Damsel in Distress: Women in Video Games

[TrekMD]

She could have spent that money doing something far more productive, including a game with strong female lead character.

[Rogue Trooper]

Few more examples of women in games:

Blam! Machine head, Enemy Zero, Legend Of The Amazon Women (C64), Enigma Force (C64), Ex-Mutants, Zombies Ate My neighbours, Wiz N Liz, Ninja Warriors, Blades Of Vengence (MD), Ex-Mutants, Nights Into Dreams, Pandemonium-0All had a woman at very least as playable/selectable character.

Heavy Metal Fakk 2 PC-Not only had a female character, but it was  the coders wife who you were basically playing as!.Cannot get much more equal rights than that, i'll code game, but put YOU as the star.

[Rogue Trooper]

Then there's:

Dungeon Master (females in your team), Starcraft:Ghost (canned but you played as a female), Beyond Good+Evil, Bayonetta, Brute Force, Sabotuer 2 (8 Bits, female Ninja), Hunted:The Demons Forge, Mirrors Edge, Vixen, Athena, Psycho Solider, No-One Lives Forever, Lollipop Chainsaw, Castlemaster, Alma from the F.E.A.R series, Tanya from C+C:Red Alert, SHODAN (System Shock), Fear Effect girls, Nightshade (PS2, again, female Ninja), Oni.......


Powerful,  (and more often than not ) playable female characters been in games as long as i've been playing the blighters.

[Havantgottaclue]

Well, there's always Metroid of course. But I particularly enjoy the role of Alyx Vance in HL2. Triss Merigold in The Witcher games is another good female character, particularly in the sequel.

Characters like Juliet Starling in Lollipop, and the elf in Hunted: The Demon's Forge - hmm. Bit more borderline there, even more so Ayumi in Blades of Time. Needless to say, I have played all of them.

[TL]

There have even been a few licensed sports games starring famous women:

   

   

   

[Rogue Trooper]

Personally don't see either L.Chainsaw or Hunted's female characters as 'boderline'.With Lollipop you've a female character doing the arse-kicking, her boyfriend reduced to a very minor sub-role, LOL.The Elf in Hunted fights alongside you, i had her rescue my arse on numerous occ. when i was mere seconds away from death, so they are playing either an equal or main role in the games.they are'nt powerless, needing a man to rescue them etc.

[Havantgottaclue]

I don't think the rescuer/rescued dynamic is really the point. It's all about depictions of women really. Would you really say that in terms of their imagery that either Juliet Starling or the elf in Hunted are positive female role models and, more to the point, more credible characters than the likes of Alyx Vance? I certainly don't, but each to their own.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

[Rogue Trooper]

I don't think the rescuer/rescued dynamic is really the point. It's all about depictions of women really. Would you really say that in terms of their imagery that either Juliet Starling or the elf in Hunted are positive female role models and, more to the point, more credible characters than the likes of Alyx Vance? I certainly don't, but each to their own.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

You talk of 'credible' characters, but look at the settings of the 2 games:Hunted is your usual fantasy based affair, yet the Elf is'nt some buxom wench trapped awaiting rescue, or kidnapped by a Demon/Evil wizzard or some such twaddle, she plays just as an active role as the male character here in the game, much like say Deathtrap Dungeon did on PS1.

It can be argued that the male character in Hunted suffers from just the same amount of sterotypes as the female character, as he's protrayed as brawn with very little brains, driven by lust for gold etc, ignores the sound advice given by his female companion and as i said it's often she that has to rescue him, from scrapes he's got the pair of them into.


With Lollipop Chainsaw, your talking a humour based game, i mean you cannot really class a 'Zombie hunting cheerleader' as anything other than a modern day Buffy.Entire game is just designed to be a humour based look at US Culture, movies etc and rather than have the campus Jocks doing the arse kicking, here they are mewling babies in need of saving.


These games are a long way from the likes of say Emmmanuelle on the ST where the woman in question exists only for 1 thing.


We've also had Ingrid in Gnome Ranger, female characters in Where Time Stood Still+Heroes Of The Lance. Great Giana Sisters was the flipside of Super Mario Brothers....so games have tried to adress the balance on numerous occassions.

Alyx Vance was indeed a strong character, but she was just 1 of a cast of strong characters, the Resistance still very male based for starters, your Nemesis was the sterotypical Mad Doctor type, a boffin that became corrupted by power, claiming he was doing it foor good of the human race etc.

[Rogue Trooper]

Should have mentioned this earlier, as have had it sat on my shelf for wks now:

Velvet Assassin Xbox 360

Violette Summer WW2 British Spy based affair, will report back on once i start playing, but again, female character in role most games have as male....


Along with Kameo on 360 (i really need to start clearing lot of untouched games).


The following i'm NOT suggesting as 'role models' per say, but just as further proof that lasses claims of videogames offering up women as being the passive victims etc is utter cobblers, as so many take very different approach:

Death By Degreees PS2, Stolen Xbox/PS2, Midwinter 2-Design your own male or female character, Bad Company (ST) Male+Female characters in 2P mode, Rogue Ops PS2/Xbox, Cy Girls PS2, Hydrophobia PSN/XBL, Rod Land, Hammerfist 8/16 Bit/Konix, Corporation (Core) gives you choice from:2 male, 2 female and 2 android agents, Enter The Matrix, Phantasy Star (MS) you play as a girl out to avenge death of her brother and finally Alter Ego C64, which came in either Male OR Female edition.



There's so much material she could have used from the early to modern days, but no....

[TL]

I can't believe I forgot this game (and it's sequel) until now, this is a great example!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RmXfJqrlp8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEF6oyZI-bA

[Rogue Trooper]

Whilst the industry clearly has long way to go, in order to get it's house in order (Bioware scribe Ann Lemay talks of industry resistance to creating diverse female characters, let alone those who are non-white males and developer of upcoming Remember Me, talks of how a lot of publishers passed the project up due to female lead and then there's reports that games that feature Women leads only get 50% of the advertising budget, male character games get...)

A lot of her points are often rendered mute, fact is there are games in past, present+future with strong female characters, we're listing them here (adding Remember Me, MODS to DK-can now play as Pauline rescuing Mario, Legend Of Zelda, now play as Zelda and likes of Wet+Enslaved) and i've only to look at whats UK best seller at moment-Tomb Raider, to see games with strong women characters in remain very much alive.

[Rogue Trooper]

More women in games:

Yolanda (Daughter of Hercules no less) 8+16 Bit micros.

Magic Girl, Monster World IV, Panorama Cotton on MD, Popful Mail on CD...

[TrekMD]

I can't believe I forgot this game (and it's sequel) until now, this is a great example!

I can.  It's called tunnel vision. They only see what they want to see.   

[Rogue Trooper]

Few more:

Park Patrol C64-Choice of Male or Female parkie.

Insects In Space C64-Ok, she was tits oot, but it was St.Helen killing the Aliens and saving the babies, not some ultra butch Space Marine type.

[TL]

What about Super Gran? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcW3fN_gcJk