It’s a topic that’s been bugging me for quite some time because there has been quite a lot of heat about this subject, and I feel like I’ve been quite the victim of one side of a multi-layered discussion, and it’s usually the side that thinks it’s all black and white that accuses.
Just to not keep you in suspense, this is to try to get this out before a certain feminist “gamer” brings out the next part of her series that will leave me old and gray by the time she’s done with it. Yes, you know who she is, and you might know what she’s releasing next: something about “Mrs. Dude Character” with a preview picture that suggests she’s going to invoke a very popular franchise for the umpteenth time.
But what I’m concerned with, before Miss Sarkeesian comes out with her latest rant, is how people react to criticism of her thoughts. I know I’ve talked about it before, but it seems to have since snowballed into another form of criticism in the game industry that isn’t so black and white. Let me give you a few pointers of what I’ve experienced on NeoGAF anymore. First off, whenever her name comes up, it sparks the worst out of people. As in, if I even so much as to try to say this is not the person that should be representing female gamers in this topic because of how she goes about presenting her “facts” and then forms baseless opinions around them, I get called a concern troll, and in at least two cases, banned for a month’s time. Really? She’s a smart person. I get that. I also get that this is a sensitive topic to a lot of people and you can get in trouble if you even say a letter about your opinion wrong.
But, to me, that’s a big problem we have right now. When has it become okay to make people to, in order to call themselves for more pure female characters that don’t look like they were a stripper before taking on their current job, you had to agree, word for word, with who they’ve christened as a savior to the cause? When has one person become so championed, that any mistake, error, or misstep she’s made has been either ignored, forgiven, or taken as a plus because “hey, she’s bringing it up, so that makes it okay”? When did she become a person that we are never allowed to challenge the credibility on, especially when there are several pieces of evidence that you can make a reasonable case against her knowledge of the topics she talks about, even in the most civil of ways? What has Anita done that’s so great that any criticism against her are met with the same terms and accusations that they really don’t care, or that they are for the “male patriarchy”? When, and how, did it get so bad that we can’t even be feminist gamers without agreeing 110% with a particular person? There are adults in the conversation, and this isn’t directed at them, but the crazies on either side want you to think them, and Anita, speaks for them.
But along with my questions of why does she keep bringing up the hate campaign she got put through several months ago as the go-to point as if it happened yesterday, or how people keep thinking that it’s a fair representation of how all male gamers that disagree with anything Anita says act, there’s something about the recent issues about this topic that goes beyond anything that Anita has done or said. Aside from me thinking she’s just a clown, there is another problem that some other gamers, who might’ve never even heard of Anita, or have never tuned their frequency to any feminist, have brought up that we have trouble trying to explain.
This came about, in my mind, to when Hideo Kojima revealed a female character for Metal Gear Solid 5 called Quiet. I’m sure you’ve heard of her by now, and we all know the intentions that Hideo has for the character.
Or do we? This goes to my biggest concern at the moment about this subject. How conservative have we become to this matter? Here’s what I mean by that, and please spare me the melodrama when I go to explain this, because it, too, has become so transparent that you might as well make the argument out of thin air.
Yes, I do get tired of seeing over proportioned females in games, and the same tired clichés when game makers are uninspired (yes, sadly, Anita is correct in the Damsel cliché getting overdone at times) to create new stories at all, much less with female leads or females in prominent roles (I’m convinced that you don’t necessarily have to have the female be playable for her to have a lot of significance in a game’s story as a strong willed character). I’m fine with some sort of change happening to where we have believable characters for both genders.
However, I see a huge problem when we go too far the other way and disallow any woman to dress or act the way they want to. I say that because I believe a female is also an individual, and there are different types of females out there, and each deserve to be explored. I’ve known females to actually want to dress in sexy attire and show off. I’ve seen females who want to be conservative. I’ve seen females who do get over their head, as many males do. I’ve seen females be dumb, smart, caring, physically strong or weak, etc.
The problem here is that we have found a solution to the over-sexualized female character in games: do what some third world countries want to do to their females. Let’s cover up every single part of their body except for their eyes so they can see what they are doing when they are doing the housework. Because those females don’t deserve the right to even be seen as a person, let alone an individual. We don’t even look anymore to if the sexiness adds anything to the character we’re talking about. And the worst thing is that we’ve become so closed minded that we can’t even listen to any other maturely made points of view.
Take Quiet, for example. Hideo wanted to create a sexy character. That sexy character got your attention, did it? But what about her personality? Maybe she likes to be sexy because she’s strong willed, and not a single person is going to tell her that she has to dress a certain way. Maybe she dresses a certain way because it makes it better for her to move when she has to. Did we ever stop to think that it’s just within a character’s personality to want to let their hair down and just be themselves, even if that means not wanting to wear a lot of clothes. Of course, I’d be tired if every female character in games did that. That would be not only misogynistic, but also unrealistic. But when it’s within the context of a character to act or be a certain way because they choose to do that, and not because someone told them that’s how it had to be or else, then it should be okay. The reason why the sexiness of someone like Rikku from Final Fantasy X-2 works is because it’s within the context of her character.
Of course, that could get a lot of cat calls from some men as we saw in a stream of a Street Fighter 4 playing recently, condemning that it even happened. In a way, condemnation makes sense, but like all issues, there is the other side. Why is it wrong for a male to be attracted to a female, whether it be made from pixels on a canvas or made out of flesh and bone, and to not show some form of vocal or visual appreciation for it? Of course, some people can get carried away with it, but look at it this way: those very same people might be cat calling also because they respect females. They respect what “the better half” can do, and why they feel comfortable showing off. This is because, at the end of the day, they are very much like any other person and will truly respect a female as a human being.
There’s also the point of where strength comes from, and what kind of strength one has, and how they get it. Take the new Tomb Raider, for example. Lara is scared to death at some of the things she sees. And she could’ve let the fear overcome her ability to push on. However, her strength comes because she’s faced with fear, and she’s not going to let her fear stop her. She is shown to be able to overcome her fear. That, to me, shows real strength through character and determination. Not necessarily physical, but the will to overcome and survive in the face of adversity, and if you’re willing to do what you have to do to protect yourself or those you care for, or you’re fighting for. This is what is instilled in a lot of military soldiers. It’s not the macho “I’m not scared of anything” BS that everyone thinks it is. It’s the will to push on despite you being scared out of your wits, and overcoming what bothers you.
Hell, if you want a clear cut example, just read a Sailor Moon manga, or watch the Anime (the manga moreso…or wait for the new Anime this winter). And not just view it, but really watch throughout the series as Usagi/Serena develops from a scared human being to a brave warrior who shows her bravery through what she ends up doing and how she doesn’t let her fear stop her, either (I should know: I’ve been writing SM fanfics for years & love to further the inner strength of the female characters even more; one of my stories makes a battle between Moon and one of her arch enemies very personal, and she has to fight her own rage…but enough shameless plugging *cough*SiverProjectSaga*cough* ).
Though I’ve talked about the criticisms concerning Metroid Other M’s story for years, I think it’s a perfect example for this debate as something we shunned when it gave us something we seeked. All the complaining about Samus’ emotions over Sector Zero and the Ridley encounter, and no talk about one particular aspect: what do you think she does after said outbursts? Do you think she just goes and runs like a coward? In the words of Dean Ambrose, NOPE! Right after she sees Anthony, a friend of hers, nearly get killed by Ridley’s hands, she stands up and fights because she has something worth fighting for, and she can overcome her fear. She regains her composure after seeing who she considered a friend sacrifice himself because she’s not going to let that man’s sacrifice be in vain. In short, the critics of Other M were all wrong because we don’t understand why people fight (you don’t think the US Armed Forces, the bravest men and women on the PLANET, aren’t moved by what they see at places like Iraq and Afghanistan?). In short, we saw Samus show bravery against countless alien monsters. Other M just showed us WHY she’s so brave: she’s got something to fight for, and she isn’t afraid to show her fear or her heart, and she fights for those purposes and morals. Isn’t that what we’ve asked for out of a female character? She was showing us how strength against fear forms, and yet we condemn that characterization because it’s not what we pictured her to be? So much for individuality!
Of course, there’ll be the idea that we must always consider the gender of the game designers, and if it’s a male making a “sexy” female character, even a well-respected game designer like Hideo Kojima, who’s made conservatively dressed female characters in the past, will get shunned because “that’s his fantasy”. Ignore the calls for those game designers to make different types of females in their games to cover the types of females (and males, for that matter) that we see in real life! No, can’t have that at all. We can’t even concern ourselves with perhaps that female in Crysis just didn’t feel comfortable in that armor, and decided to shed it despite the danger it might present her. Men can’t create individuals with different types of emotions, traits, personalities, and skins, apparently (hell, knowing Kojima, there could be some fourth wall breaking intentions with Quiet’s sexualization).
And isn’t that what is missing from this discussion about patriarchies and misogyny? The freedoms that people have as being individuals to be who they choose to be, and to accept and adapt to the consequences that come with such choices? Tell me in any of Anita’s videos so far has she brought up individuality, or the morals that some females have, or how some females don’t mind being sexy (or looking the part). Of course, you probably cannot. Even in the trope I said she was correct to some degree in, she overdoes her condemnation of that, and she only brought up where such over usage doesn’t count when she got called out on it by responders (all without bringing up that she was called out). When used right, a plot device like that can be used to further character development because it shows the player that a person has something that they care about or is willing to fight for, and the person who got abducted might’ve not been a slouch, either. Proof that she really didn’t think of those aspects out of the box in her first video: check out her Tumblr page, where some examples are actually scenarios she brings up where the trope’s usage isn’t a problem.
We right now are not even concerned about that aspect of the discussion? We’re only concerned about, “not the right armor? Game maker is misogynistic!” or, “showing a bit of skin (let alone a lot)? Throw that sexist male who made her into the street!” I’m sorry, but that’s the way I’ve been seeing this entire argument going down to right now. Those that are like me that would love a more realistic debate about individualism among females in games are being drowned out by the extremism on either side, and those that just want us to agree with who I see as a clown…that I’m still, for some odd reason still finding out and wanting to discuss her videos for some reason. Maybe because I’m still hopeful that she will actually make an argument that’s based on absolute facts about a game, regardless of how valid said point is. And maybe I’m still hopeful that a serious argument for individualism in game characters finally surfaces instead of this desire to have either one extreme or the other.
I’m fine with a sexy female if it adds to the experience and immersion in a game, just as much as I like the more conservative females in games. The problem is that, until we can move on from the extremism and “agree with our sacred leader or else” mentality that we seem to have right now, we’ll never have what we should have: a discussion about females in games being truly equal. The other extreme is just as misogynistic as the one people are arguing against. When have we become so blind that we don’t see that point?
Maybe it because we’re too worried about angering the extremists (yes, individualism can exist in feminism, too…if you let it) to let the debate about individualism happen!
Battlefield 6 campaign work-in-progress footage has been unearthed alongside artwork for the unannounced Battle Royale mode.
Ambrosia Sky is the kind of game that sneaks up on you—haunting, heartfelt, and unlike anything else I played at Summer Game Fest 2025.
Keiichiro Toyama—the creator and original director of the 1999 Silent Hill—shared his personal thoughts on the recently announced remake by Konami, reflecting on what the project means to him after more than two decades:
“I felt something similar when the game was adapted into a movie. It deeply moved me to see the names of the characters and locations I had created come to life visually, even though I wasn’t directly involved. That wouldn’t have been possible without the continued support of the fans and the dedication of the developers who’ve kept the series alive.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how the remake evolves this time. With the advanced technology we now have, I’m sure I’ll be surprised by how the game is reimagined. Since the original was built for the first PlayStation, there will naturally be challenges—like the camera and controls—but I’m eager to see bold and creative solutions to those elements.”
Haha Not only is bold and creatively not what the industry wants, it’s not what most people want.
They want to get scammed and pay twice for a thing they already own.
Was the SH2 remake even bold? Or was it more or less just a 1 to 1 over the shoulder remake?
Note that this is the truncated version of the blog. There's a lot more in this blog that I couldn't fit because of the 15000 character limit (sorry, but I just had a lot to say). I posted the full blog at Giant Bomb: http://www.giantbomb.com/pr... (I don't mean to advertise, but I don't want the people who are reading this to be left out of the full version).
At this point, I feel like Anita is just making hit pieces by invoking the franchises she does. But the motivation for me writing this was more of what people thought of Quiet than anything else. It was sheer coincidence that Anita announced that next part right when I was motivated enough to make this. Thought it would be relevant to make light of, though, like I said, maybe I hold out hope that she won't resort to the same tactics again and again to prove something that we would agree with if she wasn't such a clown in presenting what she calls facts.
A woman's choice to be "sexy" like Quiet isn't necessary free or individualistic. It can be a direct pandering to the male gaze. In other words, deciding to look a certain way not because of self-determination, but because of how men want to you look, and because looking that way keeps you in men's good books so to speak. If you want a good life as a woman in a patriarchal order, you need to fulfil all the critieria the patriarchs look for, which needless to say are pretty narrow, and prescribe pretty limited parameters for individuality. The fact that you're so angry about Anita Sarkeesian is kind of symptomatic of this. Which way would you rather she be? Sexy without challenging this order? Not sexy and also silent? She's challenging the slim parameters that women have been forced to abide by if they want to be individuals, which is quite the opposite of individuality. The pattern time and time again is that women are met with hostility if they raise their voices about their cultural conditions and all the things that work in concert to contribute to that- all the lies that filter down over time and become ingrained assumptions in people's heads.
Feminists fight for gender equality, not supremacy. They also fight for individuality, not subjection and imposed identity.
no sane person would dress like Quiet during a war in the Middle East unless she just escaped from being tortured or raped looking like that. MGS games have some comedy/satire but Kojima's always been known for thriving to create believable stories, if not something like this wouldn't exist: http://metalgear.wikia.com/... <-- read the content don't just watch the picture.
And I'm not against sexy but a bikini as her main outfit? It looks really tacky in context with the photorealism that Kojima wants to bring with MGSV. Like one of those crappy action/echi anime like "Kill la Kill" but worse, since at least the anime is not even trying to take itself seriously or thriving for any form of realism.
"She’s a smart person"
She really is. It's no easy feat to scam thousands of people by using a fad to your advantage.
http://anongamer.tumblr.com...
I believe you are jumping the gun a bit, in particular kojima cant really be categorized with everything else. I actually look at it completely backwards. Is it not the men who are constantly halve naked? is it not weird if a guy DOESN'T take off his shirt at the beach? why do guys always have to bare their chest and show off their bulge? if you think about it Men are constantly being exposed. quiet is a elite sniper, probably sniped the head of thousands of soldiers in the battlefield i doubt she is exposing herself to be sexy, its up to the male characters to react to it.
like when snake in mgs4 when hes checking out naomi, naomi seems shy and reserved and yet her outfit is really sexy. I believe its just part of women, maybe society forced it but little girls are trained to wear tight clothes before they hit 5 years old. what im trying to say is that they dress "sexy" their whole life, so when their older it is very natural.
seriously though, character design is something i never dive too deep into because sometimes its just style, im also willing to bet quiet turns completely black.