Poll: Female Games

[_Janny_]

Aren't guys used as sex symbols too? Think about Uncharted, Metal Gear 2, Final Fantasy and others (mostly JRPGs).

I'm not really bothered about the whole issue, actually. I'm a girl, but I'm not that offended by how girls are portrayed in video games. That's just marketing.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

How about Samus and Lightning? They aren't sex symbols, and kick damn much ass. And it's derived from the stereotype of men being masculine heroes. It's existed for eons. Of course games would reflect that.

Seeing that most of the gamers are male, these macho games make them feel superior and manly, while a female lead character most often would not appeal to males unless it's served with tits, since there's neither any reflection or boners present. To make a game with a female lead character, you need a game that is good enough to not need a reflection of the standard male player, something that's showed in for example Metroid. And even there it's pretty vague since 99% of the game you don't see her face or her curves.

I'm not saying we should be sexists, but I can understand the developers way of thinking. Why do you think games like Gears of War are so macho and testosterone filled? They're appealing to an audience that will easily win them some cash. And no, it's not selling out or anything of that, it's smart marketing.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

I think it's a tad sexist that females can't(?unsure about this one) fight and males can fight. You should be able to have the choice of playing as male of or females characters in RPGS shooters Action Horror and other genres games of any genre. [(In some cases you do:Fallout, Mass Effect, etc.])

In most games women are used a sex symbols, either dressed in no clothing except a bikini and or tight outfits [(For example: Dead Or Alive, Soul Calibur, Ninja Gaiden, and Bayonetta. There maybe may be more but I can't think of any at the moment]).

Really, I'm not trying to be rude, it's just that every game has that girl in distress. That one who can't defend herself and must wait for the masculine guy to swoop in and save her.

I wouldn't mind seeing the girl kick some god damn arse. Instead, the girl characters in games are usually come across as the 'Save Me' type or the "Oh know no, I can't go further, it's too scary". and bayonetta does this but its just Raunchy how she does it (Do you mean she doesn't do this?)

Gears of War is the only game I have seen where You can play as a girl and kill things as a girl. COD doesn't even have girls in it at all(I think in there's 1 girl NPC as the pilot, and that's all i can think of. [I'm not counting the civvies in No Russian]).

Sure, in RPGS you can play as a female, [Fallout 3 etc] but your heroine doesn't have much personality besides being either a bad girl or a good girl. There needs to be a game where everyone can be happy. like I just want like 1 COD game to have you playing as a female for the whole game shooting bad dudes. etc

Girl Gamers, I wont speak for you, but I think that having females being more dominate in video games would be better.

I'm not trying to being annoying and rain on every dudes' parade. like Some games can just go too far.For example, like Ivy from Soul Calibur. No one has boobs that big or dresses like that.

The only game I can think of that has a character that doesn't get her tits out or wear tight outfits and isnot used as a sex symbol is Either the girl you play as in Portal.

Very poor. See me after class.

F-

OT: Now that I understand what the heck you were trying to say, yes women are used as sex symbols in games. Also in movies. Also in comics.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

This thread is...
Not much sense...
brain dying...
...
cake...

 

[Vrex360]

I can sort of see where you are going and it is true that I am somewhat annoyed by th portrayal of women in games. To be fair though, there are plenty of oversexualised women in movies as well as comic books. I guess when the target demographic is male one tends to use female figures as a lure.

That said I don't think it's so bad that we have attractive female leads in games, as beauty is considered a heroic trait in women. That said while a few 'ironic' games depict their women as over the top sexy I still think that's where we should draw the line. Also it is worth noting that a female character should be just as well characterised as the male ones (to be fair though, a lot of male characters in games are equally as shallow) rather than just be a straight up tough girl or, worse, a vapid damsel in distress.

Personally I think there are a few good examples of that in gaming and for me personally none fit the bill quite as well as Ashley from Mass Effect... yep, I'm on this topic again. Seriously though from where I stood she was attractive without being shown off or oversexualised, she was tough but still had a real human side, she was likeable (i.e great sense of humor, good natured) but still had notable flaws (i.e due to political history she has distrust for aliens) and perhaps best of all she could go through a sort of character arc over the story and change her viewpoint (i.e she can grow to trust aliens more) so while there are probably better examples out there, for me at least the best example of a well characterised believable female character is still Ashley.
She's not a sex symbol, not a damsel in distress but also not overdone on the toughness angle and she has real human flaws and the ability to develop as a character. So yeah, that's my example of a good female protrayal in a game.

 

[Davey Woo]

So basically you want to be able to play as a girl in Call of Duty?
Considering the vast majority of soldiers in most armies are male, it seems reasonable to me that the characters you play as are male. I'd like to see more character customisation for games like Call of Duty anyway. But I'm not bothered that I can't play as a girl if I want to.

EDIT: Just so you know OP. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has a pretty extensive character customisation area, and more importantly you CAN play as a woman.

Also that majority of FPS players would just complain about having to play as a girl, because the majority of FPS players are roughly 12 years of age, and still think girls have cooties, or something.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

In some games like Bayonetta and Ninja Gaiden games but not in all games. It is mostly Team Ninja(Or whoever make DoA and NG).

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

In games, females are used as stereotypical sex symbols as often as males are used as stereotypical action heroes.

I don't see the issue.

 

[Gralian]

Do You Really Have To Capitalise Every Other Fucking Word?

See how annoying that is?

Aside from that, i won't repeat everything else that's been said here, but i will say this: why do feminists care so much about being able to play a woman (don't you find the term 'girl' somewhat derogatory? It suggests you never really grew up. Since we're nitpicking.) in a first person shooter. Modern Warfare 2? Who gives a shit about your gender? Oh wow. You see your arm (if you're lucky), your hand and your rifle. And everyone else can see you have tits. Good job. You must be proud of yourself. Like that's not trying to draw attention to yourself. 'hai guyz, i'm a soldier and i has tits lolol!'

Part of the problem feminists have is the perception women in games like to garner attention to themselves because of their sex. What the fuck do you think you'd be doing by choosing to play a female soldier in a game where 1) gender is irrelevent 2) you'd most likely be 1 in 10 female characters anyway? And who says women have to have a place in EVERYTHING? There's no Asian soldiers, is the game racist? Why aren't any of the soldiers openly homosexual, is it discriminatory? No? So why the hell is the game sexist for not including a really asinine option to choose to be female?

There's a reason being able to choose gender in RPGs is important. Your character interacts with other characters. You see him or her as the world sees you. Your dialogue may change depending on your gender, such as Lady Killer or Black Widow talents in Fallout 3, and so on. None of that is relevent in a game where all you see is your rifle.

And since i don't think it's been mentioned yet, Joanna Dark wants to introduce you to her Falcon 2.

 

[Meemaimoh]

I rather flame Masseffect, Dragon age and all the other games that SOLELY have females for the cleavage and/or Boobage by the multitude.

I never found that. The female characters had as much personality and development as the males. Yeah, characters like Morrigan and Miranda were excessively curvaceous, but that wasn't at the cost of personality - in fact, Miranda's hang-ups were based around every synthetic aspect of herself, body included, meaning that the appearance actually added to the character development.

Sure, none of the female characters were as deep as characters from... well, pretty much any other medium. But neither were the male ones. Both male and female characters were cliched and carefully constructed to appeal to particular "fetishes" (e.g. the badass with the heart of gold, the damsel/guy in distress, etc). Those are limitations of the medium, though.

 

[Kurokami]

I think its a tad Sexist Females can fight and males can fight u shud be able to have the choice of playing as male of females characters in RPGS shooters Action Horror and other genres games [in some cases u do Fallout Mass effect etc]

in Most games women are used a sex symbols either dressed in no clothing except a bikini and tight outfits [Dead Or Alive, Soul Calibur, Ninja Gaiden, bayonetta There maybe more but i cant think of any at the moment]

really im not trying to be rude its just every game has that girl in distress the one who cant defend herself and must wait for the masculine guy to swoop in and save her

i wouldn't mind seeing the girl kick some god dam arse instead the girl characters in game are usually like 'Save Me' Oh know i cant go further its too scary' and bayonetta does this but its just Raunchy how she does it

Gears of War is the only game i have seen where u can play As a girl and kill things as a girl. COD doesn't even have girls in it at all i think in theres 1 girl NPC as the pilot and thats all i can think of [im not counting the civvies in No Russian]

Sure in RPGS u can play as a female [Fallout 3 etc] but your heroine doesn't have much personality besides being either a Bad Girl or a Good Girl there needs to be a game where everyone can be happy like i just wan like 1 COD game to have U playing as a Female for the whole game shooting Bad dudes etc

Girl Games i wont speak For you but i think that having Females being more dominate in video games would be better

im not trying to being annoying and rain on every dudes parade like some games can just go 2 far like Ivy from Soul Calibur no one has boobs that big or dresses like that

Only game i can think of that has a character that doesn't get her tits out wear tight outfits and not used as a Sex Symbol Is Either the girl u play as in portal

Everyone's sexist and to be frank, games and advertising in general have to follow the guidelines to make a game appealing, I WANT to see attractive characters in games, they're just following the general outlook on how to make them, if it takes big breasts and tight leather outfits of course their gonna do it, they're also gonna stick a man with a gigantic sword or muscles out there as well (btw, look into DMC, one of the chicks in the 3rd one if I recall was very uhh... modest looking, though still attractive. And also kicked ass despite not being a demon), though often they get a backlash because, well its an insult to us really.

Sexism exists in the world, no doubt. I can say that my sense of humor is somewhat sexist at times (though somehow I don't see it as offensive provided I don't believe it) and that my mind has been programmed somewhat to believe certain things of women and men's roles in society, that's not to say I think they are inferior and I certainly don't reject a woman that's proven herself better than others because of her gender. Women are in my opinion the most guilty of sexism, feminists in particular. I've got friends who are much smarter than me (academically) and are far more worthy than some of my male friends in the way of wit or... anything and they are definitely gonna get somewhere, feminists on the other hand in general don't quite understand their own arguments and seem to focus on making those arguments all the while hindering their own cause.

Maybe its easier holding this opinion when you're male, I doubt any of my friends would disagree, however.

 

[Carboncrown]

As the first REAL heroine in gaming, she's evolved into somewhat of a sex symbol at times (mostly Zero Suit). But it's usually tasteful. I only hope the horndogs at Team Ninja treat her right in "Other M". Oh wait...they made Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden didn't they? FUCK.

When you die, varia suit disappears and she lies on the floor in zero-suit for couple of seconds...

Seems unnecessary.

Maybe I'm just paranoid.

 

[VulakAerr]

Beyond Good and Evil's Jade, and Mirror's Edge's Faith are two of my favourite female protagonists. They are neither overtly sexy or wear skimpy clothing.

 

[MercurySteam]

Gears of War is the only game i have seen where u can play As a girl and kill things as a girl.

Clarification: You mean Gears of War 3:

Plus you can also play as Samantha

Cliffy B mentioned how it was refreshing to have females out on the battlefield, and I couldn't agree with him more. I can only recall CoD using females on one occasion; th pilot you have to rescue in CoD4.

Women are to games like rain is like to sports. One makes the other more exciting and refreshing.

 

[Meemaimoh]

Aside from that, i won't repeat everything else that's been said here, but i will say this: why do feminists care so much about being able to play a woman (don't you find the term 'girl' somewhat derogatory? It suggests you never really grew up. Since we're nitpicking.) in a first person shooter. Modern Warfare 2? Who gives a shit about your gender? Oh wow. You see your arm (if you're lucky), your hand and your rifle. And everyone else can see you have tits. Good job. You must be proud of yourself. Like that's not trying to draw attention to yourself. 'hai guyz, i'm a soldier and i has tits lolol!'

It's the same reason why relatively few men will pick up a game with a strictly female protagonist (e.g. Beyond Good and Evil). It's not because we want to show off, it's because we would like to be able to play a character that doesn't leak testosterone - just like us.

I understand why you see a difference between an RPG and a FPS in this case, and honestly, I agree. I also agree that it would be stupid for CoD in particular to have female soldiers. But don't assume that women request the ability to play women in order to make a point. It would simply add a level of comfort to an environment that is already vastly male-dominated.

 

[Kurokami]

So basically you want to be able to play as a girl in Call of Duty?
Considering the vast majority of soldiers in most armies are male, it seems reasonable to me that the characters you play as are male. I'd like to see more character customisation for games like Call of Duty anyway. But I'm not bothered that I can't play as a girl if I want to.

EDIT: Just so you know OP. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has a pretty extensive character customisation area, and more importantly you CAN play as a woman.

Also that majority of FPS players would just complain about having to play as a girl, because the majority of FPS players are roughly 12 years of age, and still think girls have cooties, or something.

I would complain on account of finding it hard to relate to the character, then remember that I don't like that many FPS' or that my character is essentially invisible anyway and could just be a high pitched male with great skin (I don't see that particularly being particularly helpful in making him relatable somehow). Honestly though, can you honestly say that a girl being hurt doesn't have more impact on you than a man being hurt? I can't. Its been a rule since kindergarten that boys can't hit girls and truthfully, from recollection, its self imposed.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

in Most games women are used a sex symbols either dressed in no clothing except a bikini and tight outfits [Dead Or Alive, Soul Calibur, Ninja Gaiden, bayonetta There maybe more but i cant think of any at the moment

So you mean like... All the japenese styled games?!

Seriously dude, you just nam a toned of gamed in the japanese genre of gaming. This is a culture that got around the "You're not allowed to show a Penis on a screen" Ban by creating TENTACLE HENTAI!

Notice all the western games like "Demon's Souls" and "Dragon Age: Origins" and "Fallout 3" fully clothe their women. (Okay, I know Morrigan is scantly clad in her starting robes, but if you equip anything other than her chasind robes, she lookes like she's not scantly clad no more.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

Well, women are sex symbols, just for the fact that they are women. Let me explain a bit this statement before you start judging me. What I mean is that straigth men look at women as a symbol of beauty and sex appeal (I could also argue that Homosexual men do the same, but lets keep it simple), in many ways, women are the embodiment of sexual desire and they are fully aware of this fact.

 

[jamesworkshop]

Yes women are used as sex symbols in games but I would consider being called a sex symbol personally a good thing.

I don't know why but women in general seem to be widly reguarded as always in someway being victimised or exploited by sex and often never reguarded as having any sexual potency of their own.
Men on the other hand are never presented in the world of fiction (in its many forms) as ever taking comments on physical appearance from women I.e "nice bum" as a reason to reactly violently or get upset.


The porn industry gets the same thing despite male pornstars having their sole importance being derived from have unusally large genitals while their face are almostly universally always out of frame.

It's why bayonetta stands out is her very overt sexualty that exists in female charaters like Ivy but is far more on display in personality and actions rather than something implied from the characters physical appearence.

Culturally I think Bayonetta is a mix of Betty davis physical atribbutes with the overt displays of female sexuality from a comedic stand point as a Mae West movie.

Being sex symbols has never prevented female characters from kicking ass

Samus
Ivy
Chun Li (canonical winner of SF2)
Joanna dark
Lara croft
Sheva alomar
Ada wong
Darci Stern (Urban Chaos)
Lightning

Helpless princess are one of the most underused character archetype used in gaming, protagonists in gaming are universally walking ass kicking machines

 

[katsabas]

Direct your eyes and brain to an X-Blades cover art.