Do you think that the reason females aren't main characters in violent games is because...

[pulse2]

Perfect dark .
Dino crisis
Parasite eve
Mirrors edge
Final fantasy x-2
final fantasy xiii
Final fantasy 6 ( debatable)
Xenosaga (debatable)
Kingdom hearts (joke )
Metroid
Velvet assassin
Portal ( i think)

And im sure there are many more

Oh you mean war games with manly men with muscles bigger than their heads . Yeah although there are women that go to war , it's a tiny percentage . So having a female main character in CoD is boarderline unrealistic , plus i don't want to relive metroid other M ever again.

Perfect reply, I would have mentioned these games as an example of where developers have tried to do something different, at the same time moving away from the cliche and stereotype that women and too fragile for violence. Like you said, take Metroid, of anything, people hated the fact that they gave her too much personality in the latest game, it made her seem weak, while in previous games she came across as deadly, silent and focused on her mission, unaware of the feelings of fear.

In fact, I tend to think that Japan (despite how much we call them backwards developers) give women quite a lot of empowerment. I can think of hundreds of powerful gaming, anime and cartoon characters that I genuinely liked from Japan, for example, at the top of my favourites, the "Major Motoko" in Ghost in a Shell who is just hands down badass. In fact, I see her as symbolic in a way because her strength seemed realistic for a woman at the same time, she showed typical female emotion, proving that she wasn't some kind of unnatural female robot fighting and killing for the sake of it.

Now, giving her a game anything like MGS, I would enjoy that, probably more so then I would Gears of war. Not because she is female, but because she has more reason for what she is doing and seems a bit more human and realistic to me. Not to mention the fact the plot would be quite superb if its anything like the series.

 

[Podman]

No, it's because males identify themselves more easily with other males. Gaming being predominantly a male "thing", developers cater more to them. I doubt any developer have ever said to themselves "We won't make a woman a main character in this WWII game just because women need to stay in the kitchen".

That may be true, in that this is what the developers think, but it is not true that males can only identify with male characters. A lot of the time, games are used to experience different circumstances that don't exist in a player's everyday life. Gender , although very meaningful , is a circumstance. For example, I found that playing FF X-2 had a fun kind of strangeness to it, despite the fact that it is actually a pretty bad game.

 

[Tentickles]

Because violent video games are written by men 98% of the time and a dude writing a female character either turns out really cheesey, big breasted idiot, dependent on lead male character... catch my drift?

Look at The Other M -.-;;;;

 

[pulse2]

dead space? while main character is male there are female necromorphs Nicole is dead Kendra gets smeared all over the place by the hive mind ***** deserved it too.

in the 2nd game Ellie gets an eye torn out daina is spaced/shot.

in dead space extraction Catherine Howell murdered/allowed to die.

the cartoons have major if not main female characters that either get spaced or lobotomised. among lesser character who kill themselves/get killed.

and many random victims.

I think you used a bad example of games to prove your point heh.

Yes, but rarely do you see it as graphically as you see the males, and those dead are already dead, not NOW being killed. I don't think its as bad an example as you might think it is, I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise, I've played all of them. :/ If anything, Capcom has more female morbid death, in Resident Evil Shiva could die in pretty much all the same ways Chris the main character could. Its examples like this I'm using as a benchmark.

 

[Something Amyss]

It may be more than "It's a male-dominated market," But that's a large part. Possibly the vast majority of it. Guys want to play as guys, for the most part.

 

[Saltyk]

Perfect dark .
Dino crisis
Parasite eve
Mirrors edge
Final fantasy x-2
final fantasy xiii
Final fantasy 6 ( debatable)
Xenosaga (debatable)
Kingdom hearts (joke )
Metroid
Velvet assassin
Portal ( i think)

And im sure there are many more

Oh you mean war games with manly men with muscles bigger than their heads . Yeah although there are women that go to war , it's a tiny percentage . So having a female main character in CoD is boarderline unrealistic , plus i don't want to relive metroid other M ever again.

Is that a Noa avatar? Sorry, it's off topic, but you rarely see anyone that even seems aware that game even existed. And it's such a same.

Probably could have included Legend of Legaia in that list. Noa may not have been smart (she was raised by a wolf in a cave), but she was definitely a strong and brave female character. Maybe not the lead, but she was pretty close to it as Vahn was silent.

 

[pulse2]

....We like to depict females in a more positive light and don't like the concept of them being hurt?

I say this because lets take GTA4 for example, its quite apparent that there is a majority male AI, pedestrians, main characters etc, much of this could be because the developers suspected males gamers would have a violence towards women approach, maybe not, who knows. WWE games have now separated males and females in their games, which to me seems pretty stupid, I can understand the realism approach, but it kind of defeats the purpose of even putting females in the game, the number of matches you can have with females included is limited and they can never directly compete with the males, so why even bother putting them in the game? I don't JUST want to play normal and tag matches, I want to play all with any character I feel like choosing. Besides that we have very macho male orientated games from FPS to Sandbox and few feature female protagonists.

Its nice to see the choice available in games like Dragon Age and Fallout, but what about other games?

But like I said, do you think think that its the protective nature that we have of females and violence? Could it be political correctness? Why can't there be a female protagonist in Dead Space? Is it because she'd suffer the same morbid deaths as Issac does? Like someone said, why no females in FPS games?

What do you think it is and do you think things should change or stay as they are?

There was Elizabeta... (I think that was her name) in GTA4. She shoots a guy in the face in a cut scene and makes a living selling cocaine.

Seems to be doing fine in a man's world.

Haha, but she shot a MAN in the face, and she never gets killed herself

In fact, she doesn't even get caught by the police, partially because Niko saved her ass, but who knows why else

I do like how the men in GTA4 rush over to defend females if you start fights with them, I liked that, it was small, but it was incredibly effective, but it also makes me realize that the developers (Rockstar) knew full well they wanted less violence towards females (beyond what you can do already ¬_¬) then there would otherwise be if there was 50/50 AI sexes and a lead female character

 

[Kanebou]

It's easier for a woman to find offense to a more extreme depiction of violence/sexism/etc with another woman involved, and litigation is still quite a fad for those who see lawsuits as "money in the pocket."

Least that has been my thoughts on it. Males relating to males makes sense too, but men have been taking a route towards more "female" behaviors within the past one or two decades, so I'm not sure that's the case either.

 

[debossman21]

we live in the 21st century, and video games still follow social norms of the 1950s. Men fight wars (any FPS, take ur pic) and women belong in the kitchen (COOKING MAMA). i mean, GoW just getting a female character proves its still a long road until women are equally depicted in video games

 

[Drexlor]

No, it's because males identify themselves more easily with other males. Gaming being predominantly a male "thing", developers cater more to them.

I never quite understood this. Yes sure it works for the majority of cases but just have a look at the popularity of Tomb Raider. Sure you could say is cause of the polygon overrun that occured in the first game (you know what Im talking about), but honestly I think people actually connected with Lara. I don't really see the whole, guys can only experience fun in a game through a guys eyes. If you make a meaningful character who is a girl, I think guys are equally capable to enjoy the game as if it was a guy. Possibly even more so because they gain an experience they might not otherwise have had.

I understand what the publishers are trying to do, but I don't think it is entirely true. As a male, I can say that as long as a character is well written, I can find some way to identify with them, regardless of gender. As a Brony, I have never thought that the show would be any better if most of the characters were male. The show knows what it is and it's proud of it, which I respect it for. It has also brought a side in me that I probably never would have found otherwise. It helped expand my comfort zone and taught me to not always take a first impression to heart.

 

[krazykidd]

Perfect dark .
Dino crisis
Parasite eve
Mirrors edge
Final fantasy x-2
final fantasy xiii
Final fantasy 6 ( debatable)
Xenosaga (debatable)
Kingdom hearts (joke )
Metroid
Velvet assassin
Portal ( i think)

And im sure there are many more

Oh you mean war games with manly men with muscles bigger than their heads . Yeah although there are women that go to war , it's a tiny percentage . So having a female main character in CoD is boarderline unrealistic , plus i don't want to relive metroid other M ever again.

Is that a Noa avatar? Sorry, it's off topic, but you rarely see anyone that even seems aware that game even existed. And it's such a same.

Probably could have included Legend of Legaia in that list. Noa may not have been smart (she was raised by a wolf in a cave), but she was definitely a strong and brave female character. Maybe not the lead, but she was pretty close to it as Vahn was silent.

Yup it is. The game really isn't well known, which is why i chose this avatar , (plus noa is awsome) , kinda like an easter egg for anyone that actually knows/ played the game. The reason i didn't add LoL ( legend of legaia ) to the list , is because she isn't actually the main character, although she has ties to the main vilain ( debatably more than vahn ) . Also you make a very good point about vahn being silent , i never actually thought about that, she really does take the spotlight in that game.Which now makes me wonder why vahn is silent , other than the 'yes & no ' answers. You sir have given me a reason to play this game again

 

[uzo]

In Dreamweb I remember Ryan blew one of the 'evil ones' in half. She (her top half I mean) had crawled into the other room trying to get away. Ryan followed her and started chatting with her ... I remember at one point he mumbles, mostly to himself "It hurts, doesn't it?"

Then, once he was satisfied she'd suffered enough, he blew her brains all over the carpet at point blank range.

It was at this point I really started to suspect that Ryan was a complete fucking loon and the people I was killing were just unlucky bastards his addled schizophrenic mind had targeted.

I wasn't so bothered by the men being killed though, often equally horribly.

 

[roostuf]

There are many valid reasons why women aren't the main protagonists in violent games, but if they were it would make more interesting for the plot.

 

[Shinigami Fire]

Perfect dark .
Dino crisis
Parasite eve
Mirrors edge
Final fantasy x-2
final fantasy xiii
Final fantasy 6 ( debatable)
Xenosaga (debatable)
Kingdom hearts (joke )
Metroid
Velvet assassin
Portal ( i think)

And im sure there are many more

Oh you mean war games with manly men with muscles bigger than their heads . Yeah although there are women that go to war , it's a tiny percentage . So having a female main character in CoD is boarderline unrealistic , plus i don't want to relive metroid other M ever again.

Perfect reply, I would have mentioned these games as an example of where developers have tried to do something different, at the same time moving away from the cliche and stereotype that women and too fragile for violence. Like you said, take Metroid, of anything, people hated the fact that they gave her too much personality in the latest game, it made her seem weak, while in previous games she came across as deadly, silent and focused on her mission, unaware of the feelings of fear.

In fact, I tend to think that Japan (despite how much we call them backwards developers) give women quite a lot of empowerment. I can think of hundreds of powerful gaming, anime and cartoon characters that I genuinely liked from Japan, for example, at the top of my favourites, the "Major Motoko" in Ghost in a Shell who is just hands down badass. In fact, I see her as symbolic in a way because her strength seemed realistic for a woman at the same time, she showed typical female emotion, proving that she wasn't some kind of unnatural female robot fighting and killing for the sake of it.

Now, giving her a game anything like MGS, I would enjoy that, probably more so then I would Gears of war. Not because she is female, but because she has more reason for what she is doing and seems a bit more human and realistic to me. Not to mention the fact the plot would be quite superb if its anything like the series.

And you don't even need to go that far. Fatal Frame 1 and 2. You play a helpless female character. And it works. So well. The fact that you're crippled in the second one makes it even more terrifying trying to run away from enemies. Contrast this with SH: Origins where you are again a (slightly more realistic) muscle bound jarhead. And it's not scary in the slightest. 'Stereotypical' women and girls can be just as good a character as the strong female roles.

Also, Persona 4. Beyond Good And Evil. Both had some of the best well-written female characters I had ever seen. Jade had the strength and bad-assery that is necessary for that kind of game, but at the same time you saw the personal weaknesses she had when *SPOILER* the children get abducted. A lot of the smaller developers seem to take risks and break genre and gender stereotypes.

tl;dr
Horror games work with girls. BGE 1. awesome characters, AAA devs suck at taking risks.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I haven't really noticed this tbh. There are plenty of games that have violence and female protagonists.

I think that there is no reason why women can't be violent. A threatened mother, for example, is one of the most dangerous forces in nature and an underused premise in video games.

It's getting a little annoying that males are still the default character for video games. I feel much more immersed and into the story when it's a woman.

 

[ninjapenguin1414]

What about heavenly sword a badass action chick who literally turns into a god to destroy the crazy emperor and kills a hundred men in one swing also the secondary protaganist (also a female) uses a bow in which you aim into enemy skulls. I don't get what the big deal is over wether a protaganist is male or female and before I forget Bayonetta also counts even though there's a lot of sex appeal in that game, both these characters are in pretty violent games.

 

[Something Amyss]

It's easier for a woman to find offense to a more extreme depiction of violence/sexism/etc with another woman involved, and litigation is still quite a fad for those who see lawsuits as "money in the pocket."

Least that has been my thoughts on it. Males relating to males makes sense too, but men have been taking a route towards more "female" behaviors within the past one or two decades, so I'm not sure that's the case either.

Well, in the one case where we have clear data, Femshep is played about a fifth of the time. I'm not saying we should take a single point on a chart as clear proof one way or another, but it is enough to suggest that given the choice, the majority of players (Over eighty percent).

I suspect these figures would be similar given the choice in other games when observed as well.

 

[maninahat]

I have noticed that video games and movies tend to shy away from showing women being killed, especially not as violently as the men getting killed. It's a subtle form of sexism, probably descended from the belief that men should go fight in wars while women stay in the kitchen.

I have to fess up to some degree of sexism in my gameplay, in the sense that I often dislike killing female opponents. I don't care in things like Fallout 3, where the females are as freakish and unpleasant as the males. But in games like No One Lives Forever 2, where the henchwomen you kill are dainty and (going along with the spoof spy theme) have lengthy back stories and families, it just doesn't sit well, slashing their faces with a katana.