Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

Post by BoneSnapDeez »

New vid:


Whoa 31 minutes, gonna have to make some time to watch later.
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Sload Soap
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

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As usual, some very good points raised which should lead to interesting debate. I don't agree with everything said, I still think context is a relevant part of creating any piece of media though I do recognise that outside influences have a great effect on that creative process.

Like the other videos in this series it kind of shows how pathetically lowbrow games can be at times. I do gag when playing something like Dishonored, a perfectly crafted experience for the most part, and there's just some floozies thrown in for no apparent reason. Just the amount of footage Feminist Frequency can get to use in these videos should on its own shame the games industry into changing things. These are really big, popular, expensively made games here and they all feel they need a bit of boob to make them seem mature? That's some 90's comics logic.

Some small things that bugged me:

I feel like in the violability, disposability section you could interchange gender with race and still be making a similar point. My point being, acts of horrible violence in sandbox games are handed out pretty evenly. That and everyone drops money in GTA when murdered so that was a bit of a labored point I felt.

There's a bit of a cheeky edit in the video where a prostitute is killed in Deus Ex:HR which immediately cuts before we can see the cops standing behind Jensen open fire as this wouldn't fit her theory. Not a huge gaping flaw in logic or anything, just a bit of sneaky editing. As was using the "Shame" loading screen from GTAV that was cut from the main game AFAIK. Minor quibbles.

I think the din regarding this series has died down a bit now which will let the proper and relevant criticism be heard.
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

Post by BoneSnapDeez »

Sload Soap wrote: Like the other videos in this series it kind of shows how pathetically lowbrow games can be at times. I do gag when playing something like Dishonored, a perfectly crafted experience for the most part, and there's just some floozies thrown in for no apparent reason. Just the amount of footage Feminist Frequency can get to use in these videos should on its own shame the games industry into changing things. These are really big, popular, expensively made games here and they all feel they need a bit of boob to make them seem mature? That's some 90's comics logic.
Aside from shmups, RPGs, and compilations I don't really play modern games. Most action/shooter and "AAA" stuff I ignore. So this type of footage shocked me especially, as I had no idea how bad things have gotten. Beating women on the street? Killing prostitutes and shoving them in a trunk? People had to program this shit and no one had the sense to pause and say "hey isn't this a little tasteless and gross?" Stunning.
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Sload Soap
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

Post by Sload Soap »

Yeah it is tasteless, although it should be pointed out that this violence is not reserved for women. In Sleeping Dogs you can just as easily punch a monk in the gut and shove him in your car. I wouldn't then say the game was bigoted because of it which is kind of my problem with that section of the video.

Sleeping Dogs is an odd one. You play as a cop but can still run down and injure civilians. I think they should have just NOT let you beat up masseurs with the character saying "No way, I'm a cop" if you did try.
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

Post by Gunstar Green »

Sload Soap wrote:
Some small things that bugged me:

I feel like in the violability, disposability section you could interchange gender with race and still be making a similar point. My point being, acts of horrible violence in sandbox games are handed out pretty evenly. That and everyone drops money in GTA when murdered so that was a bit of a labored point I felt.
That part kind of bothered me too. The thing about open world games is anyone and anything can be attacked, murdered and abused in the same manner.

Other than that I'm with Bone, I haven't really played these sort of games so I was amazed at how prevalent it's become.

I think there's a time and place for games to inject seediness and sexual themes but if open world games want to have pornography playgrounds just because it's something people have started to expect, maybe they should just focus on making porn games.
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

Post by Forlorn Drifter »

I think a large part of the problem simply stems from games still being in that growing point where maturity is concerned. Extreme violence has been touched on and gone with. There's exceptions of course, since very few games let one kill children and most gore is still far from being realistic. On the other hand, we're just getting to the point where sex in videogames is becoming more common, and that creates a shitstorm of problems. Developers, along with the general public, are still in the mindset that videogames are for boys, even if that age group is becoming older. As such, they cater more towards men on the sexual side of things, without a second thought. And developers seem to think that throwing hookers in is a great way to create a "seedy" atmosphere, as horrible of an option that it usually is.
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

Post by Hazerd »

Far Cry 4 Is "Packed to the Gills" With Women

Women will be featured prominently in Ubisoft's upcoming open-world game, director confirms.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/far-cr ... n=homepage

Bet Anita Sarkeesian is boiling in her skin right now. :lol: :roll:
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

Post by BoneSnapDeez »

Yet no playable female characters in an open world game? Doesn't sound promising.
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

Post by Retrogamer0001 »

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Yet no playable female characters in an open world game? Doesn't sound promising.
Oh man, there's a reason I've been avoiding this thread like the plague, and statements like that are the main reason. I'm outta here before I get into trouble...
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Re: Kickstarter "Tropes vs Women in Videogames"

Post by BoneSnapDeez »

Retrogamer0001 wrote:
BoneSnapDeez wrote:Yet no playable female characters in an open world game? Doesn't sound promising.
Oh man, there's a reason I've been avoiding this thread like the plague, and statements like that are the main reason. I'm outta here before I get into trouble...
No idea what to make of such an ambivalent statement. Do you not want playable female characters in this game? Any particular reason? I was under the impression that one of the hallmarks of an "open world" game was to give the player a myriad of options.
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