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The Press Cubicle #1 - The Culture of the Internet and Games
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Sun, 05 May 2013 06:26:55

Sex is what makes her bad as a character? You would rather her be plain, docile and powerless than sexy? Why hasn't anyone spoken up in defense of Peach?



Edited: Sun, 05 May 2013 06:27:53
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Sun, 05 May 2013 06:34:07
phantom_leo said:

Sex is what makes her bad as a character? You would rather her be plain, docile and powerless than sexy? Why hasn't anyone spoken up in defense of Peach?

Having her designed solely around sex makes her bad as a character, particularly when in the context of a medium that does this over and over.  It's also bizarre that the variation you go to instead of "absurdly proportioned and dressed" somehow means "plain, docile and powerless".  Here, have a stylistic and not terrible design that is certainly not plain, docile or powerless:

Alice

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Sun, 05 May 2013 06:40:53

But she's NOT designed SOLELY around sex. It's not like she's just sitting there being sexy; she's flinging magic around, she's one of the heroes of the game...

Everyone is getting so up in arms about the Sorceress, that she's a bad representation of women, but then there's the docile, powerless and plain Peach who needs to be rescued again and again and again, because she's stupid enough to be kidnapped again and again and again... and everyone's FINE with that?! SHE'S more of a bad example of women in gaming than the POWERFUL, KICK-ASS Sorceress! That was my point! The Sorceress is almost a POSITIVE example of a woman in a game, except for the fact that she's "sexy"...

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Sun, 05 May 2013 06:52:58
That's a red herring since nobody has said anything about Peach.

Equality in design here would be a male not designed to be a hulking warrior of death, but to be designed as a sexual object for women.

In comic form

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Sun, 05 May 2013 06:54:57
Is there a male equivalent of this?

X-blade

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Sun, 05 May 2013 07:09:57
+1



Edited: Sun, 05 May 2013 12:39:38
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Sun, 05 May 2013 07:13:06
Yodariquo said:
That's a red herring since nobody has said anything about Peach.


Equality in design here would be a male not designed to be a hulking warrior of death, but to be designed as a sexual object for women.

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Sun, 05 May 2013 08:45:52
Those are screenshots.  I'm aware that games occasionally have a camera behind the player.  Not sure if you were serious on that.

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Sun, 05 May 2013 10:13:57
Yodariquo said:
Those are screenshots.  I'm aware that games occasionally have a camera behind the player.  Not sure if you were serious on that.

The metal gear solid scene not only has the camera behind Snake's arse, but it's behind Snake's arse while he's having sex with the ninja.

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Sun, 05 May 2013 12:41:04
Yodariquo said:
Those are screenshots.  I'm aware that games occasionally have a camera behind the player.  Not sure if you were serious on that.

I thought you were asking for the male butt equivalent of the X-Blades girl.

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Sun, 05 May 2013 12:42:06

**Pro-Tip: Don't ever put the words "Sexy Chris Redfield" into a Google Browser and look at the image results!**

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Sun, 05 May 2013 12:57:01

*Adds X-Blades to buy-soon list* Nyaa

The VG Press

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Sun, 05 May 2013 13:11:15
  • The Male brain is more left brain oriented. This is the side of the brain that deals with Language, Logic, Critical thinking, Numbers and Reasoning.
  • Computer Programming consists of a lot of critical thinking, logic, numbers and reasoning.
  • Therefore, Computer Programming has become primarily a male dominated field.
  • Game development requires a lot of Computer Programming.
  • Males then dominate game development.
  • It is more likely someone will create something they are familar with for an audience they understand better.
  • In business, you want to create a product that will appeal to the majority of your audience to make money.
  • Game development is a business that involves a lot of guys creating things that appeal to a lot of men in order to make money.

You see where I am going with this, right?

If there were more women in the field, and thus more games made by women for women, this wouldn't be as big a deal... For the most part though (because there's always exceptions) their brains are not quite wired in the same way men's are. It's not that they are being INTENTIONALLY excluded, it's just that classically they haven't been interested in this field and are currently under-represented. Nothing's stopping them from changing that though... if they want to.

Let someone make a sexy male version of Dragon's Crown, see if it would sell...

**I mean, I would buy it, but I'm a minority!**



Edited: Sun, 05 May 2013 13:14:19
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Sun, 05 May 2013 13:26:10
The left/right brain isn't really a thing.  There's some lateralization, but it's not the way it's used colloquially.  Also attributing computer science to brain differences in men and women is speculative at best.  That and it's not the programmers pitching the game or designing the characters.  There's no arguing this is designing for men to make money.

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Sun, 05 May 2013 13:52:48

OK then... Look at this list of the best and most commercially successful games of all time and (in this sexist dominated industry) tell me the ones where sex was a major selling point.

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Sun, 05 May 2013 13:53:50
Yodariquo said:
The left/right brain isn't really a thing.  There's some lateralization, but it's not the way it's used colloquially.  Also attributing computer science to brain differences in men and women is speculative at best.

So there were as many women in your computer classes as men?

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Sun, 05 May 2013 14:27:59
phantom_leo said:

So there were as many women in your computer classes as men?

I can just as easily claim that's because of the absence of pirates.  I said your claim as to causation is speculative.

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Sun, 05 May 2013 14:43:56

The point is Women just haven't been AS interested in Computers and Video Games until very recently. What drew men to games from the start was their competitive and very visual natures. The MAJORITY of Women got into them more recently due to Social games (Farmville, Words with Friends) and Mobile games; which are both a relatively recent phenomenon. Those games worked as a Gateway into more traditional games. When they started to look at what was out there for THEM (in Traditional gaming) of course they weren't going to find many games suited for women. It wasn't that they were intentionally excluded, there just wasn't a market before.

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Sun, 05 May 2013 14:47:34

...but even if they DO actively start to produce games for women by women. Do you think they would make games with sexy men, or side-scrolling brawlers for women? Women just aren't into games that men like and don't think of the male form like men think about women's.

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