Poll: Is this a common thing for most gamers?

[Fappy]

I don't mind either way. If the character is written well he/she should be relate-able and likable no matter what the gender.

 

[Halo Fanboy]

I prefer men but women are probably my second favorite gender to play as.

I'm actually pretty easygoing when it comes to the protaginist of a game and it bugs me when people dwell so much on the main character when for me its more about what they do.

This doesn't stop me from prefering muscled men and women with big asses and titties for main characters.

 

[Superhyperactiveman]

This is an odd topic for a gaming thread and an even odder subject for the gaming media.

I tend not to enjoy most video games with female protagonists... Okay, that's not true. I've never played a video game with a female protagonist that I enjoyed in my entire life.

A case could be made that female video games are notorious for being unlikeable, either for being helpless damsel in distress cardboard cutouts or for being complete and utter bitches, but I feel like even if a game had a strong female protagonist, then as much as I would be happy for the step forward for equality I would still hate it.

You claim to not have played any games that feature prominent female protagonists but argue that you wouldn't want to otherwise to to poor representation. Then,. how would you know that playing a female would deter you from the game. Admittedly, game narrative have kept close to classical conservative notions of women, featuring them as objects of desire for the player to either obsess over or rescue from.

Few games feature strong female roles, let alone strong female leads but to never have even tried shows an inability to acknowledge their existence. This opposition to female leads illustrates that games still has a long way and difficult way to go before games feature strong female leads. Money talks loud and it says that people fear looking feminine, as we see with the over masculine bodies of most FPS titles.

So, the recent release of Bayonetta has had me thinking about something.
For me, it's important to be drawn into the story and become immersed into it, to really picture myself in the place of the protagonist. Female protagonists in games never seem to call out to me. The gender gap is too great for me to cross and immerse myself into the character. I can't relate as well and just gravitate towards games with male protagonists.

This is the odd bit I mentioned earlier. You claim that placing the player in the role of a female will cause some sort of unexplained de-identification with the protagonist. But what about games that feature a surly squirrel (Conker), a hyperactive marsupial (Crash Bandicoot), and whatever Ratchet is from Ratchet and Clank. Or, what about a Jedi, an Italian plumber, or a Fairy Boy with a sword?

The thing is gender isn't the only thing that goes into identifying with the protagonist. Race, species, culture, and other interconnected social issues combine into identity so it can't that being a girl make it hard for you to get into the story. While it is true that the women in game s are portrayed as vapid and shallow, solely focusing on gender simplifies the process of identification.

Unless most gamers are stoic commanders out to save the depths of space from sentient space ships, most video game protagonists have little resemblance to the person who plays. Take any game protagonist and, without going into story elements, find how these individuals compare to yourself. For example, how close are you to, say, Marcus Fenix. While he is a man, he comes from a military background that consists of fighting Sapient Bugs monsters from another world. Who can identify with that?

If you notice, most lasting protagonists are either everyday joe/janes or silent protagonists. These individuals allow players to sympathize with them as they are seen as underdogs (Gordon Freeman, a nerd, must battle legions of aliens and Combine soldiers. You are positioned to challenge these, imparting yourself into Gordan and his desires.) In some cases, you can even empathize with them (the end of Half Life 2: Ep. 2)

Identification doesn't mar game play, mostly. I can still be the master chief even though he is basically shallow and awkward. A game must stand on its mechanics. Most Games lack narrative but are great: Captain Forever, Tetris, Pong, Space War, Luminous, etc. While it's ideal that game and narrative go hand and hand, a game must still be a game, not a book or a movie. If gender got in the way of game play, that's one thing but otherwise, You can play Metroid prime and not even feel that you are in the mind of Samus, a strong female who was raised by space chickens. Her presence never gets in the way of identification of game play.

I admit, I shared this opinion once awhile back. gender is an issue that has plagued people for centuries. Are you a Man or Woman? What does it mean to be a Man/Woman? You aren't a bastard for asking about this tense issue. But will you keep your opinion of female protags after this thread has gone out? What issue do you have playing as a women really? If you can, try some games with good game mechanics and strong female leads. Portal and Metroid prime are a good start. See what bothers you about it and find out why. Play a woman in a fighting game. What bothers you most, being a fighter or being a woman?

Sometimes, its good to remember that games allow players to experience things they wouldn't normally get the chance to, like flying a jet pack, ramping off a a highway to avoid the fuzz, or making love to a blue alien. These experiences also reveal a little about ourselves, like yelling NOOOOOOO! after incinerating your companion cube. *sniff* It still hurts...

You do make some interesting points... they're all flawed... but interesting.

First off, I have played several games with female leads, but they all annoyed me for one reason or another and I never get very far into the game.

I've actually not played a lot of games you mention, so I'll stick to ones I'm familiar with. If I don't talk about one, assume I didn't play it or didn't like it and don't know enough about it to comment, or just felt like I had no insight to draw from it. Immersing into a role is still a very important part of enjoying a game for me. Unfortunately, you don't seem to understand what this means. Immersing into a character has nothing to do with the experiences of the character, and everything to do with the character themselves. No, I'm not an Italian plumber, a jedi, or a boy with a fairy, but that doesn't matter because the characters themselves are what draw me in. Their identities as relateable people. I don't identify with Mario because he jumps 50 feet in the air and fights turtle monsters. I identify with Mario because he's an average man. Because he's light-hearted and fun, but can be serious when he needs to be. Because of his happy-go-lucky attitude. Because of his fierce sense of loyalty and friendship. And because of his willingness to do anything for the woman he loves, even face insurmountable odds and brave dangers great and fearsome. (And yes, I did manage to grab all of that from a completely silent character)

In order to immerse into a character, they have to be someone you can see part of yourself in, while at the same time being something you wish you could be. This is why it's difficult for me to be drawn into a female character, because (despite what the ultra-feminists and the politically correct assholes will tell you) Men and Women are different. We have different needs, different desires, different motivations, different thought processes, different everything. It's difficult for me to find a female character in anything that I find relateable, because of what a huge part of a person's identity that their gender is.

Many people have also cited Samus, and while I agree that the Metroid games are good, I feel that Samus is actually an arguement for my case, because (at least in the metroid games I have played) Samus isn't a female character. Obviously, she is female physically, but she is not a female character in the sense that she does not do anything in the least bit to suggest that she is a woman. She never even interacts with any kind of intelligent species beyond killing it or carries herself in any way to suggest her gender. In fact, were it not for the few times we see her without her suit, no one would ever believe you if you told them she was a woman. Samus is a genderless robot who seems not to even have a soul at times. She is only relateable to me because of my love of violence, and I can step into the character because there is no personality at all for me to overcome. Samus is simply whoever is playing the game.

I've never let gameplay decide whether or not I think a game is good. There will always be games with good gameplay and games with bad gameplay. I focus on the story, the characters, and their struggles, and hope that it coincides with good gameplay. Thankfully, this isn't a problem becuase most games that have a good story also have good gameplay. For me a story is always more rewarding with a character I can step into, and while gender doesn't stop me from enjoying good books and movies with female roles, video games are a lot longer than most books and movies. I have a lot longer to lose interest, and the complete lack of likeable female characters often gets to me.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

We've all been there.

 

[VanityGirl]

I'm a woman and I'd rather see a male protaganist, here's why.

When devs attempt to make strong female characters who are badass gunslingers (or something like that) they generally make them seem like an super *****.

Rubi, in Wet, came off as a ***** to me. There's a difference between being a ***** and a badass, and unfortunately for Rubi, I just smelt ***** a mile away.

Or, in other cases, the devs attempt to make a female character to devilishly attractive that they hollow out her personality. They replace good character developement with breat implants.


Not all female characters are terrible, but I'd just rather play as a male.
(Plus I get something to look at )

 

[molester jester]

If given the choice about 75 % of the time i go male the other 25% i go female
just because i like to test out every angle of a game

 

[Macgyvercas]

I tend to enjoy playing a male protagonist better (I identify better with them), but exceptions do exist (i.e. the entire Tomb Raider series).

However, it doesn't really matter what gender the main character is, as long as I have an absolute blast playing the game.

 

[Halo Fanboy]

Snip.

Well Gordum Freemun isn't really that normal a guy. He likes to teleport extra dimensional beings. To say that he's like the average player isn't really fair, I feel more at home with a big tough guy than someone who likes science.

For me playing as a man is cool because big muscles are cool. Also I like it when "scratch one grub" is spoken in a deep voice. A woman with solid Snake's voice would be lolworthy (his voice is already kind of lolworthy.) Rounded asses and titties are good too, that's why the're second place.

Not that these traits are all ways necessary, but they do make the games a little better. The muscles make Gears of War better, dat ass makes Bayonetta better and those games were awesome to begin with.

 

[Banana Pancake]

I may lean towards the male protagonist if I was looking for more immersion in a game but most of the time it is not a very big issue for me. On the eye candy side, what I would rather look at, I am stuck between male and female protagonists .

In conclusion it dosn't really effect my gaming experience.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

I don't really care about the protagonist's gender as long as there's some interesting writing and design at work.

 

[ChipSandwich]

Don't care, so long as they're not a macho dick or a dumb action girl, it doesn't bother me.

 

[boholikeu]

So, the recent release of Bayonetta has had me thinking about something.

I tend not to enjoy most video games with female protaganists... Okay, that's not true. I've never played a video game with a female protaganist that I enjoyed in my entire life. A case could be made that female video games are notorious for being unlikeable, either for being helpless damsel in distress cardboard cutouts or for being complete and utter bitches, but I feel like even if a game had a strong female protaganist, then as much as I would be happy for the step forward for equality I would still hate it.

For me, it's important to be drawn into the story and become immersed into it, to really picture myself in the place of the protaganist. Female protaganists in games never seem to call out to me. The gender gap is too great for me to cross and immerse myself into the character. I can't relate as well and just gravitate towards games with male protaganists.

So, is this something that most gamers identify with, or am I just a sexist bastard? And does it matter if you're a man or a woman?

I just find it strange that the character's gender is what breaks the immersion for you. In many games you have totally inhuman powers or murder countless enemies without a second thought, but it's a pair of digital boobs that keep you from identifying with the protagonist?

I don't think you are sexist, but I do think it's odd that you seem so fixated on the main character's gender.

 

[JimJamJahar]

I usually play games for the experience of being immersed in a world and that is much harder if I can't relate to the character, so I always prefer the protagonist to be male so that I can relate more(I'm a guy). But I do sometimes play as a female if you can choose gender, just to see how that impacts the story. However, I always create a man first

 

[UPRC]

Gender is irrelevant to me, as long as the character is well developed and fun to play as.

 

[Phenakist]

Being a guy I don't care if I have to play as a female, unless of course I get asked details on periods as part of the story to progress...

 

[Vet2501]

The character's gender doesn't matter to me as long as the story and gameplay is good, unless the character is a complete tosser, a la Wet.

 

[WhiteRat07]

I really can't relate to female protagonists. I tried playing a female toon in wow once and deleted her in 10 levels. But have plenty of friends that play only females.