"Girl Gamers"

[Evil Tim]

So can female characters.

Really? List for me a dozen games with a female protagonist who isn't lightly built and classically attractive. You're not going to come up with a particularly expansive list to counter the wahey breast physics list of fetishistically under-dressed, over-sexualised females with ridiculous figures. In addition, list for me any strongly built female protagonist who could concievably qualify as a 'comically stoic musclehead.'

You won't because you can't.

 

[DCFowl]

List for me a dozen games with a female protagonist who isn't lightly built and classically attractive. In addition, list for me any strongly built female protagonist who could conceivably (I before E except after C) qualify as a 'comically stoic muscle head(Two words) .'

You won't because you can't.

Hammer from Fable3, not the main character but definitely a protagonist and definitely a meat head
Most modern role players let you pick your sex and physical appearance. If no-one wants to play those characters when they have the chance then why should a designer base a game around one.
but for a list of list of games with female protagonists.
http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/female-protagonists/offset,25/so,1d/

 

[Evil Tim]

The point is that there is variety in female characters as well. It's an exaggeration to claim they're all the same.

It's a lie to claim there isn't a distinct tendency towards a very narrow subset of body and costume types in comparison to males, however.

There are also male characters like that. See: every space marine ever.

The average space marine character wears a large, extremely modest suit of armour that protects him rather than exposing him; he is not sexualised, indeed usually the effect is quite the opposite one, reducing his recognisable form as much as possible so his body resembles a machine. Moreover, the powered armour suit doesn't require the wearer be physically massive in order to use it [eg Gordon Freeman, Isaac Clarke]. About the only female character treated similarly is Samus Aran, and in her case the player is usually rewarded for a good run by having her take the armour off. Ever seen that presented as a reward with a male character?

For the comparison to be valid male characters would have to wear tiny, skintight thongs and resemble gun carriages; they would have be embarassingly exposed, not simply designed to appeal to power fantasies by being physically imposing. About the only example I could think of offhand would be Solid Snake's infamous MGS4 arse-suit, and male gamers most certainly did complain about being subjected to the sight of Snake's crack.

I won't because I never said there are comically stoic musclehead female characters.

Actually, you did.

Oh come on, male characters can be anything from...[comically stoic muscleheads]

So can female characters.

Maybe you should pay attention to the posts you're butchering to make sure your replies match what people have actually said, kiddo.

 

[Evil Tim]

Different standards. Men != women.

Please explain what relation your rebuttal actually has to what you quoted.

The game industry is run mostly by men and meant mostly for men (DS/Wii excluded). What are you expecting? If women were in charge they'd do the same (equivalent) thing.

You know, I'm thoroughly insulted by the suggestion that as a male I have to integrate an element of whacking off into every single one of my activities in some way.

Men != women.

Ah right, because no male gamers felt uncomfortable looking at Voldo in Soul Calibur or Snake's crack in MGS4. There were not entire forum topics on the latter subject while the former routinely makes lists of the most disturbing characters ever created. Seems to me that males actually do feel uncomfortable about over-sexualisation, whereas they do not feel uncomfortable at a powerful but 'safe' and unsexualised male. Hence the popularity of superhero comics and the muscular protagonist, and the lack of equivalency between that and the under-dressed, over-sexualised female character.

Now you're just making shit up. In the text I quoted there is no "comically stoic muscleheads." That part was removed.

Let's see.

1. You throw away half my argument and reply to a snipped section.
2. I reply on the basis your reply was to my whole argument, assuming that you, like most non-sociopaths, have not assigned yourself the ability to arbitrarily edit other people's thoughts.
3. You deny that you intended to reply to my entire post.
4. I point out your reply does not actually gel with all of what I posted.
5. You angrily accuse me of 'making shit up' because I remembered the other half of the sentence.

Yeah, I'm the one in the wrong here, bucko.

 

[Nhilus]

I think the whole sexism thing is blown well out of proportion pretty much everywhere you look, I always have one thing to say to people saying that I am being sexist if I am ever slightly mean or harsh to a woman and that sentence is usually that I would be saying exactly the same things be the target male or female, I'm not entirely sure why most people end up berating people because of there sex, but I have played games with many "girl gamers" and found them to be on-par and quite better than some of the "guy gamers" I know.

 

[[TW]_Saviour]

Play the game and enjoy, like i care if im making a man or a woman eat a very nice boomstick, as long as the brains come out i honestly dont care. Its the majority of people who go out their way to gang up on a "female" player or help her win?? At the end of the day youll proabably never meet face to face, so remember your shooting polygons! Not a possible date!

 

[squid5580]

Uhh do you actually pay attention to the writing in games? Guys aren't really getting a fair shake by them either. We get 2 characters to represent us 90% of the time. Either the big barrel chested caveman or the amnesiac spiky haired teenager who got dressed in the dark. The other 10% are just plain assholes.

Oh come on, male characters can be anything from comically stoic muscleheads [and even they can be charmingly rather than offensively dumb, as per Serious Sam in First and Second Encounter] to wisecracking comic book nerds [see Viewtiful Joe]. In fact, the ludicrously pumped male being in any way ubiquitous is an absurd exaggeration; for every game starring Thunk Lugnut & Friends there's a dozen characters like Gordon Freeman or Max Payne who are physically ordinary.

You would have a point if the average male character was as grotesquely under-dressed and over-sexualised as, say, Voldo, but they're not.

Wearing skin tight clothes that show off thier rippling abs in not sexualizing them? But when it is a female character it is?

Although it doesn't matter to me how they look. That to me is not the problem. It is what is on the inside that counts. That is what is important. And that is where neither side really gets a fair shake. Infact when you really start looking at it most of the time it is the female secondary character who is the intelligent one. Even with thier triple Ds and thread for clothes.

 

[Spekter068]

No, I don't. Why do we like to do these things? Why do we want to prove it can be done? It makes no sense.

If everyone was like you we'd still be in the stone age.

Ooooh, I have been skewered. I must now reevaluate my life.

But first, a little retaliation is in order.

You cannot possibly comprehend how very WRONG you are. I have ADD, but my IQ is 135. The average IQ range is 80 to 120.

Statistics show that the most innovative and successful people (i.e. artists, inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs, etc) are far more likely to have a learning disorder such as dyslexia or AD/HD. Einstein and Picasso were both dyslexic, for example.

The inescapable conclusion is that people with learning 'disorders' are in fact superior to average human beings. I myself am in the midst of writing a novel, which demonstrates that I too, have at least a grain of creativity and intelligence.

If I remember correctly, it was innovations like writing that got us out of the stone age. Most likely, those innovations were brought about by a person with a 'learning disorder.'

Therefore, I can safely say that it's thanks to people like me- people who ask questions, who look at things from a different perspective- that we're aren't in the Paleolithic Age anymore.

If you're going to insult someone, THINK about what you're about to say, because if you don't, you're liable to say something that is completely inaccurate and come off looking like the stupid person. Just a tip.

 

[Gyrefalcon]

The point is that there is variety in female characters as well. It's an exaggeration to claim they're all the same.

It's a lie to claim there isn't a distinct tendency towards a very narrow subset of body and costume types in comparison to males, however.

There are also male characters like that. See: every space marine ever.

The average space marine character wears a large, extremely modest suit of armour that protects him rather than exposing him; he is not sexualised, indeed usually the effect is quite the opposite one, reducing his recognisable form as much as possible so his body resembles a machine. Moreover, the powered armour suit doesn't require the wearer be physically massive in order to use it [eg Gordon Freeman, Isaac Clarke]. About the only female character treated similarly is Samus Aran, and in her case the player is usually rewarded for a good run by having her take the armour off. Ever seen that presented as a reward with a male character?

For the comparison to be valid male characters would have to wear tiny, skintight thongs and resemble gun carriages; they would have be embarassingly exposed, not simply designed to appeal to power fantasies by being physically imposing. About the only example I could think of offhand would be Solid Snake's infamous MGS4 arse-suit, and male gamers most certainly did complain about being subjected to the sight of Snake's crack.

I won't because I never said there are comically stoic musclehead female characters.

Actually, you did.

Oh come on, male characters can be anything from...[comically stoic muscleheads]

So can female characters.

Maybe you should pay attention to the posts you're butchering to make sure your replies match what people have actually said, kiddo.

Check out Champions Online and Rock Band and even City of Heroes. TRY to make a "fat" female character. On Champions Online the "Waist" slider adjusts the hips, the waist remains untouched. So no making Big Bertha from the Civic Minded Five anywhere. And try having a female lizard character without breasts or a broad shouldered female werewolf.

@Bagodix-your comment isn't wrong. Female characters CAN be all these things...they just aren't. Hammer is a rarity.

 

[PrimoThePro]

... will you marry me?

who are you talking too?

i get the feeling he might have been directing that at me.
if so,
yes ;D

I was very recently digging through some old quotes, and it led me here. (My old name was FlshrImp).
Good, then,
ON WITH THE WEDDING!