November 13, 2006

• That thread is pretty interesting. I thought this comment was a gem: You know, this is really very shallow. You are pissing and moaning about a bunch of video games in a country where women enjoy more freedom than you can imagine- my girlfriend is peruvian and she does not even begin to understand the freedom that she will have in this country. In other countries, rape is encouraged, women have their genitals mutilated at any age and it is common place- downright strange if it does not take place. American men are treated like dirt now- the first people blamed for this display were male marketing experts. When I was growing up in school, the first thing that the practically all female staff told me was that I should be afraid of all other men. If you are so up in arms about a damn video game display, there are places to go where there aren't video games at all... after all, we all know that American men are brainwashed by video games to spend all day abusing women and killing things... countries without video games must be a lot safer for women to be in.
• Sounds like someone forgot to take their Midol. **assumes defensive fetal position**
• That is offensive to girls. I mean women. I mean womyn. Nevermind.
• I've always thought there was a gap in the market for a really good game based on knitting patterns. Extreme Kaffe Fassett, maybe?
• I plan to teach my daughter* that boys are only targets for the multi-kill headshot. And the meaning and intent of 'pwn'. And how to construct a weapon A-Team style. Well, if I have a daughter.
• **assumes defensive fetal position** I totally read that as "**assumes defenestrative position**" EYYaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa . . .
• I would totally buy Extreme Kaffe Fassett. but it would cut into my Neverwinter Nights time. (Or it would if I could afford a new graphics card. Curse my income.) Those displays remind me of the guy who, upon finding out I enjoy the occasional round of Unreal Tournament, shrieked "You're a female gamer? I love female gamers!" and suddenly started paying a lot of attention to me. Someone, somewhere Just Doesn't Get It and where do you begin explaining?
• But do they have Hello Kitty Adventure Island?
• So, as long as we're not getting raped, we should shut up and be grateful for whatever we get?
• So, as long as we're not getting raped, we should shut up and be grateful for whatever we get? Why stop there? Hey, all over the world there are people who are dead! So how dare anyone complain! At least they are alive! Regarding games for girls, not being a girl, or even a woman, I don't really know what women want in a game, but I can't imagine that 90% of the games marketed at women appeal to girls over the age of 12. The few games that seem to appeal to teenage and adult women in large numbers are games like the Sims which somehow manage to sell despite the fact that they aren't sold in pink boxes. I would think that including more women who wear more clothes and don't have Barbie doll-type figures would be a good start. I know that I am sick of seeing so many female characters who look like porn stars.
• ph33r the righteous rage of the endangered white male. Female gamers genuinely ARE a persecuted class. I'm not going crazy feminist here. I'm being dead serious. If it's not a dumbed down, clumsy marketing ploy labeled as a "girl oriented" video game offered with a pat on the head and a "that's so cute", then it's the harassment in World of Warcraft that they have to suffer with the very minute their gender is revealed. Add that to the lack of female characters in video games that have any depth beyond "generic hot chick with special powers". Final Fantasy X-II TRIED to do that by making the main 3 characters female, but frankly, the game sucked. Also the fact that you changed special abilities through a complex system of playing dress-up did seem like a clumsy, misguided reach out to the girl gamer crowd. I understand there's a market for sex and violence in video games. But hell, if you're gonna do that, how about a Grand Theft Auto with a female protagonist? This is a pretty common complaint I've heard from the female gamer community, so I'm not stating anything new. It's just kinda disheartening to see some game store put a pink sign up, stack some Disney games up under it, and say "have at it, girlies". oh, also, while I'm rambling...Dead Or Alive = worst franchise ever, and I'm a HUGE fan of breasts.
• Why stop there? Hey, all over the world there are people who are dead! So how dare anyone complain! At least they are alive! In sll fairness, Wifebeater 2k6 is the best selling game in Peru. Add that to the lack of female characters in video games that have any depth beyond "generic hot chick with special powers" As if most games have non-stereotypical protagonists, male or female. The Silent Hill series has some interesting protagonists of both sexes, even if the dialogue is mostly wooden. You have to admit, the pink packaging is pretty, tho'.
• I like playing one of the female characters in UT2004 because she has a funny NY accent - "Oh no you di'nt!" I don't know what I think about this. My partner Mairi likes platform games (old Sonic, Rayman stuff) and puzzle games (Tetris clones, Puzzle Bobble). She doesn't like sitting at the computer to play (in the cramped box room), and we don't have a console.
• Hey, there are people starving! Why are we wasting time talking about video games?
• Funny about UT, but I remember in my clanning days that all the best players would pick female avatars. But bottom line about the kooky marketing: They would stop doing it if it doesn't pay off. So yes, someone out there is buying this pink stuff.
• I hate it when players that are obviously women play ut2004, voice chat being the big give away. Not because I mind playing UT2004 with women, but because there is always at least 30% of the players that feel it is necessary to flirt with the "girl gamer" over voice chat, in that gross internet sort of way. Not the funny kind either. So when it comes down to it I guess I really just hate playing with the 30% of hard-up dorks out there.
• They would stop doing it if it doesn't pay off. So yes, someone out there is buying this pink stuff. Not really. Someone was buying the games before they went into the pink boxes. This is a recent repackaging marketing scheme, at least in my neck of the woods. glamajamma, just shoot that 30% in the back if they're on your side. I always thought some of these FPS games should have a "urinate on team-mate/corpse" button.
• Um, so the conclusion is that those are games for boys and girls? or what? It seems to me that those are games for girls.
• I played that stick arena game a couple of times, and my avatar dude was named "Zembla" and as EVERYONE knows all names that end in "a" are totally girl names. So, of course, I had 2 thirteen year olds ask if I needed a bf. I didn't. That's my experience of being a "female" gamer.
• No Mr. Knickerbocker, no those games are for everyone. *Puts arms around everyone and laughs* I watched too many animated movies with my kid this week.
• I once played this kick-ass game aimed at little girls - it was from Japan (played on a cracked playstation, and still entirely in Japanese), and it consisted of a white-outlined bunny dancing in this strange electric wire world (the bunny was actually a part of the wire), and you had to make the bunny hop objects on the wire, all in tune to the music (and you could have your own). I loved it because it a) was super easy, and thus fun and b) didn't involve running around mazes killing things and c) was super easy and thus fun. I had been thinking then that if this sort of game had been around when I was 12, instead of Super Mario that was so hard and I never could figure out, maybe I would have been more excited about playing console games. (I don't like games with a steep learning curve, and for me that is just about every console or first person or action based game around - except dancing ones). But I think I still would have like *Jeopardy* for the PC more. I totally wiped my older brother at that - he was angry because I would buzz in before he could read the question. He claimed I hadn't read the question either - and he was right, I hadn't, but I still knew the answer. They really should have put more than a few hundred questions on that game.