Like many others, I don't think that it's preposterous to see a female in active combat. The ban is lifted now, and even before that, due to guerrilla warfare, they were often in firefights anyway. I think it's silly to say that it would be too off-putting for immersion reasons. I think it's off-putting for completely different reasons. I have some guy friends that would complain loudly while playing Left 4 Dead if they ended up playing as "the *****." She was somehow worse than the others even though all of them had exactly the same traits. I traded controllers with them. So, while I think the notion that playing as a female is unrealistic is totally incorrect, I also realize that there are many casual/CoD types that just don't like playing as women. They just don't.
Other than that sticking point, the OP is right. A video game is a really interesting medium in that there are many tools the creator(s) can use to tell a story. Yet somehow, much of the time, these stories are just awful and uninspired. I think many large developers haven't figured out how to combine the many tools like mechanics, level/environment design, visual/audio design, dialogue, degree of narrative control, the written word, and more to tell a great story.
One of the benefits of being a smaller/indie developer is that you can take one or two of these things and really focus on those to tell your story (e.g. Thomas Was Alone). Larger developers are expected to leverage all of it, and in sometimes in restrictive ways (e.g. visual design: many times the game has to look realistic with great textures, high resolution, and high fps). This difficulty combined with the huge cost of AAA development and investors' aversion to risk really contributes to our less-than-stellar releases. I think the movie industry has similar struggles, but from a layman's perspective, the problem seems more exacerbated in the video games industry.
I will say that working on the above issues doesn't mean we shouldn't also be inclusive with our protagonists. It's simply another tool, albeit a very important one. How can we expect to tell good stories about diverse characters without putting diverse characters in the game to begin with? I think it's an important step to be inclusive, but not the only step to be taken.
Other than that sticking point, the OP is right. A video game is a really interesting medium in that there are many tools the creator(s) can use to tell a story. Yet somehow, much of the time, these stories are just awful and uninspired. I think many large developers haven't figured out how to combine the many tools like mechanics, level/environment design, visual/audio design, dialogue, degree of narrative control, the written word, and more to tell a great story.
One of the benefits of being a smaller/indie developer is that you can take one or two of these things and really focus on those to tell your story (e.g. Thomas Was Alone). Larger developers are expected to leverage all of it, and in sometimes in restrictive ways (e.g. visual design: many times the game has to look realistic with great textures, high resolution, and high fps). This difficulty combined with the huge cost of AAA development and investors' aversion to risk really contributes to our less-than-stellar releases. I think the movie industry has similar struggles, but from a layman's perspective, the problem seems more exacerbated in the video games industry.
I will say that working on the above issues doesn't mean we shouldn't also be inclusive with our protagonists. It's simply another tool, albeit a very important one. How can we expect to tell good stories about diverse characters without putting diverse characters in the game to begin with? I think it's an important step to be inclusive, but not the only step to be taken.
