Chaosritter said:
No not really. There's a difference between sticking to your artistic vision and cowering in the same corner that you've never left in your artistic career. A big difference. And that's if this decision was even an artistic choice and not a result of corporate pandering, which I doubt. See my comments on MLP towards the end for more.
No, because that still would've been spitting in the face of literally every single Metroid game that came before it. The Samus Aran in Metroid Fusion gave the middle finger to her superiors when she didn't like what they had to say and did the right thing even if she was ordered not to. She was not a whiny submissive little *****. Everything in that game was OOC for the Metroid franchise.
Here's a question though, is there anything out there that works better? We have no idea because the industry is terrified of doing things differently.
Why not? People act like this is a zero sum system. That if you appeal to women, you lose the male audience. How about you make games that appeal to both genders and get both audiences? This whole "Don't fix what isn't broken" argument only works if the thing in question isn't actually broken, and there is what too much crap going on in the gaming industry for that to be the case. I find it fascinating how willing people are to talk shit about developers for lack of ports, buggy games, DRM, DLC and the game just not being that good, but the second gender gets brought up these same people defending the industry. It baffles me.
Because here's a question. If games aimed at men can be liked by women, why can't the inverse be true? Why can't men enjoy something that was designed to be enjoyed by women? MLP showed that that's very possible. And here's the thing, while some women enjoy games designed for men, it's not exactly rocket science to say that the amount of female gamers would increase if the industry acknowledged they existed every once in awhile. And you know what? I'm tired of the business point of view, because the business point of view says that Day One DLC is good, and so is DRM and online passes and all the other BS the industry tries to shove down our throat. Why the Hell are we defending this? Why are we defending publishers trying to maximize profits when we look at all the damage that attitude has done to the industry? Syndicate being turned into a first person shooter, Theif being turned into a faint shadow of what it once was, all the cash in sequels, we should NOT be defending this!
I never said I was uncomfortable playing as a man, I said that it has gotten boring and repetitive. Then maybe publishers should stop treating games with female leads like they're doomed from the beginning, because that's kind of a self fulfilling prophecy.
And that's a bad thing.
And what the ruddy Hell would I want to be invested in gaming if that is the state of the industry? A bunch of cowards producing the same shlock every year so that they can rake in more money from the same people who buy the same thing over and over again and the industry homogenizes even more and the spark of uniqueness and creativity that made me love gaming in the first place gets dimmer and dimmer as games stop being viewed as art and more products to be sold.
Then why are you defending it?
Yes it was well crafted to target it's demographic and yes it made a lot of money, but that doesn't change the fact that it fucking sucks. Oh really? Make games for women that will most likely end in tears or women should just shut up and realize that they're a second concern when it comes to the heterosexual white men? Let me tell you something, I love gaming, I got into it because I loved the endless possibilities that it could create. If all of that takes a backseat to making money and endless pandering to a shallow demographic with the same shallow shit, what is left for me? Why the Hell should I just sit by as my favorite hobby is turned into Twilight, a pathetic offensive shallow mess designed to sell itself to a demographic that will only talk about how much they love it until something else catches their eye and they forget it ever happened. Is that what we really want from gaming? A realm that prides itself on the fantastic and amazing yet can't even make a game with a female lead? That's pretty fucking pathetic on the industries part. It can sell a game about a man going into berserker rages every night and killing every last person he sees while attempting to confront his inner demons, but we can't make him a woman, because otherwise it might not sell. What the fuck happened to the game industry? How did it become so fucking pathetic?
See, here's the thing in MLP. It's smartly written, easy to get into, and the creators of the show constantly listen to feedback from the Bronies and take that into account and put in hundreds of little nods to bronies (Derpy) so that they feel welcome. Why? Because Hasbrio decided "why stick with just one audience when we can have two?" Gaming does NONE of that. Please don't compare the two, becaues MLP is doing exactly what I want gaming to do. Acknowledge that alternative audiences despite the main one they're desperately milking for money exists and making them feel welcome. They're sticking to their artistic vision while also growing out of their comfort zone and making a new audience feel welcome. This is why I like MLP, because the creators behind it care about it and put effort in. And it's why all of my interest in Assassin's creed unity is circling the drain, because they're doing the opposite.
And FYI, there are bronies who act like MLP was made specifically for them and that all the little girls should piss off. So yeah, let's try not to make too many comparisons here, especially ones that aren't 100% accurate.