The Needles: Lose the Dude

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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The Needles: Lose the Dude

Why are lead characters in videogames almost always women?

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Shakura Jolithion

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Satire or not I think there is a lot to be said for the shallowness and meat-headedness of a lot of games... And a lot of the male leads *are* designed to be hunks and hotties. When I play online, I usually prefer the female avatars... I just want to get away from a lot of the machismo BS from reality. Granted I've played COD:MW2, and loved it, but that's because so many of the characters *weren't* simply super-badasses in super-armor with super-steroids and other unrealistic garbage.

Satire or not, I think the game industry should push for more creative ideas with regards to what genders and what characters they make. Having big bulky space marine(esque) guys in Gears of War 2 have a few emotional moments doesn't drown out the fact that they're big bulky space marine(esque) abominations that look rediculous...
 

Allandaros

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"They want to say yes, I am trying to solve my mentor's murder and save the world from a diabolical plot by uncovering the ancient and magical treasure of Ra, and I'm doing it with testicles! My hint meter is full, my chromosome is X and by God, I will not rest until my Big Fish Game Club card is full!"

Well...one of them certainly is. But the women gamers have two of those :p
 

Matt_LRR

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Andy Chalk said:
The Needles: Lose the Dude

Why are lead characters in videogames almost always women?

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Protip: men are identified by the Y sex chromosome (in conjunction with a single x), women have a pair of Xs.

-m
 

josh797

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Tenmar said:
Okay I get that you wrote this to turn the discussion on it's head of lead characters and the video game industry but I gotta admit I miss the point at the very end.

Are you simply proving that despite what women object to women have been a huge part of gaming from the beginning?

or

Because the video game industry is so big now and has been male driven that we now acknowledge that women have been pigeon-holed into a niche(a big niche) and a stereotype that prevents women gaming from bearing fruit due to all the false perception of sexism in video games by having mainstream media be outraged at the intentional controversial titles as proof?

Someone wanna help a guy out here? I loved the writing and the intention but the point eludes me.
im with you tenmar, good writing, good satire, but i fail to see the thesis of the article. what are you trying to say with it?
 

Jared

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Jul 14, 2009
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Its not something I have noticed alot, but...I dont think they are the main characters. Certainly not in alot of the games I am playing (Gender choice aside)

Though, I dont think female leads are bad, I think we can relate to them just as much as we do male characters...as, they often seem to show male characteristics
 

Bulit523

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Satire or not, I have to agree with other posts...what is your point?

I find that both male and female characters are the typical Hollywood stereotypes...males are muscled hunks...females are "hotties".

I don't care if my protagonist is a man or a woman, as long as I get a good game. Really, what more can we ask?
 

CitySquirrel

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That really felt like it switches messages half way through. Are you mocking women who want to be included? Or are you mocking people who don't think it matters?
 

gigamesh

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I think everyone is missing the point, in the fact that there isn't a point. It's just a really funny article, which isn't necessarily trying to mock anybody or convey a message. It's just FUNNY. Remember that?
 

felixader

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Instead of speculationg i will do the thing:

Dear Mr. Chalke,

this was a really interesting and mindbending article and for a moment i was confused if i was reading a BizzarroWorld Article, if you were serious (where my confusion would be justified cause i don't look into sozialGames very much or at all) or if it where something different alltogether.
It would be nice if you could clearify my confusion.

Sincerely, your reader,

Felixader
 

maxben

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I believe the message is that video game companies create characters and settings for what they think their core demographic is.
Where shooters are almost always guys, puzzles tend to be female characters (think Portal).
This stereotyping is wrong on a lot of levels and I would love to see more change.
Bring me more female action stars (female Sheppard should have been the lead rather than male Sheppard), and I wouldn't mind more puzzle games being played by an Indiana Jones-type character.
 

Thorvan

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felixader said:
Instead of speculationg i will do the thing:

Dear Mr. Chalke,

this was a really interesting and mindbending article and for a moment i was confused if i was reading a BizzarroWorld Article, if you were serious (where my confusion would be justified cause i don't look into sozialGames very much or at all) or if it where something different alltogether.
It would be nice if you could clearify my confusion.

Sincerely, your reader,

Felixader
Yeah, I was laughing at the apparent sarcasm until paragraph seven, at which point I got really, really confused.
 

RelexCryo

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Andy Chalk said:
The Needles: Lose the Dude

Why are lead characters in videogames almost always women?

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You said "my chromosome is X." While technically true, I think you meant "My chromosome is Y."