Dude doesn't wanna look like a lady

[BogusMeatFactory]

As I said previously, there is a major difference between playing a female character and experience a story as a female character. Cha Cha brought up fighting games and I really feel that fighting games are hugely misunderstood. They get a lot of crap for their over-sexualizing female character, but in reality, the majority of characters in a fighting game's roster is over-sexualized, male and female.

The whole point of a fighting game, visually, is to be stylized to draw people in. Story tends to never be a focus in a fighting game, so perspective and social issues really aren't a factor. Now...if you have women wearing close to nothing, yeah that could bother some people and should be avoided, but that is rarely the case......unless your playing Dead or Alive

I am curious to know what games out there people have played that really do a good job highlighting other genders and ethnicities in a rational and thought provoking way?

One that stands out for me was Heavy Rain, the character Madison in particular.

In her introduction, you relive a horrible memory of intruders breaking into her home and raping her, which traumatized her. All throughout the game, there are instances where she can be very vulnerable based on your decisions, getting drugged and kidnapped.

Other instances, put her in a place where she needs to utilize her sexuality to gain information, something that she is incredibly uncomfortable with. These are situations where it isn't blatantly stated to you the character's feeling about the situations, but you can tell by their actions the level of discomfort and fear they are experiencing.

Other great games I would recommend are games like Beyond Good & Evil, where a female investigative journalist tries to uncover the mystery of these alien invader's. she is a strong, real feeling character that epitomizes having a character that has identity.


@Pulsar Yeah, when given choices and when put in a sand box scenario like Saint's Row, the gender is not the focus, it is the destruction. They give you the option and playing male or female doesn't impact the game itself...although for me, I picked a very fat, disgusting man, naked wearing a Pink Katy Perry Wig and thigh high boots.....God I loved that guy

Other sandbox games like the Elder Scrolls series tries to include specific reactions to characters being of different race or gender, but I feel that it could go much farther. I would honestly prefer a smaller scale sandbox game that would have very dynamic reactions to characters based on their race or gender. That would really increase my interest in the game.

In Skyrim, I played an Argonian who helped Jarl Ulfric take over, something that would be in strong conflict with the Stormcloaks personal politics, yet they did nothing but bat and eye and say, "Thanks." The same would happen if you played a female Dark Elf where, at the stormcloak base, there is ghetto set aside for Dark Elves who are loathed and despised. That is a place where there is room for improvement...even though I still enjoyed the game.

[darsparx]

Personally it's nice to play as a guy in a game...

But why? You're probably just saying that out of habit.

I guess as a guy I like playing as a guy, if it doesn't matter whether I'm a guy or a girl in a game I will most likely choose guy. But if there's a girl option and it honestly adds something to the story then I might give it a go...but right now that doesn't seem to be a option in most games I do want to play. I will admit though, i do take a break from games that prominently feature guys as leads to play something like remember me. Though I wish I would've picked a better game to take a break for even if remember me is a halfway decent game...(though should've been advertised as a brawler/beat-em-up with how it feels even though it features a lot of story

[fastbilly1]

I only play female characters and make lude comments to male characters in chat.

Actually I play female characters to give some diversity to our coop groups and because they are usually the made to be the faster of the genders. So the female "archetype" in most games fits with my gameplay style better. I understand that some people are attached to their avatars as extensions of themselves, but I view them as characters in a story. People relate to characters different ways, and yes I do relate to many female characters and no I do not feel bad or awkward about it.

[Hobie-wan]

I guess as a guy I like playing as a guy, if it doesn't matter whether I'm a guy or a girl in a game I will most likely choose guy.

But do you actually pick, or do you just go with the male because when there are both options it is usually the default one?

[darsparx]

Well I guess because in a mmo since it usually doesn't matter(whenever I do get around to actually attempting to play one and play it somewhat through before I just stop for whatever reason) I will play as a guy by default yes. Because that and several other games I have attempted there's no true compelling reason that I should choose to play as a female because playing as one is just a figurehead, there's no change in dialogue or different story(at least from what I know). Now suggest a single player or multi-player game where it does matter and I might actually choose to play as a girl even if only to see the differences, it's just hard like I said to contemplate playing as a girl if there's no compelling and interesting reason to do so in the game besides a different look and such....

[Forlorn Drifter]

In games where I can make my character, I play a male a good 90% of the time because I tend to make them an extension of myself. That's why all of them are gingers.

In other cases, such as specific things or advantages of being a woman in a game, I'll pick to play one just to see the differences, or because it fits my way to play at the time. In games where the characters sex makes no difference where I choose a character, I usually play a woman because others don't want to. Zoey for life man.

[ZeroAX]

I never saw an avatar as an extension of myself. I always saw them closer to... "my kids". As characters I need to help and guide through this world. That's why I always mix it up.

In wow I had mostly male Undead characters (cause they were my favorite race and they looked much better than the female models, mostly cause I preferred their animation and hair), but I did also play a lot with a female Tauren druid (which, if anyone has ever played wow), knows how rare it is to find around.

....come to think of it, it's really weird. Many MANY guys would play female characters as long as they were pretty/cute (night elf, blood elf, human, gnome) but I think I barely saw any female Tauren, Orcs or Trolls while I played the game, and 90% of those I saw were actual girls playing them.

[Blu]

There are many times when I created characters for a customizable role-playing game, like KOTOR, Jade Empire, Fallout 3, or Oblivion, I went with a male lead. I went with the archetype that I could relate to, a character with agility, speed, and dexterity as opposed to brawn, might, and brute force. Plus, you tend to get to the depth of the worlds that the game developers put work into, rather than simply massacring everything in your path.

I think the main rationale though is it's tough for me to identify with larger, unattainable body sculpts and I think part of me rebels against that being a healthy image in a reality. I'd like the experience to be immersive, so creating an extension of me into the game helps with that. I don't think it's a stretch to believe people who have targeted identities might wish to have a similar experience when creating a character that could be a representation of themselves. Is it hard to consider they might be turned away when there's no character that they can identify with -- or rather an antagonist is represented in a way that targets the player's own identity?

Sidenote: Jennifer Hale's voiceover work was better than Mark Meer's. Blaze in Streets of Rage is much more balanced than Axel or Adam.

[MrEco]

I don't know if this is particularly insightful information, but as a bisexual male I find that I'm completely comfortable playing as a girl in games. Many times I even prefer it. But when given the option to choose the gender of my character (A la games like Mass Effect or Elder Scrolls) the decision is not based on gender alone.

I take into consideration things like what class I want my character to play as, often creating a short little roleplay background for the character and how they ended up becoming a mage/rogue/warrior/whatever. In a game like Mass Effect which voice actor I prefer for each gender can greatly effect my choice. Also how the individual character models are designed, how realistic the shape and proportion of body parts are, and things such as available hairstyles can effect my choice. So it's not as simple as which gender I want to play, there's several variables.

Ultimately though I do wish we would see more games with female main leads, and also more games written by women. The female perspective is one that I honestly don't feel familiar enough with, and video games are my favorite medium, so I want to be able to experience the two of those things together and have a wider variety of fun games with good stories and characters to choose from.



Also, let's be honest, even for straight guys a hot chick on the cover is often pretty eye catching and is guaranteed to increase sales.

[Gunstar Green]

Lots of interesting reasons for why people choose what they look like in games with custom characters. That alone could be its own thread topic.

Some people seem to like to put themselves into the games they're playing and thus playing their own gender is a deciding factor.

Others tend to create their own characters separate from themselves for the sake of roleplay storytelling so gender is decided by the character they're trying to build.

The third group is more concerned with their character being visually appealing and so characters of the gender they're attracted to are the norm.

None of these reasons are bad or wrong in any way. It's fascinating how differently people chose to express themselves in virtual worlds.