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[majikero]

Wait, so its a parody of Anita's works or its a parody of the people who criticize her work?

[Yannanth]

Wait, so its a parody of Anita's works or its a parody of the people who criticize her work?

Both -.-

Also, you people need to lighten up.

[ed boy]

Late to the boat, I know, but I can think of one game where a female character had a more gruesome death than any of the male characters:

Tomb Raider (2013).

Lara has some pretty horrifying deaths. And nobody can come close to matching them. There was a big kerfluffle about the whole thing.

I'm glad that her deaths were so messed up, though. The most graphic ones, the ones where she gets skewered by airplane debris and whatnot, are hard to connect to sexual violence on anything but a metalevel, and it got at least a few people I know IRL to think critically about it.

one of the silent hills had a worse death for the female then the male protagonist.

Though you had to do pretty bad to let her die.

I wasn't familiar with those, but I have had far from the most expansive library of games. Although it's good to see the game companies aren't sparing the gore because the character is female, those games are very much in the minority.

There's also the matter where bad things happening to the females is in those games (and probably others) is linked extremely strongly with failure on the part of the player. Males who suffer violence usually do so to progress the story - the player is encouraged to take part in and rewarded for the violence against the male, where violence against the female is linked inextricably with the message that the player has done badly and other negative things.

[Neonivek]

Wait, so its a parody of Anita's works or its a parody of the people who criticize her work?

The general consensus, and most likely answer, is both.

My personal opinion is that the parody of Anita is secondary though and mostly not intentional.

I am not trying to double speak and try to make my side more valid by saying that I am probably wrong, mostly I am trying to say my piece knowing that I am rather biased towards it. In other words I am saying "I am right because La La la la I can't hear you la la la la la"

[Max White]

Eh, as a parody I found it funny. The stereotype of the 'looser male who has no female friends and likes video games' is something any feminist gamer would be fighting tooth and nail against, right? The irony is delicious.

Then again I'm pretty permissive about my parodies.

[Skyrunner]

Maybe the thread should be renamed...

[penguinofhonor]

"Only two thousand posts about Tropes vs Women in Video Games"

[Neonivek]

It took me a while to sort of realize the Irony of bringing up Beyond Good and Evil as the "example of things done right".

That game sold terribly!

[penguinofhonor]

And the yearly CoD clone sells incredibly well, so it's clearly the pinnacle of design.

[Putnam]

It took me a while to sort of realize the Irony of bringing up Beyond Good and Evil as the "example of things done right".

That game sold terribly!

And it's widely critically acclaimed...

[penguinofhonor]

You know, this Dwarf Fortress game everyone's talking about has pretty low sales too. Must not be so great.

[Neonivek]

And the yearly CoD clone sells incredibly well, so it's clearly the pinnacle of design.

One of the arguments she made was commercial viability since ultimately it is the final line that says whether or not a game is successful.

Certainly beyond good and evil is a great game, but it is one that no company out there would have wanted to make had they known.

It doesn't matter HOW good a game is if it doesn't sell... and the ultimate "Woman in the lead role" game (except Mirror's edge, but that is sort of another story) being one of the worst selling games that didn't suck?

[alexandertnt]

One of the arguments she made was commercial viability since ultimately it is the final line that says whether or not a game is successful.

Doesnt that support her argument about sexism in the industry? (am I missing something?)

[Neonivek]

One of the arguments she made was commercial viability since ultimately it is the final line that says whether or not a game is successful.

Doesnt that support her argument about sexism in the industry? (am I missing something?)

No, since it wasn't the industry that made Beyond Good and Evil sell badly.

[Max White]

It took me a while to sort of realize the Irony of bringing up Beyond Good and Evil as the "example of things done right".

That game sold terribly!

Well the thing you need to realize that women make a much smaller demographic for some genera. We go on about how females make a specific percent of people who call themselves gamers, but many of them play facebook or phone games and never buy a console. As such, in the current climate you can't expect a game marketed towards women to do as well for some platforms.
Some would say this is because females just don't like console style games. Maybe, it is plausible, but I see another hypothesis as being more likely. For years we have been marketing these games towards a male audience, at the same time culturally 'gamer' meant nerdy kid who was never going to have social contact with the a female beyond his mother. It would make sense that the majority of women would be turned away from this paradigm.

The solution is simple, build up a female demographic for your company. Know your audience, including a reasonable estimate of projected sales, and budget for that. Over time you gain in popularity when women decide these games are acceptable and enjoyable, and then ta da! You can actually make games for women without them being commercial flops.

You can't just make a single game and then expect it to wash away a life time of social stigma.