Poll Question 034 - Is the gender of the playing character important?

I’m not sure if we’re specifically talking FPS’s here, but Fallout 1 + 2 greatly effected the overall feel of the games depending on the gender. Seriously, the programmers must have gone nuts trying to get that much interaction based on that aspect in the game. Very impressive.

However,a few years ago I played that sequel to Jedi Outcast where you got to create your own character, and didn’t really see much of a difference in gameplay male or female.

So I guess what I’m saying is it ultimately depends on how much effort the programmers want to place in each small aspect in the game to have that reflect off the character.

So…
“Is the gender of the playing character important?”

Maybe. Depends on if the programmers are into it.

There are some games out there that have choices for gender and some that do not. One that can change the outcome because of the gender of the character includes Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and it’s sequel. In these games, however, the gender didn’t really matter that much. But, I would like to say that the gender of a character in games such as Half-Life 2 where story is so important can be crucial. I don’t think that Alyx would have been seen as a pseudo-love-interest if we had played as a woman. Unless of course it was homoerotic, but that’s another question entirely. Also, I think that the gender of characters can affect the community’s feeling towards them. I think that some characters wouldn’t really be who they are if they weren’t defined as a certain gender.

Phillip, why edit Ryan’s comment? He was using “***,” not as in the modern abbreviation of “sexual intercourse,” but in its original sense of “either of the two major forms of individuals… distinguished respectively as female or male.” Even Jane Austen used that meaning.

For FPS games, I don’t really give note to the gender. It doesn’t really matter to me since I play as myself more. Although, I do make a mean Jacqueline Carver in FarCry. It would be nice to have a choice though.

Would playing a female version of Gordon Freeman make the game any less? I personally don’t think that it would (please no throwing tomatoes). Gender-bender isn’t something that bothers me so I can go either way.

The thing that bothers me more than not having a choice is the way females are represented physically in games. There’s a set standard that less is more which isn’t always nice from a female’s view. Sure, women are beautiful creatures with beautiful bodies, but is it really necessary to make them look like the latest 17 yr old porn star?

While the developers did a good job with Alyx Vance, the only problem with me playing a game based purely on her is that she talks too much and I think ruined a few times in the game for me.

It’s probably more common for a woman to want to step in men’s shoes rather than a man to want to step in women’s shoes as far as gaming goes.

TOMB RAIDER Anniversary! I just bought it yesterday! woo

As for gender, If the main character in tomb raider wasn’t female it just wouldn’t feel the same. Not because i like looking at her either

And if HL/HL2’s main character wasnt a male it wouldn’t be the same either.

Im not sure if the gender roles were switched in these games, if it would make me NOT play it. its a big possibility though.
So my vote is “it depends on the story”

maybe ill make a game with Gordon freeman raiding tombs wearing a hot tight bio suit.

Goddess Said:

Would playing a female version of Gordon Freeman make the game any less?

I don’t think it would have made Half-Life 2 or Half-Life for that matter any less, but certainly different.

Goddess Said:

Sure, women are beautiful creatures with beautiful bodies, but is it really necessary to make them look like the latest 17 yr old porn star?

17-year-old… porn star? I don’t know about you, but where I live that would be illegal.

It only makes a difference to me if the gender being portrayed is portrayed poorly.

“Why not make a game or mod where the player knows NOTHING about their character’s gender, name or even history.”

I think the only manageable way to do that would have the character be an android or something. I mean if the subject were human, it would just be corny. There’s so many aspects that can easily distinguish the *** of the person– if it were an fps, the hands that hold guns/objects would need to be modeled either male or female, you know? It would be easy to tell.

I guess if you don’t know the gender it does not matter. I have never played Tomb Raider, so do I have a deep rooted ptoblem?

cubedude89 Said:

And if HL/HL2’s main character wasnt a male it wouldn’t be the same either.

What would really make it different? Is it just the fact that you’ve already played it knowing Gordon is a male character?

Gordon is a great example by the way, because he has no lines, never says anything & the only way that you know he’s male is because of his name, cover art, & cut scenes (which again, he never says anything). I would think that females would be more interested in playing a game like Half-Life since he doesn’t speak. It’s easily more immersible when a character doesn’t have dialogue, provided it’s a great story.

What if (before the game was released) there was no specific character orientated cover art for Half Life or screenies & the character went by some sort of codename that was’t gender specific? Only when you actually played the game was it revealed what gender you’re playing? Would that make it any less of a stellar game with a gripping storyline?

Anyway, I’m rambling as my fever is raging.

hmmm… let me think, Would it have made a difference to me if gordon was gordean… lol … Mrs. Gordeen Freewoman.

I thought long and hard. I actually think it would have made no difference in the HL universe.

This question is hurting my head. im thinking to much…

I wanna play as alex!

I know from reading posts & forum threads that there ARE other females players, but I don’t exactly know why they never want to be heard or voice their opinions on anything discussed on the site.

Does the female voice welcoming Freeman in the introduction to HL1 count?

I just found an article (although I don’t know when it was written) that says:

“Boys ages 8 to 14 are the core audience for video games. According to video game manufacturers, boys are five times more likely to own a Genesis or Super Nintendo video game system than are girls.

A survey of the packaging of the 47 top-rated video games found that 115 of the characters depicted on the covers were male and only 9 were female. Almost one third of the games contained scenarios in which women were kidnapped or had to be rescued. Whether the unbalanced depiction of men and women in the games is the cause of the predominance of male video game players, or the result, is a question unanswered in existing research.”

Gender Issues
“Differences in motivations for playing video games between genders, preferences for different types of games, acquisition of game-playing skills, etc.
- Over representation of masculine culture exists in the adolescent world of microcomputers, particularly regarding video games.
- In a study of attitudes toward technology, females were less convinced of its value than were males.
- Video game performance expectancies may be more related to skill than gender. Data do not support the idea that females express less self-confidence than males for future performance after losing to a superior opponent on a video task.
- Girls indicate a preference for playing on computers over video game systems.
- Male video game playing at two mall arcades far exceeded female playing, about 80% to 20%.
- Both boys and girls perceived the computer to be more appropriate for boys than for girls.”

I really wish I could get a date on this article. Some of it you may agree with it, some you may not but here’s the full article.

And I just may pick up a copy of this book: Gender Inclusive Game Design.

OH! Also, I’m glad that Valve decided to make the lead character in Portal a female!

Yep i looked it up. And she might be introduced in episode 2.

I want to play portal so bad!

haha, yeah i agree lol.

But to be serious, I have found it useful, just today I was browsing site comments on Leon’s C to A and was looking for comments I posted that Leon responded to, this was in connection to content for a possible site review of the said mod. There being over 400 comments listed, this border feature helped me locate the references I was looking for. Not sure if there is a better way of scanning but no doubt some one we tell me.

I know you would come up with a smart way, thanks and sorry to all for getting off the point of the post, which was what?

ok.

mel Said:

sorry to all for getting off the point of the post, which was what?

Nice to know you took it seriously.