Gender & Sexuality In Gaming

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Reknoc
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Post by Reknoc »

Any one would fit Samus though. Really all she is is the suit, having the out of suit moments is basically just 8/16bit titillation. This just became more obvious in Brawl when they introduced "zero suit" Samus.
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Dr Shaneman
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Post by Dr Shaneman »

Reknoc wrote:Any one would fit Samus though. Really all she is is the suit, having the out of suit moments is basically just 8/16bit titillation. This just became more obvious in Brawl when they introduced "zero suit" Samus.
What I was saying though is they purely just did that 'out of suit' bit for fanservice and nothing else.
At least, it seemed that way to me.
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Reknoc
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Post by Reknoc »

Dr Shaneman wrote:What I was saying though is they purely just did that 'out of suit' bit for fanservice and nothing else.
At least, it seemed that way to me.
Yea kinda, the Justin Bailey cheat in Metroid is definitely that. In Zero Mission and Brawl it at least treats her as something different. The end screens are pretty much always fanservice as well, going for those sort of tight suit fetish guys (aka eva fans).
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Quills on Wheels
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Post by Quills on Wheels »

I guess you can say having a female as the main hero does attract quite a few of the male audience.
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DigiDragoon
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Post by DigiDragoon »

Just thought I'd add that some games do have an all female cast.
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Quills on Wheels
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Post by Quills on Wheels »

I guess you can say having a female as the main hero does attract quite a few of the male audience.
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Option
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Post by Option »

Female leads are rare and often portrayed more stereotypical. I don't mean in the "bake cookies and use frying pans as weapon"-stereotypical, but rather the "hot" stereotype, often also with femme fatale added to the mix. In the majority of cases, female leads are scantily clad, there's a lot of emphasis on their body in terms of cutscenes etc., and they more often than not are sensual and use their sexiness as a weapon as well. But also just as often, they are in "need of a man" to finally guide them.

That said, there are exceptions. Samus was already mentioned (at least before Fusion/Other M), but also, for instance, Shanoa from Castlevania Order of Ecclesia, and quite a few female RPG cast members.

Regarding sexuality - homosexuality is often portrayed as way too overly stereotypical. I can think only of VERY few exceptions. Many developers don't dare venture into the territory of exploring homosexuals - especially not lead characters. Just look at the INSANE backlash that EA/Bioware got from the gay option in Mass Effect 3 (as harmless and silly as it was).

Sadly, a big chunk of the gamers are misogynistic and homophobic, and the game industry caters to these people, obviously.
And, thus, as a gay man, I feel misinterpreted and often insulted by the portrayal of homosexuality in games.

Lastly, as much as you can oppose EA for a lot of their identity and actions, they have heavily redeemed themselves by actually openly supporting gay rights movements.
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Post by TCB »

Quills on Wheels wrote:I guess you can say having a female as the main hero does attract quite a few of the male audience.
If that female is anything Option described then most likely. Developers know male gamers are going to be aware of that first and foremost alone.
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Post by Dr Shaneman »

BurningFlame2010 wrote:Just thought I'd add that some games do have an all female cast.
Yeah you'd know.

Give examples for research please.
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Option
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Post by Option »

Well, many Japanese "indie" games have all female casts, or almost entirely all female casts. Interestingly many of them are shmups - the Touhou series, for instance, or Otomedius. There's also Arcana Hearts.
"The sub-structure of the universe regresses infinitely towards smaller and smaller components. Behind atoms we find electrons - and behind electrons, quarks. Each layer unravelled reveals new secrets, but also new mysteries."
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