Capcom Addresses Deep Down Sexism Controversy

[T_ConX]

So what do you guys think? Is it "sexist" to not include a female playable character because of the game's plot?

I don't know. Is it "sexist" to not include a male playable character because of the game's plot?

"Gee, I really wanted to play Mirrors Edge, but the lack of any male playable characters makes me feel excluded..."

"San Andreas is getting pretty good reviews... But I just don't feel I could become engrossed in a game where I have to play as an African-American!"

"Mainichi seems like an interesting game, but I'm forced to play as transwoman. Why can't I play as a normal dude? Because of the plot, apparently. Don?t let this answer satisfy you. Mattie Brice wrote the plot. There?s no reason why he had to write a plot that excluded male characters."

All of these statements are only a tenth as fucking ridiculous as Brenna Hilliers joke of an opinion piece.

 

[wulf3n]

I think Dragons crown is a much bigger offender of sexism than this and people gloss over Dragons crown sexism like it's nothing.

Really you think Dragons Crown was "glossed over". It's harder to find articles about Dragons Crown that don't contain a discussion on it's "sexism" than Bigfoot.

If that's what you consider glossed over I'd hate to see what you consider to be a full blown outrage.

 

[Arawn]

Sexism exists, I'm not going to deny it. But is God of War sexist? I mean you only play as Kratos. What about Devil May Cry (pre-revamp)? Dante is the main character throughout (I think we all skipped DMC2 with good reason) Is inFamous sexist since you only play as Cole? BioShock? Mega-man? Assassin's Creed? Dishonored? Again I admit sexism exists, but to some these are sexist due to lack of choice. I LOVE customizing my character, but when it has no effect I feel like I've wasted my time. Being male or female can change a story. In Dragon Age: Origins being a male or female city elf changes how the sequence plays out. Being male your bride is stolen from you and you go to rescue her, being female you are said bride and you free yourself. I liked that. I was a kick arse wife Is it possible the lack of choice means they don't want to alter the story? Right now don't know enough to say anything, but it does sound interesting atm.

 

[Mave]

Well this sucks, there's no fan service? I'm not playing this and not spending a penny if its a sausage fest! I want female characters with skimpy outfits and I want em now!

 

[Erttheking]

You know, I think a lot of people are missing that this is a communication screw up. The critics were under the impression that there would be a cast of twelve characters, all men, not just one main man. I wouldn't call that sexist, but you've got to see how some people would be irritated by a cast that big being a sausage fest. Also I think we could afford to stop with the massive generalization.

 

[omega 616]

I think Dragons crown is a much bigger offender of sexism than this and people gloss over Dragons crown sexism like it's nothing.

Really you think Dragons Crown was "glossed over". It's harder to find articles about Dragons Crown that don't contain a discussion on it's "sexism" than Bigfoot.

If that's what you consider glossed over I'd hate to see what you consider to be a full blown outrage.

I meant more people who play the game, as opposed to those who just talk about it.

I know, I did an awful job of getting that message across but I did it in a bit of a rush.

I've seen plenty of articles about the sexism of the game, I just kind of brain farted.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Eh, part of the reason I like playing Warframe (on the PS4) is that there is a pretty even mix between male and female classes. Hearing that this game is a sausage fest, doesn't make my hand leap towards the download button. Personal opinions and all that.

With that said, this coming from Japan where 'plot reasons' can be; "all women wear skirts and cant climb properly in skirts" (paraphrasing the Last Gurdians creator there), I can easily geuss that the reason will be a load of bullshit.

Then again, whateves, if it does super well for them, fair enough. But if it flops/underperforms I could give a point to get me interested.

I have to ask this but does that really affect your enjoyment of the game in any significant way. So if the greatest 3rd person shooter ever concieved by man kind comes out next week that has a brilliant story, excellent gameplay and fantastic multiplayer but all the character models are male, you would be like ''no I like warframe more because I can pick a female character models as well''. Really?

Strangely enough, yes. I'm weird like that like. But it's a personal preference.

 

[StormDragonZ]

My first thought was:

"No female playable characters? Then that means..."

- All women are the villains.
- Women are the superior power AKA queens and masters.
- He is the main lead because he is the LAST MAN ON EARTH!

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Doesn't sound sexist to me to have an all male cast. Heck, FF X-2 had an entirely female play-group and that struck me as more sexist than this (I said MORE, as in relative to being not at all sexist, so no one jump off your chair just yet, mkay?) just because they made all 3 girls (2 of which had been big on saving the world and being self-less last time we met them) into pretty pop stars and saddled you with all your abilities and strength coming from costume (read: barbie-dress-up) changes. /shrug

Of course, it doesn't look like a game I'll be buying or getting particularly excited about - not my genre, probably not going to be very relatable for me without at least some female element, we don't know much about the game to get very interested in, according to the article itself. I think it's a bit of a bad business call to potentially cut out customers by making the game all one gender (either gender), but if they feel strongly about their creative vision and feel that they will have enough players regardless of this decision - I'm sure they have plenty of market research to back that up - then that's entirely their call.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Eh, part of the reason I like playing Warframe (on the PS4) is that there is a pretty even mix between male and female classes. Hearing that this game is a sausage fest, doesn't make my hand leap towards the download button. Personal opinions and all that.

With that said, this coming from Japan where 'plot reasons' can be; "all women wear skirts and cant climb properly in skirts" (paraphrasing the Last Gurdians creator there), I can easily geuss that the reason will be a load of bullshit.

Then again, whateves, if it does super well for them, fair enough. But if it flops/underperforms I could give a point to get me interested.

I have to ask this but does that really affect your enjoyment of the game in any significant way. So if the greatest 3rd person shooter ever concieved by man kind comes out next week that has a brilliant story, excellent gameplay and fantastic multiplayer but all the character models are male, you would be like ''no I like warframe more because I can pick a female character models as well''. Really?

Actually, I'd probably pass on it. It wouldn't be the most brilliant story if I couldn't find a connection to it, and the gameplay would have to be beyond fantastic to overcome that for me, personally, because I'm most interested in a game's story before anything else. It's gotten harder and harder for me to justify the mental stretch involved in connecting to male characters now that female options have "spoiled" me on the easy tie-in of shared gender perspective (when they are reasonably well written or insertion-type).

 

[Lopende Paddo]

Yes its sexist and final fantasy 13-2 was also sexist, fuck it, EVERYTHING IS NOW SEXIST UNLESS IT CONTAINS A HERMAPHRODITE AS PROTAGONIST!

Can we now move on and play some games again?

 

[EvilRoy]

You know, I think a lot of people are missing that this is a communication screw up. The critics were under the impression that there would be a cast of twelve characters, all men, not just one main man. I wouldn't call that sexist, but you've got to see how some people would be irritated by a cast that big being a sausage fest. Also I think we could afford to stop with the massive generalization.

I don't know dude. I read through that column that was linked, and what I saw in there would be tough to justify if the game had a cast of 300 male 0 female and involved fighting women's suffrage.

It is a good example to keep in mind though. The reason why people outside certain circles cringe when they hear 'feminism', is because things like the linked column are all they ever see of it.

 

[Weaver]

If it's sexist then every game with a male protagonist is sexist.
Gematsu sounds like they're taking a page out of Kotaku's book: report now, ask questions later

 

[Busard]

Keep in mind, this is Capcom, who turned out to be the ONLY company willing to publish a game with a female lead that the developer fought to keep, "Remember Me". Short sighted this one, but sexist it is not. At least on the publishers part. Which I also ask, is Capcom developing this or just publishing? Because if they're also developing it and their answer is "story reasons" then my response is "Pah-hahahahahahahahaaaaa 'story' reasons".

A team in Capcom is making in it

And it doesn't matter if you think the reason is laughable or not. Game makers should be allowed to make the things they want without automatically getting into the little footnotes of the politically correct

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

Disappointing for female gamers maybe, but certainly not sexist. It's frankly really silly to say that something is sexist because of something that's not included

Agreed. If there were too few games with a female lead character, that's something that you could accuse of showing a male-oriented mindset (which the industry has justly been accused of before). But I don't think that's the case now, although male protagonists are still the majority.

Make the game that you want to make, and hopefully people will engage with it.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I guess gaming is different to movies. Movies have topless men showing whatever and its not an issue, as are women showing whatever. Games its women its looking sexy and men looking powerful. But i dont notice it or care, so id think a lot of ale gamers dont care so i dont think its an issue. I have a friend that never plays as a female in an rpg, but that can be taken as sexist or he just wants to play a game as a male. In the end its up to the developers.

 

[Britpoint]

Yeah, this is fine. I was pretty appalled when the news came out that there were no playable women, but I was under the impression there were a ton of playable characters or that there was character customisation.

If you only have a single protagonist, that's absolutely fine. Do I wish there were more games with females as the sole playable protagonist? God yes. But it would be totally unreasonable to slam one particular game for it.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Complete sexism for skullgirls not to feature any playable male characters, guys.

Actually, a new dlc char that is coming soon will be male I think.

 

[The Lunatic]

Complete sexism for skullgirls not to feature any playable male characters, guys.

Actually, a new dlc char that is coming soon will be male I think.

Missing the point.

For all we know, this game could have a female character as DLC later!

At release however, entirely female player list.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

If there had been indeed twelve characters to play as and not one of them was female, then yes, I think that might have been a bit of a problem. But one character? No. No problem. Not every game needs to give you the choice (although when given one, I play as a girl first) in your sex in order to be good.