Female characters in video games: Female protagonists

Seeing how it's still March, and thus Women's History Month, I have an excuse for a feminist post. Having read some interesting pieces on female characters in video games in the recent past, the topic has been on my mind. In this series of posts, I will share my thoughts on various issues of female characters in video games, as well as articles that helped provoke these thoughts.

Post #1: Depiction of women in video games
Post #2: Good female characters in video games
Pose #3: (below)

Female protagonists in video games

Yesterday's post was about making female characters in games strong characters. This is about the need for more games with female protagonists. Most games I play nowadays actually allow the player to choose the player character's gender, so in a way I can't really complain about not having enough female protagonists. But here's the question: Am I a fan of a certain type of game that happens to feature gender choice? Or am I drawn to these games in part because I can play as a female character?

Growing up with our Sega Genesis, I never thought much about games that forced me to play as a male. Still, whenever a choice was given, you can bet that I chose the female character. This doesn't mean I wouldn't try out Axel or Max, but I'd always come back to Blaze. It just seemed natural. Most of these games, however, were pretty light on plot and character. The character on screen wasn't so much your avatar as it was an image that let you beat up the bad guys. I didn't have to relate to the feelings of the cowboy or the hedgehog on the screen in order to enjoy what the game had to offer.

Those games can still be fun, but the games I truly love are ones with involved, engrossing stories and complex, engaging characters. And in these types of games, I have to admit: I have a high preference for games where the player character is female. In my post on female protagonists in Pixar and DreamWorks movies, I argued that one of the reasons we see so few of them is that girls are generally better at relating to the opposite gender than boys are (this may even carry through to adults and contribute to the perception of any non-action movie with a female lead as a "chick flick", but that is a discussion for another day). I still think there is truth to this idea, but I don't feel it as strongly when it comes to video games. It's one thing to relate to a protagonist in a book or in a movie, but the player character in a video game is special. Their choices are your choices, their trials are your trials, their triumphs are your triumphs. When you have control over a character's actions, the character starts crossing over from being just a character to being you. I love to be immersed in the stories of games I play, and I can't be as immersed when the player character is a guy because, honestly, I'm not very good at thinking and feeling like a guy.

So what RPGs have I played through as a male character? The list is pretty short.
1) Pokemon. You may or may not count it as an RPG, but either way, the main character's gender is pretty insignificant. I chose a character name that was non-gender specific, so essentially, my character might have just been a tomboy.
2) Final Fantasy Tactics. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but when I played this game, I pretended that I was actually one of the female members of my party, rather than the actual player character "Ramza". He may have been the boy born to privilege, but I was a close friend and advisor. Everything good Ramza did was with my advice, and everything stupid he did was against my advice (the story made more sense that way, anyway, as he does a bunch of dumb things beyond the player's control). So even though this was a game with a male player character, I found myself a female substitute.
3) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2. KotOR2 did something clever that got me to play against type as both evil and male: You would get one of two possible party members depending on your alignment, and one of two other possible party members depending on your gender. So once I finished the game as a Light Side female, I went back and played through as a Dark Side male, so I could meet the two alternate companions. I had trouble enough relating to the protagonist when I played as a good female (this was one of my criticisms of KotOR2). But I definitely never related to my evil male protagonist, mostly because I usually can't stand making evil choices in games, but partly, I think, because he was male.
4) Uhh, actually, that's it!

Looking at this evidence, I am left to conclude that I really do heavily prefer playing games with female protagonists. I daresay I even feel a little sexist right now. A friend in high school gave me Grandia and I never played it--was it because the main character was a boy? Is this why I've still never tried out Half Life 2, despite many recommendations? Oh no--am I missing out on an expansive realm of fabulous games because I am prejudiced against male player characters?! OK, calm down, I think it's not actually as bad as it might seem. After all, it was only on my second playthrough of FFT that I picked out a female character to represent me; the first time through, I was perfectly happy to have a male player character. I'd still love to check out Half Life 2, if I ever find the time. It's just that BioWare makes really great games that I love for many reasons beyond having a choice in my player character's gender*. If it weren't for that, maybe I would have played as male player characters more often.

* I am grateful to BioWare for giving us the choice in character gender (and for giving equal opportunities for romances in recent games). But even they aren't perfect. I'm tired of all the protagonists being male "in cannon" or "by default", and seeing only male protagonists in all the trailers and posters and promotional materials. Sorry, it has to be said.

Anyway, the point that I'm trying to make with this somewhat winding personal account is that this female gamer, at least, is drawn to games in which she can play as a female protagonist. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. Girl gamers are real, we are many, and we want to be marketed to. We want games that were made for us, or at least that were made with us in mind.

Why shouldn't there be games with female protagonists? Girls can be heroes, too. I understand if a historical FPS wants to have a male protagonist. But as I mentioned yesterday, in a fantasy or sci-fi world, the gender disparities observed in human history that have limited the number of female action heroes need not apply. Besides, the heroes of video games are super human, anyway--why can't they be super women?


Shepard. Kicks. Ass.

If my personal anecdotes aren't enough, here are some better arguments for seeing more female protagonists in games:
1. Female protagonists are not to be feared by Doc at Inner Child Gamer
2. Response: Female protagonists: A "risk" worth taking by Brinstar at The Border House
3. Halo: Reach writer – “We’re not serving half our audience” by Cuppycake, quoting Tom Abernathy, at The Border House

As argued in those articles, female protagonists won't hurt video game profits as much as you might think. And even if having a female protagonist affects them a little, it's the right thing to do. Young girls like to play games, they like playing games with girl protagonists, and they need good role models to look up to as much as boys do. They deserve it--it's only fair.

There's the well-known Catch-22 of women in video games: We need more women designing video games so we can get more and better female characters in games. But we need more and better female characters in games in order to make more women interested in designing games. The Catch-22 can be broken. We just need both sides to take a leap.

Chili dogs and nostalgia

Tonight, I enjoyed my third night in a row of eating chili dogs for dinner. It would have been four, but I skipped one day. I can't let the buns go bad, you know. Of course, the package of buns had eight, while the package of hot dogs had seven (weird: seven?), so we'll need to buy another package of dogs to use up the last bun... and then more buns for the extra dogs... And then more dogs... As xkcd has put such things, it's a "delicious cycle".

Here's a picture of the bad boy...


Mmm. Sorry it's a little blurry and I need better lighting. Also maybe a surface that's not the same color as everything else in the photo would be good, but you get the idea. I don't put on a little bit of chili to fit nicely on top; if there's no mess, it's no good. The dog is a Hebrew National beef frank, the best kind in the supermarket (they have to be better because, as they say, "We answer to a higher authority"). My boyfriend aka the Housemate was very pleased when he found out that they were both of our favorites ("I like your taste in wieners"...we're terrible, I know). Anyway, it's a really quick meal, since I use canned chili. I stick the bun in the toaster oven, put the chili and then the hot dog in the microwave, and it's all ready at about the same time. Bang--dinner. Supplemented with veggies, of course.

It had been a long time since I'd had a chili dog. The Housemate and I have a few favorite "quick meals" that we whip up when we're too lazy to cook (really, when he's too lazy to cook, since I always am), but chili dogs are only a recent addition to our menu. An addition I'm very happy to have.

Why do I love chili dogs so much? High sodium and fat content--they've certainly got that going for them. But I think there's just something so guiltily decadent about putting meat on more meat. Like the much-touted Double Down. Ground beef (with beans and gravy) on top of an even more questionable meat processed in a way I'm pretty sure I don't want to know. Delicious. As long as you're a meat eater.

But I believe there is one more important factor in my love for chili dogs. Sonic the Hedgehog. When I was six years old, my older brother got a Sega Genesis, but of course everyone in my family played it (except actually my dad). We owned Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the console; I don't think I was particularly good at either, but I believe we beat both at least once. The second one had Tails, who was cute and I liked very much, but I really liked playing the original because we knew the level select cheat for it (where did one learn cheats like that before the internet?). We also had Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, which doesn't actually have Sonic in it but does have his villain. And though we didn't own them, I have played Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic and Knuckles as well.

There were also two different TV cartoons about Sonic the Hedgehog that I recall watching around that time. I remember what a few of the supporting characters looked like, though I can't recall a single plot from any one of the shows. What I do remember very distinctly is that Sonic loves chili dogs. That was his thing, like how the Ninja Turtles love pizza. So the first time I was introduced to a chili dog at a young age, I remembered that this was the food that Sonic loves. That made it automatically cooler, and perhaps yummier than it already was.

Unfortunately, Sega's successors to the Genesis all failed miserably against tough competition. As his consoles crashed, Sonic faded in popularity while Mario dominated. I would be lying if I said that didn't make me a little sad; I guess it's kind of like playing the Genesis over the Super Nintendo was like picking sides, and my side lost. I came across this video recently that made me laugh pretty hard...and pout a little bit.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1928753

Come on, he should have at least remembered his name! *Sigh.* I still like Sonic (in spite of the fact that he doesn't look anything like a hedgehog). And I still love chili dogs. My love of chili dogs may have outlasted Sonic the Hedgehog's popularity, but I still always think of him whenever I'm digging into a good chili dog. So, Sonic the Hedgehog, tonight I raise my chili dog in tribute to you.

Watchmen premieres, Downey composes, Spidey gets a Broadway date, and more!

Recent entertainment news that caught my eye...

Watchmen premiered in London on Monday (IMDb). Thank goodness it finally made it. It seems several critics were impressed, recognizing it for being dark and thought-provoking, though at least one critic was unimpressed. I am relieved that the critics didn't all immediately dump on it--this is a good sign. I was worried, and still am somewhat, that as good a comic as Watchmen was, it might have been made into an embarrassing movie. Anyway, I like the quote from Britain's Guardian, which says that Watchmen "makes last year's famously brooding Batman sequel The Dark Knight look like Alvin and the Chipmunks." The film opens wide next Friday, March 6.

Robert Downey Jr. is writing a musical (IMDb). I like Robert Downey Jr. And I like musicals. What do I think of his project? Well... Downey recognizes, as one might expect him to, that it sounds kind of silly when a movie star says he wants to become a singer, but he says that he's always liked to compose, and he is not new to singing. I think he's a smart and talented guy. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here. I hope his project goes well.

Speaking of musicals, one of the Broadway musicals I have been tracking has been given a premiere date. Spider-Man: The Musical is expected to premiere on February 18, 2010 at the Hilton Theater, with previews starting on January 16 (Variety). The musical has also been given a real title, "Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark". But for now, I'm just going to keep calling it Spider-Man: The Musical. This is a huge budget production to be directed by Julie Taymor, and while no casting has been confirmed, Evan Rachel Wood is expected to star as Mary Jane, and Jim Sturgess (who starred with Wood in Taymor's Across the Universe) is rumored to be considering Peter Parker. I'm looking forward to hearing more as this project progresses.

Michel Gondry, director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, has signed on to direct The Green Hornet (Variety). Seth Rogan, who co-wrote the script with Evan Goldberg, is starring. Stephen Chow was originally set to direct as well as star as Green Hornet's sidekick Kato, but though he stepped down as director, he still plans to play Kato.

Gore Verbinski has signed with Universal to produce and direct a movie based on Hasbro board game Clue (Variety). This is part of the same multi-picture deal between the studio and Hasbro that I've mentioned in a few previous posts, which has also put movies based on Candy Land, Battleship, Monopoly, and Ouija in the works. Unfortunately, this article also brings the first news I've heard of plans for the Stretch Armstrong movie I have been dreading. I can't quite put my finger on what it is that makes a Stretch Armstrong movie seem less acceptable to me than all the others, but somehow... I just really don't want to see it. Not much I can do though, other than hope that it gets lost in development hell. A movie based on Magic: The Gathering is still up for grabs...

Cate Blanchett has signed on to play Maid Marian in Universal's upcoming movie Nottingham (Variety). Except that it won't be called "Nottingham"--it's getting a new name, which has yet to be announced. Russell Crowe will star as Robin Hood, and Ridley Scott will direct as well as co-produce with Brian Grazer. The role of Maid Marian was left vacant when Sienna Miller stepped down last year. I think Cate Blanchett is a very classy actress; I hope the movie does her justice.

Warner Bros.' Sherlock Holmes movie, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson, is scheduled for release on Christmas 2009 (Variety). That date will also see the release of Disney's new princess movie The Princess and the Frog as well as Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel (why oh why do such movies have to be made?). WB also announced that its Green Lantern movie will open on December 17, 2010, and they gave the final Harry Potter movie a release date: July 15, 2011. Save the date.

Lastly, I'd like to give a shout-out to the movie Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li which opens on Friday. It's almost certainly going to be awful--all previous movies based on video games have been, and I've seen no evidence to suggest this will break with that perfect trend, particularly since the studio is not screening the movie for critics (generally signifying a vote of no confidence). But I remember playing Street Fighter 2 on my old Sega Genesis way back when, and being a little girl, I of course favored Chun-Li. Okay, I only favored her in spirit; more often I could be found sweeping the playing field with sumo wrestler E. Honda's cheap rapid slap move (or whatever it was called). Anyway, I like Chun-Li, so I can't bash the movie, particularly because it stars two of my hot hapa gals--Kristin Kreuk and Moon Bloodgood. Even if I'm not willing to jump into the ticket line, I wish the movie success.

Fleeting members, Graysons, Sonic, and Pushing Daisies

My thoughts on assorted news from this week in the entertainment industry:

I am not a fan of reality shows. Correction--I have an intense distaste for reality shows on principle. Some of them, such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, do great things, but I still think they exploit people's misfortunes and emotions. And I actually watched about half of one season of Beauty and the Geek because Dave the Larper and Jasmine the Babysitter were really adorable. But all other seasons of that show and every other reality show are pretty trashy TV. So the fact that Survivor: Gabon (Survivor is still on??) has experienced an unfortunate "wardrobe malfunction" and has gotten CBS into a little trouble does not particularly concern me. But I do give the show and this wardrobe situation credit for inspiring the following quote, brought to you by the Parents Television Council: "The number of 'fleeting' penises we expect to see on broadcast television is zero." (IMDb)

The CW has picked up a new DC-based series to be called "The Graysons" about the young Dick Grayson (and presumably his family) before he became the first of Batman's sidekicks known as Robin (Variety). It's basically supposed to be for Robin what Smallville is for Superman. My only question is, well... Clark Kent is (basically) the last of an alien race living on Earth with superpowers that he uses when he must to fight baddies without arousing suspicion. So while Smallville is about how Clark copes with life as a teenager/young adult with these secret abilities, The Graysons will be about Dick Grayson coping with life as... a normal kid? Or, at best, a kid growing up in the circus. A show about a kid in an acrobat family could work, but the point here is to make a show about Robin. The executive producers say they've come up with an original take on the character, so we'll see what they put together.
> Update 11/7/08: The CW has apparently scrapped plans for The Graysons (Variety)

I have just learned about the new Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Nintendo DS (Variety). It caught my attention because it's a BioWare game, and as I have made known through previous posts, most of my favorite games are by BioWare. But as for this Sonic game... I think I must be getting old. Firstly, I'm not going to play this game because I don't have a Nintendo DS and I don't expect ever to get one. I don't know what the deal is with that touch screen--why should any game need more than one screen? Does a person have two separate fields of vision? No. Secondly, hearing the phrase "Sonic on the Nintendo...", I just have to shake my head; it triggers in me almost the same reaction I would have seeing Iron Man in the Justice League (*shudders*). Back in the day, Sega was a top competitor of Nintendo--the day of the Genesis vs. the Super Nintendo. My family was in the Genesis party, and we had a lot of fun with it, but as later generations of consoles came out, the Saturn and Dreamcast disappeared under the N64 and PlayStation's success, thus leading to Sega's demise as a console-maker. But in the height of my console days, Sonic was for Sega and Mario was for Nintendo, and Sonic had not one but two TV shows. That sassy Sonic with his love for chili-dogs has been reduced to an adopted Nintendo tag-along makes me a little wistful. At least he's getting some BioWare respect.

Now here's the good news: Fringe has received a full season order from Fox (Variety). It had me worried after its not-weak-but-not-strong premiere, but when the following week it had ratings-champ House as a lead-in, its audience increased significantly and it has now been receiving fairly strong ratings, particularly compared to other new shows which have overall failed to impress audiences. Fringe can be a little icky (and I can put up with a lot of ick), but I'm looking forward to seeing where they take the show. The bad news: Pushing Daisies's season premiere on Wednesday ranked fourth in its hour with less than half the audience that tuned in for the series premiere last year, getting a sad 4.3/7 with 2.0/6 in the demo (Variety, IMDb). This was the show whose return I had been most anticipating, especially since there haven't been any new episodes since the winter because of the writers' strike. I guess for other people, the long hiatus just weaned them of the show. *Sniffle.* This is a wonderful, delightful, whimsical, quirky, hilarious, lovable show. Help save Pushing Daisies! Watch the show! ABC Wednesdays at 8/7c.