Allo allo allo, what's this all about then? Why is I talking about this then? Ok serious time now. I was thinking about all the games both in my video game collection and what's coming and and came to a realisation, there are too many men in video games (Also all these men are mainly grizzled 30 something year old men) and not enough women and on top of it there aren't many women in games who are actual women. What do I mean? Well since you asked.
First let me link you to a video that helps me with my case to start with. Have you ever heard of a show call Extra Credits on The Escapist before? They did a video on the subject I'm talking about... kinda. Here's the link http://www.escapistmagazine...
Well that video does cover the majority but I'd feel really lazy if I didn't explain why I'm bringing this up. Well let me start with the visual depiction of women, mainly clothing. Sure I could bag out the giant breast and impossible to attain figures they have but that just goes without saying. You see the current looks most women have in games are highly sexualised. Now my gripe about this is the fact that most gamers are apparently between 25 and 30, which means men and women. The current designs of women are appealing to 2 main groups, teens and the sexually deprived.
The outfits of women in video games are very strangely designed. Look at a game in a fantasy setting, the female characters are usually running around in something that could best be described as a leather bikini. How about fighting games, especially Dead Or Alive? The "women" in the game are wearing outfits that flash cleavage and upskirt shots. Basically they are designed to "look" appealing but to a person like me who's a 25 year old male they are silly. Why you may ask? Well I've grown up and even though I'm single, I just find real women more visually appealing and REAL. Thing is I don't want these styles of video game women to go, just become less frequent.
Then there's the personality. MovieBob in in his video "I Heart Bayonetta" kinda nailed the basic types of "Ice Queens" and "Girls". You hardly ever see women characterised in a way that makes them feel like an actual women. I honest have trouble thinking of women in games that actually manage to be close to a real women. Most women in games are usually either soft and mousy or well... stereotypical butch lesbians (No offense to actual lesbians is implied). I'd give examples of the types but it's easier to ask you to tell me which women in gaming don't fall in these areas that aren't silent. I'd really like to see more female characters who could actually pass as a real woman in personality.
Now then there's a story to suit a female character. The only games I've seen women in are action and fighting games to show of their physique and jiggle physics. Now this isn't so much a problem as the fact that the stories in them are usually focused on giving them a slim reason for them to be there. I'd like to see games with women that tackle real issues women go through that would actually take the call to action outside of employment and the "we need girls in this game" idea. I like the ideas the Extra Credits crew came up with to be honest.
Pretty much in short I'd like less of the usual women in gaming and more non sexualised, naturally endowed women with a realistic female personality. I'd also like to see those types of women in games that suit those women and women in general. I'd like to invite you to leave comments of examples of the REAL types of women in video games. I know of a couple but I'd like to see how many there are.
Shadow of Mordor was a fun game with terrible writing. Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels similar.
Marvel Rivals adds Moon Knight to its launch lineup for December 8, as NetEase adds two veteran game music devs to the game's dev team.
TSA writes: A return to form for the series and BioWare, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an enjoyable characterful action RPG.
did Bioware force every reviewer to use "Return to form™" in their review? it's weird as heck.
I think it’s because in most discourse everyone had said the old Bioware is gone. It’s easy to have some kind of setup to help drive a point that the game feels like BioWare is coming back, which is answering the question of, “is this game a return to form for BioWare?”
Nice to see these paid reviews. Giving this mediocre game that is 6/10 AT BEST these high scores.
Not enough real men either.
What is a "female personality", anyway? What is a "real" women?
Gender is a social construct that video games take for granted when creating characters. Sure, you may have a sex, but gender can be anything if you play with perspectives.
Would love to see more games focus on those kinds of aspects but with a market full of gun toting meathead military personas, those kinds of ideas aren't really toyed with. In the odd event that original ideas are developed, gender isn't always first on the list, though there is great potential to explore more original ideas like this.
Men are probably just as sexualized, though in an industry dominated by males, it's not something we recognize, though I'm sure there is a pseudo-homosexual admiration for muscle-heavy men like Kratos or Duke Nukem. We all admire their brute force and physical appearance and liken that to their maleness. Yet rarely do we see that affection with say, Wanderer from Shadow of the Colossus.
In one culture, which I forget, ingesting the semen of your elders reconfirms your manhood and makes you sexually fit for adulthood. Point is that there isn't a "real" man or woman. Strip away all the social attachments of maleness and femaleness and I wonder what you would really be left with.
I often ask myself the same question, or at least ponder the subject matter.
Games are not meant to be real, they're an escape from reality. Sure some developers strive for realism in certain aspects, but in the grand scheme of the game if it was completely real it would be boring.
As a man in society I feel castrated and degraded and I'm sure I'm not alone. Society is costantly putting down men. We are belittled at every oppotunity. Ask a few women of the street if they think men are stupid, you'll most likely get a resounding 'yes'. We've lost our identidy as men, no longer are we the sole providers and protectors. We're expected to be carers and nurturers yet we're not trusted to be competent enough to look after our own children.
When I play a game, I want to escape from reality. I want to feel strong, I want to be a leader everyone looks up to, I want to be needed, I want to be the hero. Why do you think the movie Fight Club was so highly rated, because so many men can relate. Ask yourself when was the last time you really felt like a man?
Speaking in strictly primitive terms a lead female leader protagonist doesn't make sense. It goes against my instinctual male ideologies. You may have fun with bayonetta or tomb raider, but you can't take those characters seriously. While at the same time, Uncharted may not be realistic either but I can relate to the character and I can believe the character.
In my games, I want to see strong female characters with their own voice that can handle themselves when need be, but I don't want strong female leaders. The typicle feminist knee jerk reaction would be to call me sexist, but that's not true.
I believe men and women are equal and I still want that to show in the games I play, but we have very different roles. Society still doesn't get this very simple idea.
Maybe we need more female writers in the industry. The writer of the Uncharted series is a woman, I believe. It's evident as the female characters in the games are well done for the most part.
Good! If you wanted to see realism, videogames are NOT the place to look. Maybe you're looking for Cooking mama.