Poll: Female Games

[Gralian]

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.

The fact Jade, Lara Croft or Faith are female has never once swayed my decision whether or not to pick up the game, nor has it ever marred my enjoyment of it. I doubt it had an effect on (m)any of the male escapists here, either. It's a bit of a generalisation in itself to assume that we as men want to fill that 'testosterone fuelled' stereotype in games. I personally hate Marcus Fenix, he's a shallow character with over-pumped muscles that screams 'I'm a Jock!', but i like Kratos because he's not stroking his own ego in the way Fenix does.

I understand what you mean about needing to 'ease' yourself into a male dominated subculture and i appreciate you can see my argument. However the way arguments like the one the OP has constructed does rather make it seem like it's all just to 'make a point'.

 

[MCDeltaT]

Lol Angelofdarrkness = feminist

Rank = PaperBOY

 

[Kunzer]

Playing as a woman in Fallout 3 is actually superior for multiple perk related reasons.

First and foremost, a Female character with the Black Widow perk gains a 5% increased damage bonus against male targets. The benefit of this is worth enough that I rerolled and started a new game for it. Also, the vast majority of enemies in the game are male.

Additionally, there are speech options available with Black Widow that sometimes yield massive bonuses or rewards when dealing with the yet again predominately male NPC base.

Bottom Line: I had to give up playing a male character to get the best damage possible in the game.

So, if I might play Devil's advocate, does this make Fallout 3 a sexist game from the male perspective, for once? Have the tables turned?

I personally don't feel offended; if anything I believe these sort of options in a game enhance replayability. I gave Fallout 3 an additional go just for this alone.

I suppose some people prefer to see the negative, though.

 

[Donald L]

If you look around, male characters are not much better. Most usually have: insanely large and muscular, evil, misguided, stupid, have poor social skills, effeminate, or some combination of all of them as their defining characteristic(s). Could women be shown in a better light? Certainly. But men do not exactly have it all easy either.

 

[CultistRat]

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.

You sir, are a hero.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

If you look around, male characters are not much better. Most usually have: insanely large and muscular, evil, misguided, stupid, have poor social skills, effeminate, or some combination of all of them as their defining characteristic(s). Could women be shown in a better light? Certainly. But men do not exactly have it all easy either.

Insanely Large an muscular: Jack Slate from the Dea to Rights Series... HAVE YOU SEEN HIS ARMS?

I don't know... Sex sells? This issue can be taken into any context really... Just look at Nier... But then again alot of people didn't want to play Nier due to the 40 year old protagonist. So do we have something against middle aged men too?

Everything can be seen as sexist, especially if you look close enough.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Not in all games, man. In fallout, it's noted that women kick your ass just as much as men, if not moreso to compensate for asshole guys.

 

[Rickyvantof]

The women that kick ass are used as 'sex symbols' aswell. Think Bayonetta or Tomb Raider.

EDIT: Wait I should've read better...

ALSO: You know why there aren't any women in the US army in CoD2?
Because conscription didn't enroll women, so there weren't any female soldiers in WW2...
So yeah...

 

[mew4ever23]

Given the number of games in which female armor is about 25% of what a male would wear in the same situation...

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

SIDE NOTE: Notice that the OP has not once replied to this thread. I suspect a troll

 

[JanatUrlich]

Yeah man, we need more girls than can kick ass and aren't always trying too hard to be cool. Why can't we have girls that are badass without the need to be stuck up bitches??

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Yeah man, we need more girls than can kick ass and aren't always trying too hard to be cool. Why can't we have girls that are badass without the need to be stuck up bitches??

Mmmhmm, like the game WET.

Actually, Alpha Protocol pissed me off for this. No choice in name or gender. Very little choice in appearance. They could have pulled off the whole "Clothed and Cool" Heroine gig...

But I could be wrong, Michael Thorton had a voice that just SOUNDED like it was mocking you at every turn. They'd have probably done the same with a female character

 

[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.

The fact Jade, Lara Croft or Faith are female has never once swayed my decision whether or not to pick up the game, nor has it ever marred my enjoyment of it. I doubt it had an effect on (m)any of the male escapists here, either. It's a bit of a generalisation in itself to assume that we as men want to fill that 'testosterone fuelled' stereotype in games. I personally hate Marcus Fenix, he's a shallow character with over-pumped muscles that screams 'I'm a Jock!', but i like Kratos because he's not stroking his own ego in the way Fenix does.

I understand what you mean about needing to 'ease' yourself into a male dominated subculture and i appreciate you can see my argument. However the way arguments like the one the OP has constructed does rather make it seem like it's all just to 'make a point'.

I in no way meant to suggest that all male gamers would be turned off by the presence of a solely female lead (that wasn't there for sex appeal alone). Especially not here on the Escapist - I have a very high opinion of the average maturity on this site. So I'm sorry if I insulted you in any way. I can absolutely see why a male gamer would hate Marcus Fenix, just as I can understand a woman hating, say, Kasumi from DoA. (I personally hate both, but that's neither here nor there.)

 

[diddykonger]

ummm.... you just realized this? cause this has been going on for a long while

 

[Stabby Joe]

Women in games, most of the time will LOOK "sexually appealing" but as characters they're sometime believable and most of the time very strong individuals.

 

[teutonicman]

Alright after reading your first "paragraph" I'm going to say tl'dr. Two reasons, first proof read what you write. I can on vaguely understand what you are trying to communicate. Second is grammar, IT DOESN'T EXIST TO LOOK PRETTY SO USE IT. This is not msn or any other instant messenger.

From what I can gather reading your title, yes females can be used as sex symbols. However there are more than enough games where sexiness is only one small part of their defining traits. Some that come to mind are; Lara Croft, Samus, Zelda, Bayonetta, and any of the girls from Mortal Kombat(they will kill you 5 times before you hit the ground).

 

[Susan Arendt]

Samus says hi.

And then shoots you with a missle.

You SHOULD NOT have a thread about females in games, and not bring up the leading lady of gaming.

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.

Spoiler: Sex-ified Zero Suit Samus in Brawl

It's worth noting, however, that Samus was originally made female to shock the player. Her reveal at the end of the original Metroid was a big "OMG" simply because it likely never crossed the player's mind that the hero in the suit might be a girl.

It's also worth noting that a big reason that women are portrayed as waiting for men to save the day in games is....wait for it....that's how a lot of women actually act. Well, wait, let me clarify - in American culture, particularly Southern culture, women are frequently taught that men have to do all the physical stuff. Women cook, clean, and raise children, men fix the cars, take care of the property and, by extension, fight off zombies and monsters. Stupid? Sure. But that doesn't mean that many women in the United States wouldn't just shrink into the corner, scream, and hope for rescue instead of actually trying to do something.

Also for clarification, the female Gears in Gears of War 3 look an act like soldiers, not lingerie models with guns. And I don't mean they act like men with breasts, I mean they act like soldiers, while still clearly being women. It's wonderful.

 

[JanatUrlich]

Yeah man, we need more girls than can kick ass and aren't always trying too hard to be cool. Why can't we have girls that are badass without the need to be stuck up bitches??

Mmmhmm, like the game WET.

Actually, Alpha Protocol pissed me off for this. No choice in name or gender. Very little choice in appearance. They could have pulled off the whole "Clothed and Cool" Heroine gig...

But I could be wrong, Michael Thorton had a voice that just SOUNDED like it was mocking you at every turn. They'd have probably done the same with a female character

Yeah! Like girls that are mean for absolutely no reason. That's not 'cool' that's just being a *****. Women can be badass but that doesn't mean that they have to be a cold hard *****. Game developers don't seem to have realised this yet.

But to be fair, it's the same for a lot of male characters as well.

 

[PatrickXD]

That grammar made me want to die a little inside.
OT: There are far more male gamers than female, and the games industry believes that every male gamer wants to see a huge pair of boobs for at least half the game in order to counter the fact that there is a woman on the screen *gasp*. Also, it will neither improve the game nor hinder it in most cases if you play as a woman, that is especially true for first person games. Try thinking of the person you are playing as, rather than what sex they are. Mirrors Edge did this perfectly, I mean, who cares if you're playing as a woman in that damned game, I just wanted it to stop!

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

This is the worst rant I have ever seen and I've seen joobnoob.