Most of the time as a female gamer, it doesn’t bother me to play as a male character. It’s mainly about the story for me. Up until about a year ago I never gave it a second thought except to get excited when I did get to play as a girl. I understand that it’s more acceptable to have a female in an RPG and although I like that because you spend upwards of forty hours immersed in them, I finally wanted more.
What started this obsession? A series of books by Karen Traviss for the Gears of War games.
After reading these wonderfully written books and becoming obsessed with the female leads I wanted to play as them more than anything. Sitting in my house playing Horde mode by myself until dawn I realized that even though I love my tried and true companion- Kim- I knew that the hours I spent trying to level up would have been much more enjoyable as Mataki or Anya. Then I started buying the Gears comic series and met Alex Brand who reminded me more of myself than any female character to date. I have almost a yearning to play as her and kick some locust ass.
So, what’s the problem?
Oh, COG armor isn’t sexy? Who cares! You are in the middle of a war and no one is looking their best people; Smear that mascara with some sweat and blood for goodness sake.
What is really interesting is that women have been on both sides of the fence when it comes to the appearance of their online counterparts. Just troll the online forums and you will see that some want to be portrayed as svelte, big-breasted beauties and some love the more realistic portrayal that we received in Fable 2. Yes, she bulked up pretty heartily but if you were doing what she was doing, you would too. I personally loved her and how she looked. It fit with the game and just made sense.
Where do we go from here? It’s hard for me to predict. It seems that companies are more concerned about what men think since they make up more of the buying market. They are doing what is going to be most profitable for them and it’s understandable. It’s also a hard process since the female body is so much different than a males. I’m hoping Cliffy is reminded of his thousands of female followers who would love to play as a girl. I hope he looks at the success of games like Borderlands where Lilith took center stage for many players. Yes, it was hard for Gearbox to accomplish but it was worth it for the women who got to experience her. I’m hoping the future sees a female playable character in every single game I touch. For now, I’ll be waiting for the day when it becomes the standard and not the exception and reading the third installment in the Gears series due out August, 2010.
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