So, GamePro did this feature on The 55 Greatest Moments in Gaming (you may have to reload the page to get past the ad). I check it out ’cause, hey, I’d like to see what others find memorable about video games. Now, mind you, when I clicked on the link I knew what I was getting into: the video game industry is historically a “boy’s club” environment and I’m going to take a wild guess and say that the three editors who created the list are all guys.

But, hey, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t call the list out on its gender representation, so here goes. I’m going to look at some numbers regarding the games chosen and the way the article framed said games, then I’m going to organize the relevant games into three categories: 1) Sex and Sexuality, 2) Sacrifice as Heroism, and 3) Miscellaneous. The tropes that I criticize here, I might add, are not confined to this list; indeed, they are pretty common when looking at women in fiction and that includes gaming.

I. Crunching Numbers

So, I’ve done a little breakdown of the gendered references in the list. Mind you, there is a certain element of subjectivity to these lists, especially with the second one because I chose designate references of “you” to mean the character as N/A, even if the character was obviously male. But, still, I think it’s worth taking note of.

So, what do these numbers mean? Well, firstly that the editors found more memorable moments in games with male protagonists than with any other game. This is, no doubt, due in part to the prevalence of male-only games — heck, they list Fable, which was supposed to be this amazing game where you could choose everything about your character down to his sexual preferences, and yet, somehow, they thought that “gender” wasn’t one of those important choices players would like to have.

Anyway, aside from lack of availability, another possibility is that we tend to grativate towards characters like us in a lot of cases. Growing up, if there was a time where a female character was an option, I’d take it. Unfortunately, those times were very few, so I had to settle for male characters more often than not. But the men out there don’t have that problem, so I can see why there would be an imbalance.

As for the references, well, overall I believe most of the references fell under “N/A” because they were highlighting specific features of the game — most of which weren’t relevant to gender. That the “male” references outnumber the “female” ones is, I think, a product of the games chosen — if the games focus on men (male protagonists, male main characters driving the storyline, etc), then it’s only logical for them to have more references. It should also be noted, that the “female” references outnumber the amount of games highlighted with female protagonists, though not ones with female player characters.

Now that the background is out of the way, we can move on to examining the way that the references to women were treated.

II. Sex and Sexuality

That the number one type of reference to women is in relation to their sex and sexuality is in no way surprising. How many times have we heard the old “sex sells” adage when yet another game sexualizing women comes out? In this world, women are always viewed through a lens of sexuality in a way that men are not, and that lens extends to video games and other forms of popular culture.

55. Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (Xbox): That very first game with the D.O.A. girls changes your appreciation for game visuals. It’s rumored that the release of DOAX coincided with an…er, spike in the demand for computer animation courses in high schools and universities as gamers across the country sought to better understand the exquisite mystery that is “jiggle” physics.

Though last on the list, it’s first to be seen. The DoA series has become legendary because of its so-called “jiggle physics”. While the game is entirely populated by women — something pretty much unheard of in most video games — their purpose is primarily for titilation and the gameplay is made secondary to that. Not exactly the most memorable in terms of making strides for gender equality in video games.

Which brings us to the next one on the list…

47. Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (PC): Walking out of the bathroom with toilet paper on your shoe in this masterpiece of crude humor and soft-core debauchery, from the days when there was no ratings system and sixteen color EGA graphics were state-of-the-art.

I’m not sure what kind of fame the Leisure Suit Larry games had, but when I was little I knew about them, and if you search Abandonware sites you will find that it has no shortage of games in the series. While there’s no specific references to women here, seeing as the entire premise of the game is to get Larry laid, I’d say that it has a firm place in the “sex and sexuality” category. While this series is certainly memorable in terms of being one of the pioneers of adult PC games, I’d have to say that it gets a “pass” on gender parity, or, really, anything relating to the positive portrayal of women.

41. Smash TV (Arcade): Laying waste to countless foes, collecting ten keys, progressing to the correct part of the map, and making it into the elusive (and babe-filled) Pleasure Dome.

I can’t comment on the game itself, as I haven’t heard of it outside of this reference, but I think that the goal of the game being the “babe-filled” Pleasure Dome says it all. Again, male entitlement to women’s bodies isn’t exactly the most progressive idea here.

21. Combo Pack: Super Mario 64 (N64) and Tomb Raider (PS): The one-two punch in the polygonal revolution changed video games forever– moveable cameras and true three-dimensional gameplay put these two games a full step ahead of everything that had come before. Remember what it was like to look at those games for the first time?

You may ask why I include this one in this section. To those of you, I have two words: Lara Croft.

Love her, hate her, think of her as helping women or hurting them, there is one truth of her: she is a sexualized character. Even as the capable protagonist of her own series, made into not one but two movies, and still going strong many years later, when we think of Lara Croft, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t usually her puzzle-solving prowess, but rather her T&A.

I can’t say what affect the Tomb Raider series has had on the portrayal of gender in video games, but I’m not ready to put Lara into the “solution” category when so much of her fame is dependent on her sexuality.

III. Sacrifice as Heroism

Women as nobly sacrificing themselves, or otherwise dying to aid the cause of the (normally male) protagonist is a longstanding trope in fiction. So, again, it’s not surprising that it made a couple appearances on this list.

25. Breath of Fire II (SNES): Mina sacrifices herself to become Nina’s “wings.” Tragic, but sacrificial game progression earns Breath of Fire II bonus style points.

For the record, I hated that part of BoF II. Hated, hated, hated it! Tag-along sister sacrifices herself so that her sister can carry Ryu, the hero, and his band of merry followers to challenge the evil goddess? Annoying, not tragic. Ranks up there with Tiga asking Ryu if he could marry Katt. I hated that scene so much that I retconned it in my mind that she kicked the crap outta Tiga and he respected her after that. Too bad the reality was that she coddled him after he treated her like property.

But, personal opinion aside, I’m insulted that they chose that as the defining moment of BoF II. I mean, hello, if we’re talking game dynamics (which they do), what about the Shaman system? It wasn’t exactly user-friendly, but it was one of the most innovative gameplay options I had seen since Dragon Warrior IV. I mean, is it just me, or is that a hell of a lot more memorable than some cliche trope of sacrifice?

1. Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation): Aeris is killed by Sepiroth in one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever in a video game. Those big, cute eyes will never blink again under the wrath of Sepiroth. You’d only be lying if you said you didn’t cry.

Which brings us to the “most memorable event”; the death of Aeris. I’m going to admit something right off the bat — I never saw this scene. I got my PSX waaay after FFVII came out and, well, I never played it. I heard about it when my friend came in one day wailing about how Sephiroth killed his favourite character. I heard that it was very well done.

So, really, I can’t offer too much of a comment on their choice to include this point — which, in terms of what I saw of fan reactions, really does seem to deserve the title of “most memorable” — but rather that it’s interesting that the most memorable event is of a woman who died so that she could later protect the hero, Cloud.

IV. Miscellaneous

Then there are one-offs that are stand alones or I don’t really know how to categorize.

53. Final Fantasy VI (SNES): The opera house sequence with Celes and Locke.

I was always a fan of Celes, although the whole attempted suicide thing rather bugged me. Locke was okay, but I was never all that into the idea of them in a relationship. Regardless, the opera house sequence was my all-time favourite part of FFVI aside from, maybe, the fact that Terra was this kick ass esper who, despite her emotional issues, was the love of my life. I mean, green hair, devastating attacks… GREEN HAIR. Did I mention that my all time favourite FF character is Rydia? I sometimes wonder how much of my personality was molded by that character.

But, I digress. I’m not entirely sure how to categorize this one, except perhaps tagging it with being romance related. But I dunno.

11. Prey (PC): We won’t ruin it for you, but suffice it to say that the big reunion with your abducted girlfriend isn’t quite what you were expecting.

Never played this game, but from the blurb it seems to be some sort of play on the “Damsel in Distress” trope. Would have to play the game, or talk to someone who did, to figure out how they utilized it. It seems like there was some sort of twist, but that could be anything from the fact that your gf wasn’t kidnapped but was rather part of the organization that “kidnapped” her to the people who kidnapped her turning her into a monster who is the final boss. Like I said, didn’t play it, don’t know, can’t offer a real comment.

Update: A reader has e-mailed me with a visual walkthrough that reveals the truth about the twist. At the risk of being spoilery (though the original list completely spoilered the ending of Shadow of the Colossus, which would have pissed me off if I hadn’t already beaten it, so I don’t feel too bad here) I guessed right about the “twist” — it was my latter supposition. Aside from it being a horrible cliche — having a person guess the “omg memorable twist” without having played the game and knowing nothing of it aside from a screenshot and a blurb ain’t exactly the paragon of excellent writing — seeing as it wasn’t a “twist” on the concept of a damsel in distress, I gotta give this one a thumbs down for gender as well.

3. Metroid (NES): You beat the Mother Brain, race through the tunnels, and when you reach the surface of the planet…blammo! You discover that your hero Samus Aran is a woman. The sneaky game manual referred to Samus as a “he” making the revelation all the more surprising. Cool feature: you could replay the game with Samus sans spacesuit.

That last line almost had me put it into the “sex and sexuality” category because even Samus, this hardcore fighter who kicks the crap out of metroids in a non-sexy space suit, has to have the lens of sexuality applied to her as soon as her true gender is revealed. Not exactly Empowerment 101.

But, still, I remember when Metroid first came out, and how happy mom and I were when we beat it and realized that our kickass Samus was the same gender as us. And, if we look at later Metroid games, it’s not like she’s running around in a bikini, but rather continues in her traditional suit. So, at the very least, it seems that aside from that “shock reveal” Samus is still Samus, even if we now know that she has boobs and a vagina.

V. Conclusion

I’m not saying that I think these items shouldn’t have been included, but rather that the list is unsettlingly unbalanced. The game industry is not exactly known for its female-friendly games (and no, I’m not talking Nintendogs here, I’m talking games that don’t patronize women in some way), but have the editors never played Beyond Good and Evil? The Longest Journey? Kings Quest 7? Kyrandia 2? I’m not blaming the editors, or GamePro, or even the developers who made this game. This isn’t about blame; this is about noticing a pattern and putting a stop to it.

You want more women to game? You want more women buying your products, subscribing to your magazines, and participating in the gaming community? Then stop boxing women in games into a small subset of tropes like those seen above, stop believing that the only people you’re writing to are young, white, heterosexual men and boys. And, for those games, publishers, magazines, and people who have started catching on that women — yes, even women gamers — are people, too, good for you. Keep up what you’re doing because this gamer, for one, appreciates it.

Earlier this month, Collie of Collie’s Bestiary posted about her experiences with Planescape: Torment.

A short while ago I started playing the computer game “Planescape: Torment,” and stumbled across this issue again, with painfully eye-opening results. Keep in mind, this game won numerous awards for its storytelling and quality in 1999, the year it was released — which makes me wonder in appalled horror just how awful the other games were. But to continue: I first noticed the sexual objectification of women with the game’s job/species designations, which float above the head of the graphical character on the screen. There were monsters, and men and women. As I recall, men were classified about 50% as townsmen and 50% thugs. Women were similarly classified as either townswomen… or harlots.

What?! Um, hold on. Why were there no male harlots? Why no female thugs? Is the game trying to teach us that women can only be for sale, and only men are capable of violence? I found myself bewilderedly wondering: are the creators of the game afraid of women or something, that they feel the need to so dehumanize women in the game?

My first reaction was to attempt to excuse these aspects of the game as “ignorable.” There’s no need to look at the portrait gallery to play the game, and the “harlots” don’t actually have much in-game purpose (they can improve Morte’s Curse ability; that’s about it). It seemed a waste to miss out on a game that had so much else going for it. This, of course, is precisely the wrong framing – it puts the burden on the player to put aside her own discomfort. Besides, there are other uncomfortable aspects to the game which are not so easily ignored, such as the geek-girl fetish of the Brothel of Cartesian Dualism Slating Intellectual Lusts, or how every girl’s crazy for a gothed-out Hulk. A better way of approaching these issues is in terms of the costs and benefits of the design decisions – is it really worth alienating a sizable portion of your audience for this?

I. Penalizing Women

There’s been a lot of debate over The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion‘s character creation process, which gave different attribute bonuses based on the character’s sex, and did it in such a way that male characters were more optimized, especially for fighting classes. As tikae notes:

It’s that if you want to have a female character, you’re going to be punished if you want to be anything except for a mage – and you’re still not going to be as good at that as male characters of most races are. It’s just how the numbers work. Making it a punishment to choose a certain gender is always going to be bad game design, whether it’s political or not.

First edition AD&D had an even more unbalanced portrayal of sexual dimorphism – the maximum allowable strength for women of any “race” was significantly lower than that for men, with no attempt to balance this penalty. In other words, men were penalized for playing cross-gender characters, and women were penalized for playing same-gender characters – again, especially warrior types.

Arcanum goes even farther than that – many of the species in the game are simply only playable as male. The designers cite the extra work and storage space that would be required to include artwork representing female dwarves, gnomes, etc., and explain it away in-game by referring to Victorian convention. The upshot, though, was that players had significantly fewer options if they wished to play female characters.

II. What Is Real? How Do You Define “Real”?

In addition to simply being glossed over, all of these examples of sexism in RPGs also get defended by portraying critics as valuing “political correctness” over “realism,” a defense that’s especially pernicious because it goes outside the game to make claims about the world in general.

But what do we mean by realism in the context of gaming? I’m not talking about the tired idea that, in any story with magic or supernatural elements, there’s no need for verisimilitude – that’s just a defense of bad writing. When we speak of realism in a game, we usually mean two things: immersion and complexity.

Immersion is the believability of what Roger Giner-Sorolla calls mimesis:

As stated before, I see successful fiction as an imitation or “mimesis” of reality, be it this world’s or an alternate world’s. Well-written fiction leads the reader to temporarily enter and believe in the reality of that world. A crime against mimesis is any aspect of an IF game that breaks the coherence of its fictional world as a representation of reality.

Complexity is the depth of implementation of the game world. Immersion and complexity are often in conflict, as every additional detail is an opportunity for a crime against mimesis to be perpetrated. What we call realism, then, is the combination of the two: a world sufficiently detailed that “rings true” to the player.

Guilded Lilies points out that what breaks mimesis will vary from player to player, citing the requisite detail for any discussion of sexism in gaming, Lara Croft’s breasts:

I feel it is pretty safe to say that women and men have different impressions of male and female game characters in computer games. Exaggerated female body parts may fall into the category of fantasy elements that men are willing to accept, but for women, this might just be the fantasy killer that interrupts her experience of suspended disbelief. A woman knows intuitively that having to haul around an enormous rack would make, for example, Lara Croft’s acrobatics impossible. For a male playing the same game this might never arise as a conflict, and likewise enjoying the presence of such things, he may never be aware that suspension of disbelief is required to maintain his immersion in the story line.

III. Reality is Overrated

The thing is, realism alone – i.e., the combination of mimesis and complexity – is not necessarily entertaining. There are games which are perfectly consistent and coherent in their game worlds, but simply aren’t a lot of fun because those worlds aren’t very interesting to the player (for me, strategy games like Railroad Tycoon and Colonization fell into this category, as did Oregon Trail when I wasn’t trying to make my friends die of dysentery). And there are other games with interesting, believable worlds, but whose complexity bogs down the gameplay until it’s intolerable. Realms of Arkania is the classic example in PC RPG-land; Xenosaga and Star Ocean: the Second Story approached this point for me with their multiple point-advancement systems. What game designers should be asking themselves is not whether a feature will make the game more realistic, but whether it will make the game more fun.

IV. Scope is a Design Decision

The realism that’s being defended in the above examples is selective at best. Some elements get focused on while others are ignored entirely; it’s not so much that these design decisions are expected as it is that they “feel right” to the perceived core audience of male gamers. Gaming, especially fantasy role-playing, has been a “boys’ club” for so long that these little touches of sexism have become cliches that players take for granted. If an area is poor, the reasoning goes, it will have prostitution, and that will invariably take the form of female streetwalkers, no matter what the rest of society looks like. In a multi-species society like Sigil, why would all of the prostitutes be human women?

What the realism defense ignores is that any game – indeed, any narrative or documentary medium – is limited in scope. The game designer makes a conscious choice about what to model in the game world; including sexism under the guise of “realism” makes a statement that sexism is sufficiently important to be included in the world model.

V. A Misguided Attempt at Anti-Censorship

If these aspects of the game could be omitted without notice – since few people complain about the details that aren’t in the game – why does criticism of them always raise such a fuss? Aside from the general backlash against “political correctness,” I think there is a more specific backlash against perceived censorship of games a la the “Nintendo Code,” where adventurers went to cafes to drink soda pop and called each other “spoony bards.” The problem with such a response is that it conflates legitimate design decisions with “fixes” superimposed on the games – the equivalent of renaming the “harlots” to “dancers” or something and blurring the artwork, cosmetic changes that serve to break mimesis by emphasizing what’s omitted.

VI. Boys’ Club Backlash

I also think there’s a subgroup of players who are simply reacting to having their privilege challenged. The following entitlement-laden Usenet post on Planescape: Torment started a sizeable flamewar:

I also appreciate the way the women are dressed, showing much of their breasts and buttocks. To me it is not the main thing of course – who would buy a game just because some of these tiny little figures look a bit sexy, it is just not enough for any real erotic thrill, but it is a small aesthetic delight that adds to the overall thrill of the game. I think a bit of sexiness belongs within a RPG. As I understand it, it is part of the fantasy-world.

The later replies defending this mindset use all the standard arguments – it’s PC, they’re just trying to make games less enjoyable, there aren’t enough women players to matter, etc. I guess when the games are being specifically targeted to you, there’s nowhere to go but down.

Conclusion

Game designers would benefit from asking the following about any design decision, especially those that involve gender:

1. Why am I including this feature?
2. How will this decision make the game more enjoyable?
3. For whom will this decision make the game more enjoyable?
4. For whom will this decision make the game less enjoyable? Is there any way to minimize this?

Designers and players alike need to stop using the idea of realism – “that’s the way the world works” – as an excuse for condoning sexism in games when they’re called out on it. It’s simply passing the buck.