I think there have been quite a few Nancy Drew games... They are just not as well known.
General / Off-Topic Tropes vs Women in Video Games — Ms. Male Character
- Thread starter kenwshmt
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I was actually surprised to witness the existence of the Lego Friends products this autumn (browsing the shop for gifts for our daughter). It was not a pleasant sight at all, as it quite destroyed the old image of Lego figures.
That certainly holds some weight. I'd also add that the girl caricatures are often actively harmful stereotypes. "Boy scientist" can by positive, "sex object" or "pink fluff" is not. Where there are multiple girl caricatures they all come back to the same lazy female tropes. We rarely see male characters so utterly defined by their gender.
In the example of Scribblenauts there are over 100 boy caricatures, representing careers and personalities across a wide spectrum. Though each one is a stereotype the general message is "if you are a boy you can be any of these things". If you're a girl there's the girl character, nothing else.
The number of lead female roles compared to male is also harrowingly small. We talk about gender equality in all sorts of industries, yet there are few jobs with such a disgustingly skewed ratio as "main video game character". And of course the ones that do exist are often vile in terms of representing women or making girl gamers feel in any way empowered.
I agree with the previous statements that Commander Shepard IS female. The story just seems to work better with a female lead than a male one.
However, a major point to add to the discussion isn't so much about the developers but the publishers having a very male bias. For instance it has been documented that the game Remember Me had a number of publishers turn it down because it was based on a female character.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/publishers-said-you-cant-have-a-female-character-says-remember-me-dev/1100-6405550/
The sooner publishers sort out their own gender bias the better. Gaming needs more strong female lead characters that challenge perceptions and a reduction of the stereotypes.
However, a major point to add to the discussion isn't so much about the developers but the publishers having a very male bias. For instance it has been documented that the game Remember Me had a number of publishers turn it down because it was based on a female character.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/publishers-said-you-cant-have-a-female-character-says-remember-me-dev/1100-6405550/
The sooner publishers sort out their own gender bias the better. Gaming needs more strong female lead characters that challenge perceptions and a reduction of the stereotypes.
Anyone remember the 'No One Lives Forever' games? They had a great lead character in Cate Archer and then they ditched her for the third game because allegedly 'guys don't want to play as a girl'. I had hoped things had moved on in the intervening years, but it seems that it's still an issue
Anyone remember the 'No One Lives Forever' games? They had a great lead character in Cate Archer and then they ditched her for the third game because allegedly 'guys don't want to play as a girl'. I had hoped things had moved on in the intervening years, but it seems that it's still an issue
No one lives forever games were ace...
and the developers for that moved on to produce a series of dull "shoot 1000 black clad special forces guys" games in the F.E.A.R series (with a ghost to distinguish it from all the other "shoot 1000 black clad special forces guys" games)
Bring back Cate Archer and her cool gadgets I say
Actually that's a one dimensional gender trope if I ever saw one... black clad special forces guy, exists only to be shot repeatedly...
Do you happen to notice anything about Lara's traditional appearance that is, perhaps, slightly different than most women of normal anatomy?
17 years ago?
Triangular *****
Edit: Crikey, got swear filtered! what happens if we want to post information about blue footed seabirds? :S
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I think part of the trouble is that a lot of the advertising reinforces stereotypes. Looking at the commercials for the X box one. The X box 'Invitation' commercial is a case in point http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKeptMVKlsY
Out of the 5 'gamers' only one of them is female and she doesn't play a game, she's watches a film.
Actually they have made a commercial with a different perspective 'The Perfect Girlfriend?' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU9mZJ8vmdA but that's not the one that gets regularly shown on tv.
Out of the 5 'gamers' only one of them is female and she doesn't play a game, she's watches a film.
Actually they have made a commercial with a different perspective 'The Perfect Girlfriend?' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU9mZJ8vmdA but that's not the one that gets regularly shown on tv.
But Lara is very much an exception rather than the rule. Lara and Cate Archer. Any others?
This is a decent listing here.
dreamfall, walking dead, etc.
This concept is for games where the main playable character is female.
http://www.giantbomb.com/female-protagonists/3015-2287/games/
http://www.giantbomb.com/dreamfall-chapters/3030-24081/
http://www.giantbomb.com/the-walking-dead-season-two/3030-39042/