Apparently Lara Croft is Non-Existent
Bayonetta (Bayonetta)
Chell (Portal 2)
Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2)
Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
Faith (Mirror's Edge)
Nariko (Heavenly Sword)
Those are all games just this gen that I played, with female protagonists, that sold millions of copies. This whole article sounds like attention grabbing lies to me.
I like Kung-Fu.
Those exceptions aside, I bet there is some truth in the core of the story.
It's speculation, but it is possible Bayonetta, Heavenly Sword and Mirror's Edge never got sequels due to publishers denying them. Whereas a similar type of game like God of War (in the case of Heavenly Sword) and Devil May Cry (Bayonetta) sprout sequels like it's nothing.
On the case of Remember Me; yes please, show credible humans in a videogame. Glad they found a publisher who dares to disprove the figures mentioned in the article.
I can't say I'm surprised publishers might deny a game based on a female lead, especially one who is seen kissing another guy. I think it's kind of silly they would though. I think it's kind of a case of executives not really seeing things how gamers see them, cause all too often these people are not gamers themselves.
Yes, gaming is still mostly a male demographic, but we are not so shallow that we cannot handle playing a female role. Her kissing men would not be awkward. I'm sure someone out there would be bothered by it, but publishers need to be more willing to give trout like this a shot. Give these games that do come out with female leads the same kind of advertising (Well, assuming it's something they can afford). Not only will I think they will find we male gamers aren't all that bothered by it, but you can also help to let everyone know woman are in fact a viable market for games. Not all games need to have a testosterone filled focus, nor do they need a male lead for us guys to relate to it.
Also, the Sirens(Lilith and Maya) and the Mechromancer(Gaige) from the Borderlands series.
Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho'(though) the soldiers knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Interview: Remember Me interview: 'How stupid is this industry to only bet on stereotypes?' - ComputerAndVideoGames.com
Okay, I love the very last bit when the guy behind this game seems to snap a bit.
The article is talking about games specifically with ONLY a female lead (particularly where the only playable character is female) being a deterrent to publishers - not games where you have the option to be male or female.Originally Posted by the_best_noob
Tomb Raider's nine game run, FFXIII's three game run and Portal 2 kind of make that a moot point, and then there's...
Bayonetta 2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mirror's Edge 2 is being made right now - Kotaku
Again, I don't buy the article as being anything genuine other than more attention grabbing, and crying "SEXISM!" is the easiest way to do that in the video game industry as of late.
I like Kung-Fu.
Compare the number of games with male leads to the small list you provided. That's what the article is getting at and is accounting for a developers first hand view of trying to convince publishers to publish a game in light of industry sales figures that, at face value, suggest there isn't a big enough market for it.
If anything it's actually an interesting look at how the mindset of publishers work and the impression they have of consumers rather than something that's crying wolf about sexism to get attention. Which, considering EuroGamer is a fairly reputable and big name gaming news source, is a pretty hilarious accusation to level at it - especially considering it's something that's being covered by other news sites too.
Samus says hi.
hi samus
here's the points of the article i think
Looking back at an earlier PA Report, data from video game research and consulting firm EEDAR showed that, from a sample of 669 current-gen games which had protagonists of a specific gender, only 24 of these were exclusively fronted by women.
Less than half had the option of a female lead, including games where you created your own character.i wouldn't have heard of remember me without this article so i'm pretty happy cause it looks like a definite purchaseMale-only hero games sold 25 per cent better than those with an optional female hero, and 75 per cent better than whose with a female-only hero.
But this doesn’t tell the whole story. These figures reflect the fact that games with female-only heroes get less than half the marketing budget of titles with male-only heroes.
“Games with a female-only protagonist got half the spending of female optional, and only 40 per cent of the marketing budget of male-led games. Less than that, actually,” Zatkin concluded.
That’s the truth, then - that the people choosing what game receives what marketing budget are helping continue a self-fulfilling prophecy. The majority of publishers continue down the safe route of funding male-only led games, comfortable in the knowledge that, because of this, male-only led games sell by the bucket load.
edit: which makes me think this might be subtle advertising anyway.
Last edited by krissy; 03-20-2013 at 06:06 PM.
That BioWare dude said it best when people comnplained about all the full-frontal male nudity and hardcore buttsex in ME3. I hate to paraphrase, as I know I'll not be able to do it justice, but he essentially said that people who demand that developers cater to their horrible,y attitudes are exactly the kind of people who should not be catered to.
Exceptions do not make the rule. Like krissy pointed out, these games represent a very small number in face in a very large number of male led games. Moreover, even in the examples that have given, you would also have to consider to what degree the female leads are actual round characters and not facsimiles of women. I mean Lara Croft has been up-to-recently largely sexualized and seen more as a sex figure? Bayonetta fairs not better. Chell remains unseen for most of the game due to the first person use. That begs the question if her sex even mattered. So yes, there are games with female leads but they represent a minority. Moreover, even in the cases that they are female leads, it is also necessary to look at how their character is treated, developed, and marketed.
Another point to consider is that these publishers do not exist in a vacuum. And while perhaps they marketing and research methods could be a bit off, the truth remains is that they are responding to the overall gaming community in general. Now, from my experience EoFF is a pretty awesome community and there isn't a lot of sexism (as far as I know but then again I am male) that occurs here. But in the larger gaming community there is. That's why I would take what Neocracker saying about male gamers not being bothered by it as misleading. I am sure he may not be bothered by it but by and large the greater gaming world has shown itself to be otherwise. The fact that people like Anita Sarkeesian try to look at the roles of women in video games and gets death threats and trolling in return shows the problem with the community at large. Moreover, there are studies showing that women will receive a lot more harassment than males when playing video games. In this article the authors looked at how people responded to both male and female voices of different skill level. The voices were pre-recorded so that the sex and skill level of player did not matter. Overall, it found that the female voices received three times the negative comments than the male voices.
It is really sad the state that things are in. The thing is as men because we don't experience this, we tend not to see it as being relevant or existing.
Heck, like some others I would not have heard of this game were it not for this thread. I think I will buy it, depending on my money situation at the time.
I'll be open and honest: I don't mind playing female characters, I can play that role in my head without much trouble for the most part. However, if my female character were to go jump in bed with a guy and get randy, I would feel very weird. It's not a case of being sexist, though - if it were a male character jumping into bed with a guy and getting randy, I'd feel equally weird.
When I say 'weird', I mean that this character, who is someone I try to "get into the role of" (this is why I always play paragon on ME, because it's my personality being put into the character), is doing something that I would never do. It's completely at odds with the immersion I experience in the rest of the game. ME manages this rather perfectly - there are straight relationships and gay relationships all ticked off and they are optional. If they want to have a great lead female character while still allowing for complete immersion in the game from the player's perspective, the best way to do this is to make romances optional.
Still, despite all this, would I suddenly not want to play the game because of that one moment? Hell, no! It would ruint he immersion for me, but if the game is good, it should sell regardless. Also, sometimes it's not a story where you want to 'be' the character but instead a story where you want to 'watch' the character, almost like a movie - in these cases, I just can't see how it should be a big issue. I can watch Lara Croft kiss a guy without being put off, because in Tomb Raider (2013 game) I just see it as a movie where I guide the character rather than 'being' the character.
I think TSoL has it summed up very nicely, by the way, when he discusses different kinds of cultures within the gaming world and also how each character is presented.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
Loony BoB--Would you feel weird if the lead was a male, and he jumped into bed with a woman?
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