RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[Monte Carlo]

^ I doubt it. What I took from it was Amazon's intention to develop its own console, a la Kindle, that acts as a content gateway. They were making a loss on the Fire in order to get it out there.

 

I know a little bit about publishing - if Amazon does to gaming what it's done to books then buckle your seatbelts. Publishing, even the Big Five, is a sleepy old industry compared to gaming and tech, so Amazon's assault on the book market was like Starship Troopers dropping into Iron Age Britain.

 

Going up against EA and Gabe Newell, on the other hand...

[melkathi]

 

 

Gearbox announces rerelease of Homeworld series with "Remastered" versions

Not unexpected, but still Huzzah!

 

 

Until we find out that "remastered" means "tactical shooter" ...

[BruceVC]

 

Aside from hardcore tumblrinas nobody takes people who rag about Princess Toadstool seriously.

 

Right?

 

Not just that, but Bruce is the king of ogling and drooling over game babez and romance content. He's part of the supposed 'problem' Sarkeesian is attempting to highlight.

 

 

I reject that comment with utter prejudice

 

Just because I enjoy Romance in games and appreciate the aesthetics of the female form that doesn't mean I don't agree with Sarkeesian on many issues. There are certain parts of games where the objectification of women is debatable. But I still believe that Sarkeesian does raise valid issues that need to be discussed and addressed. I consider myself a feminist but there are differences of opinions on the topic.

[Malcador]

Those who like her give me the sense it would take a lot to turn their minds from her. I doubt this will matter that much to neutral folk.

 

And it is not like she is the only one on this stuff. RPS and Stirling seem to have cover, heh.

[BruceVC]

Those who like her give me the sense it would take a lot to turn their minds from her. I doubt this will matter that much to neutral folk.

 

And it is not like she is the only one on this stuff. RPS and Stirling seem to have cover, heh.

 

Good points rasied Malc

[Lexx]

Well, she still drops valid points here and there. Other than that, I really couldn't care less and find her "hardcore enemies" at least as lol.

[Malcador]

Nothing I've not read several times elsewhere, so I am pretty meh about her.  Her sneering face and the smug voice do put me off, but that's what transcripts are for.

[Keyrock]

Sarkeesian does the thing that's unfortunately all too common these days (always?).  She makes some valid points and has some meaningful things to say, but then she exaggerates and engages in theatrics to draw attention to herself.

[sorophx]

Sarkeesian does the thing that's unfortunately all too common these days (always?).  She makes some valid points and has some meaningful things to say, but then she exaggerates and engages in theatrics to draw attention to herself.

I'd say she raises valid concerns but then turns them on the head and invalidates everything with stupid crap that comes out of her mouth.

[Volourn]

She hasn't done one iota of 'important' work.

[Agiel]

I'd say she raises valid concerns but then turns them on the head and invalidates everything with stupid crap that comes out of her mouth.

 

 

She comes off as needlessly abrasive and confrontational while at the same time failing to bring anything new to the table. There's at least some modicum of merit to her cause, but however much there is it deserves someone better. If anything the /btard scum of 4chan have done more for her thesis than ten thousand of her videos ever could.

 

I've been of the belief that the Anglo-American tradition of feminism has its roots in the moral guardians movement where the European sex-positive approach takes it cues from post-modernism which is why I found them far more palatable.

[Keyrock]

Costume Quest 2 coming this Halloween.

 

My reaction:

Edited March 10, 2014 by Keyrock

[Tale]

 

Sarkeesian does the thing that's unfortunately all too common these days (always?).  She makes some valid points and has some meaningful things to say, but then she exaggerates and engages in theatrics to draw attention to herself.

I'd say she raises valid concerns but then turns them on the head and invalidates everything with stupid crap that comes out of her mouth.

 

Did things change that drastically from her first video and later works?

 

The big criticism I had of her work is that it was dull. That's it really. It came across like a high school essay. Lacked entertainment value, expressiveness, useful insights, or anything to really hook the viewer. It was like reading a grocery list, only instead of cheese and milk, it was video game princesses.

 

It wasn't offensive or stupid, just dull.

[sorophx]

I only watched the few of her videos around the time her Kickstarter campaign was taking off. but I vividly remember watching them and thinking, "what the hell is she talking about, what she's saying doesn't really support her cause". I'd have to watch them again to say more.

 

There's at least some modicum of merit to her cause, but however much there is it deserves someone better.

 

oh, I agree.

Edited March 10, 2014 by sorophx

[Noviere]

Costume Quest 2 coming this Halloween.

Yay! I loved Costume Quest

[Zoraptor]

Sarkeesian does the thing that's unfortunately all too common these days (always?). She makes some valid points and has some meaningful things to say, but then she exaggerates and engages in theatrics to draw attention to herself.

I don't really have any opinion on Sarkeesian herself, but just about everyone on the internet engages in the second part of that, having some valid points and meaningful things to say at all is a step above most internet commentators. And yeah, pretty much always, even when most internet users were denizens of prestigious academic institutions they didn't always use sweet reason alone to make points- usenet existed, after all.

[BruceVC]

 

Sarkeesian does the thing that's unfortunately all too common these days (always?). She makes some valid points and has some meaningful things to say, but then she exaggerates and engages in theatrics to draw attention to herself.

I don't really have any opinion on Sarkeesian herself, but just about everyone on the internet engages in the second part of that, having some valid points and meaningful things to say at all is a step above most internet commentators. And yeah, pretty much always, even when most internet users were denizens of prestigious academic institutions they didn't always use sweet reason alone to make points- usenet existed, after all.

 

 

I don't know  about that Zora I think its fair to say you would agree that I generally say valid and meaningful things? I mean look at the number of times you have agreed with me around discussions of social justice? Before I came on these forums I don't think you really cared and now look at you, you almost an activist and SJW

[sorophx]

Did things change that drastically from her first video and later works?

I went back in time and found this:

http://www.destructoid.com/a-response-to-some-arguments-in-anita-sarkeesian-s-interview-230570.phtml

 

that was one of the things that turned me against her. she just looks like not giving a damn about her own arguments' strength. she is very quick to speak out against issues, supporting her arguments with inaccurate, or simply made up "facts", and without going into detail. "I don't like this and that, let's not discuss why, that would take too long, just trust me." it almost looks as if she was trying to make stuff up, hoping people wouldn't notice. and only people who really know the actual matter will see she's full of ****.

Edited March 11, 2014 by sorophx

[TheChris92]

I appreciate what Sarkeesian is fighting for I just don't believe she's getting the message across properly.

[alanschu]

Reading that, the defensive of gravity rush is the fairly typical "there's story reasons for her to have silly outfits" combined with some "it's just what her character likes to wear." I have seen people justify some of the even more extreme outfits of League of Legends with phrases like this.

 

I still find both of those defenses problematic. Stating that she has magical powers that enable her to wear a particular type of clothing is still pretty hamfisted way to toss the character into a school girl outfit. Then to say "it's just the way the character likes to dress, who are we to say otherwise." But if the selection of that particular attire is arbitrary (i.e. chosen by a human being just because), it's not like that decision is made in a vacuum. It's important to still recognize that Kat isn't actually a real human being. Does wearing that outfit serve the character in any way?

 

I find it a bit pedantic, because it's actually not really addressing the issues with the character's presentation and whether or not it's accurate, but rather attempting to discredit by poking holes in the statement.

 

 

On a final note:

As fellow Dtoider Kyle MacGregor perfectly voiced, "It's not necessarily the place of historical fiction to be gender progressive if they're trying to be more or less accurate."

I'm not sure the statement of a destroider is necessarily accurate. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/12/historically-authentic-sexism-in-fantasy-lets-unpack-that

Food for thought, though it's difficult to confirm/deny how common the omission/irrelevance of women contributions in history was. First you need to believe that it's possible that that happened, and then also believe that it happened regularly enough to skew our perception of history.

Edited March 11, 2014 by alanschu

[sorophx]

Reading that, the defensive of gravity rush is the fairly typical "there's story reasons for her to have silly outfits" combined with some "it's just what her character likes to wear." I have seen people justify some of the even more extreme outfits of League of Legends with phrases like this.

it bothers you that someone could actually like dressing like that, or that a game dev thought someone could, when in fact no living person ever would?

 

if it's the latter, I'd say you're digging in too deep. that's talking in extremities. there are women who wear bikinis while walking down the street, because it's hot outside. and the only thing more extreme would be to walk around naked.

 

I can't imagine what kind of outfit would be considered extreme in a video game, considering what I said above. I don't think bikini "objectifies" women in any way. on the contrary. and while the game dev in question might have been driven by the "sex sells" formula, in the end he only serves to prove that in Western society women today have more freedom than ever, and it will only get better.

[Noviere]

The Witcher 3 has been delayed until February 2015.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Noviere

[babaganoosh13]

She can bring up some good points and can bring in some good research to back it up. A lot of the time, having a male-only protagonists, or selectable character adds nothing to a game that a female skin doesn't do anything to hurt it, and at worst adds some minimal costs to having a VA saying some lines to reflect the gender (i.e. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Half-Life [you could make Gordon a Greta and it wouldn't change a dang thing]...)

 

I think a lot of that blame goes to marketing who have waaaaaaaay too much influence in how games are made, versus just trying to sell what they're given. That is a big reason for the divide. She mentions a fair bit how marketing/advertising effects that gender divide.

 

A lot of tropes are tired. It's hard to be original with everything one does in a creative setting but I see no problems with pointing out basically lazy storytelling.

 

I also think when she doesn't do as much research into something, (like all of us) she is more prone to making mistakes, as pointed out in that Destructoid piece. All of us can suffer from getting points mixed up by our memories if we don't say, get a refresher first.

 

Also, it's alright for there to be sexy looking characters in video games, including women with whom you can see in fact have breasts that shape their clothes or are underneath their armor. It's also alright to call the creators out for say, only diversifying the men, while every woman is unrealistically proportioned and/or 10/10s {except for maybe the odd stereotype (like the one fat "comedy relief" friend.)} All the women don't need DD/G cups, but they also don't need to all be flat, or A cups (there's nothing wrong with any breast size.) Everyone has their own preferences.

 

There's also some who have taken this stance that is basically not sober sex=rape that I strongly disagree with. I think she's said something along those lines with a Dean Martin song (or that one was about pressuring, and then she gave in after a few drinks.) There's a huge difference in my opinion between having regretful (yet consensual) sex because you had let your inhibitions run more free that you probably either wouldn't or have less likely have had if you were much more sober and thinking about the consequences, vs being incapacitated (involuntarily drugged or passed out.)

[sorophx]

only now I realize it's a news thread, and not exclusively Feminism thread.

[Keyrock]

only now I realize it's a news thread, and not exclusively Feminism thread.

Young fool...  Only now, at the end, do you understand

 

/attempts to shoot force lightning 

//nothing happens

 

Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the feminists.

 

///attempts to shoot force lightning again

////nothing happens

 

Now, you will pay the price for your lack of vision!

 

/////attempts to shoot force lightning again

//////nothing happens