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Fluffy Friday
Author: wickedpam    Date: 08/29/2014 14:44:46

I have been gaming since my friend's family got an Atari and we played Pong. I was hooked. Favorite arcade games at the roller rink were Tron, Q-Bert, Centipede, Frogger and Tempest. At the Stop and Shop or Rose's Ice & Coal, were we would walk for lunch at school, it was the always popular Pac-Man then later Ms. Pac-Man. I got an Intellivision II as my very first gaming system and what I've always thought was the best game ever - Burger Time!

http://199.101.98.242/media/shots/55001-Burger_Time_(USA)-3.jpg


For a while I thought I'd grown out of it, I graduated college, moved north and got a job. Back then I had a tiny apartment, no extra money and a lot of stress. One year, for my birthday, my mom sent me my very own SNES (Super Nintendo) with SuperMario. I was in love again. Since then I've moved, albeit slowly, to PlayStation 2, to PlayStation 3, to a Nintendo Wii and now an XBOX 360 - that is where I stopped, for now atleast. In the gaming world, even with all this, I'm a pretty light weight gamer, choosing to stay away from the first person shooters, the intense horror and just ultra-violent games. Their just not my thing.

Now I'm sure you’re wondering why we're taking this little drive down my personal gaming history. Well, for a long time women in gaming have been over looked, often thought of as something odd. In fact, women and the gaming industry have been at odds for years. This year, however, things are starting to come to a head.

In June, game maker Ubisoft said it took too much work to create a female player character for the very popular Assassin’s Creed. Apparently boobs are hard work.

Assissins Creed Unity Cuts Female Player Because Its Too Much Work

The company debuted the game at the annual E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) gaming conference in Los Angeles earlier this week. The four-player game lets each user customize the main character Arno Dorian’s look to make it easier to distinguish multiple players playing at once. Ubisoft planned to include a female assassin as a counterpart to Arno, but game developers nixed it because adding a female lead to the mix was too laborious.


That has prompted a lot of snarky backlash.

http://www.n3rdabl3.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/111-730x320.jpg


Other game creators see it differently and have been working to incorporate female into newer games.

A recent study shows that women make up 48% of those that play. And 36% of the women who play are over the age of 18. That is a larger chunk of the audience then teenage boys, who game makers feel is their target.

Study: Adult Women Gamers Outnumber Teenage Boys

Bold mine.
Nintendo already has a female character that can appeal to the active first person shooter audience on the one hand, while offering the more challenging puzzles and engaging storylines that some women gamers prefer on the other hand: Samus Aran of the “Metroid.” The heroine of the "Metroid" series is an intergalactic bounty hunter who could rally women back to Nintendo with tales of her battles against aliens and pirates. Samus Aran was last featured on the Nintendo Wii system four years ago.


That’s not to say some women don’t like the shooter, horror or intense games also. Aisha Tyler, geek goddess, is famously known to play those along with many others. One of the many reason why we all love her.

So this is all great news, right? You’d think they would have started taking women gamers or those who are part of the gaming world more seriously. Yeah, apparently no. Harassment of women in gaming is on a rapid raise, again.

A Disheartening Account Of The Harrassment Going On In Gaming Right Now (And how Adam Baldwin Is Involved)

Yesterday, news broke that a prominent critic of the portrayal of women in pop culture, Anita Sarkeesian and her family were driven from their home because of some very scary threats because of her youtube series that take a look at certain tropes in gaming that are doing damage to women.

I've only seen one of the videos in her series, but it was really great. Check it out if you can.

Feminist Frequency

Weeks prior to that Zoe Quinn, creator of Depression Quest, after her game was greenlit by Steam

…received a ton of backlash for it (which she was also accused of faking, of course), to the point where she had to change her phone number.


All the hate boiled back up about two weeks ago when Quinn’s ex-boyfriend, Eron Gjoni, wrote a series of blog posts claiming that she’d engaged in a series of affairs over the course of their relationship. One of those people happened to be a Kotaku reporter, Nathan Grayson, who’d mentioned Quinn in some coverage for the site. Many detractors took this to be a proof positive that she’d slept with him in order to get positive press for Depression Quest, but there’s no evidence to suggest that any such journalistic conspiracy took place.


Kotaku also received backlash but nothing like what Quinn has been subjected too with the almost constant death and rape threats.

As a gamer, like I said I’m a light weight, I look for games where I have some representation. I have money and the gaming industry should want it. Most do, looking at you EA and your tempting Sims4. I have to wonder though when we will be accepted by all those boys and men who feel threatened by boobs.

Oh and side note: Adam Baldwin is a total douchebag.

Mala
 

22 comments (Latest Comment: 08/30/2014 01:16:26 by clintster)
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Comments:

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Comment by Raine on 08/29/2014 13:19:28
Good morning!

Comment by BobR on 08/29/2014 13:33:22
Comment by Raine on 08/29/2014 13:38:32
Quote by BobR:
LOVE THIS
That was awesome!


Comment by Mondobubba on 08/29/2014 13:48:53
Quote by BobR:
LOVE THIS



Nice!

Comment by wickedpam on 08/29/2014 14:45:29
Blog is up- can someone merge this with that one?

Comment by wickedpam on 08/29/2014 14:46:43
Morning

If someone sees a typo or something doesn't make sense let me know. I proofread but sometimes my brain doesn't catch it.

Comment by Raine on 08/29/2014 15:02:05
Quote by wickedpam:
Blog is up- can someone merge this with that one?

can do!

Comment by wickedpam on 08/29/2014 15:02:13
And apparently I've posted twice and didn't realize it

Comment by Scoopster on 08/29/2014 15:05:03
Mornin' all & Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Comment by wickedpam on 08/29/2014 15:19:38
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Blog is up- can someone merge this with that one?

can do!



Thanks

Comment by Will in Chicago on 08/29/2014 15:33:58
Good morning, everyone!!!

I am going to relax and spend some time with friends this weekend. The job hunt continues but I am planning to see a job counselor next week.

Comment by Raine on 08/29/2014 16:39:39
I also wanted to add that I loved the blog today!



Comment by Raine on 08/29/2014 16:40:00
Quote by wickedpam:
And apparently I've posted twice and didn't realize it

I just saw that, I will delete the other blog.

Comment by wickedpam on 08/29/2014 16:44:52
Quote by Raine:
I also wanted to add that I loved the blog today!



Yay! Thank ye


Comment by Mondobubba on 08/29/2014 17:25:03
Now a few minutes to focus on Mala's excellent blog. Did you see that our geek lord and savior Joss Wheadon came out in support Anita Sarkeesian yesterdee?

Comment by wickedpam on 08/29/2014 17:27:42
Quote by Mondobubba:
Now a few minutes to focus on Mala's excellent blog. Did you see that our geek lord and savior Joss Wheadon came out in support Anita Sarkeesian yesterdee?



I did see that. My friend Willow posted the article about it on FB and that's how I found out about. Want to go back and look at her other vids, the one I watched was really interesting and well researched.

Comment by livingonli on 08/29/2014 18:30:37
Good day, folks. Another late shift tonight, ugh!

Comment by Will in Chicago on 08/29/2014 18:34:13
Mala, as a gamer (table top role playing games for over 30 years), I have seen a lot of sexism but a lot of progress.

You might like this interview with Jessica Price, project manager at Paizo. Paizo, makers of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, is known to be quite progressive. Some of the iconic characters for the game are bisexual, homosexual, and a transgendered character was introduced recently.

I commented on the messageboard at Paizo, but I got so busy with other things that I never got back to the thread. It is interesting reading how some people react to discussions of gender inequality and other forms of inequaltiy.

Comment by Raine on 08/29/2014 18:56:11
Friday evening porch party will commence in the near future….

Comment by wickedpam on 08/29/2014 20:02:15
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Mala, as a gamer (table top role playing games for over 30 years), I have seen a lot of sexism but a lot of progress.

You might like this interview with Jessica Price, project manager at Paizo. Paizo, makers of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, is known to be quite progressive. Some of the iconic characters for the game are bisexual, homosexual, and a transgendered character was introduced recently.

I commented on the messageboard at Paizo, but I got so busy with other things that I never got back to the thread. It is interesting reading how some people react to discussions of gender inequality and other forms of inequaltiy.



Thanks for the link Will

Comment by Will in Chicago on 08/29/2014 20:53:26
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Mala, as a gamer (table top role playing games for over 30 years), I have seen a lot of sexism but a lot of progress.

You might like this interview with Jessica Price, project manager at Paizo. Paizo, makers of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, is known to be quite progressive. Some of the iconic characters for the game are bisexual, homosexual, and a transgendered character was introduced recently.

I commented on the messageboard at Paizo, but I got so busy with other things that I never got back to the thread. It is interesting reading how some people react to discussions of gender inequality and other forms of inequaltiy.



Thanks for the link Will


There are still problems, but there is some discussion and action to resolve them. This gives me hope.


Comment by clintster on 08/30/2014 01:16:26
Mala, great blog. Just FYI, the "troublesome animated boobies" controversy is not limited to RPGs. Apparently we may never see women soccer players in EA's FIFA series because of the boobs and hair problem.

And a little late, I know but...

It's a three day weekend, ya bastahds!