his PS4 (coz of a good deal) after the PS4 Pro's release.

darthv721d 7h ago

^^same here. I got a base 4 for only $100 off a guy who bought the Pro. then a few months later I found a guy on craigslist selling a pro for $100 because it was left behind by his former roommate who moved out. That was the beginning of my obsession to buy up the different variants of the PS4 that were released.

As of now I am really only missing the 500m one and the gold slim but otherwise I have pretty much all the other retail ones. https://consolevariations.c...

BoneMagnus1d 5h ago

@darth - Nice collection!

crazyCoconuts1d ago

Anyone with 4K that appreciates 60fps is gonna disagree about it not being needed.
DLSS is a god send for Nvidia, and there's been nothing like it for AMD...yet ...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d ago
DeadlyFire1d 5h ago

They will announce it around E3 timeframe about May-June whenever they do a showcase for the year.

neutralgamer19921d 21h ago

Just announce it this thing will sell well

Ironmike1d 17h ago (Edited 1d 17h ago )

I don't think it will pll still haven't seen the potential of ps5 yet

Cacabunga1d 3h ago

agreed, but it might sell if they announce some 1st party games to lead the way. if people see the difference with the base version they can move on. for my sake I am still gaming mainly on PS4 (still not finished with RDR2 due to lack of gaming time). I have a huge backlog on PS5 I am hoping to get into.

mark3214uk1d 12h ago

why? game makers havnt even come close to maxing out current spec yet, were getting al lthese new TFlops and game maker are making crappy remakes not worthy of the ps3

Minute Man 7211d 7h ago

The guts of the 5 and X are 5 years old

fr0sty1d 1h ago

People keep saying that, yet we still have games running at near HD resolutions, 30fps, and ray tracing features turned off.

PRIMORDUS1d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

I would take that video and upload a torrent of it, fuck that copyright bullshit. If your going to do something that has a chance of being taken down, make a torrent first share it. Then Sony or any other company is helpless and you can laugh in their faces, taunting them to try to take it down 🤣

LoveSpuds1d 11h ago

With kind of analysis and advice, you could be a lawyer for Trump!🤣

tronyx121d 11h ago

As much as the PS4 Pro didn't represent a major % in the playerbase, announcing a 'better' model will hinder sales from the 'base' model. They are right, business-wise.

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