02-28-2014, 06:23 AM
I see that the thread had touched in the 'games have violence but we aren't violent; so sexist games don't make us sexist' line of thought, so I guess I'd give my last two cents to develop upon it.
Death or violence in games, such as throwing bombs at enemies to blow them up, or mincing them like beef, is not as bad compared to the latter. My reasoning is that 9 times out of 10, you need to do it against a minor character who serves as a threat. This is further emphasized when the enemies are 'inherently bad', such as evil cyborgs, aliens and thieves. The killing in games is usually given a reason (be scoring, or progressing in the game) and it's part of the fun. Alas, in the games you are in the shoes of a highly trained assassin, or ninja, or any superhero of some sort. It would suck if there were no physical depiction of you serving a hot steaming plate of justice in their faces.
The above example is just a single example in a sea of games, so it might not be fitting to every game ever. But, here you see that the violence has a reason: it's part of the story and/or gameplay, and a very very clear depiction of that you are surviving, and killing the threats. It's a very intuitive and even instinctive design. But of course, excessive violence is bad for me, and I don't think it's cool to have gibs and blood everywhere for shock value. I also think that it can be a really cheap design just to attract the edgy diapered babies who think they're hardcore. So, it's all a matter of context (yet again).
Now, as for sexist things in games, well, they don't really make someone who has a decent mindset sexist; but it is insulting to people. You see, you could probably argue that insulting is less worse than outright killing in an excessive graphic manner, but as I said before, killing is often part of the gameplay, so there is a reason for that. There is a reason death is programmed into the games, and when making an action game, chances are you'll need to deal with violence towards some of the characters one way or the other.
Insulting, though, isn't part of the gameplay. There are not a lot of redeeming factors to make use of _ist ideology in games, and this reflects in my thought. You can actively choose whether your female protagonist will be a solid character or fanservice bait. And by acknowledging it, it only makes your choice to the latter worse, because you are given an option to do something cool and yet you resort to shallow characters for quick interest of a select group of people.
Finally, it's never good to be so black-or-white when making comparisions; You can't pick an example and think it's the 'default choice'. This only ends up creating faulty and bad arguments than actively discussing things. Not that everyone here is doing it, it's just a friendly reminder. Have fun discussing!
Death or violence in games, such as throwing bombs at enemies to blow them up, or mincing them like beef, is not as bad compared to the latter. My reasoning is that 9 times out of 10, you need to do it against a minor character who serves as a threat. This is further emphasized when the enemies are 'inherently bad', such as evil cyborgs, aliens and thieves. The killing in games is usually given a reason (be scoring, or progressing in the game) and it's part of the fun. Alas, in the games you are in the shoes of a highly trained assassin, or ninja, or any superhero of some sort. It would suck if there were no physical depiction of you serving a hot steaming plate of justice in their faces.
The above example is just a single example in a sea of games, so it might not be fitting to every game ever. But, here you see that the violence has a reason: it's part of the story and/or gameplay, and a very very clear depiction of that you are surviving, and killing the threats. It's a very intuitive and even instinctive design. But of course, excessive violence is bad for me, and I don't think it's cool to have gibs and blood everywhere for shock value. I also think that it can be a really cheap design just to attract the edgy diapered babies who think they're hardcore. So, it's all a matter of context (yet again).
Now, as for sexist things in games, well, they don't really make someone who has a decent mindset sexist; but it is insulting to people. You see, you could probably argue that insulting is less worse than outright killing in an excessive graphic manner, but as I said before, killing is often part of the gameplay, so there is a reason for that. There is a reason death is programmed into the games, and when making an action game, chances are you'll need to deal with violence towards some of the characters one way or the other.
Insulting, though, isn't part of the gameplay. There are not a lot of redeeming factors to make use of _ist ideology in games, and this reflects in my thought. You can actively choose whether your female protagonist will be a solid character or fanservice bait. And by acknowledging it, it only makes your choice to the latter worse, because you are given an option to do something cool and yet you resort to shallow characters for quick interest of a select group of people.
Finally, it's never good to be so black-or-white when making comparisions; You can't pick an example and think it's the 'default choice'. This only ends up creating faulty and bad arguments than actively discussing things. Not that everyone here is doing it, it's just a friendly reminder. Have fun discussing!
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