Poll: Is this a common thing for most gamers?

[Superhyperactiveman]

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?

 

[Julianking93]

If a game offers the chance to play as either a man or a woman, I usually play as a woman.

I like playing as a badass chick.

 

[delet]

I don't tend to care one way or another as long as:
A) The story is good.
B) The gameplay is good.

As long as it's one of those two, I'll enjoy the game. If it's both, then it's probably one of my favorite games ever.

 

[Sir Kemper]

It seems more that you simply can't relate to female protagenist's, rather then sexism. Personally if given the choice 95% of the time i'll play a male protagenist, mainly becuase it feels more naturel for me.

 

[khaimera]

I've struggled with the decision to be a female vs male in games that let me choose. I, a male, cannot relate as well to a female protagonist. But I, still a male, like to look at girls while playing games and also like a break from the typical macho guy archetype in games. I just don't know what to do.

 

[PDizzle418]

I'm torn on this one. Mostly becuase if I don't have a choice I don't care.

but given the choice I always choose women.

I think it's fun go around as a woman and beat the piss out of supposedly big strong men

and then they get floored but my petite little character

I always think it's funny to watch


I'm a guy btw

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

If there's a nice story attached or the game catches my particular interest i could give a damn who the protagonist is..

 

[De Ronneman]

I think gender of a protagoniss is something that can be forgotten at points. I've played Bayonetta(be it an awfully short time at a friends) and it didn't annoy me, hamper me or prevented me from seeing the big picture(and by god, it's a big one...) or get sucked in the game.

It's just something to see through. Once you stop paying attention to it, you get to enjoy the game no matter what the protagonist is, man, woman, evil blob, I stop caring once the story is great.

Very important example: Portal. You play as a chick, and it is my all time favorite game.

 

[Tomster595]

I'm a man and it generally doesn't matter... Though I usually favor female characters in fighting games... A bit off topic lol

 

[NicolasMarinus]

I just can't relate!

 

[x0ny]

Doesn't bother me when I don't have a choice, but in RPGs or MMORPGs where you create your character, I am more likely to create a female character. Having said that though, of my six chars I had in WoW, the ratio was equal, though the first two I made were female.

 

[Belthalmel]

Nah, but it's extremely rare to find a good, strong female lead. Hence why I loved the Valkyrie Profile series

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I think that there are a minority of men and women with this hang up, they just can't relate to a character with the opposite gender at all. Doesn't bother me, seems sort of a small thing to be bothered by, like being scared of spiders.

 

[Gladion]

I don't see how a female protagonist could ever be a damsel in distress (as you say it it's the #1 female protagonist design besides unlikable bitches), nor do I ever recall them that way. Here's a list off the top of my head:

Samus from Metroid,
Jade from BG&E,
Heather from Silent Hill 3,
KAEDE from Killer7,
Alex from Eternal Darkness,
Jill from Resident Evil,
Zoey from L4D.

All cool characters. Edit: Except maybe Jill, but she's neither a DiD nor an extremely unlikable ***** so she's out anyways.
Sorry, this is not the reason you cannot relate to female protagonists. This automatically means you're a sexist bastard.

 

[mawk]

I really don't care. I've never been the kind of guy who projects himself onto the character he's playing. Even in games with a silent protagonist, I pick up whatever details about their personality I can from their basic reactions, and go with that instead. I can see the problem for people who do; gender is a pretty big part of your self-image, and it's tough to settle into a persona that doesn't share yours.

Although the concept itself is evolving, sort of. Bioware games, which leave the main character as a blank slate and let you call the shots, allow the depth of customization they do for more or less that purpose. games like Bioshock and Metroid feature a silent protagonist which is definitely one gender or the other, but then they get you so involved in the atmosphere of the place you're in that you find it tough to fixate on which parts your avatar has. Other RPGs are slowly eliminating silent protagonists entirely; jRPGs in particular have started giving their main characters speaking parts (and if you're lucky, motivations and personalities of their own), and Final Fantasy leads haven't been able to shut up since number four.

The "damsel in distress" thing strikes me as a little weird. A person needing to be rescued is hardly a gender-specific thing anymore, and hasn't been for at least a decade -- it's just left the paradigm completely.

 

[Gigaguy64]

It doesn't really matter to me.

If given a choice ill most likely choose a man the first time i play through it because i am male.
If not given the choice then i wont care.
The Metroid Series is one of my favorite series ever and it doesn't bother me that Samus is a woman.
Now if a game has a female protagonist and it takes every chance it has to pan out to the fans them i have a problem, most of the time though its not really a great game anyway.

 

[CINN4M0N]

I prefer to play as men, simply because characters in games are often stereotypical, like Superhyperactive man said; female characters are often helpless or bitchy. And so I just find male characters more likeable.

One of my favourite games of all time has a female protaganist though. It is Cate Archer from No One Lives Forever, and I love that game and the character.

 

[Typhusoid]

Not bothered, unless they turn out as some ridiculious cliche, ala Gears or Bayonetta

 

[aPod]

I prefer to play as a man... i dont know why, i think its the same reason i prefer bands with male singers... its just more, familiar. Thats the word.

However, i dont mind playing as a female character. I love Bayonetta for instance.