Why must every game revolve around making my balls feel big?

[Don Savik]

Ok, lets do this!

I have no idea what the results are before going in, so it could be evens or lop sided...

"and yet it moves" - scrawny white guy
"atom zombie smasher" - no one
"borderlands" 1 skinny white guy, 1 Marcus Phoenix, 1 black guy and a chick
"braid" - short, fat school kid
"brawl busters" - mix
"Cogs/crayon physics delux" - no one
"crimecraft" - can't remember. Why is that installed?
"dead space (2)" skinny white guy
"Just cause 2" Muscly white guy
"killing floor" - mix
"machinarium" - robot
"Magicka" - who knows
"osmos" - bubble
"revenge of the titans" - no one
"section 8" - who knows
"SPAZ" - who knows
"Steel storm" - who knows
"TF2" - mix
"terraria" make your own.

So what are we calling that (really small) steam collection? I say 4, borderlands, dead space (2), just cause 2.

You could argue for brawl busters and section 8 though.

Sorry but I must fix a few things here.

Braid: Guy in his 20s, he only looks small because its a mario/supermeatboy style platformer. But, he is also a control freak that has relationship problems, so not the average protagonist.

Just Cause 2: You play a guy named Rico Rodriguez. A man with a thick hispanic accent. And you think he is a white guy!?!?!??!? D:

 

[omega 616]

Braid: Guy in his 20s, he only looks small because its a mario/supermeatboy style platformer. But, he is also a control freak that has relationship problems, so not the average protagonist.

Just Cause 2: You play a guy named Rico Rodriguez. A man with a thick hispanic accent. And you think he is a white guy!?!?!??!? D:

Braid: No idea, played the first few levels then was bored.

Just cause 2: Never seen a cutscene and never knew his name. Just thought he had a slight tan, not that it makes a huge difference anyway.

I play JC2 for the same reason I play mercenaries ... to blow shit up. I much prefer mercenaries though

 

[Mikejames]

Play many horror games?

I don't recall Silent Hill having many stereotypical BA hero types.
Fatal Frame made me play a scared school girl, and proceeded to make me act like one.

 

[Vrach]

A lot of stories/games are about conflict resolution. When you mix conflict resolution and a protagonist, the only way to make a player matter is to put them at the centre of things. This is nothing new and it's nothing related to video games, you have TONS of this stuff in books and movies, the only difference is, those aren't interactive mediums, so you:
a) Can have different kinds of stories more easily (ones not really revolving around one person)
b) Don't get to be that awesome protagonist yourself, but it's still the main protagonist

Your examples of games that aren't power fantasies are really just games where you're the game and the enemy is the hunter. Besides, you say "puzzle games don't count" and then you list Mirror's Edge, which is practically a puzzle game, 99% of the game is figuring out how to get from one point to another, 1% is doing the same while someone's chasing you. Journey is an artistic game and while I have nothing against that, it's just a genre of its own and one that's not really easy to get right, not to mention making it fun.

I'm not saying you're wrong, more kinds of games would be good, but this isn't some shitty gaming trend resulting from greed, it's just how storytelling works mixed with gaming's limitations (not necessarily insurmountable ones, but limitations nonetheless). Yes, it's possible to create different things, but that doesn't make it easy and it's not just a matter of profit, if you look around the gaming industry, you'll see piles of games that tried to be different and ended up being crap.

Besides, the medium is still in its infancy. Give it time, we're seeing more and more of these different games every year. The fact they're in the minority is nothing strange, it's just a fact of life, not everyone is infinitely creative and capable of pulling that stuff off.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Or racing games like Mario Kart, where it's about 50% dumb luck, 40% swearing, and 10% skill?

You're playing it wrong.

My bad, you're right. 45% Swearing, 5% skill. Glad you caught that.

The only reason you need a great deal of luck is if you're trying to 3 star the Wii Mario Kart. Otherwise it's pretty damn well left to skill. Well, I don't know about the handheld versions.

Or racing games like Mario Kart, where it's about 50% dumb luck, 40% swearing, and 10% skill?

I'd say luck is only 10 or 20%, skill is way more.

Sarcasm and hyperbolic exaggeration, children. These are tools. Learn them, and their use.

 

[Voltano]

Alrighty then, I want to you all to participate in a brief little experiment. I want you to run your eyes along your video game shelf or Steam library and see how many of your games can be accurately described by the following paragraph.

The protagonist is either a blank slate or a badass (if the latter, then extra points if they're a personailty-deficient, heavily built, thirty-something white guy [http://doctorpus.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/marcus-fenix-gears21.jpg]). Progressing through the game involves killing or violently defeating large numbers of enemies. As you progress your protagonist gets increasingly powerful, usually through stat increases or the acquisition of equipment and weaponry.

Extra points if you get the girl and save the world.

What you described is a common cliche for video games outside of white, 30 something male avatars. This is one of the reasons why I can't take games like "Mass Effect" or "Dragon Age: Origins" seriously because it has the same cliche of being "powerful" like Pokemon. I'm not saying it makes either game bad, but this cliche is hard for adults to take seriously since its a cliche for when games are targeted towards kids.

Supposedly the theory is based upon how "powerless" children are at a young age. Children are governed by their parents, teachers, older relatives, and picked on by bullies to the point that they may not be able to do anything about it. They want to feel like they have some means of influencing their world, but they get that with video games. Game designers have used the "save the world" cliche as a carrot to lure children into the game so they can act out their power fantasies: Reach level 99 and slice everything in half with your ultima weapon; get down and dirty with Tali or Liara after solving the dialogue puzzles to make them "like" you through-out the game; show that you are a good person by (creepily caressing) little girls to kill a slug in them, or be a heartless power-mad player by ripping the slug out of the little girls.

There is some evidence to support this theory. Remember that a bulk of the older video games come from Japan or Asian developers, and children there have little power over what to when they are still in school. Outside of video games, you can also see a lot of Anime showing young kids or teenagers as the "heroes" in their story. Western games are no different to this tactic: Pick up "Super Star Wars" for the SNES and you can be as awesome as Luke Skywalker! Or pick up "Jedi Academy" on the Xbox/PC so that you can learn to be a Jedi under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker! Or if Star Wars is not your thing, we'll let you play "Ghostbusters" video game--y'know, that film that was not targeted towards kids at all but is very popular to them!?

There isn't anything wrong with this cliche, as a lot of Dungeon Masters for D&D use it as a "hook" to get players involved. While I do see BioWare using this cliche in their game, admittedly it is done well by being written carefully so even adults could appreciate it (yet you can still make some action with Morrigan at the end). However, as you stated, this cliche gets boring as it seems like many games cannot divert from this. Even games that have no actual story associated to them seem to rely on this cliche, such as "Painkiller" or the Zelda games.

 

[The_Waspman]

This is why, given the choice, I will play the female option. Having some busty bad ass chick kicking everyone's ass is so much more satisfying.

Plus, y'know, lesbian romance option, whats not to love?

 

[spartandude]

i agree there are too many games like that

i do however advise you to Deamons/Dark Souls, its not character or story focused but believe me you have to earn your gratification in that game

 

[ElPatron]

To me it's not the balls.

I like God of War for a reason. Kratos sure is a badass, and he most certainly has big balls.

But what I like about God of War is that it's not "God of Friends"... The story revolves around on how much of an asshole he can be to everyone else.

Also, I hate to make this cultural, but this is mostly a Western thing.

So you mean that the World's Official Badass, The Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century Jack/Naked Snake/Big Boss/John Doe is a western creation?

Sure thing. I don't think it's cultural at all, we all know the stereotype about girly teenagers crying in weeaboo JRPGs but the Japanese sure know how to create badasses.

And in Africa? In many places if you don't have at least 8 kids other men will start mocking you. It's not cultural. I suppose that South America also likes badasses with big cojones.

 

[Muspelheim]

Hearts of Iron might seem like prime ball-magnifying material. But that is only a deceptive lie, for it will furiously stomp down on your lower provinces until you cry for more.

It's sort of like Dwarf Fortress, there's some sort of masochistic appeal in the logical opposite of the ball-biggifying most games evoke.

 

[Therumancer]

This might turn out a bit rant-ish and I make no promises of comprehensibility. You've been warned.

...

Alrighty then, I want to you all to participate in a brief little experiment. I want you to run your eyes along your video game shelf or Steam library and see how many of your games can be accurately described by the following paragraph.

The protagonist is either a blank slate or a badass (if the latter, then extra points if they're a personailty-deficient, heavily built, thirty-something white guy [http://doctorpus.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/marcus-fenix-gears21.jpg]). Progressing through the game involves killing or violently defeating large numbers of enemies. As you progress your protagonist gets increasingly powerful, usually through stat increases or the acquisition of equipment and weaponry.

Extra points if you get the girl and save the world.

The point I am laboriously trying to make here is that way too many games constitute little more than a juvenile power fantasy. An endless procession of burly, infallible badasses joylessly curb-stomping hundreds of unambiguously evil enemy redshirts. It's really getting old.

Even stealth games, a genre that supposedly focusses on avoiding conflict, still tend to feature unstoppable badass protagonists and allow you to murder everything in your way.

Now, I understand why we get this. Whether I like it or not, testicle-swelling power fantasies are where the money is.

That said, there are games out there that manage to avoid this sort of thing while still being fun. Mirror's Edge focussed on avoiding or running away from combat situations (okay, except when it didn't, but shut up). Amnesia casts you in the role of a defenceless bastard who starts gibbering in fear at the merest glimpse of a hostile and it was still one of the best games I've played in years. Journey has no enemies at all and I've barely heard a single word against it. It can be done! It just almost never is.

Before people jump down my throat with fearsome cries of "Games should be fun!", let me make one thing clear. I'm not saying these kind of games should go away entirely. Hell, I enjoy them myself. I enjoy Half Life 2, I enjoy the Mass Effect games, I even enjoyed my time with Gears of War 3.

But for the love of all that is holy, there are other kinds of stories out there!

[sub]PS. Whoo! I got through that whole rant without once saying "holding the medium back" or "video games being taken seriously". I feel good.[/sub]

...

EDIT: Judging by many of the replies, I need to clarify one thing. I am talking about games that are story-based, or least have a story and a protagonist. Obviously things like flight sims, puzzle games or racing games don't fit the mould that I'm complaining about.

Well, my arguement would be that as much fun as it is to bash the stereotype, more exceptions exist than people generally want to admit. A lot of games for example allow you to choose the appearance and ethnicity of your character, or even choose specific ways to solve problems using a variety of skills. Fallout 3 would be a good example of this, as you can complete the game with an overall body count of only 1 Rad Roach if you so desire. Other games like Yakuza have you playing an assortment of Asian protaganists.

In the end conflict is what drives most stories, and when you get down to it it's also what drives the world. While camped up and made bigger than life, what you see going on in games is actually pretty close to reality... except for the simple fact that the good guys don't win nearly as often, especially seeing as there are rarely any good guys from an absolutist perspective.

The problem with most alternative presentations is that they tend to lack making much sense by being just as limiting, but in a less realistic direction, or in many cases just happen to be badly thought out. The whole "Mirror's Edge" concept of being a courier focused on delivering things as the bottom line was something that could have been a fairly awesome change of pace, but they decided to link it heavily with Parkour which at the time was seen as being the "next big thing", sort of like next-gen Skateboarding, but was already fizzling out in the public eye by the time Mirror's Edge was actually released.

I'll also say that I came up at a time where gaming was dominated by things like Sierra adventure games (their "Quest" series) where you pretty much play the biggest weenie in the world and wind up having to constantly do obtuse things in order to proceed. As a result I feel games where I am the "badarse" so to speak kind of refreshing, though I suppose I can understand how to someone who didn't come up with that, it has itself become fairly annoying and stereotypical. Indeed, now that I think about it, one of the reasons why I didn't care for Amnesia was the fact that I felt more like I was playing against the developer and figuring out what they wanted rather than playing myself... even if you argue this is what your always doing to a degreem, to me it's annoying when the game actually feels that way.

Until we develop adaptive technology that allows players a virtually limitless number of options there are always going to be trade offs. Personally I stick with RPGs mostly as they tend to be the kind of game that is most likely to present me with an array of options I'm likely to be happy with.

 

[LilithSlave]

So you mean that the World's Official Badass, The Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century Jack/Naked Snake/Big Boss/John Doe is a western creation?

Definitely not. Though those are not the status quo.

Japan obviously has their own problems, too. Such as slut shaming and perhaps even more objectification of women than the West. Fetishization of innocence and extreme female weakness, the list goes on...

But you definitely see more of a cultural tendency toward machismo in Western gaming. I'd argue that machismo is more of a refrain of Western gaming than Western movies. Machismo in commonality is more of a subset of a single genre in the West, action, which isn't more popular or more commonly created than other genres. And female action heroes have been on the rise in the West for a long time.

The Western video game industry isn't just behind Japan in terms of ridiculous amounts of machismo, it's behind Hollywood. In which men aren't nearly as expected to be macho as a certain subsection of the Western video game industry. And as I stated before, it's not so much the Western video game industry. It's a certain subset of rich companies that make a lot of money out of exploiting a certain demography. That just happen to be Western, likely because Japanese culture is permeated by "kawaisa" and hasn't had a chance to take root there, like the West.

They're too influential, though. And video games should become more like Hollywood as a whole. That is, not that they should all become movies, but that they should become more diversity and machismo shouldn't be such a staple.

 

[Lugbzurg]

The logic probably says that it's traditional. Enemies are a common staple of videogames and are fun to kill. That's where it starts. The enemies aren't just there to be there. (Except when they are there and just there Isn't that right, oh, "legendary" Spyro?) They're there because an evil force assembled them together and put them there. And you're the only one who can stop it. 'Cause, you like doing things and everyone else is only capable of saying, like, one positive thing about Pokémon, or something to that effect.

Also, because first-person shooters are, like, all the rage, now. That and zombies.

Like many might have pointed out by now, Portal, Amnesia and Dear Esther don't take this route. I've played me some very good Frogger (1997) and Break-Out and they... No, wait... Break-Out actually did some of that. Heck, Frogger got some out-of-nowhere girl frog in the end cutscene. Dang it!

Well, there's Chip's Challenge, I suppose. And Conker's Bad Fur Day is something you really should try out. You can just barely run, jump smack things with a frying pan and do that funny, helicoptery tail thing. And that ending... It goes so well with... Well, I don't want to give anything away. But, it's good. What about Zapper: One Wicked Cricket? Does it count if the villain got thrown in jail and you only went out to rescue your brother so you could continue using him as a television antenna set?

 

[Scow2]

The way I see it... Why does the Master Chief keep getting lumped in with the bald 40-year-old White Guys? We have no idea how old or what color he is.

As for why the characters end up being a badass? Because that's the only way to legitimately characterize anyone who pulls off the feats done in the games. If someone whines about how vulnerable and weak they are, or find themselves in a position in which they are helpless when not 20 minutes earlier they were shrugging off a storm of missiles around them and taking out tanks capable of leveling cities and hundreds and hundreds of humanity-shredding evil things, then you have an inconsistent character. And the person WILL be taking out the hundreds and hundreds of humanity-shredding evil things, nigh-invulnerable super-horrors, and city-leveling tanks, or else there's little to no challenge in the game due to the difficulty escalation.

 

[w00tage]

This is why I'm glad we have characters like Phoenix Wright. An average joe that life occasionally shits on, he rarely comes out on top, and when he does it's by the skin of his teeth or through the help of others. He's not some super buff badass.

Phoenix Wright is a protagonist that puts on his pants one leg at a time. He doesn't aim a gun the size of a car at his pants and yell at them to put themselves on.

He's the only protagonist of all the games on my shelf that I'd like to have a beer with. (or maybe some Grape Juice...lol)

Yeah, I don't get why people think most games need to be brown gritty shooters with lots of bloom when you can make an enormously successful franchise about a defense lawyer trying to do his job in a justice system designed to get convictions.

Most people don't. Game company management does, because they are in the position of approving budgets, and those games have a proven ROI at this time. So even if the game fails, they have a spreadsheet with which to cover their butts. Just as stockbrokers once couldn't go wrong losing money on Big Blue, game companies can't go wrong losing money on Big Brown.

Remember how incrediible it was to those same people that handheld gaming could actually make money on the same scale? Once it was a proven model, they went for it.

Same thing here. When a case is made for other types of game creating the same ROI, we'll see them jumping on the bandwagon just like they are doing with handheld and tablet gaming.

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

I prefer elegant and even vaguely flamboyant characters, perhaps due to my bisexuality? These steroidal musclebound raging man-children swearing and shooting their way through the bland landscapes and emotionless stories don't do it for me. Even when they try to introduce a love interest the relationship just springs from nowhere and there's no real development between them. I just want more emotion in my games without it coming off as pathetic as Hope does from Final Fantasy 13.

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

The way I see it... Why does the Master Chief keep getting lumped in with the bald 40-year-old White Guys? We have no idea how old or what color he is.

As for why the characters end up being a badass? Because that's the only way to legitimately characterize anyone who pulls off the feats done in the games. If someone whines about how vulnerable and weak they are, or find themselves in a position in which they are helpless when not 20 minutes earlier they were shrugging off a storm of missiles around them and taking out tanks capable of leveling cities and hundreds and hundreds of humanity-shredding evil things, then you have an inconsistent character. And the person WILL be taking out the hundreds and hundreds of humanity-shredding evil things, nigh-invulnerable super-horrors, and city-leveling tanks, or else there's little to no challenge in the game due to the difficulty escalation.

There's a easy way around this, simply don't make every game about saving the entire planet single-handed. How many games have come out in the past three years about slaying gods or fighting off an entire species of aliens? Why can't we have a game based in a small town or city? Not every game has to resemble a Micheal Bay movie, I want the story to be personal not global.

 

[Austin Howe]

Let it be screamed from the top of every mountain:

PLAY ICO!

I'll admit that it does have the get-the-girl thing going to it, but really, when you observe how not good your little guy is at combat, I always felt less like a badass and more like someone truly courageous.