Dee

What bothers me the most about overly sexualizing women in video games is NOT that it happens. What bothers me is that it is the majority of female characters out there. I don't believe I've seen a whole lot of sexist tropes out there, and I am not going to claim there is an abundance of them, so this rant is not that the over sexualizing of female characters is sexist. It's not. But when a good number of female characters are being portrayed as sexual creatures, and that is the very FIRST thing and probably the only think you recall about them, it creates a problem for me. I feel like there needs to be more developers who look into mixing things up, even with their male characters. It is just boring. It's typical. It's expected. It sells, sure, but there's little happening in the way of experimentation aside from the few indies that might get the recognition they deserve. Problem is, a good number of the games that do get most of the attention are getting the ones that have your very predictable, overly sexualized characters in them. Just give me someone to look up to, someone I can possibly relate to and not because she flaunts her sexuality because she was designed to be that way. I'm tired of it. It doesn't make me want to play the game more, and that's sad because there are a lot of girl gamers who would like to see a broad on a hoodie and jeans with her hair in a messy bun and glasses, who is the main character, who is good for something other than her tits half hanging out of the thin piece of material her shirt is made of.

Donut Drake is definitely not appealing.

Hah, actually, I kind of do. I don't find men who are overly ripped and running around with their shirts off to be very appealing. It's just too much and unnecessary. In any case, I am not an ass girl. It's all about the face! Having a nice body that isn't too ripped or too skinny is a plus, but that's all secondary.

If video games are meant to get me out of the real world and into a fake one that also doesn't mean that women need to be overly sexualized in this fantasy world purely because it's fantasy. It rarely fits the world of the game itself to have women looking like that. Agreed. I get that video games are sometimes used as a means to escape one's reality, and/or the reality we experience on a global level (ie. science fiction, medieval fantasy, etc), but games and other forms of media are also used to help the consumer to step into the world of the same reality but just a different experience. I find it rather sad that these tropes and stereotypes are so heavily relied on in video gaming because I am forever losing interest in the idea of finding and relating to, even liking, a female video game character.

I watched that latest video, and while I don't agree 100% with what she is saying, she does sum the ending up quite nicely. "...To be clear, the problem is not the fact that female characters die or suffer. Death touches all our lives...it's often an integral part of dramatic story telling. To say that a woman could never die in stories would be absurd, but it's important to consider the ways in which a woman's death is framed and examine how and why they're written." I think this can apply to why the majority of women portrayed in video games are more often than not sexualized, as well. The link that Dean posted (http://7nights.tumblr.com/post/49375174755/feminism-in-video-games) is a good enough example of this; however, there are some things I disagree with in terms of how to "fix" or "address" the problem. Our global culture is widely assumptive in regards to stereotypes and gender roles, and while overly sexualizing a female character isn't technically sexist, I believe it IS encouraging another very polar opposite manner of thinking, which is that a woman needs to be created with larger breasts and embrace her curves and her 'sexuality' to be feminine or just, for that matter, "be someone of the female gender". I can only speak from my experiences when I play video games with females in them, and I tend to steer very, very clear of the one's who show the most skin, have the biggest, bounciest breasts and the legs that go for days. Anything like that sickens me because it is not something I wish to be, nor do I see any value in the over-sexualizing of women in that way because it does not represent your everyday female. Sure, it's fine for fantasy's sake every now and then, but I can't think of many female characters who are like their men-folk counterparts in that they offer a great deal of variety in terms of looks, but the one that irks me the most is their personalities and the typical video game plot/characterizations(personalities). Seriously lacking on that front.

This game cannot come out soon enough. Apparently, they're making sequel/prequel too, or at least they're planning on doing something like that.

Probably because it wasn't as standout as some of her male counterparts. Typical in the gaming industry.

Obviously. But the female characters they do create don't seem to have much time put into their development. And the ones that do tend to bore the shit out of me because they're so stereotypical.

Hahah, ownd. D: Seriously, though, it's pretty fucking sad that I can't think of a female character in a video game that I like as much as any male character.

As a female gamer, it's tough for me to think of a female character I like. I really cannot for the life of me think of anyone other than maybe Lightning in the beginning of FFXIII. She turned into your typical, "yeah ok sure let's save the world" character, and the game (don't get me started) just sucked anyway. Other than that, I'm not so sure.

I don't mind video games that depict women in slutty clothing, ie. lack thereof, such as the nuns in Hitman. However, there are few, if any, female characters I can say I admire, love, relate to, am obsessed with, etc. And I find that to be rather disheartening. I relate more to male characters and can name off a shit ton of those as opposed to any female characters in video games that I care to remember. They're all the same in their respective stereotypes, and that makes me sad. The only female character in any media I can think of that I can say I adore is the major and she's a cyborg! D:

Hey! A girl's gotta get her CEO on.

Aiieeee....facepalm? I don't even know where to begin. I mean, sure, it is not typical or expected of a woman to be a gamer aside from playing the crap she's got on her phone, but really? This is 2013. I am glad that ND has realized that there was an error in the testing of their video game because--as I'm sure all of you know--women do play video games. And some of them play more video games than what's on their cell phone. In fact, I am a bigger gamer than my brothers combined, and they're huge pussies who only play Battlefield and Call of Duty, if not the occasional racing game. This culture of video games still being a man's thing needs to stop because some companies are really screwing themselves out of potential consumers.

Olol, oh look, an update from EA. "And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio. On March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game." If this game is shit, it'll be a slap in the face to an already furious fan base.

After having played the game a bit before the serve issues cropped up, I would have to say yes and no. There are things in the tutorial that are long and tedious. I found that going through playing the game myself made more sense than paying attention to the tutorial. Within a couple of hours, I figured out how to do a few things on my own and I would say it's a little less confusing than the previous SimCity games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Hat4JjK5uaw Here be the trailer, mateys.

I think what they're doing so far with the cast, acting and story is all very important. When they're ready to release it, they should release it; not wait for 'purdy graphics' and port from PC.

This. I am not so angry that they're coming out with another one because it utilizes some of the best parts of the third installment: relationship to Haytham and the naval battles/ships.

I don't watch romance for romance period. I detest it. It ruins entertainment 98% of the time.

Maybe I'll check the manga out to get a picture of what I should be expecting. While I did like Evangelion, it's not my favorite. Is there anything else you can perhaps compare it to? I feel it is slightly reminiscent of FMA: Brotherhood, but only a small bit and more near the very end of the anime/manga.

@Wally: I want to see that anime, Attack on Titan. It's been a long time since I have found an anime worth watching past the second episode. This one looks like it could be tolerable, but I'll be amazed if I actually want to keep watching.

I, too, am desperately trying to hold my excitement in...

Undermines Connor? Every single demo, trailer, behind the scenes, making of the game has showcased Connor and ONLY Connor. I think he's had more than enough of the spotlight. I was hoping to see a bit of Desmond out of this before the game came out, and...well, here he is. I doubt we'll be seeing much more of him until the game's release.

Since you stupid babies are whining about my never posting on the forum... There you go! <3