Alienating Audiences
I’d never really been oblivious to the portrayal of gender in video games, but Final Fantasy X-2 was the first game that prompted articulation on being alienation as a “minority” gamer–and the first time decided to boycott a product I considered sexist. I had previously found the Final Fantasy series appealing to a diverse group of gamers, at least in my own sphere, because of their density. The games had something for everyone: storylines and complex plots, dialogue and character development, turn-based battles with room for high level achievements and character customization, and a plethora of minigames with more fun to offer than many stand-alone titles on the same consoles. Although I didn’t play any Final Fantasy games until VII, playing SNES Square RPGs with similar appeal, like Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger, during adolescence kept me interested in gaming when other friends began to move on.
Final Fantasy X-2 wasn’t my first disappointment in the series (particularly my first time in Spira), but it was the first time that I felt this game is for someone other than me. I didn’t even have a chance to get excited about a role-playing game with an all female party; I remembered just how “strong” a character Yuna was from the last game. When the screenshots and production art made the forums, and I saw pictures like this (a declaration of the game’s intended audience), I thought they were a joke. A Final Fantasy game about collecting outfits? Although many thought the upcoming game looked cheap and insulting, others seemed to be missing the point. I recall reading articles and forum posts written by male gamers who were excited that more games like FFX-2 and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball were coming out with things women like, shopping and clothes, so girls can have fun gaming, too. Like they thought the game was for women.
I did eventually borrow a copy of FFX-2 and found some fun playing it. I enjoyed the battle system (even if the bosses were a little easy), but I got the most joy mocking the game itself with friends (another blog post entirely).
This tangent was prompted by a link MMOrgy (not work safe) to a discussion on the World of Warcraft forums prompted by this poster expressing feelings of alienation by not fitting into the target demographic group:
I think it’s fair to say that the female armor art is generally designed to be ’sexy’, while the male armor art is not. I assume this means that Blizzard is more interested in the demographic that likes their fantasy in a ‘Heavy Metal’ style, than the demographic that is offended by that representation of women.I also don’t see any sign that Blizzard acknowledges that these design decisions alienate some of their potential player base. They are either oblivious, or don’t care. In either case, I can’t really continue to support them with my money.
I haven’t read many of the following 500 posts, so I can only guess if the first page is typical of the rest of the discussion/flame-war. On cue, the first reply is the Voice of Male Privilege with “You’re reading too much into things”. (Ironically, the poster asks “There are no overweight people either. Hell, a large number of minorities are missing. Is this an indictment by Blizzard for white superiority and magazine attractiveness? No.” Funny, I answer yes.) The third poster says he (I’m picking the male pronoun because the avatar is male) also cancelled his account because “i have tried to speak out about it and have been silenced by blizzard. clearly, it is time for me to stop giving them my money.” Quitting isn’t a bad way to do something about it.
One of the primary reasons I quit WoW was because I felt alienated. I also felt that Blizzard’s design choices were meant to alienate me, and that made me very, very angry. Why the hell should I give money to them when the company encourages players to be shits to me?
As you can see, I’m still angry about it ._. I really want to woo Mom away from WoW, but all the other MMOs out there also give me headaches. sigh We need more feminist game designers.
Comment by tekanji (62 comments) — December 26, 2005 @ 2:08 pm
Just one of too darn many areas we’d benefit from having more feminists present.
Comment by Lake Desire (195 comments) — December 26, 2005 @ 10:39 pm
I felt like this (alienated)when I played Metal Gear Solid 3. It was a big disappointment, since I really liked the previous one. In this game, you are encouraged to zoom in on a female character’s bikini clad breasts when you have conversations with her. Also there is one scene that is suppossed to be sexy - when the same woman reveals scars she got from torture.
Hideo Kojima, I thought you were better than this.
Comment by Reb — December 28, 2005 @ 9:22 am
This is one of the main reasons why I just can’t bring myself to become involved in MMOs–you put money monthly into something that ends up treating women as an other (especially it’s happening in a game that is continously being updated.) At least with the other games I play I know it’s going to eventually end, and that I can move on, hopefully to a game that treats women as something other than just a member of the sex class.
MGS is a great example to bring up. In this game we have an amazing woman–The Boss. She’s tough, a great fighter, she’s a history maker. But then it becomes apparant that she’s only there for the sake of the male gaze. I get it–it’s too much to just have an awesome, strong and capable woman character. First and foremost she has to be sexualized.
It happens most of the time and I’m sick of it.
Comment by 100littledolls (46 comments) — March 28, 2006 @ 3:14 pm
Good points. The sexy, strong female is there to cater towards heterosexual males who are turned on by that particular brand of woman.
Comment by Lake Desire (195 comments) — March 28, 2006 @ 3:55 pm