One thing that this class has done is opened my eyes. It has made me look at things in a different light and pay more attention to things. One thing that I have noticed is that there are a good number of female lead characters in video games. Yes, when you calculate the ratio compared to the number of male lead video games, they are a minority, but there are still a good number of games with women kicking as much tail as the guys do. I first thought about this when i saw an ad for the game Bayonetta. This game follows a witch who is on a quest to uncover her past. Another game serious that has represent women is the Final Fantasy Series, which has always featured a lead cast of both men and women. Both of these are apart of a list of games that include a female lead in a primarily action oriented game, a terrain that was supposedly just for the guys. Each game shows the women as powerful and strong, not the damsel in distress that women were formally represented as. This is not a new trend though, there are two major female leads in two of the most popular video game series' ever. Those two women are Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and Samus Aran of the Metroid video game series. Lara has been a dominant female lead for over ten years. Each game involves her stopping the bad guys by using her strength and dominance. The character of Samus has been "a female in a male-dominated role, Samus has been considered both a breakthrough for female characters in video games" says Nadia Oxford of 1up.com. Samus has been a regular character in the video game world for over 20 years and was the first female to become an a true action hero in the video game industry. Now with this discussion of some much good there is some bad in all of this. The biggest issue facing the female leads is the way they look. Most of these female leads are dressed ridiculously showing more then needed and these women are primarily seen as sex objects. Lara croft is notorious for showing to much with her regular attire being a low cut top and very short shorts, so this common trend is something that should be changed if there is to be a greater emergency of serious dominant female characters. While there dress code is a growing issue, at least women are representing a growing trend of lead characters in video games. At least it's a step in the right direction.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Apparently Girls Can Kick Ass Too
One thing that this class has done is opened my eyes. It has made me look at things in a different light and pay more attention to things. One thing that I have noticed is that there are a good number of female lead characters in video games. Yes, when you calculate the ratio compared to the number of male lead video games, they are a minority, but there are still a good number of games with women kicking as much tail as the guys do. I first thought about this when i saw an ad for the game Bayonetta. This game follows a witch who is on a quest to uncover her past. Another game serious that has represent women is the Final Fantasy Series, which has always featured a lead cast of both men and women. Both of these are apart of a list of games that include a female lead in a primarily action oriented game, a terrain that was supposedly just for the guys. Each game shows the women as powerful and strong, not the damsel in distress that women were formally represented as. This is not a new trend though, there are two major female leads in two of the most popular video game series' ever. Those two women are Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and Samus Aran of the Metroid video game series. Lara has been a dominant female lead for over ten years. Each game involves her stopping the bad guys by using her strength and dominance. The character of Samus has been "a female in a male-dominated role, Samus has been considered both a breakthrough for female characters in video games" says Nadia Oxford of 1up.com. Samus has been a regular character in the video game world for over 20 years and was the first female to become an a true action hero in the video game industry. Now with this discussion of some much good there is some bad in all of this. The biggest issue facing the female leads is the way they look. Most of these female leads are dressed ridiculously showing more then needed and these women are primarily seen as sex objects. Lara croft is notorious for showing to much with her regular attire being a low cut top and very short shorts, so this common trend is something that should be changed if there is to be a greater emergency of serious dominant female characters. While there dress code is a growing issue, at least women are representing a growing trend of lead characters in video games. At least it's a step in the right direction.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Who the Hell Cares About Tiger Woods
No doubt all of us have heard the entire story about the "great" Tiger Woods. While reading an article on fox-sports.com, I came to the realization that I don't care about Tiger Woods or what he is doing. It seems like every time Tiger does anything there is a swarm of media ready to report about him. If Tiger takes out his trash, it's on the six o'clock news. I now ask why do we care that Tiger was in rehab, or home, or practicing to play golf again. Yes he was the worlds best golfer and made a huge amount of money, but he is still one man. Why should I care about his personal life or have a shot for shot analysis of his apology press conference. I work with a guy who makes a good amount of money and is one of the best firefighters in the state of Maryland, but if he cheated on his wife would there be a story about him on CNN? No people would gossip, but for the most part they would move on and could care less about his personal life. So if this is the reaction about one man's infidelities then why are another's such a huge topic.
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