Meanwhile, here's a link to some interesting facts about ESRB stats. Women now comprise about 40% of us which, to me, isn't all that bad (not far from an even split).
http://www.esrb.org/about/images/vidGames04.png
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A nice read and a needed reminder that gender portrayal isn't a black and white issue. Clearly, we can admire exagerrated characters for good reasons. Lara Croft is a bad-ass who embodies tenets of rugged individualism, even if her exagerrated body could be more realistic. I'm also reminded of Batman, who is a cautionary portrait of vigilantism. He's motivated by revenge for the murder of his parents, so his good deeds are always have a bit of dark selfishness to them.
On the subject Gordon Freeman, I always thought his look hilarious. "Oh hey, someone finally put one of US into a video game." But I've always wished the guy talked. Character-wise, he's this silent, messianic protagonist. I kind of wish I knew more about his feelings about the world, particularly Alyx.
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@BobVance I think your opening point is valid. When I play Modern Warfare, the killing is mindless and inifinite. When I play Far Cry 2, it's brutal and drawn out. In either case, I'm engaging in simulated murder, which is a mirror of behavior far more extreme than basic sexual harassment or paying women less than what men make for the same amount of work. Some counterpoints:
The presence of mindless killing in video games doesn't nullify the effects of unrealstic gender portrayals in video games. You might even argue that, if we were to care more about something like gender representation, there might be a fundamental shift in how we view gaming. Gaming is full of vicarious participation, some of which is quite hedonistic. You seem to agree, but believe that means we shouldn't bother examining the issue further. I disagree. Games are clearly telling us something about ourselves and it's probably worth our time to decide what's good and bad, especially if we ever want the hobby to be taken seriously as an art.
Secondly, that fact that you'd like to relax while gaming doesn't run counter to being challenged in your ideals/thinking ability. It's not an either/or. People like to do things that challenge them for fun, whether they're skydiving, reading a good book, taking a rewarding class in college, or playing Front Mission. There's nothing wrong with you having a similar experience.
Furthermore, on the subject of salaries, you're just dead wrong. If you don't believe me, consult the Washington Post or gold old census data.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/06/AR2008110602982.html
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/censusandstatistics/a/paygapgrows.htm
Meanwhile, the "forgotten worthless bags of meat" you're speaking of still occupy most political offices, are most likely to be CEOs, and, until the 1980's, were not likely to be taken into custody for domestic violence calls. It's still a man's world, even if women are handling their business in college better than men are.
Also, I reject your notion that sexism is over preached and tired. I check the feeds at Bitmob, G4TV, Kotaku, 1up, and even Game Politics and they're not talking about this issue. If they are, it's getting lost in all the other gaming news. Maybe you don't want to hear about it, which is fine, but I see no evidence in my RSS feeds indicating that sexism in games is all we can ever seem to talk about.
On a final note, I consider your idea that it's somehow "fashionable" to be a sensitive, educated modern man an attack on my person. I didn't write this article to be hip. I wrote it because some gamers, particularly ones in deferential positions of social power, don't see a point in giving a damn about the world around them. Then we wonder why the world doesn't take us seriously. You ask what happened to using our brains to judge what's right and wrong, and that's precisely what I'm doing. The way you're posing the question isn't any different than railing against all things "big government," while complaining that politicians are after your precious Medicare.
If you think gaming is that last haven of non-political correctness, then you clearly haven't watched cable news, listened to Top 40 radio, or been to any number of summer block buster movies in recent years.
You're right that a developer's rights to make games should be protected under free speech. As should the president's. Or your neighbors. Or your family's. Or the KKK's. The issue here isn't freedom of speech, nor am I posing the idea of legal limits on said speech. Instead, I'm calling a spade a spade. The portrayal of women in video games is frequently sexist and you're either for that portrayal or against that portrayal. And the stance you take speaks volumes about how you view women.
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Thanks for the front page, ya'll.
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@Omar
In literary theory, the experience that you're having regarding M:OM is deemed "New" criticism. In short, it describes the process of throwing a work's creator's intentions out the window and drawing your own conclusions about what the art means. Writers studying Hemingway (literature loaded with limited, unrealstic portrayals of gender identity) often turn the author's work against him in order to illustrate a how traditional gender roles are dangerous. This is something Hemingway probably wouldn't have wanted, but that's partly why new criticism was invented, to show that art exists independently of the creator (and his/her intentions).
It's great that you went against the tide to form an such opinion on M:OM and publish it here. I find the evidence against the game's sexism and poor writing both legit and legion, but it doesn't mean that players can't have a worthwhile personal experience playing it (as you did). The only mistake to be made in having that experience is deciding that yours is the definitive one. Clearly, when you read online discussions of the game, you find that that is clearly not the case. And it's true for all of us.
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Thanks for reading everyone.
@JohnMadden I reviewed the new Metroid recently and had similar feelings.
http://www.sacurrent.com/film/story.asp?id=71509
@David I agree that maybe it's a balancing act. Solid Snake is a great character and I don't want him eradicated from the canon for the sake of more nuanced characters/writing. At the same time, it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized how borderline racist the entire roster of Street Fighter is.
@Sandy I'm glad you don't necessarily fill a traditional male stereotype. I think perhaps I may have been a bit too all-encompassing with the statement you quoted. However, I stand by the notion that the media we consume--video game or no--has a deep impact on us. There's simply too much of it in our daily lives for it not to.
@Rob Thanks for your support. I think you said what I could not about gender. The macho identity isn't representative, but its grossly over-represented. It's worse for young girls who grow up playing with Barbies, reading 17 magazine, and watching iCarly. They grow up thinking these are the only types of women they can be, all of which are consumed with boys, make-up, and clothes (respectively). It's not true for all of them, but for many. And even the most isolated of us fall prey to feeling like we don't measure up to some "ideal image" we encounter daily.
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Points taken. But then my question is: what's the justification of White and Page making these games into rhetorical whipping children? I think their words betray a persistent problem for all gamers: not being taken seriously by the outside world. If either musician knew anything about our hobby, then they would praise RB and GH for not being murder simulators or base, Hollywood-inspired schlock, which our market is saturated with.
I mean, here are the ultimate edutainment titles. They remove everything that's intimidating about trying an instrument while maintaining the synergy of playing in a band. It's the perfect stepping-stone to studying music. As a musician myself, I don't want to discourage anyone from trying RB and GH because there's no telling where the experience might take them. Meanwhile, if someone plays the games and never studies music, is that the fault of the games? Again, why blame the games for anything? Why are the games somehow reflective of a negative "state" that we are in, either in music or life in general"
Guitar Hero and Rock Band only encourage people to get (more) into (more) music. Musical Luddites expand their palette. Music lovers might take up an instrument as a result. In other words, no one is worse off for having played Guitar Hero or Rock Band, making White and Page a couple of fearful snobs who worry the value of their skills has been diminished by rhythm games. I don't think they could be any more lame"
Yeah, I'm of the belief that now it's time to upgrade. HOWEVER, I experience a related pain to what you're going through: I hate playing non-HD games on HD screens. I still have two SDs (including the stellar Samsung GXTV that Die Hard Game Fan used to give away in monthly contests; it's perfect for 8-, 16-, and 32-bit) because I can't stand artifacting. In places like the United Arab Emirates, Samsung is still releasing SDs with their best images ever (they're also the thinnest they ever released), but they won't ship me one!
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