In this day and age, you would think that the gaming industry would learn that female gamers are becoming a huge part of their community. So, why didn’t Microsoft feature any games in their press conference that had a female protagonist?
Out of about 20 games announced during the press conference, not a single one had a female main character. Yes, some games like Sunset Overdrive showed females in the trailer, but seriously? Not a single game?
When the infamous vlogger, Feminist Frequency (aka Anita Sarkeesian), tweeted about how she felt about this, her opinion was definitely not taken well.
@femfreq: Thanks #XboxOne #E3 press conference for revealing to us exactly zero games featuring a female protagonist for the next generation
This very mild tweet was followed up by compelling arguments, such as:
Note: this is only a small sampling of an absurd number of similar tweets.
Wow. Let me change my stance on this topic, right here and now. FRUSTRATION!
Why am I upset?
How would you feel to be underrepresented in something that you put a lot of money and support into? You’d honestly think we were in the ’60s with the amount of anti-feminism and hate being spread because of this.
There are plenty of titles launching that Microsoft could have focused on that had female lead characters. I mean Sony, EA, and Nintendo all had at least one upcoming game that had a female lead. Mirror’s Edge 2, Beyond: Two Souls, Last of Us; hell, even the Super Mario 3D World trailer showed Peach as a playable female character. Although Sony posted games available to the PS3, at least female gamers get that.
Why did Microsoft completely exclude an entire portion of their consumer base? Lets not even mention the incredibly cringey rape reference they made.
Oh wait, I am going to mention it!
Of course in this scripted press conference the male gamer here completely demolishes the female gamer. Stereotype, stereotype, stereotype.
Although I wouldn’t call myself a feminist – of the nazi genre or other wise – I am getting sick and tired of the lack of representation in the world that takes a lot of my time and money. Girl gamers are scared to even voice their opinion, or else they will be treated like Anita Sarkeesian. When was the last time any woman voiced an opinion on gender without immediately being condemned for it?
It is about time that our portion of the gaming world be heard and represented.
Now, to bring it all home, here is Rayman Legends from Ubisoft featuring a “stylized” Valkyrie that looks like a seven year old with incredibly huge breasts. Enjoy.
