Friday 26 November 2010

I'm going to try pick this article apart because I think its silly.

So, its been a while since I've gotten angry on my blog about something on the internet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10883404

This article bugged me in several ways. First off, you expect to be taken seriously using the phrase 'girl gamer'...?

'When you think about women in video games, you would be forgiven for imagining the helpless girly-girl persona of Mario's beloved Princess Peach, or for getting distracted by the improbably-chested, often-running Lara Croft.'

Has this woman even touched a video game beyond Farmville and Bejewelled in the last 10 years?

Why all the hate for Lara? After all these years she's still my secret idol - intelligent, witty, athletic and totally out for herself, not to mention looking fabulous while doing so. The Crystal Dynamics games really developed her personality and gave her character flaws such as her slightly obsessive and psychotic nature that reveals itself from time to time.



This scene never fails to make me smile. Look at what a badass she is. [also, she's pretty modest compared to Amanda!]

'"Sometimes women don't get the option of being male or female," Ngan Nguyen, editor of Women in Games Jobs, told BBC World Service's Colin Grant.

"You have to play with whatever character you're given. Some of the games I've played, like God of War, you are given just male characters."

HAHA OH WOW, does this really need a comment? Oh shit, Kratos is a man, how has this got anything to do with the topic? Some games actually have character-driven stories other than you just being a faceless avatar. This is one of the most stupid comments I've ever read.

In regards to revealing your gender over chat in MMOs, if the people you're playing with aren't immature asshats, why would they care if you're a woman or not? I knew someone in my first year who was the only girl in a group of about 20 guys and had a blast, no one treated her any differently.

"Parents aren't going to encourage their girls to play, they're not going to be as keen to buy them their first DS or buy them a console in the way you see families and mums buying lots of that stuff for boys at a very young age."

This is pure opinion over fact. As a child, all my female friends got bought their first gameboy and copy of Pokemon red/blue because our parents were intelligent enough not to buy us anything with an 18-rated sticker on it. My group of friends and loads of other girls I knew at the time owned consoles so they could play cute colourful platformers.

"I don't think we just want games where you dress up Barbies. I think [my daughter would] love to go around picking up gems, cutting the heads off donkeys or whatever it is that the game involves."

Cutting heads off...What? Since when are games either about barbies or super violence? As a child I never played games about either of those things, I just wanted games about animals jumping over things and collecting gems. Why is this article so obsessed with black and whites.
I think this is a very poorly-researched, unbalanced and petty article which I don't particularly want to be associated with as someone trying to get into the industry. :(

7 comments:

Chenz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chenz said...

One of my favourite endings ever! "WHERE. IS. MY. MOTHER?!" Haha I love that. Lara can lose her temper like that and still remain cool unlike Lightning who loses her temper and just looks plain stupid =__=.

That person does have a point about making women look like they're ready for sex, but I think she picked the wrong character as the example. She should've picked Ivy from Soul Calibur 4, LOL.

Del said...

that article was so broken.

where have all the real feminists gone?

The ones that are working with councils to stop sexual attacks, and domestic violence?

Not ones that are upset that they can't have a female kratos that's dressed in an anorak?

Del said...

that lara video was pretty awesome.

good post btw

Blair said...

@Z, Haha yes I love that 'every breath is a gift from me' line too. Lightning just punches everyone in sight when she's annoyed like a spoiled child. LOL Ivy looks like she's ready to step on someone's balls aha.

@Del, its a shame petty crap like this is so publicised instead of the things that actually matter.
And lol, its like complaining that Rose in Titanic was a woman or something.

Laura Hutton said...

"An unfortunate truth is that many female gamers register under male (or gender-neutral) identities to avoid stalking, harassment, and the general annoyance of guys who experience neuron failure around characters with breasts."

Well that's true, maybe the only researched part of the whole article. Cutting the heads off donkeys? Haha!

Nice post, Lara was cool in that video, those big lips and the impractical clothes... I guess that's just what makes her Lara Croft.

Flumpinator said...

good points :) silly articles... maybe you should design a new character; Ezio-y the donkey assassinator ^^