Should Every Game Allow You to Choose Your Gender?

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

Should Every Game Allow You to Choose Your Gender?

While playing Lichdom: Battlemage, Yahtzee decides to tackle to topic of gender diversity in choosing the character you want to play.

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[LaughingAtlas]

Haunting Ground had a female protagonist for story reasons, but I'm not sure where "3/4 of the people after her are (apparently) rapists" (the one that isn't is arguably even worse) puts it in the scheme of things. I wonder how Bayonetta would have been received if you could have been a man wearing a hair (and beard!) suit that falls off for the more powerful attacks.

 

[Ninjamedic]

Hmm, a reasonably worded piece putting forward a point of view without attacking the people who disagree. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT HUH AMIRITE?

I've set the timer to see how long this spirals into a shitflinging match.

 

[BayouStalker]

Perfectly written. I think people sometimes want diversity regardless of if it actually fits the plot, and simply adding a switch that goes PENIS/VAGINA does not really add much to a game unless the character themselves is different outside of a skin change. Now, I want to see you and Sterling have a Brit off with Gabe dressed as a card girl for the match.

 

[BayouStalker]

Haunting Ground had a female protagonist for story reasons, but I'm not sure where "3/4 of the people after her are (apparently) rapists" (the one that isn't is arguably even worse) puts it in the scheme of things. I wonder how Bayonetta would have been received if you could have been a man wearing a hair (and beard!) suit that falls off for the more powerful attacks.

I would love to have played a Bayonetto where a guy's clothing is actually his beard, and he becomes more and more nude the more he ramps up the damage.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Wasnt there an article recently, quoting a game developer that believed it is impossible to not sexualise female characters in video games? Beyond good and evil is a perfect example to slap him round the bonce with!

 

[Covarr]

A large part of what made Portal work is that both characters were women. Portal 2's fat jokes wouldn't have carried nearly the same weight[footnote]Ba-dum tish[/footnote] if Chell had been a dude, because guys are generally seen as not being as insecure about that sort of thing, regardless of the societal reasons for that. In The Walking Dead, Lee and Clementine both need their genders, because a father-daughter relationship is very different from any other parent-child gender combination.

Are there cases where the character's gender is unimportant enough that it's reasonable to let the player choose? Sure. And almost every time, the game's story and character development is worse for it.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Karadalis]

Wasnt there an article recently, quoting a game developer that believed it is impossible to not sexualise female characters in video games? Beyond good and evil is a perfect example to slap him round the bonce with!

Alot of people say alot of stupid things... and that doesnt go for the games industry only. Try to watch a hollywood block buster movie without somehow sexualiszed female characters... good luck finding them.

This piece was actually written very moderate and very diplomatic...


To bad that yathzees arguments have in the past also been decryed as mysoginistic propaganda.

At best this article will be ignored by the believers of the patriarchy and at worst they will try to scream him down just like they do with everyone else who doesnt share their view that there is a patriarchiumati at work in the games industry whose goal is to bring back the 1920s

 

[Falseprophet]

If your protagonist is generic cipher blank-slate FPS/RPG protagonist #378, then the purpose of the character is for the player to self-identify with them, or live out a vicarious power-fantasy through them. In these cases, the devs should really think about giving players diverse avatar options.

If the game is a story about a specific character, then it should be about that specific character, but then you have to make them a character, not a generic blank-slate cipher who happens to have a defined name and face.

My problems with the damsel-rescue plot are the same as my problems with the vengeance plot: between the two of them, they probably represent 90%+ of the motivations given to video game protagonists. I'm tired of it in other media as well, because it's lazy writing. Why is it so hard to come up with any other reason to motivate a protagonist? No one can fight evil and save the world just because it's the right thing to do anymore, they have to have a personal stake in things? I'm not a big fan of military shooters, but at least they sometimes have other motivations for their characters: duty, patriotism, professionalism, a paycheque, etc. What ever happened to characters who were just people caught up in things much bigger than they were? It worked for Hitchcock, and that guy was called the master of suspense.

 

[Netrigan]

RPGs, pretty much a given that you should.

As for other games, I think it comes down to the amount of scripting. If you're game doesn't have a ton in the way of story, then chances are you can do a gender swap and it won't upset the apple cart. If there's no depth to the character, then what's one more superficial element added to the mix. This is, of course, heavily reliant on the resources available. Time and expense is a factor in development and sometimes you have to accept this as a valid excuse.

But the more scripting, the more the lead character is an important cog in the grand machine, then no. Even if the character is by some chance completely gender neutral, at some points it's just much effort for something that superficial.

 

[Burnouts3s3]

Even Anita Sarkeesian thinks this is true.

https://twitter.com/femfreq/statuses/500785983663529985

Simply swapping a woman into the shell of what is ostensibly another violent sexist dude character, does not a good representation make.

I'm wonder what a good middle ground for female representation is.

 

[RA92]

A large part of what made Portal work is that both characters were women. Portal 2's fat jokes wouldn't have carried nearly the same weight if Chell had been a dude, because guys are generally seen as not being as insecure about that sort of thing, regardless of the societal reasons for that.

That's actually a really good point, and I'm surprised it didn't occur to me while reading the article. Portal wouldn't have been nearly as fun without GLaDOS' misunderstanding of everything that's human - from the juvenile fat jokes to the fallacy of assuming people could grow attached to anything [http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120621162616/half-life/en/images/3/30/Companion_Cube_p2.png] given she provides the narrative.

 

[Grach]

Holy shit! Yahtzee just wrote an entire article on what I've been saying ever since this shitstorm was concieved? I'm flattered.

Seriously, what's the point of bringing out the issue of gender if it isn't even an issue in the game? I frankly don't see the practical difference between, say, a male, female or trans boss in Saints Row (the characters don't even notice if you change sex in the middle of the game). Like Covarr says, gender can improve a game and bring out interesting dynamics, but putting it in the spotlight is not necessary (in-game or otherwise).

A large part of what made Portal work is that both characters were women. Portal 2's fat jokes wouldn't have carried nearly the same weight if Chell had been a dude

I don't know. I found the fat jokes to be funny because it was GLaDOS trying to insult me[footnote]I projected myself quite easely into Chell, since she's a mute protagonist.[/footnote] in whatever form she could, kinda like the orphan jokes.

 

[Delock]

I always find it important to point out the fact that society is technically an impermanent construct, and that context within a moment is just as important as what's occurring in the actual moment.

So in the cases where a protagonist is there as a vessel for the action rather than a character, as with most games where you can choose gender, this option allows for the vessel to fit the player, and thus is important from the perspective that focuses on the player (yes, by this logic, Aiden from Watch Dogs could probably have been a woman as well considering the writing of that game).

Funnily enough, this doesn't mean "I want to play as someone who looks like me" but rather actually creates a nice idea that choosing gender impacts your experience no matter the choice. For example, I've been picking female a lot recently simply because I want the disconnect that comes with that so I can consider my avatar a separate character rather than a vessel. I choose to have the vessel not fit me so I can sit back and go "Now, I know what I want to say here, but what would my Warden do here?" or "I wouldn't have put that gun down in the cutscene, but clearly this person isn't me"

I'll also agree that the gender roles being played out aren't inherently pro or against any gender but rather repetition of tropes that take on meaning through our interpretations, but remaining on subject I'd say that this choice is something that is important less for "adding diversity" but more for impacting player character interpretation, which often isn't thought about due to the fact that they are largely associated as just being an avatar or a static character.

If you are going to offer gender choice, it should be made with the understanding that this choice affects the type of immersion a player feels, and that it is a tool that should fit your game, and this means a bit more than just role-playing.

This is a complex subject that actually brings up a lot of good points about immersion and the interaction between gameplay and narrative that I wish I had a lot longer to hammer out. However, it's a good starting point for a discussion provided we go beyond just looking at it as a measure of equality.

 

[Rutskarn]

At best this article will be ignored by the believers of the patriarchy and at worst they will try to scream him down just like they do with everyone else who doesnt share their view that there is a patriarchiumati at work in the games industry whose goal is to bring back the 1920s

Want me to prove you wrong?

This article's a good sign, because it's not falling behind a standard--something easy to do when you're in the majority. It's putting forth clear arguments that a rational person would have. I know this, because these are arguments I myself put forth five or six years ago.

In the interim, what I've learned about context, patterns, and the perspective of people unlike me have lead me to conclude these arguments are misguided. I'd be happy to discuss that with him, but he (pretty wisely) doesn't make a habit of discussing things with internet strangers.

I'm seeing some real strawman representations of feminists in gaming lately. Sometimes I think it's easier for people to make parody copies of buzzwords they don't understand and have never tried to than it is to actually listen.

 

[Rutskarn]

I'm seeing some real strawman representations of feminists in gaming lately. Sometimes I think it's easier for people to make parody copies of buzzwords they don't understand and have never tried to than it is to actually listen.

What is a strawman representation of women?

"Feminists in gaming." Not "women." I never said "women." I'm a feminist in gaming, and I'm not a woman.

 

[clinicalPsychologist]

"Maybe the game developer just wants a character to be a generic cipher, so they make them a white male, because that's what they themselves are, and it's what generic means to them. To demand diversity for characters that are essentially blank placeholders is to put way more thought into it than the creator did."

Probably, but it's still BORING. So BORING. I can't even tell most game protagonists apart anymore. Where are our Marios and Sonics and I don't know. Now there is Watch Dogs "iconic cap". YAWN.