Soraya Chemaly talks about Facebook’s misogyny problem — namely, tolerance of abuse against women.

Germany resolves to increase the amount of women represented on the highest levels of management.

A judge has permanently blocked North Dakota’s medication abortion plan.

Jill Soloway’s kickstarter project, “The Empowerment Project”, aiming “to create positive role models for women everywhere”, looks really fascinating.

The creator of the Everyday Sexism project talks about her experiences, the stories, and the backlash that she’s received.

This is rape culture: an Arizona Man proudly displays a sign reading “You Deserve Rape” at a sexual assault awareness event.

Amanda Marcotte talks about how not to be an overt sexist.

Likewise, Phaedra Starling talks about how to approach women without being threatening.

Finally, Samantha Allen, one of our wonderful panelists at the Sexism in Video Games panel tomorrow at ETSUCon, talks about teaching intersectionality through Halo.

Don’t forget! The sexism in video games panel is tomorrow night at 5:00PM-5:50PM in the Culp Center Meeting Room 2, and Feminerds Unite! Discussing general sexism in nerd culture, is from 11:00AM-11:50AM in the forum.

Teach sex ed honestly, already.

Pregnant women in America are being locked up for losing their babies in miscarriage.

Michael Dyzel Smith talks about how street harassment is partially about impressing other dudes.

The importance of calling rape and rape culture out, and calling them by name.

Linda Burnham gives a critique of Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg, and “1% Feminism”.

Boys’ Clubs: A tumblr dedicated to exposing the areas in society that women have yet to tread.

Ozy Frantz put up a wonderful post critiquing “sex positivity” and our dialogue regarding sex, sexual desire, sexual goals, and expression of sexuality in general.

Brittney Griner talks about being “out” in pro sports.

David Haglund talks about the “feminist comedy” of Louis C.K.

And on a day like today it is important to remember the power of white privilege, as Tim Wise points out.

(editor’s note: I am also very proud to announce that at next week’s ETSUcon, a comic convention held right here at ETSU, there will be not one, but two incredible feminist panels which I highly recommend attending.  The first, hosted by Women’s Studies student Caroline Locke, “Feminerds Unite!” is a discussion about internet misogyny in nerd culture in general, with the second, my panel, regarding Sexism in Video Games (industry, culture, the games themselves)

A final note of congratulation to all FMLA members and Women’s Studies students elected in the SGA elections, as well as a thank you to those who did not for running and trying to make the campus a more inclusive and safe space.  It is appreciated.

Of the many forms of competitive gaming that exist today, I am most fascinated and admiring of the Fighting Game Community (hereafter known as the FGC). Originally conceived in underground arcade communities through titles like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II, the FGC has a long and storied history. Now, recently coming out of a dark age with the rebirth of the Street Fighter franchise (Street Fighter IV) in 2008, the FGC has grown in the past few years to be greater than ever before. Yet it still carries characteristics of both the underground culture that birthed it and the very individualistic nature consistent with the type of competition particular to fighting games: two players pitted in quick and intense one-on-one battles of wits, dexterity, reflexes, and strategy that are just as skill-based as Starcraft or Call of Duty, but distinctively carry the added emphasis of brutally crushing your opponent into submission.

Humans are by their very nature competitive creatures. Sports, debates, children’s games, even our own capitalist society all revolve around the fact that we thrive on opposition and competition. Due to that very fact, understanding the forms of competition that come to dominate any type of society and/or culture can be incredibly significant for understanding the history and trajectory of that society and how it functions. In addition, fighting games are of particular interest for the fact that they are still so closely linked to the underground gaming culture they thrive in. The FGC has a tendency to do what suits itself rather than cater to business or sponsors like the other competitive game communities (MOBAs, FPSs, and RTSs), and is characterized by an unwillingness to cater or bow to forces or people outside of the community itself.

With this in mind, my own experiences in watching the gaming community have impressed upon me the fact that the FGC and fighting games are meaningful and representative portraits of racial and gender trends in general gaming culture and the general gaming industry, respectively. The best and worst aspects of both of these collectives are taken to extremes within their fighting counterparts, which not only helps us to better understand them, but to get a better picture of where the two are going.

As a preface, I should say that none of what I write here is meant to be insulting or condescending towards the FGC or fighting games in any way. As a particularly avid (albeit still rather green) fan of fighting games and the incredible community that surrounds them, I have a deep respect for everyone involved in that aspect of gaming and gamer culture. While I admit there are certain negative aspects to both collectives, my pointing them out is not meant to criticize or demean, but instead to show the difficulties and challenges that beset them each and the ways that those will need to be addressed, and are already being addressed, as the two move forward. I also intend to give the best view I can to people otherwise ignorant of the FGC and the important aspect of the gaming industry it represents, as I feel it to be a community that deserves much more recognition and attention.

To start with, let’s look at the games themselves.

Fighting games have always been an oddity in their own seeming embrace and flaunting of racial and cultural stereotypes that other genres will often avoid like the plague. As Matt “The Sw1tcher” and Woolie stated in their Fighterpedia series on youtube, “Fighting game characters are arguably some of the most memorable, classic, beloved character designs in all of video games. They are also arguably some of the most offensively offensive. You cannot get away with [these depictions] in any other genre today (2).” One glance at the some of the Street Fighter (SF) character roster and you’ll see what he means – Zangief, the massive Russian wrestler (originally meant to carry the groan-inducing name ‘Vodka Gorbalsky’). Dhalsim the Indian yoga master. El Fuerte the wacky Mexican Luchador obsessed with cooking. T. Hawk the stern Native American. All of them, as well as several others in SF and other fighting games, represent cultural and racial stereotypes taken to ridiculous extremes in attempt to create characters as distinct and memorable as possible.

Three guesses who this guy is.

Not only is this an obvious issue, but fighting games also have a history of sexualizing female characters in ways that are practically on par with comic books, if not worse. Cammy from SF, whose green, one-piece combat outfit literally ends at the waste in a thong. Mai from King of Fighters (KoF), notorious for her massive, dangling, half-exposed breasts, emphasized by her fighting stance and almost nonexistent outfit. Chun-Li, also from SF(affectionately nicknamed ‘Thunder-Thighs’ by fans), with her nylon stockings that only further emphasize her massively muscular legs and, again, white thong. The list goes on and on, with some fighting game franchises even holding all-female casts (ex: Arcana Hearts, Skullgirls).

Cammy. What does the outfit have to do with her being British Special Forces again?

The problem is, as absurdly over-the-top as these sexual and racial depictions are, they serve to highlight viewpoints that are incredibly common within videogames. Although there’s been a major shift to see more complex and non-traditional, non-caucasian characters in gaming within the past few years, there’s still a major uphill battle being fought to increase racial diversity among videogame characters, one which has had some major setbacks in the years prior to that (Resident Evil 5 comes to mind); as with movies, it’s still very rare to find a non-caucasian-american (or non-japanese) leading character in a videogame these days.

Women have it even worse off. In fighting a similar battle, women characters that aren’t sex symbols are even less common as leading roles. As I stated earlier, while these may be taken to ridiculous extremes in fighting games, the views of racial and gender roles are just as twisted in general gaming as in any other medium.

The converse to this is that, while still a major issue as of the time of my writing this, things have been quickly changing for the better, tending towards much more respectful views of women and ethnicities.

Though this shift has been slow in gaining momentum, and evidence is thus hard to find in any genre, shifting of gender views is seen most prominently within fighting games. Whereas older fighting game characters tended towards stereotypes and sexuality to easily create very unique and memorable fighters, the past decade has seen much more of a trend to create characters that stand out for other reasons. In the past two major iterations of SF, three female characters have come to the fore for reasons other than sexuality: Makoto, the tomboyish karate master, Crimson Viper the very modestly dressed (albeit ample-bosomed) CIA operative, and Juri, the dark and sadistic Korean assassin. The KoF series has taken this concept even further towards gender equality, in that their standard roster includes just as many non-sexualized and modestly-dressed (if not outright masculine) women as it does characters like the infamous Mai (Elisabeth, Mature, etc.). Their roster is also rounded out by a number of surprisingly feminine male characters (Ash, Duo Lon, K’ to name a few).

Elisabeth from KOF XIII. See? Appropriately dressed, still wacky and memorable, everybody’s happy.

The shift in racial roles has also changed most prominently in the past decade within the SF franchise, above others. In the past few iterations of the series, fans clamoring to see fighters from their own countries and cultures has prompted the creation of three distinct characters that almost avoid stereotypes altogether: Sean, a boisterous Brazilian of mixed Japanese-Brazilian descent, practicing jiu-jitsu; Elena, a lanky young white-haired woman from an African Savannah tribe, specializing in flashy capoiera; and the most recent, Juri, mentioned previously.

Juri is particularly progressive in the fact that her personality serves to turn the former sexualization of female characters on its head. Almost overwhelming in her use of strongly sexual language, including double-entendres and suggestiveness, the coupling of this trait with the rest of her personality genuinely serves to make her more intimidating and frightening, rather than sexy.

Got a death wish? Try to hit on her, I dare you.

The fighting genres’ push towards progressivity in recent years has reverberated in all other genres of gaming in ways that are only being strongly felt today. Last year, Telltale Games’ video game version of The Walking Dead, which has won multiple game of the year awards across several gaming publications, was particularly groundbreaking in its’ choice for lead role – Lee Everett, an intelligent, resourceful, level headed, and deeply empathetic former university professor, who also happens to be African-American. Similarly, the Assassin’s Creed series was groundbreaking last year for its’ choice of Connor Kenway (Ratonhnhaké:ton) as the protagonist for it’s third iteration – a brash, half-Mohawk young man who aggressively supports and defends his own tribe in the midst of the American Revolution, fighting against whichever side threatens his people. Lee and Connor’s inclusion as protagonists is the result of several years of undercurrents pushing towards racial equality within videogames, first seen (and likely first possible) in fighting games, which naturally tend towards multiculturalism, stereotypical as they have been in the past. Indeed, being the leads in such massively-popular titles is historically and culturally significant in the shift it will no doubt come to represent in the future of gaming.

Progress has been much more difficult for strong and/or non-sexualized female characters in games. It seems as if for every major step forward, they take two backwards… For every Samus Aran (Metroid) or Alyx Vance (Half-Life 2), there is an Ashley Graham (Resident Evil 4) or Bayonetta (Bayonetta). However, recent trends have at least shown some promise with the new Tomb Raider game due out soon, as well as the continued surge of realistic female supporting characters in the past few years; Elena Fisher of Uncharted and Bonnie MacFarlane of Red Dead Redemption come to mind. Time will tell if this will be a continuous trend on par with their male, non-caucasian counterparts.

Continuing forward, we’ve just spent a considerable amount of time talking about the typical characters that make up these games, but what about the people playing them? Analysis of the FGC, and the cultural characteristics of game communities that it represents, is even more telling, and in my opinion, even more interesting.

Watch any stream of a major fighting game competition and one thing will be overwhelmingly clear at the outset: no one ethnicity or skin color is dominant in the multitudinous melting pot of characters who make the bouts so exciting to watch. There is Justin “Wongba” Wong, the Asian-American powerhouse with a generally cheerful and fun-loving disposition; Kevin “Dieminion” Landon, the dapper-dressed and glasses-adorned African-American, quiet and humble outside of the game (and almost unrivaled in his reflexes and deadliness within it; also my personal favorite); Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez, the charming and gregarious Latino-American with a penchant for supporting the community and its growth in any way possible; and innumerable others, all varying in character, ethnic background, and game they play.

This intercultural representation is very likely an indicator of the ethnic breakdown of who is actually playing videogames in general, and in the end, this kind of blending shouldn’t really be surprising. When it comes to videogames, it doesn’t matter what your race, gender, or age may be when you’re behind the screen, even when it comes to online play with or against others; all that really matters is how good you play. Starcraft II and League and Legends necessitate quality PCs and all the financial quandaries in keeping it up to date, thus selecting for more upper-class players (which, obviously, are more often than not whites). Fighting games on the contrary are arcade and console particular, and thus are much less expensive, allowing for a much broader range of cultural circles to partake. Unfortunately, the incredibly frustrating truth is that no study of the game industry has attempted to get solid numbers of what ethnicities are gaming, and so all we have to go on is what we see at these competitions.

However, the surprisingly multicultural nature of the FGC is also slightly mitigated by the fact that women are almost entirely absent within its ranks. Of the competitions I’ve seen so far, females are a very small majority within the the populace, and are often nonexistent within the highest elites of competition. The problem itself has been noted multiple times by various individuals within the community, and is often a point of contention with the greater gaming media that pays attention (3). Women players are gradually becoming more and more present, and there has been a major push in the past year to address sexism issues in the community and bring more female competitors out of the shadows and into the fray, but the changes are gradual and represent a long road ahead for women in the FGC.

While the FGC is naturally more selective towards males for the cramped, sweaty, trash-talking and macho characteristics of the arcade-competition underground that birthed it, this nonetheless identifies an issue present within the gaming community at large. As of 2012, female gamers made up 47% of all videogame purchasers and players (4), a figure that you would likely never assume based on the public image of the gaming community. Female gamers themselves have made great strides in recent years towards being a cultural norm, slowly moving out of the living room and into the public image, but there is still a very real struggle taking place in the industry and community to welcome them there.

The logic behind all this is that gaming has primarily been seen as a male-centric entertainment medium since its’ creation, and even today the undertone lingers; a common internet stereotype posits that as soon as someone specifically identifies themselves as a ‘girl gamer,’ they are immediately going to say something about videogames that is incredibly ignorant and false (obviously not true, but with enough examples of it for it to have gone viral in recent years). Just as women have a long road in becoming more accepted and present within the FGC, it will take some time before they are commonly accepted within the community at large.

The FGC and industry are unique beasts in the racial and gender functions of both, even within the gaming world. Where they can be seen as strongly progressive and forward-thinking in some ways, the layman would consider them unusually backwards in others. The undercurrents and background that color its personality and characteristics are present in every other gaming genre and every other part of the industry, and simply await someone perceptive enough to parse the veins which are most obvious within the fighting game industry and the community it relies upon. Yet with all their flaws, strengths, and outright peculiarities, they remain a significant pulse for the gaming world at large, boldly expressing the cultural and ethnic norms that will come to shape the future… Whether those are battlefields for equality or bastions of social maturation.

WORKS CITED

1. UltraDavid (Graham, David Philip). “Momentum Matters: A Historical Perspective on the FGC and Esports Communities.” Shoryuken.com, Shoryuken. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

2. Machinima. “Fighterpedia, Episode 1: Rejected Street Fighters.” Online video series. Youtube.com, Youtube. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

3. Orland, Kyle.”Is pervasive sexism holding the professional fighting game community back?.” arstechnica.com, Ars Technica. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

4. “Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry (2012).” theesa.org, Entertainment Software Association. April 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

APB: Reloaded (All Points Bulletin: Reloaded) is a “free to play” game hosted by GamersFirst featuring real time cops versus robbers combat in a city-gone-to-hell setting.  GamersFirst also hosts other subscription free MMOs such as Fallen Earth, a post apocalyptic RPG mixed with shooter elements, Sword 2, Taikodom, and the upcoming Hailan Rising.  Originally, APB was a game created and launched by Real Time Worlds.  Although the game had plenty of potential, its economic imbalance, gameplay glitches, over abundance of hackers upon launch, and a plethora of other issues caused the game to be pulled a mere 72 days after its release.   Real Time Worlds folded with the game and GamersFirst picked it up later.

I was one of the people who bought this game prior to release, played at launch, and stuck with it until it was pulled offline.  The game lured me in with exciting trailers and included several key elements that entertained my interest:  immediate action, player versus player, character customization, and a modern setting that is all too rare in comparison to the staggering amount of medieval MMOs.

These days, GamersFirst keeps APB:R going with their own changes.  I emphasized the game as “free to play” earlier because the game is advertised as a download-and-go sort of set up.  After playing the game for a while you realize that you will need to sink money into weapons on the Armas Market, APB:R’s version of an item mall, if you really want to stay competitive.  There will always be “that guy” who will argue that if you’re good enough at the game you won’t need to spend any money on it.  Technically, there is nothing forcing you to buy weapons, but the truth is that doing so will make you a bigger and better fish on the streets of San Paro.

If you remain free to play, your contact standing will take at least twice as long to level up, and you will find yourself pitted against people with Armas weapons that are simply better than yours.  They will also earn more cash and standing when they annihilate you, whereas you will earn close to nothing regardless of mission difficulty.  While I have personally never purchased a weapon from Armas, I have paid the $10 to play as a premium member so that I could make progress with my contacts and unlock better weapons, modifications, and vehicles through the game itself.  It was definitely more fun to me as a premium member because there was more I could accomplish regardless of the players with rocket launchers, OCA Nano’s (a submachine pistol–secondary weapon–that makes little to no sound and has a surprising range and accuracy to it), and other fully modded or Armas weapons.  I found that without premium every once in a while, the game is not viable as a persistent casual play.

“Make sure to pair this with an uber sniper rifle, like the NVR Scout from Armas, to make sure the poor trainee opposing you next mission has no window of range in which he can approach you from. Also, I got mine for $75 via paypal!” Said the APB player who felt that competition was a thing of the past.

If your weapons are not the permanent weapons purchased from Armas, which cost around 1500-3500 G1C a pop (this translates to anywhere between $20 to $50 real cash), they will decay within 10 or so days and you will have to buy another one from your contacts within game cash that you earn from missions.  So, if you’re only earning about half the amount of cash from missions while playing against people that are nearly impossible to beat with your current setup, thus earning even less cash, you can imagine how expensive it will be to a player who cannot spend a couple hours every day on the game.  It’s an annoying economy, but I understand that G1 has to make their money somewhere.  Unfortunately, this has opened the gate for the hardcore players to spend hundreds of dollars and high end weaponry and always have an incredible arsenal to use against other players.

“But I paid for the weapon, I deserve to use it!”  Yes, you do deserve to use it.
“And I worked hard to get to where I am in the game, I play all the time!”  Yes, you do put a lot of time into the game and you have the right to that.

The point I argue is that the APB:R’s current set up makes it extraordinarily unfair to  players who cannot sink the abundance of time and/or money into the game and even harder for new players to understand what is going on.  I used to play the game several times a week and I enjoyed it;  I maintained a gold rank, decent rating, and earned enough cash to keep me supplied on in game earned weapons.  Occasionally I would use the thirty minute free trial of Armas weapons to test them out, and a couple of times I won a temporary 7 day Armas weapon.  Altogether, I wasn’t bad at the game–I just certainly was not as good as the top tier of players.  For a while, I thought it would be cool to get to that top tier, then I realized another depressing point of the game: the community.

Before any avid APB:R fans and/or community members lash out at that statement, just take a step back and think real hard about some of the players you run into on that game.  Since the game offers a lot of freedom in character customization, a VoIP environment where players can freely talk to one another in game, and a report player system is all but intuitive, you end up with a lot of people who abuse the freedom the game hands them.

Sort of like the Always Sunny episode where the bar is open to a standard of “absolute freedom”; it started out great, but eventually the unsavory types of characters started showing up and ruining it for everyone else.

It is not uncommon to run into racist renditions of characters, characters with sexist/racist/gay-bashing names, and other forms of bigotry.  While some people may laugh at the face value of a female character named “WHORESLUT” dressed in nothing but nipple tassels, the over saturation of bigotry based avatars and hate slurs via the VoIP system or text  can really turn away a mature audience.  Ignoring them may alleviate the vocal and text-based harassment, but it will not stop the player from crowding your screen or ruining your mission by doing things like ramming their car into yours repeatedly.  I think most seasoned online gamers are used to running into immature players, but the fact that the report system is so primitive ensures that the offender can keep playing and get away with their behavior for an extended amount of time.

For example, if you are being griefed by a player in racist or sexist garb, you will have to start taking screenshots.  If the player is doing the harassing via voice, you will need to record a video with audio enabled.  This means either hoping the in game record feature works appropriately for you (it is buggy), or alt tabbing and opening a program like FRAPS.  Then you will need to alt tab again, register for the GamersFirst forums if you haven’t already, then poke around until you find a button that says “Ask a question”.  I shouldn’t have to elaborate on how ridiculous it is to put a report function under a question ticket category.  Attach your screenshots/videos, write the report, hit submit and wait for something to be done.  There is simply no in game option to report another player and the hassle of doing it in this poorly implemented, roundabout way is annoying enough to deal with then you’ve already had your game interrupted by the offenders themselves.

Combined with this poor report system, APB:R has a smaller population these days, so the few “bad ones” make the grief culture seem more prominent while giving the rest of the players a bad rep.

If all of this has not given the game a hard sell already, APB:R also suffers from broken patch updates and punkbuster issues that the players are fully responsible for fixing on their own.  At some point, there was a punkbuster malfunction that intermittently kicked players off of the game.  There was no patch to fix this, instead you were given a youtube video to show you how to override some files in your punkbuster folder. In other instances, a new patch will sometimes corrupt something about the way your game launches and it’s entirely up to you, again, to fix those files on your own.  While this sort of thing can happen in the world of PC gaming, it is all too common with APB:R.  All of this is very unattractive to a gamer who just wants to play the game and possibly spend some of their money on it.

To wrap up the negatives the game faces, another element that always bothered me was the lack of customization in the  options of the game itself.  APB:R is also one of those games with a minimum system requirement list you should never trust.  It’s listed to perform on low end machines, but to put it simply:  it won’t, don’t try.  Even on better PCs, the game can sometimes hang up.  There are not a whole lot of display/video options to customize how it runs on your PC, and the audio options are even more dismal.

So if APB:R has a pay-to-win setup, broken file patches, mediocre optimization, and suffers an immature community culture, then what is good about the game?

Things about APB:R that do not disappoint:

• Competitive fun.  The game does offer hours of fun for those not too discouraged by defeat.  You win some, you lose some, and even if you encounter players with a $50 real cash arsenal at any given time, the challenge can be invigorating.
• Character customization.  Whereas some abuse this to represent the inward reaches of their bigotted minds, many others use this as a form of expression.  Characters can be edited to an impressive degree, giving MMORPGs a run for their money on this detail.

You can change body shape, facial shape, hair, makeup, skin tone, scarring. You also have the option of creating custom tattoos, decals, symbols, and patterns to place on your character’s skin, clothing, or vehicle. There is a good selection of clothing items and accessories that may be purchased with in game cash, as well as a few optional packs on the Armas market.

• Immediate action.  I’m a big fan of games that don’t require a long tutorial or an immense leveling curve just to get started.  APB:R drops you into the fray and it’s not too hard to figure out what to do.
• VoIP.  Again, I pointed out the abuse of this feature, but the feature itself is nice when used appropriately.  Expect light trolling, which is welcome when kept truly humorous and does not border the lines of griefing.  You can communicate with your teammates and your enemies in a localized fashion, leading to entertaining conversations.

“Psst… wanna buy some kittens?”

• Numerous weapons and vehicles to choose from.  Customize your arsenal with sniper rifles, assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, pistols, and even tasers.  Yes, you can stun and arrest criminals as an enforcer, which puts them out of the mission for a tad longer but can be more challenging of a task to accomplish.
• A focus on teamwork.  Sure, you can be the lone ranger in this game, but teamwork is vital.  Jump into your teammate’s vehicle and drive to the mission location, or engage in combat from the passenger side.  Communicate to one another via voice and lock down an item drop point to prevent the enemy from completing their task.
• Environmental freedom.  Climb buildings for the perfect sniper’s perch or hide in the shadows for an ambush.  Commandeer citizen’s vehicles ranging from a soccer mom’s suburban to a slick low rider to dump trucks.  Each vehicle has its advantages and disadvantages; the dump truck makes a fun weapon of ramming power destruction.
• Game developer activity.  The APB:R Facebook is updated frequently with dev hosted contests in events.  You might be lucky enough to score Armas weapons or premium game time from some of these contests.

Over all, APB:R is one of those “play at your own risk” games.  I used to recommend the game to friends, but stopped when the pay-to-win structure became overwhelmingly obvious and shallow.  However, this element of the game would not be such a bitter thing if it was not coupled with the lack of community moderating.  The mentality I’ve observed when a player is defeated by Armas weaponry in an uneven match often times falls along the lines of “Oh well, maybe next match won’t be so difficult and I’ve learned a few things to help me get better against those weapons.  Maybe I’ll get one or two of those weapons myself down the line.”  When coupled with being griefed by those enemies or even teammates, it becomes a question of whether or not it’s even worth it to keep playing, let alone sink money into it.

I believe that adding a functional in game report system that includes on the spot video recording and would solve a lot of the community issues APB:R faces.  It would give more power to the players that actually follow the terms of service agreement, and possibly result in less people leaving the game in rightful frustration.  This feature should be a natural right to a player, especially in the community of online gaming where anyone with an ounce of anonymity and a bad attitude can oppress others.

If you do decide to play APB:R, I suggest bringing a few friends with you, be ready to put a lot of players on ignore, and if you like the game it wouldn’t hurt to invest in some cheap premium time to give you a boost.  I do not believe a woman should have to hide her gender by never using the in game voice (It’s completely unfair to accuse a female of “asking for it” just by using the same game feature men can so easily enjoy), but if you do talk on there, be prepared in case you happen to be in the presence of the typical crowd of immature boys loaded with personal propositions and/or hate speech.

As always, games that include such violence are not recommended for people prone to anger or violence.  I do not recommend this game for youngsters who do not have solid parental monitoring.  Games like these, I feel, should only be played by individuals with a clearly drawn line between reality and fantasy, and therefore will not be influenced by its themes.

Photo/Video Credits:  IGN Entertainment youtube videos, GamersFirst, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s respective studios, and personal screenshots.

The Mass Effect effect:

In which I have nominated the “Shit Storm of the Year” award to, the Mass Effect 3 controversy is something I’ve been rather split down the middle about.  On the one hand, I’m rather disappointed with many of M.E.’s fans reactions to the ending of their beloved franchise.  It was, from my perspective, a barrage of petulant bawling and foot-stamping over something as trivial as a video game ending.  I mean sure, I get annoyed when someone ruins my favorite franchise, but my reaction is often to deny the existence of such offenses.  Last Airbender movie?  What Last Airbender movie?  Now, I’m currently in the middle of playing Mass Effect 3, and while I do enjoy the series, I find it’s something I’m having trouble becoming emotionally attached to.  That said, I get it, I do.  I thoroughly enjoyed the much anticipated Deus Ex: Human Revolution title.  I personally thought it was a cracking good game but the ending, man, the ending sucked.  There were other, minor flaws with the game also, but really it doesn’t mean I feel entitled to knock on Square Enix’s door and demand a refund because 5% of the game didn’t meet my standard.

A better ending than Mass Effect 3?

Now on the other hand, all this petulant bawling and foot-stamping might provide an actual wake-up call to the video game industry.  There have been far too many times in which I have forked out fifty-odd euro for eight hours of mediocrity.  I’m pretty sure many gamers out there will agree with me.  Now, I probably wouldn’t make a big deal about having paid a tenner for a bad movie or a bad book, but for fifty quid I would at least demand a bit of quality.  Gamers are not an oblivious hive-mind that will throw money at just any run-of-the-mill shooter with tacked on multiplayer.  I understand that developers have to work within a tight schedule, but a desperately average game at such a steep price tag is just not good enough.  Making games is difficult, I know, I’ve been there, but if publishers continue to disappoint, or even anger gamers in this case, my opinion would be to either lower the general price of triple A games, or rethink the development process altogether.  And that is all I have to say on the matter.

Video Game Lock Out:

While we’re skirting around the topic of P.R., the gaming industry is constantly thinking of new and innovative ways to piss off its customers.  Rumors of next-gen consoles not supporting traded games or older generation games are running thick through video game media, and have been met with concern and speculation.  There seems to be this odd notion among industry heads that money is lost through games trading.  Now, I don’t like buying traded games, particularly D.S. games where someone else’s save is still on it.  That might be just me though.  I prefer a game to be mine, and to not have a previous owner’s fingerprints, scratches or save games still on them.  However, more often than not I can’t afford a game on it’s release day, and have to wait until the price reduces.  Usually, by the time I can afford a sought after title, they’re hard to find brand new, and traded is my last resort.  It seems a bit mean that there’s this “buy it on release week, or don’t buy it at all” attitude with publishers.  They seem to have their priorities backwards when they think it’s not their problem that some of their consumers can’t afford their product.  Also, with the new system, people won’t be able to loan their games to their friends or play their games in their friend’s house without bringing the whole console with them.  Introducing the game locking software in next-gen consoles will inevitably ice out a lot of adamant gamers, and that, ladies and gents, is bad P.R.

Misogyny in Gaming.  Again.

Oh look, another misogynist douchebag flaunting his entitlement to sexually harass girl gamers.  In the recent Cross Assault competition, participant Aris Bakhtanians has claimed it “ethically unjust” to remove sexual harassment from fighter games.  He stated:

“The sexual harassment is part of the culture. If you remove that from the fighting game community, it’s not the fighting game community… it doesn’t make sense to have that attitude. These things have been established for years,”

Jesus Disapproves

On the first day of the competition, fellow participant Miranda Pakozdi forfeited the match after a barrage of mockery and lewd remarks from Aris, which can only be described as outright bullying.  I won’t comment more on the subject because it should go without saying that any kind of behavior that would force a person to leave the room is unacceptable.  Full stop.  End of discussion.  Aris’s disgusting behavior can be seen here if you prefer to make up your own mind about the incident.  I literally could not stomach watching the footage the whole way through.

Games Do Not Cause Violence:

It seems that gaming culture just can’t catch a break these days.  Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik admitted to preparing for his attack by playing hours of video games everyday for about a year.  It often saddens me when games are discouraged or dismissed as being mindless violence, and so with this snippet from the Breivik trial I had anticipated with trepidation a lot of, “See?  See?  Video games do cause violence!”  Breivik claimed that he used games like Modern Warfare 2 to train himself for the attack he had been planning for years.  In spite of all the bad press this has given video games in recent days, you would think one would stop to consider that there is a distinct difference between pressing a few buttons on a game controller, and pulling the trigger of a real gun.  Video games didn’t turn Breivik into a killer, he already was one.  Had it not been video games, blame would probably be placed on something else, because no one stops to think that the attack was solely the actions of a deeply disturbed individual with a violent disposition.  How do I know he wasn’t influenced by video games or other violent media?  I know because of the millions of people who play violent games or watch violent movies that don’t go on killing sprees every day.  It is a redundant argument at this day and age to assume the worst of people who enjoy violent entertainment media.

A Little Silver Lining:

The Oatmeal recently published a comic depicting a female gamer receiving super special treatment by guys over the internet, even if she’s a terrible player.  The artist Matthew Inman was portraying his experience in playing games online, in that if he made a mistake, his team would “eviscerate” him, whereas if a girl made the same mistake she was still treated nicely.  It quickly became known to him that this was not the experience of most female gamers and so he apologized for his one sided depiction of how girl gamers are treated:

 I noticed that anytime a girl was playing everyone acts REALLY nice to her (even if she throws a molly at the team and sets us all on fire).  That’s where the inspiration for my last comic came from.

Outside of steam, it sounds like it’s still pretty horrible for women to play games.  Is this true?  A lot of people are talking of rape threats, sexism, harassment, and a lot of other awful things.  I’m a guy and I barely talk into my mic, so I’ll concede that my view of things is probably very skewed.

That being said, I apologize to any female gamers who I offended.  I didn’t mean to perpetuate the idea that women are treated more nicely while playing games online.  It sounds like in a lot of cases the opposite is true.

Jesus Approves

Mr. Oatmeal really seems like a stand-up guy.  It’s a breath of fresh air to see this kind of consideration for such an issue.  Usually the response to such criticisms here include either fobbing them off as imaginary, because the opposing arguments have not been experienced by the original poster, or dismissing the problem as something that happens to everyone, and girl gamers should just deal with it.  Not only did the artist apologize and acknowledge other people’s experiences, he also donated $1,000 to the Women Against Abuse foundation.  Dude, that’s awesome.  Aris Bakhtanians and folks like him could really learn a thing or two from The Oatmeal.

So, in conclusion it has been a crummy few months on the game culture front.  Here’s hoping we see an improvement in the industry’s public relations, an improvement on the behavior of competing gamers and of the perception of game culture by the general public.  For those of you bummed out by my post, here’s an adorable kitten video:

I could have a hundred thousand “birds and bees” puns here, but I already know that I’m putting my foot in my mouth by broaching the subject and I’m going to be taking heat from all sides here in a bit, so I’m going to leave off any weak attempt at wit.  The past several months, I’ve been researching how sexuality has been portrayed in video games, specifically in regards to how it applies to women.  It’s no real secret that video games has been considered a “boy pastime” since its inception and thus, it’s no real surprise that many video games are aimed squarely at teenage boys.  Unfortunately, because of this, it’s led to video games having a rather simplistic and immature view of what constitutes sex, which has led to more than just confusion when it comes to the sexuality presented within video games and the culture that surrounds it.

Sometimes, that video game culture can be really awesome and can do some really amazing things, but it can also get really dark and that’s really depressing.  Part of this has been spurred on by the social isolation of the video gaming world for several years, but it certainly hasn’t helped when the primary female ambassador for video games to the outside world was sold more on her physical attributes than the fact she was actually a somewhat well-rounded Indiana Jones expy.  When you look at Lara Croft, it’s hard not to remember some of the more “interesting” ads that ran in the mid-to-late 90′s during the height of her popularity that focused almost entirely on how large her breasts were.  Considering that Lara herself is actually a strong female character who actually has a character beyond her boobs, this is rather distressing, which is made much worse by the thought that she probably wouldn’t have a shred of the popularity she had, nor the mainstream recognition, if the ads she featured in didn’t focus solely on her attractiveness.

There certainly isn’t anything wrong with the level of attractiveness that Lara presents.  Considering her job and hobbies, it’s not surprise that she’d be athletic and attractive, even if certain attributes of hers are too exaggerated to be realistic.  Uncharted’s Nathan Drake is also ridiculously attractive, and they’re basically the same person (actually, Nate is kind of needy and always has to have his girlfriend/wife around to bail him out, which rarely happens with Lara), but the problem is, Lara’s focus is almost entirely on her attractiveness while Nate gets to just be “Indiana Jones for the PS3 era” or something like that.  While this may speak to a larger culture outside of video games, it does illustrate a problem we have with female characters and our portrayals of them.  No one is putting Nathan Drake in a mankini or a wet t-shirt (outside of the video games at least…) in the ads to drum up sales, even though that might actually work in Nate’s case, but they are doing that with Lara and it’s extremely disturbing.

The problem is really all about mixed signals.  It’s clear that developers are at least trying, sort of, more on that in a bit, to be inclusive towards women, but their presentation has made things much more problematic than helpful.  Let’s take a look at Ivy, who is pictured to the left there in the skimpy, dominatrix style armor.  She’s clearly someone’s idea of a “strong female character.”  She’s physically strong and tough, doesn’t take any crap from anyone, independent, confident in her sexuality and isn’t really concerned with a romantic lead or anything like that (the games even hint that she is, and wishes to remain, a virgin to prevent the spread of Soul Edge through her genes), but, well, look at her.  She’s clearly more someone’s confused sexual fantasy than an actual strong character.  There’s nothing really good about her design from any kind of standpoint, and her armor or is so skimpy that it’s no surprise that most people see her as a walking sexual billboard than an actual character.  Truthfully, she’s more disgusting that sexy, and not just because she’s more naked than clothed.

Worse, her actual moveset is so overt in its sexuality, focusing on themes related to bondage and domination, that it’s hard to believe that she’s anything but someone’s sexual fantasy.  At the same time though, looking a little closer, Ivy seems less like a sexual fantasy and more like what a 13-year-old would see a sexually confidant and powerful woman and all at once, she kind of crystalizes the problem with women in video games.  She represents the immature view the culture takes with women.  It’s not that it intends to be sexist, they really don’t know any better.

Ignorance, however, really doesn’t make things any better if it had been straight up misogyny.  It does mean that the problems can be cured with some rational thought and education, but it still causes the same sort of damage culturally and socially.  The more and more people look at Ivy as the norm, the harder it’s going to become to make any radical chances to how the average gamer sees how women should be portrayed in gaming.  For every female Commander Shepard or Samus Aran (pre Other M), we’re seeing at least three Ivy’s and Sophitia’s, with games looking more like exploitation than art.

Like I said, it’s good that developers are trying to do better, but there is still a dearth of developed female leads, and sometimes, those leads can get corrupted and co-opted by some real misogyny, like Samus was in Metroid: Other M.  Having more female characters as leads, and having them wear more than a leather thong and a bra, will help, but these characters have to be more than just “female leads” and they need to not fall into a lot of the pitfalls female leads often fall into in Hollywood.  The upcoming “Female Shepard Trailer” for Mass Effect 3 is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.  At least Skyrim does a good job with guards spawning as male and female.

Title: Ico: Castle in the Mist
Japanese Title: イコ：霧の城 (Iko: Kiri no shiro)
Author: Miyabe Miyuki (宮部 みゆき)
Translator: Alexander O. Smith
Publication Year: 2011 (America); 2004 (Japan)
Publisher: Haikasoru
Pages: 400

When people complain about sexism in video games, they’re not complaining just to start a fight or to prove that they’re on the right side of the social justice movement. The sexism in many games is not only unnecessary but also detracts from the player’s enjoyment of the game. For example, when I played the original Tomb Raider game for the Playstation, I remember being frustrated at Lara’s inability to navigate certain terrain and thinking this wouldn’t be a problem if she were wearing pants. A better example might be Metroid: Other M, in which your female player-character (a veteran soldier who has already saved the world multiple times) can’t use even the most insignificant of her abilities until given permission to do so by her male commanding officer in a gameplay paradigm that has to be one of the most frustrating I have ever encountered. This sort of sexism is dangerous precisely because it is so frustrating. Instead of hating the (male) developers who imposed such ridiculous limitations on the female protagonist, the player’s frustration at these limitations instead causes him to hate the female protagonist herself.

It is for this reason that I despise Ico: Castle in the Mist, a short puzzle platformer released for the Playstation 2 in 2004 that was received with almost universal acclaim. In this game, you are Ico, a boy with mysterious horns who is mysteriously dumped in a mysterious castle in which he mysteriously encounters a mysterious young woman named Yorda. As Ico, your job is to find your way out of the castle while simultaneously rescuing Yorda. Considering that Yorda (a) has lived in the castle for a very long time and (b) is magic, this shouldn’t be too difficult of a feat. Unfortunately, Yorda also (c) either can’t or won’t communicate with Ico and (d) is almost entirely passive. Ico quite literally must lug Yorda around like an inarticulate sack of meat, and the main challenge of the game is not for Ico to navigate his way through the castle but rather for Ico to bully and cajole Yorda over and around obstacles while she remains both vulnerable and inscrutable. If the player, as Ico, wanders off on his own for a moment, Yorda is besieged by shadow monsters that she will not attempt to ward off or escape in any way. Ico is a truly beautiful game that creates a hauntingly atmospheric experience through its graphics, music, and gameplay, but it is difficult to make it through the game’s roughly eight hour playtime without hurling obscenities at Yorda for being so useless. Sexism is thus built into the gameplay mechanics, and I remember thinking that Ico would have been a lot more fun if Yorda had actually done something instead of passively allowing herself to be rescued by a younger male hero.

When I heard that the novelization of Ico would be released in North America, I was really excited. I thought that Miyabe Miyuki, who writes about awesome female detectives and manages to create a strong yet believable female protagonist in The Book of Heroes, would be able to do something interesting with Yorda, or at least to make her more of a subject than an object. Thankfully, she succeeds – at least to an extent.

Like the game on which it’s based, Miyabe’s novelization is the story of Ico, a thirteen-year-old boy with horns who is exiled from his village and dumped at the Castle in the Mist by a group of soldiers. In the otherwise empty castle Ico finds Yorda, who is suspended in a hanging cage covered by thorns. Ico wakes Yorda and then extracts her from her cage, resolving to rescue her from her imprisonment in the castle. Yorda doesn’t speak Ico’s language and in any case doesn’t seem particularly interested in communicating with him, but her touch can open certain magical doors through which Ico needs to pass. Furthermore, Ico’s body is filled with light and energy whenever he holds Yorda’s hand, so he quickly develops an attachment to her.

As Ico and Yorda progress through the castle, Ico begins to see Yorda’s memories of her life before the castle was reduced to its current state. Through these memories, it becomes clear that Yorda’s mother, the queen of the castle, is the “daughter” of the Dark God. In ages past, Yorda’s mother used her power to keep outsiders away from her kingdom, mainly by turning them into stone. She also kept her own people within her country’s borders by means of an enchantment that kept their hearts and minds peaceful. Convinced that other nations coveted the beauty, wealth, and material prosperity of her kingdom, Yorda’s mother would hold a tournament every three years to bring the world’s mightiest warriors into her castle to compete for glory. The winner of these tournaments would teach the latest military technology to her soldiers – and then secretly be turned to stone. The tournament of Yorda’s sixteenth year brought a horned warrior, a servant of the Light God, to the tournament, and his interactions with Yorda led the kingdom to its current state of timeless abandonment. Ico’s job is thus to unravel the mysteries of the past in order to ascertain how to defeat the queen once and for all, after which he will presumably be able to escape with Yorda in tow.

Miyabe’s novel is divided into four parts. The first part details Ico’s life before he was taken to the castle and thereby provides information concerning the greater world in which the story takes place. The second part describes Ico’s adventures in the castle before Yorda begins communicating with him through her memories. The third part tells the history of the castle from Yorda’s perspective, and the fourth part follows Ico through his final confrontation with the evil queen. As Miyabe jokes in her introduction, her novelization isn’t meant to be a walkthrough for the game, and the first and third sections are almost entirely her own invention. Miyabe adds layers of depth to game’s characters and creates a handful of her own characters, who manage to be interesting and engaging despite only being onstage for small portions of the novel. Miyabe also renders the ending of the story slightly less ambiguous.

This is all well and good, but how does a puzzle platforming game translate into prose? Mainly, I suppose, in the way one might expect, though descriptive passages:

The thought put Ico at ease. Maybe if we can get down to those doors, we can get outside. The only problem was, there didn’t seem to be any way to get from the top of the bridge on the second floor down to the floor of the great hall. What stairs he could see went up to the ceiling, not down to the floor below, forming a sort of catwalk that seemed without purpose.

Besides such descriptions of setting, there is also a great deal of running, jumping, climbing, flailing at shadow monsters with a stick, and holding Yorda’s hand.

If the reader can successfully visualize what Miyabe is describing, then her descriptive passages, which form the bulk of the two sections from Ico’s perspective, create a sense of adventure and awe. If the reader is too engrossed in figuring out the mysteries of the castle to slow down and mentally picture the landscape Miyabe is describing, then these passages can come off as clunky and annoying. My sympathies tend to lie with the latter reader, especially if that reader has never played the game; trying to describe the visual aesthetics of the Castle in the Mist is like trying to describe an Escher painting. The game Ico is all about the atmosphere created by its visual and auditory elements, and a purely textual medium will never be able to capture that atmosphere, no matter how hard it tries.

What text can do, and what text can do well, is characterization, and it seems to me that the lion’s share of the game’s atmosphere is conveyed in the novel by Ico’s perceptions of and interactions with Yorda. Just as the castle is architecturally majestic and full of mysteries, Yorda is physically beautiful and conceals secrets upon secrets beneath her silent exterior. For example:

Ico glanced at her. She did not look sad or even frightened. Nor did she smile or seem engaged with the world around her at all. Though she was right next to him, and he could look directly into her face, he felt like she was standing on the other side of a veil.

Here’s another example:

The girl turned to him and to his surprise, she smiled faintly. She’s beautiful. He thought her smile looked like a flower in full bloom, swaying gently in a forest breeze, sending its petals out to drift on the wind. He could almost smell the flower’s perfume on her breath.

Here’s yet another example:

Filled with hope, Ico looked into Yorda’s eyes. He felt like he was looking into an hourglass, trying to pick through the grains of truth buried there long ago. He hadn’t found anything yet, but the warmth of Yorda’s hands in his told him that he was getting close.

Yorda is thus delicate and mysterious, and her main function as a character is to reflect the emotions Ico projects onto her. Because this novel is a work of young adult fiction, Ico is exceptionally pure of heart, and – perhaps as a result – Yorda is as well. What Ico is about, at its core, is the bravery of two children challenging the old, the impure, and the monstrous. For me, the main problem with Ico and Yorda is that, although purity of heart is inspiring, it is also somewhat boring. The evil queen is far more interesting. At a certain point I stopped caring about Ico and his youthful hope and good intentions and started waiting for the next appearance of the queen, who is the only halfway intelligent and rational character in the entire novel.

For example, unlike Ico’s caretakers, who tell him nothing, the queen respects her daughter enough to explain to her what she is doing and her motivation for doing it. The queen’s explanations are always pragmatic and hint at a lifetime of experience. The following passage, for example, is how the queen justifies to Yorda why the two of them never leave the castle:

“Beauty is a high and noble thing. Thus are men enchanted by it and seek it out. But those who desire you also desire our lands. I must keep you hidden so that you do not entice or enchant them – because, my dearest, while your beauty holds the power to command the actions of a few men, it does not bestow the ability to govern.

“It is the same for me. The land I govern is the most wealthy and beautiful of all the lands that divide this vast continent. They crave it, as they crave me. From their slavering jaws and their multifarious schemes have I escaped many times. All to protect myself and my beautiful domain, blessed by the Creator. You, who were born into the world as the lone daughter of the queen, have noble blood and noble beauty, thus must you bear my burdens.”

Judging from what happens in the rest of the novel (which I will not spoil), and judging from the way that Ico, his horned ancestor, and everyone in between has treated Yorda and her mother, the queen is not incorrect. Unfortunately, because the queen is a sexually mature and politically powerful older woman, she is EVIL and therefore cannot be reasoned with or redeemed but must be DEFEATED. The final battle between the queen and Ico is somewhat disappointing, as the queen is made to lay aside her primary weapons – her intelligence and wit – in order to fight boss-battle style with attacks that are easily deflected in a room filled with obstacles that deflect them.

The moral of the story seems to be that inarticulate yet delicately beautiful and innocent younger women are good (for men) and that brilliant and powerful mature women are EVIL (to men).

At least, that is the moral of the second and fourth sections of the novel, which are told from Ico’s perspective and closely follow the plot of the video game. The first and third sections are much more interesting and open-ended. The first section is, in my option, a superlatively excellent example of fantasy world building that establishes setting, mythology, history, and worldview through its characters instead of in spite of them. The third section, which is told from Yorda’s perspective, is an almost archetypal story of innocence awakening to experience as Yorda begins to question and investigate the world around while realizing the consequences of her own actions on the lives of others. By the end of the third section, Yorda has become a powerful queen in her own right…

…before we switch back to Ico’s perspective, in which Yorda is a helpless and naive young girl once more. Although this is jarring, it is also necessary. The game Ico is so deeply sexist that, in order for Miyabe to subvert this misogyny, she would have to abandon her goal of novelization. If Yorda were an active agent and not a passive victim, the events leading up to the final battle and the battle itself would not be possible. Good must triumph over evil in a decisive showdown; and, as everyone who has ever played a video game knows, such a task is the man’s job. This is why I complain about I sexism. Not only is it frustrating and unnecessary; it also tends to diminish from the overall quality of the work in which it appears.

Despite all this, Ico is a fun read. Miyabe is a good writer, and Smith has produced an excellent translation (as always). The plot and character conventions are fairly characteristic of mainstream young adult fiction, and I can imagine that younger readers would really enjoy this book, which is exactly the right length and complexity for the 7-12 demographic. It goes without saying that fans of the game will love the novelization, which does its very best to convey everything that was fun and intriguing about the original work. Fans of video games in general might also enjoy the book, which is an interesting experiment in adaptation. As for adult readers who are looking for archetypes represented in a deep and multilayered fantasy, however, I think there are much better books to spend an afternoon reading.

What the hell is Voldo wearing!?!?!

Sexism in games doesn’t exist.  It’s just something that’s imagined by high-strung females, threatened by a male dominant media.

Fingers are generally pointed to games with multiple playable characters such as beat-’em-ups and MMOs.  More often than not, it’s the impracticality of a female character’s attire that is brought to everyone’s attention.  Take these lovely ladies from Everquest 2:

Chances of survival doesn’t look promising for these girls

Ok, their outfits are silly, but they don’t make me fem-rage.  Really, I have to laugh at the games company, too afraid to sell a game without boobs in it. This “sex sells” motive is rampant in all media, not just games.  If feminists attack video games for sexualizing females, they may as well picket outside every advertising perfume company while they’re at it.  However, in my opinion, video games are that little bit more set apart from most other media.  For example, getting back to the topic of MMOs, I must point out that most MMOs are of a fantasy genre.  I repeat: fantasy.  As in, it doesn’t have to follow the rules of everyday life.  When someone complains about a scantily clad female character it must be said that a) the overall look is supposed to be more artistic than conventional and b) it’s fantasy.

Soul Calibur is set in an alternate universe and has much entitlement to feature the buxom Ivy as it does with other characters like Voldo or Lizardman.  While emphasis on cleavage is a bit excessive, I still admire the level of detail in each character design.  As I’ve said, this is art, not porn.  If it were up to feminists, all female game characters would be boring, flat chested, tracksuit-wearing frumps.

So I’ve justified our fantasy games, but what about games set in the real world?  Let’s take Tekken while we’re on the subject of beat-em-ups.  Yes, the girls of Tekken show a bit of flesh but not to the extent of our fantasy genre games.  In fact, it’s difficult for me to say that these characters are hypersexualized at all (except maybe Christy Montiero who’s just a waste of space anyway).  These girls are sexy without over-the-top female parts and lacey bikinis.  They are bad-ass without the need for dominatrix chain-whip things.

The lovely Tekken girls

Perhaps the only character that is deliberately exuding sex appeal is Anna Williams (bottom right, red dress), but her character is supposed to be sultry and seductive.  I presume this is simply to contrast her sister Nina, who is a cold assassin, and their sibling rivalry is prominent throughout the games.  Now to this someone might say there could still be a story without the need for sex appeal, to which I would reply “Why the hell should there not be sex appeal?”  Sex appeal can be very empowering for a woman.  I mean just look at Ivy up there.  No man would want to mess with her.  She could kick your ass before you can figure out what cup size she is.

It seems that the feminists’ pet peeve is a female character who shows strength through her sexuality, or has grown strong from a traumatic past.  I was rather appalled at some of the negative reactions to the new Tomb Raider game footage.  Remarks regarding the brutality of Lara Croft’s endeavors have speculated that this was pandering to male fantasies of abusing women.  I don’t even know what to say to this, apart from maybe these people need to be in serious therapy.  The Tomb Raider reboot is a survival game and, as such, involves Lara

Screenshot from Tomb Raider 2011

fighting her way through a very harsh environment.  This is Lara’s first adventure and is what moulds her into the character we all know.  It has been said that a character shouldn’t have to be brutalized to be strong and that she should just be strong by herself.  Now correct me if I’m wrong, but no one in real life (man or woman) suddenly wakes up one day to be a master marksman or gold Olympic acrobat.  Even characters without a “traumatic” past have at least undergone years of training to be the heroes of the story.  It makes sense right?  It’s the bones of a good narrative.  If Tomb Raider was just a game in which Lara trained in a safe environment, well that would make for a very dull origins game.  I was also rather appalled by comments stating that Lara’s anguished facial expressions and cries of pain in the demo were undoubtedly sexualized for the approval of men.  Now feminists, I know that all men are brainless barbarians but surely cut them a little slack.

Ok, so maybe I’m being a little harsh here.  I’ll just slip into my feminist pantaloons for a moment.  I do need to mention another fighting game (and it’s ludicrous spin off beach volley ball game), which actually does pander to the male audience and the male audience only.  I was initially attracted to Dead or Alive due to the variety of female characters in it.  The game was disappointing however due to the mediocre game mechanics and the painful grind of a single player mode.  Not only this, but the characters were incredibly hollow.  The girls, whom I hoped to be a squadron of bad-ass chicks were just silly, giggly, jiggly and other things ending in “iggly”.  The outfits were unimaginative and all the faces looked the same.  There was clearly more development time put into the jiggle physics than to actual artistic value. Feminists, you can have this one.

DoA Volleyball: This one just doesn't do it for me

And the pantaloons are off again.  I have brought this topic to discussion on a site called GirlGamer.com (exactly what is says on the tin), and asked the members of this community about their opinions on sexualized female game characters.  I was rather surprised at the responses such as “sex sells” and “games are marketed for men”.  The girls just shrugged it off, which was rather refreshing.  It’s nice to see that there are some girls who are not bothered about how games are marketed, and will play them simply because they are fun.  They also admitted to creating sexy female avatars in RPG games.  Now this I can also relate to.  I’ve mentioned before how sexuality can be empowering.  I’d rather play a hot, bad-ass chick because I suppose, in a way, it makes me feel like a hot, bad-ass chick.  I don’t understand why some girls need to have their character in a turtle neck and practical foot wear.  Perhaps they have difficulty distinguishing between sexy and slutty.  Let’s evaluate, shall we:

Sexy

Slutty

See, while Rubi Malone (left) is reasonably covered up, her jacket is rather tight fitting and her holster straps sort of…draw attention to that area of her body.  Her pose and sultry expression is suggestive, but only suggestive.  Rubi emits sex appeal without having to be practically butt naked.  Blood Rayne (right) on the other hand…well…coming from a game that advertises “sex appeal” as a feature shows the sheer desperation to hook a male audience.  Blood Rayne stands out in the gaming industry like the girl in a nighclub with a pound of makeup, heels she can’t quite balance herself in and a dress that’s just a bit too small for her.

Video games, as a media, are still quite young compared to literature, music and film.  As such, it is fair to say there is so much elbow room for female role models.  On saying that, there is also room for more realistic male characters.  We should have less Marcus Phoenixes and more Gordon Freemans, less Kasumis and more Chells.  It is becoming less likely that the gaming industry will try to insult the intelligence of the average gamer with games like Blood Rayne.  Gamers today demand a rich gaming experience that no amount of pandering can fulfill.  My advice to feminists would be to look past the use of cleavage or macho brutes in a game and enjoy it for what it is.  You might actually have fun.  And on that note, I have some tomb raiding to do.

Eh. I've seen hotter male gamers! Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Online gamers know what happens when a female (or a dude pretending to be female) joins a match. Every sex-starved dude pounces on her like a dog in heat. She doesn’t even need to speak if her handle contains words like “chick” or “lady”. You can guarantee that at least one tongue-wagging guy will flood her inbox with messages or attempt to harass flirt his way into her heart, completely unaware that she’s probably a hideous monster. On that note, it’s tough competing with all that testosterone, and even tougher finding a hot gamer girl, but that’s about to change, courtesy of GameCrush, the world’s first website that hooks you up with hotties who can handle two analog sticks at the same time

via Game Daily “Hook up with GameCrush”

This news is ridiculously apt, considering my latest post on gender issues in video games…

On one hand, this sounds like a great way to make some extra cash if you are an attractive lady, but at the same time, it doesn’t really help with the whole “women aren’t respected in the gaming industry” bit. Hmm…. 30 dollars an hour? Tempting, but I must remain strong on principle…

After a session you can rate your PlayDate on her hotness, gaming skill, and flirtiness. The highest-rated girls will receive preferred placement on the site. GameCrush is assembling a team of its most highly regarded PlayDates called JaneCrush, which should be similar to Ubisoft’s Fragdolls. Members of JaneCrush will generate content for the site like blogs and editorials. GameCrush wants to turn its most popular girls into gaming stars.

via IGN Xbox Live “Would you pay a Girl to Play Halo with you?”

This newest development might as well  say “only sexy ladies (or those that pretend to put out) have a place in the gaming industry”! And GameCrush wants to be like Ubisoft’s Frag Dolls? Please. The Frag Dolls are normal, respectable ladies that did not start out on some sleazy pay-to-play chat-roulette style game site.  I don’t know who is being exploited here, the ladies, or the “sex-starved”  males that would fork over cash…

Also, why isn’t there a website like this for girl gamers? I mean, there are some really atrocious looking male gamers and I would love to play with some attractive males.  Oh wait, I almost forgot, they wouldn’t make a site like this for women, because women aren’t that desperate-

Or maybe I am overreacting, and this will be the newest way for gamers to meet each other… What happened to the good ol’ fashioned way of falling in love with one another over the internet before you saw each others faces…. : /

Video games are fun. Sometimes, the more violent the better. I personally prefer MMORPGS (massively multi-player role-playing games) over FPS (first person shooter), which means while I understand my boyfriend’s penchant for video games, I still gripe about the evils of Xbox with my friends. It’s been a few years since my obsession with video games came to an end (college took precedence), but over this winter break I picked up my old copy of World of Warcraft and decided to give it another go. Yes, my dirty little secret is that I’m a nerdy 12-year old boy inside.

Just because I dig gaming doesn’t mean I don’t wonder what these games are doing to our society. Do I think the violence in video games directly correlates to gang warfare and in-school shootings? Not really. However, I admit that all forms of entertainment & media do desensitize us to a certain degree. While the violence may not make your child violent, he may be more likely to be a bystander in violent situations, or confuse the severity of crimes with being “cool” or “okay.”

Since this is a feminist website, I’d like to look at a similarly problematic theme of video games: the depiction of women. Again, part of me thinks…okay so all the women are buxom and Barbie-like (even the badass ones), but they are pixelated. Does it really matter? Actually it does. I want to point out a few extreme examples that have made me think twice about our pixelated counterparts:

Did you know that…

1. One way for your character to regain health on Grand Theft Auto IV is to have sex with a prostitute? You go down a dark alley and find a woman wearing next to nothing and you get into a car with her. Then the game shows a charming graphic of her fucking your (male) character so hard the car shakes. Then, if you drive away before she’s done, the prostitute is thrown forcefully out of the car. (Added bonus: most of my male buddies then shoot the hooker to death & get their money back, thus turning a business transaction into rape and murder)

Ivy in Soul Calibur...Her outfit has gotten skimpier in recent versions.

2. In fighting games like Soul Calibur (one of my faves, I admit), the men are usually fully clothed but the women wear cleavage-baring, skin-tight outfits. This goes for most games, actually.

3. There are games like “The Guy Game” which features pictures of naked women and “…it combines boozing, nudity, and revelry. There’s no question that it’s a party game. It sets itself apart from other party games in that you don’t have to pretend that it’s a drinking game or fathom special party rules to make it work. Admit it: you’ve tried to turn everything from Super Monkey Ball to Eye Toy into alcohol-driven party games. The Guy Game doesn’t pretend to be anything else; its style is a blend of Girls Gone Wild, the long-standing drinking game A**hole, and, well…You Don’t Know Jack. For four players.” Personal sidenote: I still don’t understand some men’s ability to watch pornography/strippers/other titillating subject matter in a roomful of their peers. Just sayin’

Oh and if the entire game concept wasn’t bad enough, the company was sued for portraying nude pictures of a minor:

“The plaintiff, whose name was not revealed in the Austin, Texas, lawsuit, says she was 17 when she consented to a revealing appearance before Topheavy’s cameras as part of spring-break revelry at South Padre Island, Texas.
She says in the suit she was promoted as one of more than 60 “actual Spring Break Hotties” who posed for game developers at South Padre Island, Texas’ top beach destination for college-age fun-seekers.

Under state law, attorney Jim McClendon said, the girl could not legally consent to her appearance because she was a minor. She seeks monetary damages and a stop to game sales.

“We’re just trying to nip it where it is now,” McClendon said. “We don’t want anything else distributed with her image on it.”
…The lawsuit says the girl appears topless in the game as a reward for successful answers to trivia questions. Her breasts are exposed in a manner that is “sexually suggestive, lewd and lascivious,” the petition said.

Her voice also is heard on the game, and her photo and real first name — which was not listed in the suit — appear on the game’s Web site, her lawsuit said.”

Before anyone says, “but she chose to pose nude”, I will say this: she was underage and there is a distinction between a minor and an adult for a reason. She made a bad judgment call and it sounds like a nightmare to wake up one morning and find out that your name and nude images are plastered all over a video game. Another reason I didn’t go on Spring break…

- Dollface

Note: There are far more examples than I have mentioned here. After looking up “sexism in video games” I found this site that backs up my claims about Grand Theft Auto (although I believe she discusses an earlier version) and brings up other pathetic and disturbing instances of sexism in video games. Check out her article for more information.