Rumor: Activision Doesn't Think Female Leads Can Sell Games

[jamesworkshop]

Let's be real, when has a game with a female lead ever sell a game?

Spoiler: Oh wait...

[

I wouldn't really take Lara Croft or that last picture as the merits of casting women as lead characters, because they are really just breasts that happen to be affixed to one dimensional characters, if anything, selling a game on the sheer "look at this chick" factor really hurts the case for female leads more than it helps it.

Metroid is a great point for female leads, as long as they stop all this "zero-suit" spandex over-the-top crap.

Don't confuse the issue the merits of female leads are only being judged in financal viability in the context of this thread and Lara croft is financially a powerhouse and thus is a perfectly apt example.
Metroid is actually lower in that respect than the Tomb Raider IP

 

[Bofore13]

Really Activision? Maybe they should just get Joss Whedon to direct a game.

 

[Danpascooch]

Let's be real, when has a game with a female lead ever sell a game?

Spoiler: Oh wait...

[

I wouldn't really take Lara Croft or that last picture as the merits of casting women as lead characters, because they are really just breasts that happen to be affixed to one dimensional characters, if anything, selling a game on the sheer "look at this chick" factor really hurts the case for female leads more than it helps it.

Metroid is a great point for female leads, as long as they stop all this "zero-suit" spandex over-the-top crap.

Don't confuse the issue the merits of female leads are only being judged in financal viability in the context of this thread and Lara croft is financially a powerhouse and thus is a perfectly apt example.
Metroid is actually lower in that respect than the Tomb Raider IP

You're right, I confused "women being taken seriously in games" with "women selling games" and it's purely financial from Activision's standpoint.

 

[jamesworkshop]

I blame Activision here, because they're jerks (and everyone knows it)... but not only them. I also blame the stupid macho audience, the kind of people that play nothing but Modern Warfare 2 and for whom any female is just a walking pair of tits, regardless of personality. It is because of them that best-sellers of gaming suck at being "art". I hope they all die in an actual World War 3.

I can't really say or do anything except facepalm at it all.

[]

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, some of the main characters are from an elite American, British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealander task force called Task Force 141

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_force

There are no female frontline combatants in a Joint operations task force.

 

[jamesworkshop]

Let's be real, when has a game with a female lead ever sell a game?

Spoiler: Oh wait...

[

I wouldn't really take Lara Croft or that last picture as the merits of casting women as lead characters, because they are really just breasts that happen to be affixed to one dimensional characters, if anything, selling a game on the sheer "look at this chick" factor really hurts the case for female leads more than it helps it.

Metroid is a great point for female leads, as long as they stop all this "zero-suit" spandex over-the-top crap.

Don't confuse the issue the merits of female leads are only being judged in financal viability in the context of this thread and Lara croft is financially a powerhouse and thus is a perfectly apt example.
Metroid is actually lower in that respect than the Tomb Raider IP

You're right, I confused "women being taken seriously in games" with "women selling games" and it's purely financial from Activision's standpoint.

"Rumor: Activision Doesn't Think Female Leads Can Sell Games"

Look at the title of the thread you are posting in

 

[Korey Von Doom]

Activision is sexist aswell as greedy and evil.

Who would have guessed.

 

[Kollega]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_force

There are no female frontline combatants in a Joint operations task force.

I take it as "in real army, women don't serve in that sort of regiments". But not every game has to be Modern Warfare 2 in order to be successful, amrite? Case in point: the ever-popular Portal.

 

[Trogdor1138]

It's because every time there is a female lead in games the cutscenes have to show off their massive rack and make them wear enough clothes to wrap a sandwich in. This gets annoying and you can't just rely on sex appeal, get a game designed from a womans perspective, and a REAL woman for a lead and you will see something refreshing.

 

[Danpascooch]

Let's be real, when has a game with a female lead ever sell a game?

Spoiler: Oh wait...

[

I wouldn't really take Lara Croft or that last picture as the merits of casting women as lead characters, because they are really just breasts that happen to be affixed to one dimensional characters, if anything, selling a game on the sheer "look at this chick" factor really hurts the case for female leads more than it helps it.

Metroid is a great point for female leads, as long as they stop all this "zero-suit" spandex over-the-top crap.

Don't confuse the issue the merits of female leads are only being judged in financal viability in the context of this thread and Lara croft is financially a powerhouse and thus is a perfectly apt example.
Metroid is actually lower in that respect than the Tomb Raider IP

You're right, I confused "women being taken seriously in games" with "women selling games" and it's purely financial from Activision's standpoint.

"Rumor: Activision Doesn't Think Female Leads Can Sell Games"

Look at the title of the thread you are posting in

I did, they're pretty similar issues, it's an understandable mistake, and a natural tangent of the conversation the thread was originally made for.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

They realize Mass Effect, a game where you have the option of your gender, has a nigh fifty/fifty split amongst the fanbase as to who their canon Shepard is? I would even argue Femshep is more popular due to her voice actor's popularity. Whether or not this is an accurate report is up for debate, however on the assumption it is, Activision is taken an idiotic stand. Telling their employees that they should design a game to outsell Gran Theft Auto IV is utter insanity. There are maybe five games in the last six or so years to even touch GTAIV, let alone outsell it.

Female leads are not the problem, a quality game is. I am a male gamer, and would kill for a game with a female lead that is not your stereotypical "I am a *****, I am tough, ", basically something not WET. God forbid we have a female lead that is actual distinctly female and not give you the impression she should have been male.

 

[jamesworkshop]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_force

There are no female frontline combatants in a Joint operations task force.

I take it as "in real army, women don't serve in that sort of regiments". But not every game has to be Modern Warfare 2 in order to be successful, amrite?

Moderen warfare is soo far only two games quite a small number in comparision to the ammount of games that are going to be released this week.
MW2 success has nothing to do with what gender the cast is but honestly expecting to see tons of women in games based around real-life militarys with extremly restrictive combat roles available to women is perplexing especially in a series with a pretence to realism.

Most military shooters are from the same mold that has been around much longer than MW has.

The cast was principally male because the military is a patriarchial institution unless a military shooter is based on Soviet WWII or Israeli civil war then don't expect a lot of front line combat positions being filled with female characters

 

[Deathfish15]

Resident Evil anyone?

How about Bayonetta?

Dreamfall for anyone with RPG nostalgia.

Tombraider's Laura Croft.

Samsus from Metroid.

Beyond Good and Evil....

Activision is just brain-dead retarded lately.

 

[jamesworkshop]

It's because every time there is a female lead in games the cutscenes have to show off their massive rack and make them wear enough clothes to wrap a sandwich in. This gets annoying and you can't just rely on sex appeal, get a game designed from a womans perspective, and a REAL woman for a lead and you will see something refreshing.

What like Bayonetta

Or ladies man Ezio auditori

Women either create hyper sexualised fantasys or pretty boy lust objects


A woman wrote twilight but that didn't stop Bellas only character trait from being Edwards girlfriend

 

[TheDoctor455]

Dear Activision,
Please. Please. Please learn to STFU. If female leads cannot help sell games, pray tell, why has the Tomb Raider series done so well? Why is Beyond Good & Evil a cult-classic? Why did Resident Evil 1 do so well? And Mirror's Edge? That's a great game.
Stop being fools, lower your prices, stop talking and make good games.
Thank you.

Took the words out of my mouth... well except for Resident Evil 1... I can't stand that series.

Otherwise... yeah... Activision way to use "focus groups" to maintain your own stereotyping.

 

[joshuaayt]

Breastploitation is the only reason I might be hesitant about games starring women (ie virtually every game that has starred/featured/mentioned/been affiliated with, a woman for the past XX years)
I personally would love to play a game that is designed to star a woman, seeing as I always pick female anyway. Bonus points if you are *supposed* to play a woman, but can play a man (Like how you were *supposed* to play a man in Fallout 3. Don't tell me no one ever called you "son" or other similar masculine labels)

 

[Yvl9921]

I know for a fact they've told developers what they can and cannot create, so their repudiation is bullshit. I fully believe this rumor, and I think it's about time for me to get rid of my stock in this rotten as fuck corporation.

 

[z3rostr1fe]

EA now is losing its battle crown for being the most evil game publisher in the world... Congratulations Activision!

 

[Crimsane]

The replies so far in the thread only illustrate my earlier post's point. The majority of readers seem to be taking a rumor as fact, mostly because it was made into an article. You've legitimized a questionable rumor from equally questionable sources by printing it. Gj.

...Not that I'd be surprised if this particular rumor turned out to be true, but still. >.>

 

[Gunsang]

A good portrayal of a realistic female character in a game would be so very different, and I for one would like to see it happen. I'm not talking about just having a woman in the main role, though I do like that and roleplay female in RPGs, but an actual female who couldn't in any way be substituted for a male.

Think of Ripley in Aliens. It's much more believable to have the mother figure going after the daughter figure than it would be to have the father figure doing it in quite the same way. Imagine how cool that game would be to play, where you're not just doing it for the goal of defeating the big crime boss or something, but the much closer goal of the daughter or similar.

I think I'd like to see a realistic portrayal as well, but I have to disagree with your thoughts on Ripley. Ripley character started in Alien where she kicked ass and was written really without a gender stereotype, which made her special. Furthermore a Father going after a daughter figure can work. The movie Taken is about Father going after a daughter, this isn't a very good example, but it's the best one I can think of right now.

Back on topic. Female leads can work, but I have to admit that they usually don't sell very well unless there's a large sex appeal. Most of the games that do sell well with good female leads usually just let you choose between male and female.

 

[Diana Kingston-Gabai]

Let's not forget that Final Fantasy VI, arguably one of the most popular SNES games, had not one but two female protagonists in Terra and Celes...