Female Gamers: Are you tired of being presented with no dignity?

[Aqualung]

Can I ask the girls a question here?

Would rather have a male that looks all Bishonen like(Raiden from MGS2) or a bit more muscles and charm(Nathan Drake from Uncharted) or a guy with a good mix of muscles and brain power(Joan Shepard from Mass effect) or maybe a nerdy guy(Joe from viewtiful joe) or a knight in shiny armor(The Prince)

Include Link--lots of chicks like Link. Think about who Link looks like: Legolas, Leonardo DiCaprio in _Titanic_; heck, you could throw in Johnny Depp from _Pirates of the Caribbean_.

That's the thing about men in video games: those are men that meet a *male* idea of masculine perfection. What a lot of women are actually attracted to? Way, way less muscles. And much better hair. Women like guys with great hair like Link--Link is the Bon Jovi of video games.

There's a reason the muscular Roger Daltrey wound up much less a sex symbol than the slim Robert Plant and the downright skinny Mick Jagger.

what about the Prince from Prince of persia(the new game or the sands of time trilogy)

Good call--girls tend to go more for 'athletic' than 'jacked'.

Yarr. Well, I do, anyway. Marcus Fenix's muscles make me sick.

Gotta say, Link and Nathan Drake are some pretty good lookers. ;P As is Alan Wake, if I might add.

 

[Laxman9292]

I would usually keep this within the Girl Gamer group... but just in case you haven't joined, or you didn't know it existed, I thought I'd share one of our rants with the rest of the escapist.
From characters to covers, women are repeastedly represented in unrealistic, often impossible (according to physics and anatomy) ways, that are completely IRRELEVENT to their characters. So none of those "What about Superman's chest?" comebacks. He has to be strong to beat the crap out of people, you don't need GG breasts and a leather suit to be a kick-butt lady.
SO girls, what are your thoughts?
PS - I am not saying females are ALWAYS presented this way, just most of the time. A *big* most.

bat-man and robin dont need oversized bat-codpieces and bat-nipples. the fact is that women are presented like that in order to get attention. men are shamelessly attracted much more than women. if most girls were as horny as most guys then we might very well see more male heroes wearing just speedos. a la He-Man

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

I understand, but complaining about having unrealistic, overly-sexy women in games is like complaining about unrealistic, overly-sexy men on romance novel covers.

 

[AbuFace]

...no longer menstruate thanks to a little implant in my arm...

I have nothing to add to the topic at hand, but this line here has piqued my interest because I didn't even know this was possible. What's the name of the implant and/or process you've had done?

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Not this again. Who the frack cares about female gamers? Stop whining about girls in video games being hotter than you could ever, ever, ever be. Until they turn all the male characters to fat, greasey, cheeto covered slobs you have no right to complain.
Simple fact is, the majority does not want a fat, acne scarred chick any more than they do in their male leads. Apart from Mario how many ugly, unappealing male main characters are there?
The only thing that really destroys female gamers dignity is when they are seen crying over such a trivial matter.
Society likes pretty people. If you do not like it, do not buy it.

Hmm.. you obviously havn't been around many female gamers, or maybe many females. So here's the rub:
I play games. I also have D-cup breasts, weigh around 130 pounds, have never had skin problems in my life, no longer menstruate thanks to a little implant in my arm, and have been described as "nothing short of magnificent". I have it pretty good you know. I drew a lucky card in the genetics department, and I like to take care of myself. But you know what? I care about my identity too. When I play a game, I want the focus to be on game play. I want a good, believable story. I want immersive character development. I don't want unrealistic, sexually driven character design. If I'm suppose to be wearing battle armor, put me in friggin' battle armor, not a peice of tinfoil and vinyl that my nipples barely stay inside.

I think that's pretty much "end thread" there.

Given your vital stats there you'd know that if you tried running full tilt, jumping or fighting in the clothing most video game female characters are clad in, "the girls" would spill everywhere and cause some serious discomfort. I went out with a girl with G's and she'd never run, even fully supported.
That said latex and vinyl hold your body bits nice and firm when say in a bodysuit, but not when held together by tiny threads like with most video game babes.

However there are plenty of gamers who say "don't bother me with real life; I play games for the pure fantasy of being some steriod, fueled, seething mass of muscle or an axe-weilding, amazonian figured, warrior goddess." But, from my vast gaming experience I've noticed that we as males have a wider variety of different body-shaped heroes to choose from whereas women tend to be portrayed from a more male idea of what a woman should look like than that of a female.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

Anyway, I see what you're saying. Although men are hyper-idealized as well, women seem to get it worse. For example, look at Resident Evil 5. Both Chris [http://www.gamekyo.com/images_1/avatar/big/f9d7b0bb0e868666d084d6b20abe5d4820081103135743.jpg] and Sheva [http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/sheva.jpg] are clearly fanservice, but at least Chris doesn't have to put up with the male equivalent of this [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/residentevil/images/thumb/5/5d/Sheva-alomar-tribal-costume.jpeg/300px-Sheva-alomar-tribal-costume.jpeg] for an unlockable costume.

Oh god the Tribal Outfit. Some of the cutscenes in that are placed in a way that makes me think most of them were created just to ogle her in that outfit.

You know what would be great? A male character whose unlockable outfit was a really small Speedo. I'd use it, just to make people uncomfortable. The main guy I use in my old Tony Hawk 4 file wears nothing besides a kilt, clown shoes, and a top hat. Loads of upkilt instances there. It kinda creeps out my friends, which gives me the advantage.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

...no longer menstruate thanks to a little implant in my arm...

I have nothing to add to the topic at hand, but this line here has piqued my interest because I didn't even know this was possible. What's the name of the implant and/or process you've had done?

It's probably something like Depovera (I think that's what it's called). Basically, it's a concentrated form of the pill that releases into her blood over several months so she only needs one every half year or longer. I could also just be talking out my ass.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Anyway, I see what you're saying. Although men are hyper-idealized as well, women seem to get it worse. For example, look at Resident Evil 5. Both Chris [http://www.gamekyo.com/images_1/avatar/big/f9d7b0bb0e868666d084d6b20abe5d4820081103135743.jpg] and Sheva [http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/sheva.jpg] are clearly fanservice, but at least Chris doesn't have to put up with the male equivalent of this [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/residentevil/images/thumb/5/5d/Sheva-alomar-tribal-costume.jpeg/300px-Sheva-alomar-tribal-costume.jpeg] for an unlockable costume.

Oh god the Tribal Outfit. Some of the cutscenes in that are placed in a way that makes me think most of them were created just to ogle her in that outfit.

You know what would be great? A male character whose unlockable outfit was a really small Speedo. I'd use it, just to make people uncomfortable. The main guy I use in my old Tony Hawk 4 file wears nothing besides a kilt, clown shoes, and a top hat. Loads of upkilt instances there. It kinda creeps out my friends, which gives me the advantage.

My friend, Saints Row 2 is for you. I've had my character (who essentially looks like me) running around in a Borat-style man-kini and stripper boots or low cut latex pants, a camo tank-top, multiple facial piercings and black bowler hat. You can seriously go nuts.

 

[Terramax]

http://www.youtube.com/user/hotfornerds

If this is any help in this thread...

Good call. May all the women on this forum take a look at this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwgGtlMXgVk&feature=channel_page

Pay particular attention to what's on the wall in the background.

men are shamelessly attracted much more than women.

Could that be to do with the fact that men have something like 10x more testostrone than women? In other words blame mother nature not us.

EDIT: I lied. Apparently it's 40-60x more according to wikipedia.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

Anyway, I see what you're saying. Although men are hyper-idealized as well, women seem to get it worse. For example, look at Resident Evil 5. Both Chris [http://www.gamekyo.com/images_1/avatar/big/f9d7b0bb0e868666d084d6b20abe5d4820081103135743.jpg] and Sheva [http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/sheva.jpg] are clearly fanservice, but at least Chris doesn't have to put up with the male equivalent of this [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/residentevil/images/thumb/5/5d/Sheva-alomar-tribal-costume.jpeg/300px-Sheva-alomar-tribal-costume.jpeg] for an unlockable costume.

Oh god the Tribal Outfit. Some of the cutscenes in that are placed in a way that makes me think most of them were created just to ogle her in that outfit.

You know what would be great? A male character whose unlockable outfit was a really small Speedo. I'd use it, just to make people uncomfortable. The main guy I use in my old Tony Hawk 4 file wears nothing besides a kilt, clown shoes, and a top hat. Loads of upkilt instances there. It kinda creeps out my friends, which gives me the advantage.

My friend, Saints Row 2 is for you. I've had my character (who essentially looks like me) running around in a Borat-style man-kini and stripper boots or low cut latex pants, a camo tank-top, multiple facial piercings and black bowler hat. You can seriously go nuts.

Sadly, I have yet to update to a current gen console and am more concerned with getting a good PC built at the moment, so unless SR2 is on PC I may be out of luck as far as my dreams of public indecency go.

You know what would rule? Said Speedo mod on a Halo type (aka 'serious') shooter. Teabag this!

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Anyway, I see what you're saying. Although men are hyper-idealized as well, women seem to get it worse. For example, look at Resident Evil 5. Both Chris [http://www.gamekyo.com/images_1/avatar/big/f9d7b0bb0e868666d084d6b20abe5d4820081103135743.jpg] and Sheva [http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/sheva.jpg] are clearly fanservice, but at least Chris doesn't have to put up with the male equivalent of this [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/residentevil/images/thumb/5/5d/Sheva-alomar-tribal-costume.jpeg/300px-Sheva-alomar-tribal-costume.jpeg] for an unlockable costume.

Oh god the Tribal Outfit. Some of the cutscenes in that are placed in a way that makes me think most of them were created just to ogle her in that outfit.

You know what would be great? A male character whose unlockable outfit was a really small Speedo. I'd use it, just to make people uncomfortable. The main guy I use in my old Tony Hawk 4 file wears nothing besides a kilt, clown shoes, and a top hat. Loads of upkilt instances there. It kinda creeps out my friends, which gives me the advantage.

My friend, Saints Row 2 is for you. I've had my character (who essentially looks like me) running around in a Borat-style man-kini and stripper boots or low cut latex pants, a camo tank-top, multiple facial piercings and black bowler hat. You can seriously go nuts.

Sadly, I have yet to update to a current gen console and am more concerned with getting a good PC built at the moment, so unless SR2 is on PC I may be out of luck as far as my dreams of public indecency go.

You know what would rule? Said Speedo mod on a Halo type (aka 'serious') shooter. Teabag this!

SR2 is indeed on the PC and for your taunts you do have the option of 'the teabag'.

 

[Woem]

The Game Overthinker madly agrees with you.

 

[hippykiller]

Unfortunately we are still in a very male driven culture. It will take some more time for females to be represented better in video games. In the mean time, girls have heroes like Alyx Vance and Samus Aran to look up to instead of the characters from DOA Beach Volley Ball.

yeah the funny thing is i had no idea Samus Aran was a women until my Buddie told me like 6 years after the first game which she was in came out. had no idea until then a chick character could be that badass.

 

[dont_blink]

... guys are just as blown out of proportion in games. like being all huge and with super strength and all. they pretty much all look good
I am not saying ALWAYS, just most of the time. A *big* most.

girls just whine about it more because they get away with it...
computer games are fiction. fiction's more appealing when it's better than real life...

huge boobs are better than real life...


everything get's exaggerated in games, not just girls appearances. well, that's how i see it anyway...

 

[Ericb]

Hey Woem, thanks for that cool video. I just think it's a cop out when he says that the job to change things in this perspective is all up women.

Not much change is gonna get done if boys will only be boys. That will never be enough.

... guys are just as blown out of proportion in games. like being all huge and with super strength and all. they pretty much all look good
I am not saying ALWAYS, just most of the time. A *big* most.

girls just whine about it more because they get away with it...

Aside from your occasional Kratos, male game characters rarely come out in skimpy outfits, and certainly not showing a lot of ass. And even then, pratically none go on all fours mooning their ass to anyone passing by. So yeah...

 

[Bonaggy]

I wonder, are women fed up with seeing hard-as-nails, man-magnets who either sneer or smother with understanding their male colleagues in television series? I feel the argument here does have a deeper point. Females in most games seem to be drowning in their chests or sucked into their backsides, their anatomy being so overly mangled. The deeper point I am referring to is the fact that there just aren't many well-written, character-driven, intelligent games out there. If there were, perhaps women and men (yes, some of us aren't steroid glugging, life-hating, cool as ice, kung-fu fighting hard asses. Me? I'm half-man, half-shopping trolley) characters would get represented better.

I vote Alyx Vance as my favourite female character. Not because she loves cars, could kick my ass, or knows more science than I could ever understand. No. The real reason is that we get to see her personality from all points, i.e. nervous [mind you who wouldn't when meeting a crowbar wielding nerd who doesn't say a word?] thoughtful, vulnerable, determined and able to have a laugh with the other characters ... except that irritating scientist in who first appears in EP2.

Man, I wish there an achievement for sending him up with that rocket instead of the gnome ...

 

[GloatingSwine]

Aside from your occasional Kratos, male game characters rarely come out in skimpy outfits, and certainly not showing a lot of ass. And even then, pratically none go on all fours mooning their ass to anyone passing by. So yeah...

Well, except Voldo anyway.

 

[JoshGod]

as mentioned about 100 times men dont get all up tight about over musculer/attractive men so why are you??

Because there's nothing undignified about the way those men are portrayed. I mean, if every man was portrayed like this:

I think you'd hear a few complaints from guys...[/quote]

firstly the picture is just a cross and i dont care how men are portrayed, its tv! no one is portrayed realistically they can put men in a man thong and im not angry i will just laugh lets face it i dont care how they portray anyone as its not real get over it people who think everyone is how the are on tele are idiots and should be kept away from the rest of us