Girl Gamer's Opinion

[vxicepickxv]

rubbish, there are tonnes of adolescent/adult females who play games I'm guessing you are using girl in the purely age context like 0-12yrs rather than teenager etc.. when people say they are girl gamers its the same as woman gamers its just shorter to type and a bit more in your face

Yeah, but it's also lazy and haphazard. There was this woman I worked with who was a hardcore gamer.

I'm kind of a hybrid of a casual and hardcore, a cascore if you will. I enjoy peggle, but I've also managed to unlock every achievement for Dynasty Warriors Gundam, and I've solo'd a healer in DAoC from 1 to 50.

 

[aussiesniper]

Maybe they should then accept that for a fact and stop complaining about how women are depicted in video games.
The fact that they stereotypically think about sex and physicality differently than men doesn't mean that the way men do is wrong.
I mean. Regardless of how women see it, men and women are still BOTH depicted equally stereotypically in games. So see? No unfairness.
If it's a problem to women and not men, maybe it's up to women to do like men and not get angered about all that.

Why should anyone accept developers and publishers pandering to the pathetic and juvenile tastes of lonely 12-36 year old males?

If you enjoy movies like Anchorman or 40-Year Old Virgin, perhaps we should just agree to disagree.

That's not my stereotype

Yes it is. You said "pathetic and juvenile tastes of lonely 12-36 year old males", in which you implied that all 12-26 year old males have pathetic and juvenile tastes. You can cover your ears and say "LALALALA I DIDN'T SAY THAT", but that's clearly what you implied.

Considering I'm a 12-36 year old male who doesn't have pathetic or juvenile tastes, there is no reason for me to imply that. If that's clearly what you thought I was implying, then that speaks volumes more about you and your assumptions (or lack of reading comprehension) than mine.

Eggo, you most certainly did imply that all males between 12 and 36 have pathetic and juvenile tastes.

Considering I'm a 12-36 year old male who doesn't have pathetic or juvenile tastes, there is no reason for me to imply that.

Hardly. One does not have to be outside of a group to dislike that group or be prejudiced against it. I've heard of plenty of women who have been quite sexist towards their gender.

This statement does not go against the implication that he is pinning you to. You are predjudiced agianst your own group of age and sex (if the statement originally quoted in this post is anything to go by).

Also, eggo, I have noticed that you have begun to not only attack the arguments presented by your opponents, but you have begun to criticise the opponents themselves. You have implied that Joeshie's (allegedly) substandard comprehension skills are deceiving him, but it seems to me that he was telling the truth and that you are insulting him (or his intelligence) to help you win an argument.

And when you said "It speaks volumes more about you and your assumptions", please tell me what assumptions these are. You definitely implied that men in the 12-36 age group have juvenile and pathetic tastes, so if he assumed that you were attacking his gender and age group, he was correct. Also, please don't insult my abilities in comprehension, because it's fairly obvious that you did imply that the male 12-36 age group has the negative traits mentioned earlier.

Also, let this thread finally be forgotten and die!

 

[Ultrajoe]

Rather than engage in all this competitive grumbling, why doesn't someone propose a technical solution?

Oh wait... I did and it was completely ignored.

Could you link too it? i missed it.

 

[aussiesniper]

This statement does not go against the implication that he is pinning you to. You are predjudiced agianst your own group of age and sex (if the statement originally quoted in this post is anything to go by).

Also, eggo, I have noticed that you have begun to not only attack the arguments presented by your opponents, but you have begun to criticise the opponents themselves. You have implied that Joeshie's (allegedly) substandard comprehension skills are deceiving him, but it seems to me that he was telling the truth and that you are insulting him (or his intelligence) to help you win an argument.

And when you said "It speaks volumes more about you and your assumptions", please tell me what assumptions these are. You definitely implied that men in the 12-36 age group have juvenile and pathetic tastes, so if he assumed that you were attacking his gender and age group, he was correct. Also, please don't insult my abilities in comprehension, because it's fairly obvious that you did imply that the male 12-36 age group has the negative traits mentioned earlier.

Also, let this thread finally be forgotten and die!

I'm sorry but it seems you overrate your abilities in comprehension because I did not imply that all males in the 12-36 year old age group have those traits. Does that mean all 12-36 year old men are lonely too? What?

If you want to point fingers for this stereotype existing, take your vitriol to all the game publishers who believe it to be true enough that they pander to the tastes of this particular demographic, imagined or otherwise. You might be an exception like I am, but that doesn't change how the market is perceived by publishers and developers.

Besides, puerile and juvenile views on sex and the female body sells and it sells very well to a very particular demographic in modern countries. I'm not really sure why you are so offended by this statement of how corporations and marketing firms view consumers.

Why so serious?

Actually, I admit that I have made a mistake; You did say that only the lonely 12-36 male group are being pandered to by game developers. However, as you are in this age group, have you never been lonely? you have never been left by a girlfriend? The vast majority of men in this group would have been lonely at several points in time. Essentially, you are not prejudiced against all men in that age group, only the ones who are not currently dating or married.

So this narrows the range of your prejudice, from all men in that age group to those who are not dating. You're still prejudiced, but now your opinion of someone can jump from "Pathetic and juvenile" to "regular person" simply by getting into a relationship.

Personally, I don't really care that the developers are putting attractive women in videogames. I see average-looking women every single day of my life, so why would I want to see them in videogames too? Games are made to do things that you can't do in real life, so why would we expect realism in the main characters? Also, just as a side-note, the female civillians and rebels in Half-Life 2 are pretty much average. They have average-ish waist and bust size, they perform the same in combat as men and they are found in-game just as much as men.

 

[Robyrt]

When discussing game sexism, it helps to be specific. There are several different types:

1. Games where the women and men both look and act normally. Half-Life 2 and Mass Effect are good examples. This is what we'd like to see a lot more of in games. It's well-represented in music and film.

2. Games where the women and men are both hyper-sexualized. Devil May Cry and Guilty Gear are good examples. This is usually just shallow characterization, more boring than it is offensive. American comics also feature lots of this, as does much of pop music.

3. Games where the men are dominant, muscle-bound thugs and the women are oversexed pushovers. Many of these games can trace their ancestry to Duke Nukem. This is a legitimately objectionable category that goes all the way back from Conan to Beowulf. If I never have to play a grizzled marine flirting with the blonde on the other end of the radio again, I wouldn't be disappointed.

Games with ensemble casts often have some characters fitting into several categories. Street Fighter has Chun Li, who is competent and serious without compromising sex appeal, but also Sakura, who is merely concentrated fanservice.

 

[JammyMittens]

Hm... I always feel a little strange posting on a thread that is over 16 pages long already so I will just add my 15 minutes to this and swiftly exit.

The only thing I would like to point out in regards to female heroines in games is that the whole character itinerary of Portal consists of 2 women (well, one bonafied woman and a machine voiced by a woman) and everyone knows that Portal is pretty much programmed perfection.

 

[tobyornottoby]

ALSO:

Entertainment Software Association statistics [http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp]

Forty percent of all game players are women. In fact, women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent).

more statistics [http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2008.pdf]

Yes, and they play casual/browser games [http://www.zylom.com] or those that come standard with windows

Nothing wrong with that, but in such a way, there are games designed specifically for women

Its a shame most of them play shit games.

Its a shame most of us nerds have such shitty opinions...

There are great games among them, miraculously without guns, boobs & blood :O

 

[Higurashi]

I mean, what the hell is WRONG with putting a woman in a (heaven forbid) full suit of armor? What IS it with the belly showing? I mean, sure we could do it from time to time, but I mean... fighting in a bloody THONG? A BRA? HIGH HEELS? GET REAL!

Check out Hilde from the same game of Soul Calibur IV. Full armour. Ivy is just sluttish and does it mostly out of self-loathing, I would guess; for she has heaps of that. Of course, I am only giving an example; I know exactly what you mean, and it disgusts me. Hm.. I feel I have enjoyed a lot of strong, realistic female characters from the Fire Emblem series. Sure, most boys have blue hair, but I really like that series from the character development point of view. As for realism.. well, since it's manga and anime graphics, everyone are perfect, so it doesn't matter.
It does a good job of getting me immersed in it. Another could be Tales of Symphonia. =)

 

[nova18]

Is it any different to male leads in games.
Not all of us are muscle bound titans like Kratos.
I am, but that defeats my point lol.

 

[peachy_keen]

This isn't anything new- comic book fangirls have had to deal with this since....ever. But, I will say that girls are doing BETTER than they were in games (and comics...kinda). I mean look at the main character of Portal. Chell's a chick who isn't really anyone's fantasy but that of GLaDOS. In Left 4 Dead Zooey isn't especially sexy~ and she's a bigger nerd than the rest of the characters.

 

[Nargleblarg]

Here's the thing I wouldn't think women would like the you know blood, language, sex, etc. of video games but who knew.

 

[Irridium]

If I say I want less skimpy women, I know someone will say I'm gay, and if I say I want more or its fine, someone will call me an insensative, pig brained jackass.

Its like all game heroes are some master race of masiive, strong men with no shirts and sexy women with no shirts.

Its just old, and not exiting anymore.

 

[LiL'Tic]

the gaming industry doesn't hate female gamers, there just trying to make money so they are gonna appeal to their largest demographic which is male gamers

 

[Blow_Pop]

I just needed to talk about this because this has been getting on my nerves for the longest time.

I'm also sure this might have been talked about before, but... I want the male perspective.

Ever since the gaming industry began, boys have been the dominate species of human to be in the gaming world, causing females to be on the outside looking in. I'm serious. I mean even females working in the industry look down trodden.

Due to this, girl characters in games make me angry... for many reasons.

For one, they end up being boy's fantasies of how a girl should look. We have the GIGANTIC boobs (I'm pointing to YOU Ivy from Soul Calibur), the armor that couldn't even cover the body of a two year old (which would end in a fast death), and for character development, you get too damn tough for your own good, wishy washy 'I-need-help-because-I'm-a-girl', or they're just too perky. Too perky is bad. Really bad. It's not realistic, unless you want a DIPSTICK to be lead heroine.

I feel like the game industry has no respect for the other gender... like they're OBLIVIOUS to the fact that maybe, just maybe girls like to play games too. Just like hardcore boy gamers. I mean, I'm surprised to see that in this day and age, I'm still looked at in disbelief that I play hardcore video games, I beat boys butts, AND I'm a girl.

Being a girl gamer, I would like to have more heroines out there as the main character, but every time I see a lead female... I feel... jipped... insulted... slapped in the face so to speak. Why does the heroine have to look so flamboyantly sexy, so that I have to go puke in a toilet to make me feel better? I mean, what the hell is WRONG with putting a woman in a (heaven forbid) full suit of armor? What IS it with the belly showing? I mean, sure we could do it from time to time, but I mean... fighting in a bloody THONG? A BRA? HIGH HEELS? GET REAL!

I mean, yeah, games are imaginative and fun, and I'm not saying we have to totally stop it, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels a little... barred off? I feel like if there is a woman in thong armor on the cover of a game, I'm immediately chained off from it. Like they're is a label saying, 'sorry, we didn't think girls would EVER be interested in this sort of stuff... try the barbie game over there".

In short, the gaming industry needs some more females. Maybe then girl gamers can get some of the respect they need. In a game, I don't need a freakin' MODEL to be the character...

I just want a chance to actually have my gender look like hero on the screen... not some stuffed up, big breasted, unrealistic, and un-identifiable lead character.

I rest my case.

the ivy reference is a great one for that, however, portal, you play as a female who is just an average girl in a weird jumpsuit thing, nothing "sexy" about it. i do agree about not liking models to be the characters and that girls need more clothing in games but i also bring up the point that some games do demean girls. in which case i don't play them. i honestly don't mind playing as a guy. oh and another one fallout 3 plenty of armored chicks in it. some of it is just where the game supposedly takes place (PoP for example, elika's outfit. they are in persia in ancient times dress is appropriate to time period and region). personally as another female gamer, i think you might be taking the issue a little bit too seriously. half the time you don't HAVE to look at your character so why do it?

 

[Blow_Pop]

Here's the thing I wouldn't think women would like the you know blood, language, sex, etc. of video games but who knew.

language i don't mind, i love blood and gore and i love absolutely love, violence in games. i'm also one of a kind and rare and think more like a guy than a girl.

 

[hagaya]

Well, for a long time, Gaming was a "Guy" thing. This was WAY back in the 80s when all the games weren't targeted at guys. My speculation about the presentation of women, it's just because of gaming have that stereotype. It was also because of cliche. Remember POP: Sands of Time? That game had the female lead from the Gods. She was smart, independent, had a mind of her own, wasn't a love interest for the prince, and -- most importantly -- her chest was reasonably sized. I think that that was the best example of a female character in a game. Lara Croft is obviously the first step away from keeping girls out of gaming by the way her breasts are so prominently featured.

Although, the whole thing is futile. Nobody seems to give a care. It's not that girls can't like games, but its because the inevitable sexist retards turn them away. Its not that the developers are making games that demoralize women; its that the average sexist is the target audience because its pretty much everyone. I really haven't met that many nice people on LIVE, about a 1:20 ratio of nice people to asses. Lets face it, every developer does the fake female character because its aparently what works. In a perfect world, a female character would be recognized by being a normal person instead of breasts tied to a lamp post.