I'm not really a public person, so I don't know if I'll be updating this much.
For those of you that see it, hello there! I am Melissia, or at least, I try to be known as that wherever I go. It's hard sometimes, as the name is often taken (Though not as often as I would suspect).
Mostly... I was inspired to write this blog simply out of annoyance with the lack of attention the gaming industry gives female gamers. I look at every new FPS game to be released on Steam... and... not a single one lets me play a female character. This might seem petty-- and I know ther's plenty of worthless people out there that would flame me for holding this position-- but there's already a googol of male characters, and most of them are the same. It would be nice to see a well-done female character in an FPS game that was actually PLAYABLE in the single player and multiplayer modes.
There's, inevitably, going to be some douchebag saying that "you shouldn't have to have a female character to enjoy the game". No, I don't... I quite enjoyed a lot of games with male leads-- from the days of DOS gaming (Quake, Duke Nukem, etc) to more modern games such as Half Life 2, Metro 2033, and Call of Honor / Medal of Duty series.. It's just that that's pretty much every single one, and most of them blend in together where I can't tell one game's characters apart from another, and there is barely a one where one can play a female character, never mind a female lead.
Most recently, I was looking at Home Front on Steam. Its setting was awesome, and it was a perfect setup to allow for female characters-- but they didn't put them in, saying it was too much work to do it. And just like that, there goes my anticipation for the game... it's extremely disheartening to see, time and time again, that game developers really just don't give a damn about your demographics.
Looking at the list of FPS games that came out this year. This is based mostly off of searches and the company's own previews., as well as personal knowledge in the case of games that I actually own.
MAG: No playable female characters.
BioShock 2:: Female playable characters in multiplayer only.
Aliens vs. Predator: No playable female characters.
NecroVisioN: Lost Company: No playable female characters.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2: No playable female characters.
Operation Wolfsburg: No playable female characters.
Metro 2033: No playable female characters.
Red Steel 2: No playable female characters.
Terror Attack: Project Fateh: No playable female characters.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior: No playable female characters.
Singularity: No playable female characters.
Terrorist Takedown 3: No playable female characters.
Halo Reach: Option to be female as the lead.
GoldenEye 007 Wii: No playable female characters.
Call of Duty: Black Ops: No playable female characters.
So that leads this year to be a total of two thus far... but only if you count multiplayer-only as one (let's call it one half, as that's really only half the game anyway). So 1.5 female leads this year, and 15 male leads. A pity Halo Reach isn't going to be released any time soon on the PC, because Ireally wanted to try it out... but I don't have a 360 (nor am I going to in the foreseeable future).
Well, that's today's little rant. Enjoy.
My first instinct was to just say 'welp, video games', and I guess there's your answer. There's no shortage of female leads in cinema or literature, but video games are still perceived as for men, so unless that changes...
ReplyDeleteAlso you didn't mention Bayonetta! :)
That's a 3PS, which I'm not really all that interested in.
ReplyDeleteSry Tom, you are wrong... Girls like video games, in the same way as Boys do, but, as a lot of other things, some of them get tired from listening "this is not for girls, girl."
ReplyDeleteIm actually surprised that Alien vs Predator dont get a female Marine to play, Alien movies showed some of the first "soldier girls" on the cinema.
Hey, I didn't say girls didn't like video games - my housemate is obsessed with them. I said there's still a market perception of video games as a male thing. I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Melissia, good on you. :D
As a guy, I actually have issues seeing a female character explode into giblets. It just doesn't sit right with me. I mean, I understand what you're saying completely. Females play games and there should be female leads in games, even if females didn't enjoy video games. Plain and simple. But, if they are avoiding putting females in a game because of violence towards women (which I personally think is more likely then some people would think), then, I think another issue needs to be addressed, and thats of the amount of excessive violence in video games.
ReplyDeleteJust my take *shrug*