TheGreenManalishi said:
I argue that I'm not, but knee-jerk reaction to seeing more complaints about video game culture in the media and from a female journalist lead to that response from me. If you quoted the rest of my post, you'd make me sound like less of a misogynist. I admit that it is a sexist thing to think, but I in no way devalue her opinion as a games journalist because she's a woman.
That's interesting in a way.
A short check with google showed me that she is apparently a games journalist for 8 years and wrote a book about the video game industry (smartbomb, linked in the OP) which was
not bashing games as far as I can tell.
So, if you would have read that a guy told the developers at GDC that they are juvenile and should grow up, would your gut reaction have been:
"he's male, he probably doesn't 'get' the gaming industry?"
No? Talking about sexism then? If you attack her arguments it's fine, if you attack her because she's a woman and might not get 'it' its sexism.
Anyway: you are not the only one bashing her for being female as far as I can tell. The word 'feminist' has also been used in a rather negative manner already. One of the best ones so far:
Anonymouse said:
To put it as harshly and crudely as I can, This "journalist" just sounds like a fracking femnazi *****. [...] Plant the ***** in front of Final Fantasy VII, [...] Until then she can get back in the kitchen and make me a goddamn sandwich!
I have to admit that made it hard for me to take your post serious, but I give it a shot:
But I ask you how movies are any better or music for that matter. We are now flooded by non stop bullshit movies with the exact same thing and music has been about barely legal bitches in spandex lip syncing to someone elses music for years.
Didn't the games industry make more money already than the movie industry? But the movie industry has beside the obvious Michael Bay-blockbuster still enough movies that don't require your brain to shut down. With games: not so much. You mention Final Fantasy VII and VIII which might ok (even though I personally never gotten into it but nevermind) but Jericho? Seriously? How does Jericho come anywhere close to the Citizen Kane of video games (exaggerating of course)?
My point is that the focus in games is rarely the story. The focus is still on gameplay, which is fine, and most developers like to mention how the graphics and sound are awesome and the gameplay is great and... oh yeah, there is also some storyline...
If you don't know it, please take a look at 'Video Games and Storytelling' by Daniel Floyd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jdG2LHair0&feature=related
Games have the potential to be great storytelling tools but most of the times they don't live up to it. Most of the time they are outright juvenile and sexist (I mean the stereotypes about both women and men in video games). And I'm sorry but I find the manly space marine who only talks in form of one-liners not that intriguing. It would be nice to see more games with interesting story or even a message beyond 'killing aliens is cool'. When you ask me what games I played had great gameplay or enjoyable combat mechanics I can write a long list. If you ask me how many games I played had a really good storyline that sucked me in? Uhm... oh... not that much.