Boys and Girls

Well, Friends, the time has come again: PAX East is upon us.

I tore myself away from the disappointment that was Silent Hill: Downpour (I know, I know) and headed out to the Boston Convention Center Friday to surround myself with likeminded enthusiasts and to get a glimpse of some upcoming titles.

That’s all well and good but it’s really not what I’m going to talk about here. Instead, I’d rather focus on an issue that’s been floating around in my mind for a while now and that was exacerbated by the panel I attended that first day called, “Press X Y: Transgender Issues in Gaming”. While on the whole I found the panel to be very interesting what really stuck me was the conversation on games wherein the player is given the choice to play as a male or female character.

More specifically, it made me think of the people who play female characters when given the choice and why. Personally, I will always choose to play a female in a game if the playing field (see what I did there?) remains constant and equal with the male choice. To elaborate, if I play a woman I expect her stats to be equal to that of a man and I also expect the world around her to react the same as it would around him.

Given that the above it true, I play a female character whenever I can because it’s not an opportunity I’m often afforded. It made me think of when I was in high school and my mother walked by me playing Silent Hill 2 and she glanced at the TV, stopped walking, and asked, “why are you a man?”. Knowing nothing of video games, my mother found it strange that I was manipulating a male avatar. She naturally assumed that her daughter would play a digital version of herself.

What’s even more interesting to me though are the number of men I’ve met who say they also play female characters when given the chance. When I ask them why though, I almost always get the same response: “if I’m gonna spend 40-something hours playing a game, I wanna stare at a nice ass.”

Really, guys?

Really?

I’m not a man and I don’t know what it’s like to be a man but I’m calling bullshit on that.

I’ve played hundreds of games with male avatars and cannot remember ever thinking, “thank God this dude has a nice ass or this game would be a total bore”. Well, except for when Cole got his “hawkshaw” vest and holster in LA Noire. That was pretty nice to look at from behind but you get my point, right?

The jaded sociologist in me thinks that men who say that do so as a sort of socially trained response, as if playing a female character for anything other than sexual enticement makes them less of a man. Going further, it could even been suggested that if given the chance to stare at a man or woman the seasoned male gamer would select a woman out of a need to objectify her in order to refute the possibility of homosexuality.

A stretch? Meh, probably.

Hopefully.

And so, dear gentlemen who have found their way here, I ask you to please think on this and tell me: do you play female characters when given the opportunity to choose? Why? Really . . . why? Think about it.

UPDATE: Not 10 minutes after posting this on Facebook, a male friend of mine (who hadn't actually read the post yet) responded with: "Female. If I'm going to be staring at the backside of a character for hours, I better make the most of it."

I do get this stuff from somewhere, folks.

Of Fog, Radios, and Stockholm Syndrome

Those who know me also know of my love for Silent Hill. After all, it’s my favorite series. I get excited whenever a new game is announced, thrilled when it’s finally released and, ultimately, disappointed when the final credits roll. If I even make it to the end.

You see, despite the fact that I would call the Silent Hill series my favorite, I often feel like a wife who comes crawling back to her abusive husband begging for forgiveness and promising she’ll never slip up again.

The fact of the matter is, Silent Hill hasn’t been good – I mean, really good – since Silent Hill 3.

There was Silent Hill 4: The Room which could have been a good game if it weren’t supposed to be a part of the Silent Hill franchise. Silent Hill: Origins which was just plan bad. Silent Hill: Homecoming which had good intentions but strayed so far from what made the games great that it instead seemed like a game adaptation of the Silent Hill movie. And Shattered Memories which was . . . decent; it at least attempted to breathe new life in the original game but failed to keep my interest long enough for me to want to finish it.

So my question is . . . why? Why do I keep getting excited for the release of new Silent Hill games when it’s been so long since the series was great? When I go in to pick up my copy of Silent Hill: Downpour (which I preordered of course) on March 13^th I’ll tell myself it’s going to be terrible in the secret hope that maybe it will be mediocre.

How about you all? Is anyone else out there a slave to a series which has long past its prime?

Brotastic

What would it take to coax this blog out of a three-month hiatus, you ask?

The announcement that Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield would be teaming up in the next official installment of the Resident Evil series.

Oh my God.

Honestly . . . I’m not totally sure I can handle Leon’s incredible one-liners and Chris’ magical triceps together. I sincerely hope at one point they piss each other off and engage in an epic battle of fisticuffs and that we’re treated to some more boulder-punching action. People are generally pretty split on how the Resident Evil series is developing; its certainly strayed away from traditional horror into more action but I certainly wouldn’t say its forgotten its roots. In the trailer we see Leon creeping down very familiar looking hallways, streets of the undead sauntering about and hints of a plot that is already way too ridiculous. However, instead of the tank controls and fixed angles of past games we’re now given more freedom. Hell, it even looks as though the ability to move and shoot will finally be included. Remember how awesome it was to be able to strafe in Resident Evil 5?

It’s the little things folks.

So yeah, I’m pretty damned excited about how this game looks so far. They’ve given Leon a more butch appearance but I was relieved to discover his jazz legs are still fully functional. My only real apprehension? I think that’s Ashley’s voice. In fact . . . I'm pretty damned certain. Instantly, I flashed back to “help me, Leon!” and “catch me, Leon!” and “Ahhhh! Leon!” and nooooo, don’t make me escort her through this game too! No, no, no! But wait a second, if that is her (it totally is) not only does she appear more independent but working with what appears to be a Wesker (Alex?). So . . . Ashley could be back and now working for the dark side. Interesting. I wonder if she goes off the deep end after Leon kills her zombie daddy?

I’m also curious if the “bitch” Chris’ is screaming about is Ada. I’d love to see more of her.

So thank you, Capcom. Good to know there will be something to look forward to after Bioshock: Infinite is released.

The Nerds Shall Inherit the Earth

I've had some issues with Playstation commercials in the past.

This pretty much makes up for it:

Once Upon a Time

I know you’ve probably heard by now.

Honestly, I’m surprised that it took my roommate telling me for me to find out: a writer from Gizmodo went on a blind date with someone she met on OkCupid who turned out to be Jon Finkel, current world champion of Magic: The Gathering. As it happens, Ms Gizmodo wasn’t too impressed by that. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

She’s rather annoyed. Seems “just like you’re obligated to mention you’re divorced or have a kid in your online profile” (are you?) someone should also be required to disclose any geeky world championship titles. Just like that, Jon had gone from being a charming, handsome professional to a geek. Just a geek. And that’s a bad thing, you know.

She then advises people to Google the hell out of their next on-line date.

Who would have thought that such a thing, posted on a technology blog, wouldn’t have gone over well.

We’ll ignore the was-it-right-for-her-to-call-him-out-by-name question and jump right to the next: should one disclose their geeky interests outright? Is it something to be ashamed of? Are you your hobby?

Here’s a confession: I’m single and I’m a geek. Furthermore, I’ve used on-line dating sites and on those sites I've made it pretty damn clear what my idea of a fun Friday night in entails. To me, since gaming is a big part of my life I feel that it is indeed fair to put that out in the open but this article got me thinking - if I were a man, would I be so transparent? Because women are still considered a minority within the gaming community I have found that letting my geek flag fly hasn’t really been a hindrance. At least, not when you consider the type of men I'm attracted to.

Men, on the other hand, still live with the stigma of “gamer”. It’s that image of the pale, overweight man sitting alone in his parents' basement playing World of Warcraft or the table full of nerds playing Magic drinking Mountain Dew and eating Cheetos. That’s an image that male gamers have been fighting for ages and it seems to be the one stereotype that has worked in favor of female gamers.

That certainly doesn’t make this any less of a shitty situation for Mr. Finkel and other gamers who find their dates running to the door when they find out they’d rather spend the evening at home with a game than at a bar.

That being said, should you read this Jon, I think you’re pretty badass.

Too Busy Gaming To Game?

It’s been quiet around here lately.

I’m not really sure what’s been going on, whether it’s starting a new job and attempting to have more of a social life or a lack of games that have really been compelling me to dedicate more than a few hours to them, I just haven’t really been in the mood to play lately.

Which is why this article on why most players don’t finish games is rather perfectly timed.

Turns out, I’m not the only gamer who feels this way. In fact, it would appear that upwards of 90% of players who start a game never see the end of it. Considering how long some games are I suppose that’s not really a surprise but what I did find a little shocking is that it’s not always the quality of the title that stops people from playing. For example, “Red Dead Redemption” which was named “Game of the Year” by dozens of reviewers (including myself) only had about 10% of the people who started it complete the final mission.

The article goes on to list three main as to why gamers are having a tough time getting the digital credits to roll: other electronic distractions, a plethora of games to choose from, and a desire for more multiplayer.

The first two really stood out to me. For example, I remember playing Fallout: New Vegas and while the game would be loading I would be on my phone checking Facebook or Twitter; it was like I couldn’t not be actively doing something. Hell, as I type this I’ve got the Netflix streaming in the background. It’s as if we’ve gotten so accustomed to multitasking that we don’t know how to just focus on one thing anymore.

The second point I also found to be true (which is somewhat ironic considering I haven’t played a console game in a while) but it reminded me of how “Red Dead Redemption” and “Alan Wake” were released on the same day and how in the next few months Dead Island, Skyrim, and Arkham City are all coming out. Not to mention Tomb Raider, Silent Hill: Downpour, and Bioshock: Infinite will follow next year. With so many games to choose from, how can we possibly find time (not to mention money) for all of them?

Finally, there’s the issue of multiplayer and while at first I disregarded it since I’m generally a single-player gal I soon remembered that the last time I played a game it was a round of Left 4 Dead 2 with a friend and before that it was a replay of Resident Evil 5, again with a friend.

So what do you all think? Do you have a hard time finishing games? If so, why? Did this article ring true or are they missing the mark?

Someone Needs a Structurally Superfluous New Behind

Super impressive Team Fortress 2 live-action skit is super impressive!