According to actual industry demographic surveys, anywhere from 30 to 40% of the gaming population is female. Here's one from 2010:
http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_Essential_Facts_2010.PDF
No, that's not including casual games-- toss those into the mix and men become the minority. Are women playing games where you get to shoot and/or stab things? Yeah, a lot of them do. I play with them all the time in L4D (and for whatever reason, both of my regular Warhammer co-opers are women).
I don't think they're quite at that 40% mark, but game companies are starting to take notice. And it doesn't take much in the way of "concessions" to get women to buy and like those games. Dragon Age is a good example (for all the big breasted women) Look on the Bioware/DragonAge forums and read the Alistair gush thread. Estrogen flowing like Niagra there, I tell ya.
I personally would like to see a game where a female character has to act like the stereotype of women in games, and then as you get to know her the layers are slowly peeled back to reveal that she acts that way because it's the only way to make it in the man's world she operates in.
I know this won't be true for some, maybe a lot, of women, but I know some female mathematicians, scientists and engineers or mechanics, who seem to fall into three distinct categories.
1. They become sexless. Usually the scientists and mathematicians. They wear deliberately indistinct clothes, make no effort to clean up their appearance even as much as their male counterparts, and act as if they have no personality beyond that of their field. Usually they relax a little when outside the influence of their peers, but even then there's always a hint of guardedness, as if they can't quite be fully female or they won't be recognised as significant in their fields.
2. They become tomboys. Usually the mechanics and engineers, but a couple of the mathematicians I know as well. They start deliberately conforming to male stereotypes. They act crudely, talking about sex and men in the demeaning ways men would talk about them, they swear, they spit, they work out at the gym and have perpetually grease stained clothes. They wouldn't act feminine if their lives depended on it.
3. They become parodies of feminitity, applies to all. Some of the women I know in the above fields become absolute parodies of their gender to the point of being like a videogame character. They dress provocatively, make everything sound like it's dirty, do themselves up with makeup routines that must take hours.
And of course, when you really get to know them, all of the above three suddenly become people, and you realise that with very few exceptions they have adapted their personalities to fit into a male dominated field, just the same way that a lot of the men on my course (Creative Writing and English) have adopted feminine mannerisms to fit in with the 70-80% female cohort. Including me of course. I know I've started doing things I might not normally do because it helps you fit in with a predominantly female group.
That would be interesting to see. We find out that Samus Aran has deliberately made herself genderless in order to fit in, when really she'd like to wear something other than a suit of armour every once in a while, but doesn't feel she can because no one would take her seriously. Lara Croft actually slobs out in a baggy hoody and sweatpants at home, but knows that she has to dress up all sexy because then at least people will pay attention to her.
Worked right this could also be a jab at the player, sort of 'these women weren't just acting like this for the others in their field, they were acting like this for you.' Bring in that element that the player is part of the reason these women have been so constrained into their respective roles, which as far as I can see basically fit into the above three categories I've picked out of real life women-in-male-dominated-fields.
Just to clarify
1. Sexless: Samus Aran. Wears a deliberately concealing suit of armour. Doesn't talk so her female voice can't be heard, acts with utter professionalism and never gives anything anyway. (Ignoring Other M)
2. Tomboy: Pretty much any badass marine chick in any war game ever. Self explanatory. Any woman in a game who acts like Vasquez from Aliens
3. Parodies of feminine attributes: The one, the only, Lara Croft. Again pretty self-explanatory. And my idea about her lounging around in a hoody is one I would love to see so badly. Just for once, take her out of her skin tight clothes and show her lounging around eating cold pizza or something.
Maybe it's not a game, but I've always seen the character of Kaylee from Firefly as a good example. She's a mechanic and knows everything there is to know about ship engines and doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, but can also get excited by wearing a huge yellow(?) dress.
Ill admit im abit of a Mass Effect fan but I still think the general resentment some have for Miranda is abit mislead. Shes so sexualised because she was DESIGNED to use sexuality as a weapon. I know that theres not much excuse for the "angle" shots, e.g above pic, as sexual fanservice is not Mass Effects style when it comes to normal camera shots, like for instance Bayonetta, although you could proberly argue it helps emphasise an over lying aspect of her character but now im starting to sound like a twat and its not like I care really, im a Tali man.
I agree, this constant parade of--to paraphrase Yahtzee--shaved bear protagonists needs to stop. When I can play as a competent, well-spoken 5' 2" woman whose father was a Polish Jew and whose mother was a Malaysian Muslim, then I will be satisfied. DEVELOPERS, MAKE IT HAPPEN.
According to actual industry demographic surveys, anywhere from 30 to 40% of the gaming population is female. Here's one from 2010:
http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_Essential_Facts_2010.PDF
PC == Player Character
NPC == Non-player Character
PC is an erroneous term but I defined it in terms of game development so I figured the term would be taken in that context but I guess not. Also, protagonist is not the best term to use because player characters are some times not the protagonist.
Yeah, I'm not familiar with anyone ever using "PC" for player character, nor have I ever used it myself (and yes, I've played PnP RPGs for years). I couldn't for the life of me figure out what you were saying, but I knew you couldn't be talking about your computer.
According to actual industry demographic surveys, anywhere from 30 to 40% of the gaming population is female. Here's one from 2010:
http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_Essential_Facts_2010.PDF
It's not the only study, just one that I thought was presented accessibly. I you're curious about the subject, just google "gaming demographics". Lowest estimate I've seen was 26% of console gamers (women generally don't buy consoles, other than the Wii). The guys who are betting millions of dollars on the next release are using this data, and data from studies with similar conclusions. Feel free to disbelieve, but even if all those research firms are wrong, in a sense it's not important; the companies believe in those numbers are responding what they perceive as a growing female demographic.
The combat themed games are still fairly male dominated, but not entirely. Blizzard estimates that 40% (that number again!) of its WoW players are women, for example. Do the social aspects of MMOs make them more popular with the XX chromosone set? Don't ask me, I'm a guy. Lots of women around we could ask, though. And the smarter companies are starting to ask those kinds of questions.
I can't disagree with this article. It's obnoxious when you play game after game and never get to see or play as your own gender - it's even worse when you're given the option to play as a female but are penalized for doing so (eg: can't enter the Arena in Fallout: New Vegas if your character is female).
And honestly, it's insulting to males to say that they need to play as white males in order to project onto or connect with the character. I'm a shy 5'2, 19-year-old blond girl, aka, the antithesis of "manly" - if I can connect with John Marston as a character then male gamers can connect with female game protagonists.
"...hungry for an experience that let them behave in a heroic way without requiring them to change genders. And if they did have to play as a man, they would at least prefer to not be humiliated by having the female support character be a useless doormat while all of the heroics and witty one-liners go to the man."
As A Female Gamer I can totally Relate to this Article! I don't really Mind playing a Game as a guy (though it would be nice to have a strong leading lady once in a while) its usually the support characters that really annoy me... They're usually the type of females who need protecting or rescuing at every turn or act like complete girly Stereotypes! :/
So you're saying that real women tend to make you either angry and/or bored? That's what I'm getting out of this. I'd love some clarification on this one thnx.
As A Female Gamer I can totally Relate to this Article! I don't really Mind playing a Game as a guy (though it would be nice to have a strong leading lady once in a while) its usually the support characters that really annoy me...
Can someone tell me why relating to a character is important? Is this some kind of projection thing that my 2D limited vision can't perceive? Am I missing something by just wanting to watch the plot unfold and the characters interact in between killing shit?
As A Female Gamer I can totally Relate to this Article! I don't really Mind playing a Game as a guy (though it would be nice to have a strong leading lady once in a while) its usually the support characters that really annoy me...
Can someone tell me why relating to a character is important? Is this some kind of projection thing that my 2D limited vision can't perceive? Am I missing something by just wanting to watch the plot unfold and the characters interact in between killing shit?
Being able to invest yourself emotionally in the character so that you're actually interested in what happens to them in necessary for a good game. Being able to project yourself onto the character or see yourself in them isn't quite as important. Honestly, the average human being doesn't make for a very interesting character, so to limit yourself to characters that reflect the average demographic for your game (18-35 white males) greatly restricts the possibility for depth in your game.
Unfortunately, game companies don't seem to understand this.
PC == Player Character
NPC == Non-player Character
PC is an erroneous term but I defined it in terms of game development so I figured the term would be taken in that context but I guess not. Also, protagonist is not the best term to use because player characters are some times not the protagonist.
Yeah, I'm not familiar with anyone ever using "PC" for player character, nor have I ever used it myself (and yes, I've played PnP RPGs for years). I couldn't for the life of me figure out what you were saying, but I knew you couldn't be talking about your computer.
Really? I hear it all the time when I'm around the PnP crowd, I used to play a bit too. It's yours it a character so its a player character. What else would you call them?
Being able to invest yourself emotionally in the character so that you're actually interested in what happens to them in necessary for a good game. Being able to project yourself onto the character or see yourself in them isn't quite as important. Honestly, the average human being doesn't make for a very interesting character, so to limit yourself to characters that reflect the average demographic for your game (18-35 white males) greatly restricts the possibility for depth in your game.
Unfortunately, game companies don't seem to understand this.
I dislike that term. To clarify, are you saying connecting or relating?
If it's the latter, Michelle Orange [http://therumpus.net/2010/10/and-this-is-word-for-word-the-theory-of-relatability-and-rethinking-justin-long%E2%80%99s-face/] had a good piece on it.
If it's the former, Michelle Orange [http://therumpus.net/2010/10/and-this-is-word-for-word-the-theory-of-relatability-and-rethinking-justin-long%E2%80%99s-face/] still has a good piece on relatability.
The emotional investment is fine, but the differentiation must be clear between investing and relating.
Characters as agents of the plot versus characters that are interesting in themselves.
I listened to the PAX Panel on Female Characters and was immensely disappointed in what the panelists had to say. They don?t mind if ?she? is sexy, but at the least they want ?her? to be interesting. As the gold-standard, they prop up Ripley and The Boss. Those characters need no introduction.
I define depth by the number of simple sentences required to adequately describe that character. Personally, I hold Kreia to be the greatest female character of all time. Observe:
She hates the Force.
She uses the Force, willingly.
She loves the Exile, protectively.
She is selfless.
She wants Force-users to die.
That fourth line might even exist as an extension of the third line. But you see where I?m going: I?m not writing Kreia?s biography, I?m just giving the facts about her, so anyone coming across her has the key bullet-points. Let?s do Ripley:
Acts to protect her surrogate child.
Ok. I equate depth with the number of simple sentences it takes to adequately describe that character. It is hard for me to have patience for characters that are extremely likable, but fundamentally shallow. And then I happened to read an article about simple characters becoming the most popular (ie Chuck Norris) because the audience is able to get a handle on them much quicker. The point that author was making, is that the sooner the audience can understand a character, ?oh they have that schtick, that?s cool, I like them? then popularity will occur.
So do we like Ripley because her struggles are interesting, or because James Cameron is really good at creating tension, with exciting music, a bad-ass villain, and then it just so happens that Sigourney Weaver was the star?
Another character, brought up during the Q&A, was Sylvanas from WoW. She needs no explanation ? a long time ago Blizzard stopped treating her like a character and regulated her to an instrument of the plot. A long time ago, she stopped making decisions for herself, and now she just does whatever the Blizzard devs need from her. That?s all. Think about it: when was the last time you ever heard of Thrall or Garrosh consulting her opinion? She?s a bit player in a wider drama that only peripherally concerns her ? the wider drama only peripherally concerns her because she doesn?t matter. If Blizzard could drop her entirely to cut down on the exploding cast size, they would. But she has a following, and it costs Blizzard nothing to keep her hanging around, so they?ve kept her.
And this is the point I?m trying to make: if you want female characters that are relevant, that don?t just have a schtick, and they don?t only exist as part of a plot that doesn?t really concern them, then start writing and stop complaining.
Kreia has a radical position that you wouldn?t expect from someone of her profession: a Jedi that hates the Force? That?s interesting? tell me more. I want to know more about her. What?s her agenda, and what does she plan to do about it? She?s also an Enchani, and believes that through combat, a people find themselves or find themselves lacking? Ooh, that?s a complex idea. I wonder if her plan will involve testing Force-users in combat, to see if their Force powers will allow them to survive. Maybe she thinks that if a Force-user dies in combat, they weren?t worthy to use the Force in the first place. But that sounds like a Sith idea. Wait, she also used to be a Sith Lord? Oh wow, so that means that at some point, she fell to the Dark Side? You mean she was always like this, and during her time with the Jedi Order, her colleagues suspected her of deviant tendencies? because her apprentices always turned Dark Side. So then that makes it sound like her personal politics were tainting her work. Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What does it take to write an interesting female character? The same things it takes to write an interesting male character. If you?re disappointed with the lack of ripe fruit, then don?t despair: this is hard to do, and the artists and writers who can do it aren?t in command of the ship. RPGs are a niched genre. Bioware is attempting to expand that niche by bastardizing their RPGs into action-schlops. I?m sure many of you observed how similar Mass Effect 2 played like a sequel to Gears of War.
So here?s my advice: if you want a story, with real characters, read a book. If you want fun gameplay, play a game. Game developers only create as deep a story as they need to facilitate gameplay, and they often fail at that simple task. If you think you could do better ? then guess what, I think I could too.
Edit: You know what annoyed me the most about Mass Effect 2? Liara becoming a stupid run-of-the-mill action girl. Her transition from archaeologist and intellectual into Cold War-era spy was so forced, so out-of-character, so stupid, and then she had her own DLC, which just reinforced my own negative opinion on her change.
If you were provided the list of female characters from ME1, and told that ONE of them would be an action hero in the second game, which of them would be most likely? Well, Ashley's already a war-hero, so the change wouldn't be a surprise. Tali would be a cool action-girl. But definitely not Liara, she just doesn't have it in her.
This may be splitting hairs, but, as I seem to be pointing out a lot recently, games that pander to women do, in fact, exist (and are almost all made in Japan). They just don't take the form that you, are perhaps even a Western audience in general, seem to expect. What I mean is, there are actually quite a few games (Sengoku Basara is probably the best example, as its director has actually admitted as much in interviews) which pander to women not by creating more or stronger female characters for them to identify with, but by giving them a bunch attractive men in revealing outfits to drool over. The English language audience can be easily excused for forgetting this because a lot of these games don't leave Japan. I wouldn't necessarily call it a step in the right direction, but if nothing else it proves some portion of the industry is aware they have a female market to sell to and it technically is a move towards equality.
"...BioWare gets points for letting us choose the appearance and gender of our protagonist in Dragon Age and Mass Effect, but then they lose those points by making the default box-cover characters a couple of generic white dudes. If nothing else, it would make sense to try and make a dude that didn't look like all the other box-cover dudes on the shelf."
My three Shepherds so far have been two lady people and a male I made to explore other romance options, and tried to make look like Temuera Morrison [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temuera_Morrison] because Commander Shepherd is in my personal pantheon of favourite sci-fi characters, alongside Jango Fett and others, and deserves to look more awesome than the box art guy. My DA:O character is of the lady persuasion too, as was my KOTOR character, my Saints Row 2 character and most of the MMO characters I've ever made. And yes, I'm a white, early 20s, middle-class male.
Obviously there are a range of factors that go into why I choose to play more often as a female when I get that choice in games. I'm not going to deny that on some level there is a degree of sexualisation, on the level that, since the examples I've listed are actually all third person games, I'd rather be watching a female behind than a man's.
But at the same time, there is also a sense that I'm bucking the trend, whether intentionally or not, which gives me something of a positive buzz. For example, there are the Bioware stats [http://www.destructoid.com/mass-effect-2-player-choice-statistics-are-surprising-188362.phtml] that show that only 18-20% of Commander Shepherds in Mass Effect 2 were female, which makes me sad because Jennifer Hale's FemShep is the superior vocal performance in my opinion and that of others, and apparently many many people are missing out on it.
And while there are some great female characters, and plenty of women in your gang and the rival ones, murderising hordes of civilians, police officers and other gangsters in quite vicious ways in Saints Row 2 was, I think, more satisfying as a petite, purple haired girl with glasses than it would've been as the beefy standard male protagonist you sometimes see in the game's loading screens. Defying expectations and stereotypes is fun.
Shamus, you are a wonderful man, and I would willingly do your taxes for you.
And it's a sad measure of how frustratingly sexist the gaming world can be when a guy grasping the basic foundations of "Games are only making one heroic-type and it really is NOT one-size-fits-all" seems like a shining and miraculous beacon of light in the darkness.
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