I'm going to have to agree with DJ here. As it stands, it's too much.
Look at games like Dragon's Crown. Quite a few Reviews where wasting a good part of their screentime talking about how sexist the depiction of the Sorceress was. Now, ignoring the part that this is retarded in itself with the Amazon and the Knight being present, a Review that insists on cramming its political view on woman in games down my throat for anywhere between 33-50% (Or even more) of their screentime, is just a bad Review. Now, Dragon's Crown's coverage was pretty decent. Mainly because it's a damn good game and a lot of people talked about it.
I feel like it got a ton more overall screentime because of the ridiculous art "assets". I'm sure that better games received less coverage because they weren't so pointlessly controversial. The idea of a Gauntlet/Double Dragon mix where the characters' appearances are absurd exaggerations of their classes - that's pretty cool, in a retro way. And the art was well executed. I just think the sorceress didn't need to be so sexualized.
Sure, sorcerers are supposed to be charismatic, since it's magic based channeling inner power. So a dark mysterious robe like the wizard wouldn't be necessary. But surely there are other ways to depict barely-contained energies than a *wizard hat*, ginormous chesticles, and... Oh she actually has a wizard staff too, okay. So she's really just a wizard who can't dress right, possibly because nobody makes clothes that fit watermelons.
In my opinion they should have gone with glowing eyes, fancy gold/jewelry, and casual energy fields. Like the Diablo 2 sorceress! Who also dressed sexy, but in a way which suggested exoticness and power instead of... I have no idea what the Dragons Crown sorceress is supposed to be except "sexy wizard", and that's the problem.
Here's the game intro ("sorceress" at 55 seconds) wherein she massages a skull with her tits while twisting her ass at the camera comic-book style. Heh, the skull even has its spinal cord attached... subtle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAt-WPK3WrMAll I'm saying is that they tried to sell this game based on sex appeal, which really is fine and all. It's just trite, and makes me *very* wary about the game's actual quality. And since it's how they presented the game, OF COURSE the gaming media should report on that. Or... refuse the bait, and avoid giving the game controversy-powered attention it didn't deserve.
And I'm not sure why you said "Despite the amazon". The amazon wears even less and is almost as busty and sexual, it just makes more sense for her archetype.
But then we have stuff like Puppeteer. The creator got flak for making the protagonist male, and not delivering the option to play as a female. When asked about this in Interview he said "So should I as a game creator start pander to public opinion?" he added that anyone who wasnt content with that could just, you know, not buy the fucking thing. The way the market is supposed to work.
So when the investigative media provides criticism of certain subsets of gaming culture we're supposed to get angry, but it's good for a game creator to blanket-dismiss our opinions?
He's right that people need to vote with their dollars. I think what he's missing is that people spend money on people who at least pretend to listen.
But of course, it's not enough. You have to colour half a freaking Review with this stuff nowadays. I dont give a flying watermelon about this stuff. It has nothing to do with the game itself, with the game you got to review. I want to know if its functional, if it's fun and if it's worth the price. Stuff like "Is stealth kissing your wife in Shadow of Mordor sexist?" in Reviews and coverings needs to stop.
That article is clearly marked as an opinion piece. If you don't want people's unsupported, attention-fishing opinions, you don't have to read them. It certainly doesn't "need to stop", whatever you mean by that.
The same with DEV background. I dont care if the guy/gal that made this is against gay marriage, or if he/she kicks puppies in his/her free time. I care about the fact if the product their offering is worth my money. I'm trying to buy a game from these people, not joining their Sith-Cult.
I want to know if a developer is putting their personal political beliefs into their game, often subtly. Besides, maybe I don't feel like financially supporting unapologetically hateful people, when I can avoid it.