Something I haven't given a lot of thought to until just now:
Within the first year of its release, the XBOX 360 had Bullet Witch, Dead or Alive Extreme 2 and Rumble Roses XX on the console. Perfect Dark Zero was a launch title and the promo art was of the heroine in a skin-tight latex onesie with the zipper halfway down her chest. It was a "different time" and blah-blah, but the closest equivalent today would be Lara Crost in a fluffy parka.
Not quite the same thing, no, but I also have absolutely no clue what the heck the Gears of War 5 promo art is selling me; I don't even care for the franchise, but when I see the promo materials, all I see a pack of skinny multicultural hipsters in ill-fitting cosplay and no chainsaw bayonettes in sight. Not sure who the art style is actually reaching for, but I can't imagine it's anyone who was actually interested in the prior 4 games of meat-headed bovine mutants drenched in head to toe in monochrome splatter.
Microsoft seems to have "Grown Up" away from the absurd fetishism, satire and... y'know, fun, that defined video games until the 360 changed the trajectory of the niche into a massive industry focused on first person shooters and bad behavior simulators as the norm. This isn't a complaint, really - just an observation that they're courting an audience that turns their noses up at the sort of games that accompanied the launch of their previous console a decade ago. Hell, even Cortana's been re-designed for the latest Halo game to downplay literal hologram pseudo-nudity. Not because it makes sense to the lore or even the design aesthetic, but because they want to sell her as the next Siri and toning down the not-really-naked aspect makes that an easier sell to people who don't know (or care) what Halo is.
Meanwhile, Sony has had little problem publishing Drakengard 3, Senran Kagura, and (at least in Japan) Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 on its platform. While Nintendo's track record with localized titles has been an absolute mess lately, they were still solely responsible for the uncut release of Bayonetta 2, complete with a panty-flashing miniskirt Princess Peach outfit included in the re-release of the original game. Part of this is Xbox having seemingly given up trying to garner any Japanese support whatsoever, but none of their in-house games are ridiculous as anything else I mentioned earlier.
Microsoft hosting a luncheon to talk about Women in Game Development the same day as the after party with themed go-go dancers smacks of... hypocrisy, if nothing else. Tone deafness, maybe? When you're going out of your way to talk about welcoming environments and how the industry isn't a "Boy's Club" and all that, yeah, that probably not the time for sexy schoolgirls the same way that pole dancing is generally frowned upon at a funeral. Context is key, and this... well, it's more complicated than people just being outraged over a sexy billboard or whatever it is I usually see trotted out at times like this.
Now, whether or not dancing girls are "appropriate" for a corporate function depends on where the event was hosted, who was set to be in attendance, and so on; I have no personal, moral, or professional issue with this. I work in a very casual corporate environment, and I know those above me have gone to similar shows where the "Networking" was code words for "All The Alcohol I Can Stomach". Were there go-go dancers? Dunno. Didn't think to ask.
(FWIW: Male Dancers are fine, too. The problem is, to paraphrase someone who ran an "Aerial Dancing" company interviewed for some Travel Channel show I can't remember the specifics on, most straight women are fairly comfortable with - or if not, simply ignore - dancing women. Most straight men WILL complain or get angry/leave the party when surrounded dancing men. This is likely a pretty common issue with those who organize live entertainment, to the point where they likely only suggest male dancers on request or for bridal/LGBT themed events - but never having rented go-go dancers, hey, it's just a guess.)
Regardless, Microsoft/Xbox has shown what their "core values" are by the very products they publish. They don't like sexy. They don't like extreme. They don't like loud, caustic, over the top fun, and could certainly care less about cosplayers when they spent the majority of the Xbox One's launch pushing Kinect 2 and then... not pushing much else but the same AAA annual seat-fillers available on the competition's boxes. That's fine, I guess. That's probably why I haven't been interested in an Xbox One exclusive since Sunset Overdrive. The more time passes, the happier I am to have a PC and a Wii-U/3DS and, occasionally, wish I could justify a Vita... *Shrug*
Xbox's only exclusives are going to Windows 10, and they're enabling shared servers with their competition. PS4 has outsold the XB1 at over 2:1. Their brand is crumbling before our very eyes, and would apologize to anyone if they thought it'd prevent one more bridge from bursting into flame. Unfortunately, sex positivity doesn't get headlines in the gutter that is the "nerd press"; posting screenshots of people whinging on twitter and posting the saucy photos with faces blurred out do. It's sad, more than anything.
Liana, I'm... struggling to see the connection between what you do and what transpired here. Some people are upset about the idea of Microsoft hiring dancing girls at a "corporate" event (I'm not), and others are rolling their eyes at the lip-service they pay to FEMALE FRIENDLY INCLUSIVE INITIATIVE!! while hosting parties full of sexy dancing girls (I am). The former - for better or worse - is, in the public eye at least, largely composed of the sort of people who tend to dislike the latter. I won't get into Second v Third Wave here, I've said enough, but the fact that Liana represents the minority opinion on this matter - even here - is... interesting.
All the same, you wrote an honest, passionate piece, ultimately about how pandering to "women" as a monolith is pretty much useless, as well as the baggage that trying to protect one type of person may carry to another type - suggesting that 'inclusive' is simply not as simple as "be less sexy" as so many people seem to assume. I may not agree with every dotted line that you made to get there, but at least you didn't take screenshots for 5 minutes and call it a day like a few other gutter-trash level articles on this whole affair I've read have done.
I'll take passion I don't fully agree with over apathy I do any day.
