We've all seen popular games portray women in a negative, yet somehow totally acceptable way. Whether it's taking a backseat to more "important" male characters, or being given a ridiculous character to play as, women haven't had much say in the video game world. A perfect example of this is Mrs. Pacman, who was basically Pacman with a pink bow on her head, and also wore heels, which at the time was the only way to separate a female character from a male character.
Even the example of above, seems ridiculously misrepresentative of the average woman. With that being said this character was seen as a step in the right direction for females in video games. This was because of her amazing athleticism, and her ability to think through very complex situations, without needing a mans help. Although not being able to relate visually, this was the character many women had been waiting for.
Before Lara Croft came along, Female characters took a backseat to their male counter-parts. Usually having huge breasts, and only being there for small tasks and to be the main male character's girlfriend. Until tomb raider challenged this notion this was simply seen as "normal".
Now, nearly 15 years later, Females are finally given a chance to breath in the video game world. Now certain games like the one above (mass effect), allow women to create a character of their own, with more realistic appearance capabilities. This gives women the notion that they are capable of anything a male character can accomplish. This is important because the female character used to be there just to cater to younger boys, who were thought to be the only ones who play video games. Now, it is realized that many females are themselves gamers, therefore they should be represented just as respectfully as a man would be.
I agree with what your're saying. Video games use to only have male character. Other examples were PacMAN, any shooting games, Nascar games, and more. They either had all male characters or a few female characters but, they were just in the background as a side character.It wasn't until a while ago that video game creators finally decided to make games featuring male characters, and some of them as main characters. Another thing though is games in general for women to play. How often do you hear of a game coming out for just women. Now a days all you hear about are sports games, Shooting games, racing games, and more. Even though they finally are incorporating females into games, they still have to get females involved more.
ReplyDeleteFemales have always been portrayed in video games in both a positive and negative ways. Whether it be a large portion of the MMORPG communities, games such as World or Warcraft, or secondary characters who save the masculine male protagonist on multiple occasions. In a game where the story is based off of decisions, like the character design in Mass Effect, players can choose to be a female. The negative aspect of this option in game play is that it is in no way presented in the games marketing. The negative light that everyone see is if females are in video games then they are most likely over sexualized. In games like Lora Croft, players see a character who is at one point badass and masculine, have physical actions and behaviors that are more feminine. Part of the games created is based off of what the players want and prefer. Even with an increasing popularity and fan base from females, there is already an existing market based solely on past games in franchises.
ReplyDelete