I realised that with some games like zelda and mario games have a female character that has a big pink dress and blonde hair, and when make attacks or moves in some ways hearts come out.
game companies are totally stereotyping

Yeah, but there's also games such as Lara Croft and No one Lives Forever where the main female character has brown hair and no dress, and when they attack, blood comes out.

I think the main reason that Zelda and Mario use these stereotypes as they were originally designed for young kids and based around typical fairy stories.

You're going to get stereotypes everywhere - and females are not the only targets, and not just in video and computer games.

Ever play Metroid? As in the original?

hmm... I really don't see stereotyping in video games, except for maybe the way the femall characters are actually built, kinda like a barbie doll. There is nothing like seeing a female character kick some butt!

Ever play Metroid? As in the original?


I must reiterate this question.
:cool:

well zelda and mario are like the 2 of the oldest games. so they are prolly based on older stereotypes and are kinda old fashioned.

*shakes head*

1985. Gauntlet. Valkyrie. End of discussion. :D

Yellow elf needs food badly?

well zelda and mario are like the 2 of the oldest games. so they are prolly based on older stereotypes and are kinda old fashioned.
That's true. If you look at the newer Zelda games, she has a lot more to do, instead of just getting herself kidnapped and getting poor Link to rescue her over and over again. They're changing the games to fit in with the new times ;)

Uh, sorry but I'm not seeing it. Even if we ARE talking about Zelda (great games by the way), Princess Zelda still kicks major butt despite her feminine appearance. Plus, you are referring to two games out of many; two very OLD games at that. There are countless games now with a female protaganist. Most newer fighting games' number of female characters is either equal to or almost equal to the number of male characters. Also, the female characters are balanced to fight just as effectively as the male ones, even though this would be unlikely in real life due. Lennnox Lewis vs. Layla Ali?:rolleyes: So actually, video games as a whole are allowing both women and men to escape from reality for a short amount of time and just have a little fun. This is why they were created in the first place.

Ever play Metroid? As in the original?
Even in the sequels Samus was a woman ;)

Yeah, it annoys me how stereotypical games can be (not just women though), and this needs sorting out.

Usually, stereotype-wise, the women in video games seem to fall under one extreme or the other: a)simpering females who need a man to save them :rolleyes: or b)kick-ass independent females who are built perfectly (many with big b00bs) and whose clothing is either very skimpy or skin-tight.

Ah, two words...

Lara Croft. <--- Which I guess is the norm now for female video game characters, but I ain't complaining... :D

Isn't it stereotyping when the video game women wear sexy outfits and kick butt? I mean for lately anyway. Like Hey, i love FFX-2 but whenever the picture came out of Yuna in her sexy outfit everyone was saying "omg, they turned her in to Lara Croft!!" So now if characters are sexy they are Lara Croft or if they are wearing dresses and look pretty they are the "girly girls"

Yeah, but there's also games such as Lara Croft and No one Lives Forever where the main female character has brown hair and no dress, and when they attack, blood comes out.

you forgot their huge boobies too :D ! that's what is happening nowadays... computer females with massive boobies! guess that is what sells... i like tomb raider and lara croft but i wish they didn't increase her boobs everytime a new tomb raider comes out! have you seen them in the latest adventure? they look like water baloons! that's really pathetic!

Isn't it stereotyping when the video game women wear sexy outfits and kick butt? I mean for lately anyway. Like Hey, i love FFX-2 but whenever the picture came out of Yuna in her sexy outfit everyone was saying "omg, they turned her in to Lara Croft!!" So now if characters are sexy they are Lara Croft or if they are wearing dresses and look pretty they are the "girly girls"
Yeah, but it would be boring other wise. I know some people would like to see some nice, smart, intelligent female character in a video game with next to no flesh showing, but I'd like to see that game sell well. Sex sells.

Yeah, but it would be boring other wise. I know some people would like to see some nice, smart, intelligent female character in a video game with next to no flesh showing, but I'd like to see that game sell well.

Final Fantasy VIII.....

Final Fantasy VIII.....
Right after the massive success of FFVII, the game would have sold based purely on that fact.

I know some people would like to see some nice, smart, intelligent female character in a video game with next to no flesh showing, but I'd like to see that game sell well. Sex sells.

To a certain extent that may be a true, but I also think gamers are smarter than that...at least the hardcore gamers. If a game doesn't have any real replay value, fun factor or whatever you wan't to call it, eventually word gets out and it bombs. Games like Tomb Raider definitely have tons of replay value...I think it's just a bonus that the main character also has b00bies the size of Rhode Island :D

Yeah, but it would be boring other wise. I know some people would like to see some nice, smart, intelligent female character in a video game with next to no flesh showing, but I'd like to see that game sell well. Sex sells.
Jaina Proudmoore. Warcraft III

The sad thing is that for every step in the right direction, there is a Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball game.

Personally, I think chicks in most video games are cool- even if when they attack, hearts spew out of the impact. Like in Xenogears, the main girl was a soldier who used guns and staves, and her attacks were named sorta girly-esque, like Screamer or Stinger. She was the 'independant' type.

Another girl was a teenage-ish girl, who was actually a cyber-nanomachine girl- who could change and morph herself into shapes and whatnot. She was a bit dependant on the main guy, but the fastest and 3rd strongest character I played.

Her staves had names like Hot Rod, or something. And her giant robot (called a gear) was pink and white, and when it bashed hard enough, hearts spewed out.

She's still cool, though. =\

You never see any fat or even bulky girls, though... You see fat guy characters all the time- E. Honda, Blanka, Don Corneo, the Hulk, and...yeah. Well, Ursula (The little mermaid) is sorta fat.

And in Final Fantasy 10, you were able to summon 3 sisters, decorated as bugs. One was Sandy, a tall fire mantis. The middle was a short, fat ladybug, Mandy or Mindy, and the small one was a bumble bee- Cindy.

Mandy/Mindy is the only other fat girl in a video game I know of.

Yellow elf needs food badly?

Blue valkyrie shot the food!

American McGee's Alice is my niece and I's favorite game to play together. There are little elves that give her hints and a ratty looking punked out Cheshire Cat to give her advice, but she is on her own. Its a horror version of our old favorite fantasy tale. She has a big butcher knife, razor cards and even does tricks with the weapons when she's bored. Lots of good puzzles too and excellent atmospherics and soundtrack.

My GF is a ringer for Rinoa, another independent empowered lady;)

I actually felt that they toned Lara down from the first games. They just added more detail. You haven't lived until you've seen her swan dive of course. LOL

AnD

rinoa wasnt really empowered and independant, she was always crying for squall to save her.

rinoa wasnt really empowered and independant, she was always crying for squall to save her.
At the start of the game she kicked serious Galbadia arse...

And how about Paine (http://www23.brinkster.com/kelvinfantasy/ffx2/painecg.jpg) from FFX-2? She's certainyl not a stereo-type. She's bloody hard as nails.

Oh, and as for fat chicks bever being in video games... Queen Brahne from FFIX. Now she was even less of a stereo-type then Paine is ;)

(I used to be/am a FInal Fantasy fanboy. Please kill me)

I have to admit I have DOA Volleyball.. I love it. I Love the bathing suits. :D

Some of my favorite games feature ass-kicking chicks as the main character. Perfect Dark and Metroid Prime pwn.

I think the game developers who created Zelda, Princess Toadstool, etc. were trying to make the games cute and base them on fairy tales. I don't think they were assigning roles to women.

Then you have Womb Raider where you don't aim at targets, you just shoot and hope you hit them. But the image sells...I really don't see the appeal of that and that stupid volleyball game from xBox with the giggling girls--I'm supposed to get all horny at cartoony images?!

Don't forget Kate Archer as well ;)

DOA Xtreme beach makes me want to vomit.
it has a simple argument: we are in a beach, we are going to play voleyball, so let's get naked!
but there are some non stereotyped girls, for instance Elissa Steamer, of the Tony Hawk's series.

Jaina Proudmoore. Warcraft III*Agrees. An excellent game by the way:) .

Really, people. If you look, you can find stereotypes in almost any kind of media put out. Personally, I really don't care. Can you imagine GTA3 without racial, gender, class, +everything-else-you-can-think-of stereotypes? Pretty bland. No, the main problem with modern videogames is the lack of creativity and innovation in the industry. From a business perspective, risk is not a good thing. Nowdays, it would be virtually impossible for a company like id Software (Doom, firstperson shooter inventors) or Blizzard (Warcraft, Starcraft, RTS innovators) to come out of nowhere with a great, new idea and be successful.
American McGee's Alice is my niece and I's favorite game to play together.
Yeah. Do you what American McGee is doing now? Making a movie in order to generate enough hype for a game that he wanted to make, but no company would take a risk on. How crazy is that?! One of the industry's best can't land a gig because he has new ideas/large scale.

Anyway, I believe that instead of nitpicking at developers' creativity with stereotypes, violence (Lieberman anyone?), etc. complaints, we should focus on where the industry TRUELY needs to change.
DOA Xtreme beach makes me want to vomit.
it has a simple argument: we are in a beach, we are going to play voleyball, so let's get naked!
but there are some non stereotyped girls, for instance Elissa Steamer, of the Tony Hawk's series.
Maybe. But Doax was developed for a certain audience. I don't really think that Team Ninja was counting on too many female gamers picking it up;) . And they don't get naked lol, that's a hack that xbox modders developed;) . Aside from that, the game actually recieved a very good rating for gameplay at ign.com. I'm liberal(gasp:eek: ) about the whole idea. Let developers make the game they WANT to make.

I absolutely LOVE the Alice game - I had it bought for me as a Valentine's Day gift, and I really enjoyed it. It's challenging (almost enough to make me give up at certain points), and it was different, too. Plus, I'm absolutely in love with Alice in Wonderland (I designed and wore a Queen of Hearts dress to my prom), so that was also a bonus. I liked the fact that she did seem very realistic in her behaviour, she was traumatised by what had happened to her (understandable, really), and she wasn't stick thin and big breasted, even though she was supposed to be a teenager.
It's sad that American McGee is now having to make a movie to get one of his games released, although I haven't played any of his other games, Alice was amazing and I thought it was very successful.

I do agree that there aren't really any 'fat' women in games - they have them on TV, but just never in games, which is sad. There are a few in Unreal Tournament 2004, or at least they look 'bigger'. Although I guess that doesn't count much, since they're FPS and you're not really going to see them if you choose that character... but it's still a step in that direction.

I love Rose from Legend of Dragoon
http://images.quizilla.com/1033649139_cturesRose.jpg
and LuLu and her voodoo dolls from Final Fantasy X.
http://www.ngeb.net/rev53_lulu.png
(LuLu on right Yuna on left)
They're totally different and they rock my socks off :D

I absolutely LOVE the Alice game - I had it bought for me as a Valentine's Day gift, and I really enjoyed it. It's challenging (almost enough to make me give up at certain points), and it was different, too. Plus, I'm absolutely in love with Alice in Wonderland (I designed and wore a Queen of Hearts dress to my prom), so that was also a bonus. I liked the fact that she did seem very realistic in her behaviour, she was traumatised by what had happened to her (understandable, really), and she wasn't stick thin and big breasted, even though she was supposed to be a teenager.
It's sad that American McGee is now having to make a movie to get one of his games released, although I haven't played any of his other games, Alice was amazing and I thought it was very successful.

I do agree that there aren't really any 'fat' women in games - they have them on TV, but just never in games, which is sad. There are a few in Unreal Tournament 2004, or at least they look 'bigger'. Although I guess that doesn't count much, since they're FPS and you're not really going to see them if you choose that character... but it's still a step in that direction.You've never played Doom or Quake? McGee got his start with John Carmack at none other than id Software :) . Also, there aren't too many fat MEN in video games. Honestly, who would CHOOSE to be that way? Remember that most video games are based on letting the gamer play out a fantasy, and who wants to be some fat dude? Heck no. I want to be like A'nuld, baby;) .

Lulu is a really cool videogame girl- she's not dependant, but not overly independant, either.

And there's Jill Valentine and Rebecca Chambers from resident evil. (but most realistic games like that have really developed characters- not fantasy personalities). Jill knows she needs her teammates, and her teammates know that they need her. Rebecca is only 18, and a medic, so she can be weak sometimes, but is strong on her own, too.

Here's that emeralda girl. Also, she's pretty quiet, until it comes to technology:
http://sonicspoon.free.fr/xxs/Xenogears/Emeralda5.jpg
And Elly:
http://sonicspoon.free.fr/xxs/Xenogears/Elly5.jpg and elly's gear, Vierge:
http://sonicspoon.free.fr/xxs/Xenogears/Vierge.jpg

Pretty feminine, eh?

I love Rose from Legend of Dragoon
http://images.quizilla.com/1033649139_cturesRose.jpg
Totally forgot about Rose and LoD. That game effing rocked. Shame it was so underrated when it came out. I can't find a copy of it anywhere, been trying to get hold of one for ages 'cause my original is so badly scratched it won't play.
Rose kicked arse, she was my favourite character. Meru totally undid everything that Rose did right though. Meru kinda cancelled Rose out, Rose was the kick-arse bitch in black, Meru was a cheap slapper.

EDIT:
Having said that, Miranda was a good character too, so I guess she makes up for what Meru messed up. So I guess Meru = bad, Miranda = good, thus break even, Rose = good, so we're into good again.

Tifa from FFVII had better "assets" than Lara Croft...

I'll shut up now.

Tifa from FFVII had better "assets" than Lara Croft...

I'll shut up now.
Okay mate, time for you to go to your special room...

The reason for the girls appearances and actions of "hearts and pink dresses" are because of the story of the game. If the girl was packed with guns and knives, need there be a hero?

Yellow elf needs food badly?
Holy shit I just laughed my ass off. I can no longer sit properly. If you want sterotyping lets aim more at anime. I hate the artists who draw all thier women with irrational body perportions. It degrades what could be a much better business.

The character Ken (female) from Zone of the Enders 2, is seriously equipped (you know what I mean) but at the same time, she is a totally kick ass character.

Well, i'll put it this way: The elly girl who hits with hearts and rods ends up being a villain and hero. The 2nd main character.

Totally forgot about Rose and LoD. That game effing rocked. Shame it was so underrated when it came out. I can't find a copy of it anywhere, been trying to get hold of one for ages 'cause my original is so badly scratched it won't play.
Rose kicked arse, she was my favourite character. Meru totally undid everything that Rose did right though. Meru kinda cancelled Rose out, Rose was the kick-arse bitch in black, Meru was a cheap slapper.

EDIT:
Having said that, Miranda was a good character too, so I guess she makes up for what Meru messed up. So I guess Meru = bad, Miranda = good, thus break even, Rose = good, so we're into good again.

Yeah Rose rocked :) Glad you liked that game aswell because I loved it. Why don't you try ebay? You could probably get it cheap on there :)

LoD was so cool... Rose was a really rad character...the way they morphed was so so cool, although the whole moon thing was a tad freakish....

it was also kinda weird how similar Dart's hair was to Cloud's funky 'do....

"Tidus looks like Meg Ryan. I used to think he was a female lead. I was like... 'Wait! She's kissing that chick! The lead character is a lesbian!'" -my friend Paul

Too genius to not post.

If you want sterotyping lets aim more at anime. I hate the artists who draw all thier women with irrational body perportions. It degrades what could be a much better business.
It's only degrading because those same women always happen to fall down and expose a bare breast and/or their underwear at some point or another in every movie.

I swear, if the makers of Lineage II had spent as much time on gameplay as they did rendering panties and boobies, it might possibly have been a borderline decent game.

It's only degrading because those same women always happen to fall down and expose a bare breast and/or their underwear at some point or another in every movie.

I swear, if the makers of Lineage II had spent as much time on gameplay as they did rendering panties and boobies, it might possibly have been a borderline decent game.
Well said Feyith

In the ways of technology the Japanese culture might be more advanced than ours, but I think they are about 100 years behind in their attitudes towards women. The mangas, hentai and computer games all reflect this. They are definitely due for a Women's Liberation movement. There also seems to be a lack of personal pride in their own heritage, as witnessed by the anglofication of most of their characters as seen in cartoons and video games. I believe the Elvis Cult is still going strong there as well, LOL

AnD

And another video game girl that can really kick butt- she also doesnt turn down help or anything- in fact, she is mentored thru the first level.

Blood Rayne:

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/games/galleries/bloodrayne/images/medium/bloodrayne7.jpg

http://www.xtreme-gaming.com/theotherside/Images/bloodrayne.jpg

I dont mean to flood with pics, but Bloodrayne is #2 among my favorite vampires- Kate in Underworld is #1.

I must reiterate this question.
:cool:

Me too. heheheh

Those are old games and they're still classic. I don't think it's a huge deal, I mean stereotyping is everywhere... it's not a good thing, but I don't think it matters for two of the best games of all time :D

Lara Croft kicks butt! And don't forget Chun-Li, Morrigan, Felicia, Jill Valentine, and countless others. They make up for the stereotypes. ^_^

EDIT: What annoys me is "boob physics" heh :rolleyes: They should spend more time on more important things, really.

Oh yeah, and Chun Li! In the animated STreet Fighter, she was awesome! Isnt she really a reporter or something? I forgot. Lightning Kicks rule.

I think there isn't enough female game characters that are actually the main character. Sure, all FF games have female characters, but (I 'm probably wrong on this) only FF6 had the female character as the lead. I didn't actually play FF6 (I will do one day - I played and completed the 2 FF games before and after it: 5 and 7), I only saw someone else play and it looked like the woman was the main character.

I want to see games where you can customize your main character so you can make him/her a boy/girl. ( Or at the very least give the choice of male or female like the 2 GBA Pokemon games did).

It seems that games with the female game characters are basing their games on that fact. It's like they come up with the idea to use a female character, and then they build the game around her. With male characters, it seems like they don't think twice about using him.

I think only online games have that ability to customize that much. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas will have a completely open, customizable, true-to-life character that can get fat, or go bald, or look rich, etc etc. But cant go female.

Games like Secret Of Mana 2, you can select from 6 (i think) completely unique and different characters, from a short little cleric girl, to a man who can change into a wolf at night, etc. Personally, I picked the Amazoness who wields a spear, or the witch.

Bloodrayne is a main character.
Lucia is a selectable character in Devil May Cry 2.

But sometimes, its okay when the female isn't the lead- like in Final Fantasy something, a flower girl gets stabbed by the villain and dies. And it's sorta sad. I saw it coming, but sorta sad, still.
In another Final Fantasy, 2 little twins, boy and girl, wizards, save the party from being crushed in a room by turning themselves to stone to stop the moving walls. The girl had to initiate the spell, the boy was sort of reluctant.
The girl was reasonable and nice, she was the healer- and the boy is sorta a prankster and obnoxious, and he was the attacking mage.

I just like female characters if they arent skimpy or just filler characters. I like them if they have a purpose to be there.

I was just reminded of one of the original female characters who is well dressed and intelligent.

The White Mage, Final Fantasy I. :D

I think there isn't enough female game characters that are actually the main character. Sure, all FF games have female characters, but (I 'm probably wrong on this) only FF6 had the female character as the lead


FF-3/6 had both Celes and Terra, both of whom were central characters. I haven't played 7, 8, or 9 so I can't comment there.

FF-X had Yuna. Who along with Titus was very much a "lead actor" in the game.

FF-X-2, for all of its "girl power" issues, has three female lead characters: Paine, Yuna, and Rikku.

Oh yeah, how could I forget. x.x Yuna, Paine, and Rikku, they stick with you thru the entire game as your lead characters.

Terra is the girl in 6.

Silent Hill 3's Heather
Clocktower 3's Alyssa
Fatal Frame 1's main character girl
Fatal Frame 2's twin sisters: Mio and Mayu
Grandia 2's sub-main character Elena
Resident Evil's Claire Redfield
Siren lets you cycle thru a bunch of characters, some female
Resident Evil Outbreak has many female character leads
Viewtiful Joe 2 will have Joe's girlfriend be a playable lead, I think

Those're some I can think of balanced female roles. Claire redfield can be sort of independant, though. But she has been saved a few times, and depend son her brother a lot.

Final Fantasy series:
Yuna
Rikku
Paine
Lulu
Rinoa
Garnet
Tifa
Silent Hill:
Heather
Maria
Resident Evil:
Claire
Jill
Alexia
Tomb Rider:
Lara Croft ( that's for sure! XD)

Oh yeah, how could I forget. x.x Yuna, Paine, and Rikku, they stick with you thru the entire game as your lead characters.

Terra is the girl in 6.

Silent Hill 3's Heather
Clocktower 3's Alyssa
Fatal Frame 1's main character girl
Fatal Frame 2's twin sisters: Mio and Mayu
Grandia 2's sub-main character Elena
Resident Evil's Claire Redfield
Siren lets you cycle thru a bunch of characters, some female
Resident Evil Outbreak has many female character leads
Viewtiful Joe 2 will have Joe's girlfriend be a playable lead, I think

Those're some I can think of balanced female roles. Claire redfield can be sort of independant, though. But she has been saved a few times, and depend son her brother a lot.
In Resident Evil: Code Veronica (best RE game ever), there was only a female lead character, and she was independent and all that stuff.

Viewtiful Joe 2? hey, even if it does have a playable girl character, the game is still about someone viewtiful called Joe.. ;)

Primal had a female lead.
And also, the game Dark Chronicle has a female character, she's not exactly the MAIN character, but she's only 15 years old, and is the warrior, empowered type with sword, etc.

Timesplitters 2 has a female role/lead somewhere in it, I think. I dont think personalities really develop in that game, though...

I commented earlier, but I just now had time to read/skim the entire thread. Some things I wanna reply to: Lara Croft's breasts have NOT gotten any bigger :rolleyes: Graphics have simply improved. Look:

Early screenshot, I think either TR1 or TR2 (http://img.gamekult.com/photos/00/00/07/63/ME0000076357_2.jpg)

Newest game, Angel of Darkness, screenshot (http://www.gamenavigator.ru/pub/gallery/screenshots/9695.jpg)

^So, as you can see, her breasts only look bigger because they look rounder due to the increased number of pixels!

As for regular art, look:

Tomb Raider 1 game cover (http://www.laraweb.de/images/tr1cd1.jpg)

Angel of Darkness (http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/lifestyle/games_room/2003/tomb_raider_aod/tomb_raider_aod1_400.jpg)

I don't see much of a difference, but Lara does look more realistic. :)

As for anime... yes, there are some animes and mangas and no doubt, hentai, that have the stereotypes. But don't stereotype all anime and manga that way, because it's just not true. :\ There are lots of women like Rumiko Takahashi who have written/drawn numerous mangas and they're not stereotypical.

I like female video game characters more than male ones sometimes, because in some games they are stronger and have better storylines. (Bloodrayne, my favorite.)

The female video game character stereotyping is why i like Resident Evil and games like that.

I recently got a game: Tales of Symphonia, and the lead female character (not the hero, but shes the main FEMALE) must change into an angel and bring the world back to peace. She is a pretty tough girl- she uses razor rings for weapons. Another girl, the oldest, a school professor, is cool- she goes CRAZY over the weirdest stuff (she is obsessed with history). She is a healing girl.

I tend to like cyborgs/robots or something. In a game Grandia 2, you save a robot's life and she thinks of you as a 'father'. She has to find out the hard way that she wasnt unique and ends up having to fight another model of her- its sorta sad and cool at the same time. Another character, Milennia- is a real princess. I mean a bitchy, gimme-what-i-want, temper tantrum princess. She gets what she wants and is sorta vain. Shes a cool character, though- shes logical, just hot headed. She has all these sorta vain lines, like if she hits an enemy with a crossbow "Oooh, this might sting a little". Shes funny to listen to.