pause_screen (original) (raw)
And now for something a little more lighthearted:
Any games that had horrible acting which should have been on here? Any which you thought had spectacular acting? Comment away!
November 9th, 2009
Gamesradar's Top 7 Tasteful Game Heroines - A list of female protagonists who aren't blatant fanservice.
Agree? Disagree?
Personally, it's not like I expected anything ~groundbreaking~ for this list, but I definitely went "But ____ definitely gets objectified!" and was generally underwhelmed. Particularly when they also included all mentions of nude codes and that sort of thing. On the other hand, it's nice to point out women who kick ass, and mention the games which have them.
Oh and SPOILER WARNINGS.
November 4th, 2009
From here:
Via Kotaku, a new ad went up on developer Infinity Ward’s YouTube page for the upcoming Modern Warfare 2. The ad features an in-game model of Cole Hamels from the Philadelphia Phillies “speaking out” PSA-style against grenade spamming multiplayer tactics. Along with using misogynist slur “pussies”, at the end of the ad is a caption saying the PSA was done for a fake organization called “Fight Against Grenade Spam”, aka FAGS. In one stupid video, Infinity Ward reinforces misogyny and homophobia and condones the openly homophobic atmosphere of online gaming where such words are used all too often.
Here is a transcript for those who can’t access the video:
[Video opens with in-game footage of a player named "BluntTrauma" (whose gamerpic is a pot leaf) killing another player with a headshot from a sniper rifle.]
Male Voice Over: Let’s take a break from the action to get a word from our sponsor.
[Cole Hamels game model, in fatigues, armor, and a red Phillies cap, closes the door on a Jeep and walks toward the camera.]
Hamels: Hi, I’m Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. And I’m here today to talk to you about something close to my heart: random grenades. Have you ever found yourself just walking down the street, minding your own business, when BAM! You look down and see a deadly explosive device attached to your uniform? I have, and let me tell you, it’s not cool. So be cool, and avoid random grenades. They’re for pussies.
[A grenade thrown from off-screen sticks to the front of Hamels's uniform; Hamels looks shocked; a ton more grenades cover him.]
Hamels: What the fuck?
[Hamels explodes. A black screen with white text reads: "Funding Provided By: Fight Against Grenade Spam."]
VO: Brought to you by: Fight Against Grenade Spam.
They yanked it already, needless to say.
Kotaku and Joystiq articles here; beware the comments. There are also some thought-provoking articles in the article I linked to, and I recommend them:
Lono from Sarcastic Gamer
Brainy Gamer on advertising's influence on male gamers
Vorpal Bunny Ranch on the use of "fag"
Deirdra Kiai on the failure of edgy adverising
Women aren't Vending Machines:
October 29th, 2009
How video games perpetuate the commodity model of sex
Or: Why I am dreading Alpha Protocol.
This post requires a bit of background. I highly recommend reading Thomas Macaulay Millar's essay "Toward a Performance Model of Sex", from the recently published anthology Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape. You can read the essay on Google book search. This post intends to look at video game relationships in the context of the two models Millar describes, so please read it if you have the time.
In short, Millar describes how society sees sex as a commodity, and argues that the commodity model—which enables rape, allows the concept of the "slut" to exist, and frames consent as "the absence of no", rather than "the presence of yes"—should be replaced by what he calls the performance model, where sex is seen as a collaborative effort between two equal participants, like two musicians playing a song together. ( Read the full textCollapse )
Halo ODST One Discourse into Sexism and Tolerance Veronica Dare Halo Character
October 2nd, 2009
"Captain Veronica Dare is a Captain in the UNSC Navy, as well as an officer for Naval Intelligence. She is actually the commanding officer in charge of the Shock Troop detail, but you wouldn't know it. From her entrance into the game she is not treated as the Commanding Officer, she is instead immediately denoted as the 'hot chick', by her subordinates who show no respect for her leadership role. The first words by her subordinates is "hello beautiful" despite the fact she's in full combat armor, which one would assume carries with it the correct officer markings. It is down to another subordinate - Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck - to tell the men to show a little respect. He's a man, so they will listen to him after all..." [Read more]
Oh hey, an update. And a non-depressing one at that!
October 1st, 2009
One of my LJ friends has a friend who is participating in Second Life, which is a video game marathon fundraiser for pediatric cancer research. The link is to his pledge page, so if you can, please donate or at least boost the signal.
Of course, there is another way to help out. You can also start your own pledge effort. Let me know if you do so, and I will plug that one too.
Thanks!
August 6th, 2009
I'll take a moment from my usual submissions of rage-inducing game-related stupidity to promote something.
draike has one of her T-shirt designs available this week and this week only at Teextile. As of today, it is on sale for 12 dollars.
Needless to say, it is awesome. Buy it here and spread the word around!
Deconstruction at its finest. :)
July 26th, 2009
In 
girl_gamers someone asked about being in a closed beta test for Aion. This really irks me because
a.) Getting into closed beta's is a privilege
b.) The games developers are trusting you with this new content while they work out the bugs and get it ready for release .
c.) If you have ever been in a closed beta test, there are participant boards set up for those in the beta test so they can discuss these things WITHOUT breaking the Non-Disclosure agreement (NDA)
d.) Being so blithe about asking someone to breach that confidence really narks me.
Why ask someone to potentially lose their beta testing privileges because you're too damn impatient for the fucking game to come out? Why should anyone break the NDA for some random internet stranger who can't see the harm in asking for such a breach of trust?
It just really irritates the hell out of me when people do that kind of thing. I'm of half a mind to report them to the company.
July 25th, 2009
I was unaware of Fat Princess until I saw this post in gamers.
I read this article and immediately thought of this community.
( Text of the articleCollapse )
I'll admit, I don't really see why it's offensive. In fact, I think it's kind of cool that she's the fat beloved princess, which is so very different from other games I've seen with thin princesses. I don't know, I feel like I must be missing something crucial, so I was curious what you all thought.