c) was supposed to read: “It’s not just the looks. When I first played Quake Arena, I figured I’d use Minx (wheee, female avatars!) because she was the one that most looked like me, hairwise etc. So, sure enough when I look her up in the manual, she ‘used to be an adult entertainer.’ Because, you know, that’s just what we all want to identify with, and seriously, it’s what all women want to be, it’s just that some can’t owing to a not-so-hawt bod. Like, Barfcity.”

d) I only play two games regularly, one is MUSH — text-based role-playing, playing with other people, not the machine, free chargen, so if you don’t play with asshats, it’s not racist/sexist/… —, the other is gcc (also text-based, and 100 % based on merit).

e) Ideally, you play competiive games against a lover anyway; you get all tense in the “fight”, then you find a way to release the tension together IRL. From that angle, sexualised characters even make a modicum of sense, but it’s still a bit close to that awkward sex and violence mix, fight fuck.

f) What keeps me from gaming otherwise? Like, when? So I guess the answer is, “I might after first cracking the jackpot.” Seriously, sex, work, friends, exercise, sleep, food. I’m lucky to find the time to MUSH or to comment here. I have no idea how you people do it. Like, seriously.

b) I’m currently (slowly) reading a book called “Game Writing - Narrative skill for videogames” which has been fun so far and has a short section on race/gender later on. Whether that section is insightful or insulting, I do not know yet. May get back to you on that one.

c) It’s not just (Note the very first screenshot for OpenArena for extra credit. Like, bah.)

As a male gamer, I’m not going to lie, yeah, I enjoy the female body the way it has been portrayed in video games. Is it a bit much? Yes. Is it over the top? Yes. I know that it is unrealistic and the no real woman could ever have that body. I guess though, that’s what makes it a game. It’s fantasy, it’s not supposed to be real. Now, I’m not saying that it’s alright for women to be depicted as they have been, I’m just saying, reality is boring.

I don’t think that anyone really wants games to be a mirror image of reality. Nobody expects that female characters should look exactly like real women do. That’s never been the criticism. The criticism is that so many of the women in games look a certain way. You point out Mario and Luigi. I think we can agree that they don’t have the same body type, right? And they sure as hell don’t have the same body type as, say, Solid Snake. And he doesn’t have the same body type as Jeffery from Virtua Fighter. And so on and so on. Men come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles and in varying degress of sexualization. Women, largely, do not. Women are almost always designed to look like pin-ups- they’re usually hyper-sexualized. The alternative isn’t to make them hyper-realistic- it’s to recognize that women come in just as many shapes and sizes as men do.

If women are taking video games this seriously, like, if they believe they have to look and act like the female characters in games, don’t you think they are in for a reality shock? Ummm…FYI gals, y’all can’t be Samus because there are no real metroids. You can’t be Lara Croft, ’cause there are no dinosaurs to kill.

Again, that’s not what I, or anyone else I’ve ever seen, has argued. Video game characters are fictional, and we all recognize that- but they’re part of a collective fantasy, and that fantasy has the ability to color how we interact with the world in the same way that movies and literature can impact our worldview. Does this mean that games are responsible for people’s actions? No- but it does mean that video games have the ability to challange or reinforce social standards. It also means that the ways that women are presented in games can have an effect on whether women feel comfortable gaming, and how gamers interacting with women in the games treat them.

What makes you think that I’m not interested in changing the ways that women are depicted in comics, movies, or in other popular media? I’ve written about those topics, as well. I think that it’s important to recognize that social change takes time, and it helps to work on multiple roads. Yes, broad social change is necessary- but it’s important to try to work on individual aspects, as well. Since games both reflect and influence popular culture, I think it’s important to engage in discussions and work for change within the industry, as well as without. If we affect change within the industry and improve the conditions there and the messages that the games send, that can have an impact outside the industry as well.

I like where you’re going with this, but I don’t think you’ve really thought it all through. How do you expect people to want to change video games when every time they turn on their television set or listen to some music, women are being depicted the same way? Does that make sense?

Again, it’s not as though there aren’t people- including myself- who are also critical of the television, movie, or music industries. I think I’ve put rather a lot of thought into it.

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As for gaming, I was a skeptic until I met one of my old profs, who taught me what to look for, instead of what to rail against. Now Ethan and I play pretty regularly and I bring up topics of concern. Pretty cool conversations ensue, and the gaming allows him to converse without the tension of trying to perform for his crazy mom. I like gaming because it gives me an inroad with my boy.