Video Games

[Silenxia]

This is not to tell what you're favorite game is (though I would be blathering about Assassin's Creed) but anyway.

Okay, for my Summer class at the Community College, we had to do a essay about a controversial topic. That's not a easy one to decide because there's a TON of topics that people constantly argue about. But I finally decided to use my newfound craze to write a paper about Video Game violence and other things.

So I think this would be a good topic to discuss, there are people who think there should be strict laws, others don't, and there's the group who is "I don't care as long as it doesn't affect me" (which is really my view on political things, if it doesn't effect me in any way, shape, or form then I don't care).

And there's a ton of stuff to discuss, from violence, to ratings (not how good the game is, the age ratings I mean), gender stereotypes, etc.

Remember the rules and try not to offend people with comments, this is suppose to be to discuss, not get into a huge arguement or debate.

Okay I'll begin. I been playing Assassin's Creed and I been really bothered because there is no active female Assassins in the field or order (there are some in AC II but they don't really fight or do stuff). This has bothered me since I know girls can be tough and I believe that they could easily had played a active role in the game (though I made my Oc a female one), but there is not a single woman who wears a actual robe.

It kind of bothers me a lot. Especially given that Zenobia and Boudicca were women and they were some tough girls. So it's proof.


Anyone else?

[Shizune0715]

I can totally relate to the irritation about few female characters in most action/fighting based games. The few that do usually have the females weaker, provocatively dressed, and/or insanely hard to find/unlock/buy/etc.

I mean yea, biological proof women are weaker blah blah blah but can't they inflate our egos a little? Can't a badass character be female and properly attired for once? I really get miffed at the idea that women have to bear skin in order to be considered attractive. I mean yes, swordswomen wore armor, ninjas wear fitting clothing, mages wear robes and all that but must they all be low cut to expose cleavage, high enough to expose thigh, have insanely long slits up the side, bare midriff, bare back, and all that? Wouldn't anyone be turned into a pincushion if they went to war against archers with their backs, midriffs, forearms, and legs bare? I mean warhorses in reality have more clothing than female warriors in most games.

I guess violence in a game is okay so long as its catered to the right audience. I mean GTA for 10 year olds? I don't think so. My aunt's husband let my little brother try it and he got hooked. My dad took us to a game store and he automatically asks for GTA. Imagine my dad's shock when the sales guy told us it was rated M for 18+ players. Now, my brother seems to think smashing carts into me is fine since I'm not hurt whenever he does it (I blame the civilians who don't seem to die when they get hit in those racing games).

I don't think there needs to be a law - or at least a written one - for gaming. It just needs proper levels of maturity for each game.

Yea, games have their downsides and good points but I guess its mostly up to the gamer how it affects them and if they follow the things in the game. So far, I've been gaming for roughly 15 years estimate. Nothing too bad has happened yet. The worst thing that happened was a temporary obsession (which could be attributed to being an undiagnosed but suspected autistic child in the past - the obsessive functional kind at least) with Pokemon. It faded over time though so all is well.

[GlassOctopus]

You are correct when you say the video games topic can spark strong views on either side. I do myself play video games and agree with the female argument and one game I can say that does it right is Skyrim. Here, I play as a female and so far all my attire is appropriate and she is even proportionally realistic (unlike some Japanese art I know). I normally do not mind playing as a male character but I can see as a girl how the lack of females can make us seem inferior in the gaming world, and honestly, we could all pick up poster boards and stand outside game creator's offices screaming, "Clothes on or Games off!" but I doubt it would change the patriarchal society of gaming.

I agree with game's rating systems and that people should not buy their ten year old a M rated game, but on some level I feel it is flawed because I know numerous teenagers who have played M rated games and they are mature enough to handle the content (not all but at least some) so maybe the rating system is not a black/white absolute, but more a guideline for what the gamer would like to expose either themselves or their loved ones to in the game.

I may be biased, but I believe for the most part video games are a positive item in society. I can recall many times where my friends and I would get together for a couple hours and play video games and those times felt like the most fun I have had with friends. Also, it can join people together what with the gaming community and conversation starters. Overall, the only thing I would change about video games is that game makers would create games for fun, enjoyment and not filled with controversial decisions or principles.

[Shizune0715]

True, I am one of those gamers who ended up trying more mature games for my age at the time (though not by much of an age gap) and its fine. What I mean is that there are some games that purposely have violence as a main point and its not a good idea to let a kid who still thinks its a good idea to follow all examples play that. At the very least if someone wants to advertise a game or share it, they should consider the gamer's personality as well. I have no idea how many times I've gotten into a fight with my brother over games, him attempting to make the games a reality, or his hyperactivity while attempting to play resulting in irritation and later on insult or injury.

Oh I love it when friends can bond over a game My friends and I actually share a lot of interests when it comes to gaming so we have a system of sharing games/demos/sites/etc with each other and competing or working together. Its especially fun when its a game where you don't need to hold back for the other like when my friends and I play Dance Dance Revolution... one can go on insane levels while the other is on basic and the gameplay is exactly the same.

I think it'll also be good if game makers could make games without insanely long amounts of gaming periods with very rare saves. You have no idea how many times I've cursed games with 'Save and proceed to next day/event/chapter/etc'. Some don't even have a pause button

I actually think games with decision making and principle development are good. At least parents won't complain about their kids learning nothing while they game. Cause let's face it, its getting really hard to get kids to play educational games now so might as well just drop them straight into the application instead of going through the theories in life.

[GlassOctopus]

You know in thinking about this it made me think about fairy tales. I know that sounds odd, but hear me out. We have all heard the disney version and the "happily ever after" stuff, but that wasn't fairy tales' original purpose. Take, little red ridding hood. In the original, red and the grandmother get eaten by the big bad wolf—not very happy ever after, is it? Now a days people have changed the story to say the grandmother was really in the closet, and a random hunter comes to save red at the last minute. People, mainly parents, changed the story to be mildly less graphic so their children would not be opposed to the harshness of reality, yet the original purpose of fairy tales was to do just that: introduce reality through a story to tell children.

This is very much like videogames today. Even though some are unnecessarily graphic, most are mature because they deal with darker sides of today's culture (violence, war, drug use, morality, zombies?) and can actually be positive to a child.

[CanackXain]

I think there are several issues within the video game world. Some others have already talked about some of the issues on here. But here is my two bits, considering I have gamed for twenty years, roughly. When I was younger 6-13 I never even focused on rating systems and such. Of course in that time there wasn't a TON of rated R video games, I am sure there was a few, but not nearly as many that we have in the video game world coming out yearly now.

The rating system is the way to go, however I politely disagree with GlassOctopus. It should be black and white, because that protects the people that create the game, produce the game, and sell the game directly to the customer usually. I just think the ratings need to change, there needs to be a few more categories possibly and the sellers of the game, from stores or on the internet or whatever, need to take a completely hard stand. Also I think the parents that buy video games for their kids need to learn more about the rating system, we all hear stories or know people that don't care what games they buy their children, that needs to change. Public service announcements would help I think.

Also the subject of not very many female characters in video games is a subject that I think I know the answer too, but I can't be entirely sure. The solution is putting more female video game characters in video games, but until more females get into the field of writing and creating games and have a say in the creation of the game and until there are more females playing video games, that isn't going to happen. Sure, both is happening, and the gap is lessening, but the majority of both video game creators and video game players are still male.

As for violence and subject matter of games, I think it is progressively good, as long as the creators keep making games for kids also. The reason being is because video game creators know some of their core demographic is getting older and wanting more mature grown up video games that deal with more graphic and sensitive topics. I mean for instance, I don't know what I would do without games like Far Cry 3, the Fallout series, Red Dead Redemption, the Assassins Creed series, Borderlands, Mass Effect series, Dark Souls, and The Witcher 2. However, the Lego franchise of games is amazing, even for a 26 year old like me.

So I think we should also focus less on if a video game is violent or not violent and more on is the violent script or graphic subject matter in the game, make the game better or not, is it there for the sake of it or is it there for a real reason. We should also focus more on is the video game good or not, instead of if it is violent enough or not.

Edited for grammar.

[MothballMilkshake]

Googling 'sexism in videogames' will keep you interested for hours. Just promise me you won't read the comments!

Normally I could go on long rants about this - and do, at parties, where it's least appropriate (you should hear me on Doctor Who!) - but it's late, so yes, one good thing to look up would be the 'tropes against women in gaming' documentary, as well as the backlash it received.

I think the violence isn't as bad because it's not so normalised in our culture - you don't walk down the street and expect to punch somebody for no reason - but you DO walk down the street and see scantily clad women sexualised on billboards!

[ExplicitiveUhoh]

Videogame Ratings:
I don't actually agree with the rating system on videogames that much. Its not always very regular, as its more committee-based and thus a lot more up to interpretation on whether scenes are truly graphic or not, and most of the time those who can/can't handle the content is dependent not upon the age but the maturity of the person playing. I do think videogames should be categorized by content, where games with violence, sex, etc., should have that listed on the back and a list of recommended age groups included (which is already included on videogames as of right now). I do agree that parents should be able to see a warning on videogames about what content is inside the videogame (I agree that a 7-yr old shouldn't be playing videogames featuring murder/prostitution/etc. since kids do have a harder time separating real life vs. virtual life, or controlling what they say/do in public).

I don't think blocking a 16 year old from buying a 18+ game is necessary, though. Honestly, most games that have been rated 18+; I don't think need to be 'adult only'. Its nothing worse than what is on cable TV, typically, and quite frankly you can get through to a teenager's head a lot easier with a conversation about violence/sexual scenarios than by trying to stick a teen's head in the sand. It is kind of funny that I feel strongly about that, because I never actually played any videogame where I'd need to be 18+ to buy them.

My rejection of these guidelines is mostly because I don't actually buy the argument that graphic scenes, mature content, etc. can cause harm to most people or that it makes people turn into devious killers/troublemakers/offenders/gang members/etc. Games have only gotten more graphic as we've matured as a society (compare basic Atari games to the videogames of now (Quebert vs. GTA)) and we have more gamers in the overall population as time has passed, but overall violence (violent crime rate) has dropped. If videogame content truly had terrible effects on the young and impressionable; we'd see an increase in real life violence. Once again, I think it is more dependent upon the individual playing a game (do they have the mental capacity/recognition to realize the difference from real life to virtual life) than the actual game content.

Videogames and Female Characters:
Hm, as a female gamer I tend to find that there are very few videogames that appeal to me because they don't have the female characters that you can choose/create. I don't enjoy playing as a female character that essentially is dressed down to her undergarments as armor (I'd be a bloody mess if I went into battle like that) and I really don't want to play a game where the only choice is to play some male character who saves the world and gets the girl. So I play the games where you can create/choose a female character and that the characters all get to wear similar/covering armor and you get to choose to run around naked/nearly naked (and face consequences of that choice). These games are the Elder Scrolls games (Morrowind, Oblivion, & Skyrim) or others such as DragonAge, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy (XII, XIII, etc), Star Wars KotOR I & II, the SIMS, etc. If I do play a game where there is only one character choice, its typically because I've played the franchise before and really enjoy the puzzles and story-telling, such as the Legend of Zelda games. (Which, to be fair, the main character could easily be a girl in the early Zelda games, since there weren't too many gender pronouns or too much pixel detailing). It doesn't exactly bother me to see a lack of female characters (I tend to be happy playing the games I've got) but I know that some games sound very interesting and I want to play them until I realize that it is essentially a male-character only storyline.

I don't buy the lack of female gamers/developers argument to explain away the tendency to par down females as side-interests and otherwise eye-candy in many videogames, either, as recent studies suggest that female gamers are probably around 40% in the US for major consoles (and we're overtaking male gamers on Web-based games), and we've seen corresponding rises in females joining the work force to develop videogames. That said, just like in other media, it is overall believed that a game can't be as successful if featuring a lead female protagonist since it won't cater to the male players who are (as of right now) in a majority. This is because males will suddenly stop playing videogames if there's a female character to choose from too *sarcasm* because Skyrim's & Mass Effect's major success was totally hindered with the ability to choose the gender of your character. Obviously, I wouldn't really believe that, since despite nearly 30+ years of catering to males; women still played the games that interested them. In a business sense, inclusiveness is what helps grow the overall fan-base of a videogame as you have a greater pool of interested parties to bring in.

I do think that the games that cater to both genders (such as Skyrim or Mass Effect) tend to have better storylines too, since its been set-up so that all genders can complete the storylines/quests. You can't rely on single-gender tropes to get your game by, so instead we see where the developers have put most of their time/thought. I do think over time the gaming industry as a whole is going to change over into more appropriate female characters (as we've seen in games like those I listed above) but that it will essentially take a lot of complaining from female (and male) gamers before the developers in charge really switch up the status quo.

[MothballMilkshake]

If you want to see some great games with awesome female characters, try out Beyond: Two Souls, the new Tomb Raider, and Remember Me!

[AidenFaoladh]

Even as a guy, I can say the sexism thing bothers me. I used to play female characters on video games all the time when I was younger. I'd always choose the female character on Pokemon, or make my character as feminine as I could. No, I'm not some creep who likes to watch their asses as I play, I just enjoy playing the female characters. Or, I used to.

Now, it seems metal bikinis pass for armor, and if they can't fit at least ten panty shots into any given scene, they're falling all over themselves to fix it. I've even played one MMO Called Aura Kingdoms, where the females underwear color, and pattern changes based on her outfit. It's pretty disgusting, actually, considering the men have actually costumes, not just lingerie pretending to be armor.