8 Things Anita Sarkeesian Wants To Change About Video Games

Even if you want a realistic game lets be honest an over weight McDonalds slamming all about that bass American is not realistically going to run around doing all that needs doing in the heroic fashion the protagonist does in most video games. This would directly counteract the immersive experience. Take a character like Alyx from HL2, she isn't over done in any way, she looks like she could be a somewhat average girl from down the block and the Female rebels that accompany you in the game look reasonably convincing for what they are supposed to be, if they were fat it would have ruined it. I am pretty sure it would have been completely unbelievable if Alyx was replaced by Oprah Winfrey. And just the same if they put a girl in a bikini in Battlefield 5 it wouldn't work either. You have an art direction and theme in a video game you work with. For some video games especially fantasy that includes scantily clad woman. At any rate Anita is a person pigeon holed in career wise, what does she do what value can she possibly have to any company or organization? None that's what. So she has found out that some stupid people will give her money to go on these rants so she isn't ever going to stop because that's the only thing she can do now she has no competency or usefulness to anyone otherwise. All she is doing plagiarizing works of people from decades ago that complained about the same crap in movies and music. Guess what changed? Nothing... Nor will it ever. Don't argue with her, don't comment in her posts, just ignore her and hope a better looking feminists arises to fill her niche and that will REALLY piss her off.
 
Anita wants femminist video games plain and simple. She's welcome to make them. But if she expects publishers and developers to simply follow her ideology ad hoc then she is high and wrong.

What she made consider acceptable is what many consider prudish.

I wouldn't sweat her existence guys. Money talks first , if players want sex and violence in games then they'll keep getting it. Her hubris is basically "instructing" developers on how to make their games tailored to her ideology is really obvious. You can't run around telling artists how to make art. You do that and they just make you the focus of their art .. with dogs shitting on your face or something to that effect for attempting to sensor them.

However there might be some points to be made in her presentation regarding weak female characters. I'm sick of dumb absent minded female tacked on characters that are more for PR and not for the purpose of the game. If you want more female characters then PLEASE developers make them interesting and stop making them utter wastes of my time.
 
DocSavage said:
I can't really complain about that list -- well, other than the over-emphasizing characters' rear ends. Is that really a thing? Most of the list is just asking for more variety which I welcome.
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Asking developers only to include things i like and to not include things i don't like is not asking for more 'variety'.
 
Hell I disagree with all her points. I'm just your normal male chauvinist pig who likes good booty in all my games.
 
Godmachine said:
Anita wants femminist video games plain and simple. She's welcome to make them. But if she expects publishers and developers to simply follow her ideology ad hoc then she is high and wrong.
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I don't think so. I think she wants people to believe that she wants feminist video games. So she can basically cash in on talking about it. I sound a bit tinfoil hatty, but I do think this is the case.
 
Godmachine said:
Anita wants femminist video games plain and simple. She's welcome to make them. But if she expects publishers and developers to simply follow her ideology ad hoc then she is high and wrong.
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Except when her kind infiltrate gaming media to influence reviews, which influences sales, and then you have professional victims like herself using "feminism" as a platform to get games they don't like pulled off shelves at Target. They then further their agenda thanks to like-minded friends in other forms of media to sway public opinion by rewriting history in say cop TV shows. They then apply pressure to large publishers and get politicians involved to censor games or change game ratings, and rather than deal with such flack they simply acquiesce to the loudest voice.

Remember, in the age of the internet, the 1% can seem like a larger group than the 99% if they grab all the megaphones and the majority don't bother to make themselves heard.

What we should have, is games that cater to their playerbase. Players that want shoot-em-ups get them. Players that are male and want T&A in their games because it pleases them to see it get it gratuitously. Players that want to play a fabric covered doll riding a giant skateboard or Bratz Diamonds or dacing games or even games about a Flower, go get that. If there are nine people that want T&A and/or shootems for every effeminate type and nine out of ten games are the former, that is GREAT as it means the market is catering to what video game players want. If half the games were a feminists dream, and hardly any feminists play video games, then that would be a broken disconnect between the market and its developers. Common sense shit.
 
Without writing a really long post on how games are made. The answer to a lot of her points is that doing so would be very hard and studios don't want to pay the money for that. The reason that certain body parts are emphasized is that it makes identifying the character as male or female easy regardless of the resolution the user is using. Even in or especially in console scenarios we can't control the screen or environment the game is viewed back on, so the tendency is the really on over exaggeration. This is also a carry over from the low polygon era, where if you tried to make breasts or butts smaller, they didn't even show up. If she actually worked for a game studio, she would realize that a lot of developers want more diverse characters, but get killed by budgets, time and focus groups.

As for the outfits, the market speaks. There are games where you can buy armor for your female characters. Both men and women buy this stuff... guess which armor sells best? Game companies are corporations first and foremost... everything else is a distant second.
 
Eh, screw it, just for balance I'll say I'd love to see these additions. Get some more variety from the AAA domain that is risk averse and heavily guided by older traditions. I play games with my wife all the time and she certainly identifies with her avatar differently than I do. I'm like hell yeah, I'm a small guy, it'd be neat to be able to bench press a house and deadlift a fire truck. She's not like that. It would be cool to see that supported more. The bro dog-piles below all these articles are just hysterical, though. Keep that up.

Any references to the 'so they can see the gender more easily are hilarious.' That's an 8-bit type design decision. Yes, we know that's why Mario was made the way his is. It was pretty valid through like the PSX days. That's about it.

I don't care about the woman at all. Never bothered with the gamergatey stuff other than headlines. I just figured 'yep, internet has trolls. trolls be dumb'. I don't have a compelling reason to read or watch anything from her. Her list, though, is fine. And that's the sort of suggesting that should be welcomed.
 
oO, cept some of the stuff she says is limiting, not adding.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
That would all cost money. There is one body for male, one for female and one set of animations for each.

The women are Barbie Dolls, the men are He-Man.

Neither are animated like humans.

The toy store is divided into three sections, the pretty princess section, the go die for oil section, and Lego.

Welcome to reality, buy more Lego.
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Well said!
 
Silverghost said:
Nothing wrong with those 8 points. I didn't realise so many YouTube commenters were also HardForum members.
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Actually there is quite a bit wrong with those 8 points. Video games like any other form of media are about expression of the creator and desires of the customers. She is trying to forcibly change both of those and it just isn't going to happen and nor should it. As has been mentioned, she is welcome to try making a game that fits her ideals though I should point out that some developers have already tried and she just finds a way to shoot them down anyhow. That is the real crux of this, she isn't looking to change video games, she is looking for a platform to continue getting attention and VG's are just easy and don't require her to think.

Originally Posted by Twisted Kidney View Post
That would all cost money. There is one body for male, one for female and one set of animations for each.

The women are Barbie Dolls, the men are He-Man.

Neither are animated like humans.

The toy store is divided into three sections, the pretty princess section, the go die for oil section, and Lego.

Welcome to reality, buy more Lego.
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This pretty much sums it up. There is also good reason for this and something that people who have never been a parent like her will never understand. There are inherit differences between boys and girls and I have both. Girls as a rule gravitate to the pretty princess section and legos. Boys as a rule gravitate to the die for oil section and legos. This isn't forced behavior, this is what naturally comes to them. I've watched it first hand with my kids and many others as well. You simply cannot change our basic nature.
 
this game already exist, its called skyrim, and all the women in it or plain and un-attractive, which is why there are mods like Caliente’s Beautiful Bodies Edition CBBE to sexualize the women in it lol
 
As part of entertainment people mostly look at attractive people. Its in all media not just video games. Most people can't live up to the men and women seen on TV (most cases). Actually more so men as if you have a real job you can't spend 4 hrs a day working out and be part of a family. Artifically rendered versions of both men and women are pushed even further. Big deal. Its been going on for thousands of years, get over it.

Why Video games are singled out to me is because that's displacing traditional media (tv, movies, music,..) which are as equally guilty but don't make money for the parent companies of the journalists attacking Games. Why its feminism is political agenda driven especially with prospective female presidential candidate(s) in a few years.
 
jpm100 said:
Why Video games are singled out to me is because that's displacing traditional media (tv, movies, music,..) which are as equally guilty but don't make money for the parent companies of the journalists attacking Games. Why its feminism is political agenda driven especially with prospective female presidential candidate(s) in a few years.
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Pretty sure it's because it's still vulnerable. Look at the boycotts of 50 shades of grey movie. No one gives a shit. But a game? You'll get senators and all sorts going omg, think of the women and children.
 
thejokker said:
She's free to design games using those rules but she should not be disappointed if nobody buys them.
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This; more "appeal to the masses" fail.

She really wouldn't like the CrakHor skins we play Q2 with. :D

The women who play with our crowd don't seem to mind those skins at all; most love the cheezy stereotyping.

And in Q3, there are some amazingly beautiful bots that can totally kick your ass; CatholicSchoolgirl comes to mind.
 
Anita, is this better?

BL2_Pic.jpg
 
Arent games about escapism? Why the hell would I want every character to be realistic? GTA has plenty of "normal looking" people roaming the street. In fact thousands of them. That should make her happy. Do I get offended by muscular male avatars with 6-packs? No. Man fuck this bitch so bad.
 
Gamergate scored an own goal when they drove this woman into the national media spotlight. Who knew who she was six or nine months ago? Now she's on CNN, Colbert ABC news and everywhere else.

Great work gators. Keep showering attention on the biggest attention whore on earth.
 
Pretty much everything has been said already. I mean she wants to get rid of sexy Barbie dolls in video games but says nothing about how every guy is nearly every game is ripped. I don't remember the last time I seen a male character with a ponch much less a good ol' gut. It goes both ways.

Maybe we should get authors to write more books with greater character diversity. Like I'm sure a Jack Reacher book but this guy is Jake Beacher. He's 5'9 and 250lbs! That would sell super well. I loved the part where he wanted to save the damsel, er I mean when the girl who looks very normal tried to save him but she couldn't carry his fatass out of danger leading to both their deaths. It was so sad for the series to be cut short like that. The cool part was how the auto just ended it right there. No real cover or anything. Must read material there.
 
Riddle me this. Why hasn't anyone destroyed her reputation on live television or at a public speaking session yet, considering how weak her arguments are?
 
Megalith said:
Riddle me this. Why hasn't anyone destroyed her reputation on live television or at a public speaking session yet, considering how weak her arguments are?
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Easy, big media gains nothing from it. She has been destroyed by a number of big Youtubers. Big media isn't going to touch someone like her because they lose no matter what.
 
Megalith said:
Riddle me this. Why hasn't anyone destroyed her reputation on live television or at a public speaking session yet, considering how weak her arguments are?
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She refuses to do debates. Proves she doesn't think her ideas can hold up to any legitimate scrutiny.
 
Megalith said:
Riddle me this. Why hasn't anyone destroyed her reputation on live television or at a public speaking session yet, considering how weak her arguments are?
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Because her and her supporters would call it violence against women and an attack on feminism, and television is staffed by her kind of people. She also chooses the venues where she will and won't speak.

Mainstream America will hear her voice, and never the opposition unless they take the time to go online and research.

For example, on TV recently they had a show that completely rewrote the reality of gamergate to make Anita and her kind out to be victims of a cruel patriarchy, not unlike the KKK. We make fun of how bad North Korean propaganda is, and how no one could possibly buy that, but we have the same thing here in mass-media in the United States.
 
She should just go to Japan and not come back. Their games are typically worse "offenders" if her crusade is so important.
 
I think the fact that this even exists at all is proof positive that we are an affluent society with too much time on our hands. Anyone sitting through video games and creating a list like this has exposed the fact that they have no life at all. There are things to fight for, and then there are things that actually matter.
 
Overall, I don't find her suggestions a bad idea. I'm all for making games more inclusive, less offensive and open to everyone.

Even if you don't believe some of these things are offensive to and demean women, overall game realism can be nothing but improved by treating female characters realistically, and I'm all about realism.

That being said, no matter what you do, with female game characters, radical feminism is going to jump down your throat.

Example: Tomb Raider reboot. Lara Croft is a badass strong leading female character who wears appropriate clothing throughout. This is ostensibly what the Anita Sarkeesian crowd really wants, yet it was buried in criticism because of the rape scene.

Apparently in a game, nothing bad can ever happen to a woman, or it is misogyny. How do you make an exciting action video game (or movie for that matter) if no adversity ever happens to the main character?

Essentially, in order to be compliant with feminism demands, we need Caillou: The Video Game. A boring depiction of life where nothing bad ever happens, and if this is th ecase, just end it all. There will be no more point to video games (or movies) as they will be completely and totally uninteresting to watch.

photo.jpg



BLHProductions was right. It is completely impossible to design a compelling female character who meets all the demands of feminists.

I don't blame game developers for just avoiding female characters as tackling them is a lose-lose prospect.

0LsdMHY.png


Now, some of the points I do disagree with. For instance, the whole "smurfette" thing.

If something like 98% of the kids buying your game are young teenage boys, they are looking for a game they can self identify with. They are male. All of their friends are male. They encounter girls in society and at school, but don't interact with them much, and if you want to make a game that speaks to your core audience, you need to make a game they can identify with.
 
I've been in and out of video games since the late 70s. And, rule one of video games is that they have to be FUN and ENTERTAINING. Take a look at all of the "classics" from the early days of arcades to the modern games, and they have the right balance of fun and challenge to have good replay value.

As the technology advanced, so did the graphics, and the ability to advance a story. Thus, rule two is to tell a GOOD and ENTERTAINING story.

The other part is to tell a realistic story within the rules of your universe. Gone are the days where you shoot something, and the bullet goes across the screen. The goal is to have the game world weapon replicate the real world weapon (where applicable).

Isn't that the most important parts?

Anita: Talk is cheap. Action speaks volumes.
 
jbltecnicspro said:
I think the fact that this even exists at all is proof positive that we are an affluent society with too much time on our hands. Anyone sitting through video games and creating a list like this has exposed the fact that they have no life at all. There are things to fight for, and then there are things that actually matter.
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... As fun as it is to insult someone who says blatantly dumb things as her, I seriously doubt she sits through much video games at all. As people have pointed out... n her vids, she uses other people's gameplay, without credit.
 
pothb said:
... As fun as it is to insult someone who says blatantly dumb things as her, I seriously doubt she sits through much video games at all. As people have pointed out... n her vids, she uses other people's gameplay, without credit.
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I'd be cranky too if I never got to play and hid to sit through someone else's gameplay. She needs to find a hobby and attempt to become an expert. Imagine if I became a knitting critic who only read knitting books and watch knitting videos. I probably would be come overly critical of certain knitting paradigms. I'd be the grouch that no one would want to listen too, except maybe the few supporters that happen to dislike the same things I didn't like. What a miserable wet towel.
 
That's why if you became a knitting critic, you'd probably do some knitting too! Unlike some people....
 
pothb said:
... As fun as it is to insult someone who says blatantly dumb things as her, I seriously doubt she sits through much video games at all. As people have pointed out... n her vids, she uses other people's gameplay, without credit.
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And from reading about her own comments, it appears she doesn't play video games. But she's an open critic about them... The fuck? :confused:

Hey Cosmo - your magazines aren't inclusive enough to males. Oh and by the way - I've never read a single issue of Cosmo in my life... :rolleyes:
 
I don't see anything wrong with her list.

However, video game publishers are;

- Not charities
- Not here to change the world
- In it for the money

If they could adopt her "8 rules" and sell enough games to earn a profit over the additional expense, I think they would do that.

This reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Lisa pesters the original designer of Malibu Stacy to make a new doll, "Lisa Lionheart".

It didn't sell.

I have to wonder how many teenage female gamers, when presented with the option of a "normal" body type, and a stylized fantasy body, would pick the normal. Actually, I don't wonder.
 
Megalith said:
Riddle me this. Why hasn't anyone destroyed her reputation on live television or at a public speaking session yet, considering how weak her arguments are?
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The tinfoil people say that she is a pawn in the bigger game of highlighting "woman's rights" issues in the mainstream media, in preparation for Hillary Clinton to run on that platform. Basically Obama 2.0, but a woman instead of a black guy. I can't imagine its too far off from the truth. I'm wondering what republicans are doing in response other than "we're not obama".
 
maverikv said:
I will say that there is nothing ridiculous about this list. Her original videos were annoying, nitpicky, and she didn't do a very good job of making many points. But this list seems completely reasonable, and I doubt anyone but the worst people would be bothered by any of these changes.
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There is absolutely nothing wrong with this list, its super reasonable.

The funny thing is that while Gamergates, MRAs, and neckbeards complain about censorship (hint: Criticism != Censorship) or such nonsense, many developers have been doing this under their noses.

Neil Druckmann, writer of The Last Of Us, is the most vocal example. Here he talks about the direct influence Anita's videos had on his own work. Massive spoilers if you haven't finished TLOU: http://youtu.be/Le6qIz7MjSk?t=30m

He talks about how he went in to make a great non-sexualized female character that was fully realized. The end result was a story and an ending that wouldn't have been possible if he went with the standard dudebro characters you see in almost every game out there.

People say they're bored with games all the time, then they lose their minds when someone proposes that game developers stretch themselves with more diversity and better representation. Blows my mind.

Other examples are Valve with Dota 2. They changed the character of Legion Commander from male to female, totally non-sexualized, and her attack/pain noises don't sound like sex. What a concept! Blizzard talked about how they're going super diverse with female designs in Overwatch. Shigeru Miyamoto went out of his way to talk about how the main character in Splatoon is a girl.

Today the developers of Payday released their first female character designs: https://imgur.com/a/rYMDZ

Those aren't models, those are straight up criminals.

This isn't to say that sexy characters should never exist, but when one style of representation for men and women is ALL there and the lazy tropes are all the same then it gets super old and BORING.
 
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