The Electronic Entertainment Expo in So Cal was a topic on GoodMorning America this a.m. Instead of letting us peek at some of the spectacular achievements in the computer gaming world, they hi-jacked it putting their own self serving political spin on the story. The theme became ‘violence against women’ as they showed clips from Vice-City and some Kung-Fu fighter action. What they failed to point out to the audience (drawn in out of context) was that (and every gamer knows this), in these shoot-um ups anybody can be a victim. Probably a disproportionate number of men get killed. But nobody complains about that… In the case of the female opponent: Yes, in the clip it was a loosing battle but that doesn’t have to be! The game designers are sensitive to this. Heck! They want women to buy and enjoy these products too. All story characters male, female, or monster have design attributes featuring varying strengths, skills, agility – advantages and disadvantages. Nobody has them all. And all are fragile. (unless you discover the ‘god’ cheat mode, heh heh) The woman in this clip was loosing, and yes when you loose the red pixels fly, but not by design. Anyone (except the monster) can be the winner. Even the girl! It’s player’s skill.
I noted while watching the GMA clip that the male attacker was dressed in khaki pants and shirt and sweater, (very country club), while the woman was wearing a sleezy little top and hot pants?!!!! Hmmmm. Have you ever seen a scenario where the woman was in her yuppie outfit while the man she was attaching was wearing a speedo with a cropped t-shirt? I think not. Your justification lacks the power to convince me that these games are not promoting male dominance. With a myriad of thousands of other possible game scenarios this one strikes me as crass and degrading. BRING BACK PONG!!!
B.O.Y.R.Girl — Your observation on the special clothing gave me pause. But I have rationalized that the prostitute in reviewed game was in fact properly attired in – ahem – professional wear, and therefore true to character. No seriously. If content – be it Game, TV, Cinema, or Book – does not meet community standard then it should be labeled or restricted as such. The video gaming industry is the newest media form to arrive so why should we expect it to be different from any other mainstream form of expression. It does not deserve to be singled out (nor favored) for social misgivings.