NetherRealm Studios

I want to take some time to talk about what I consider to be the most sexist game company: “NetherRealm Studios.” This game company is best known for the series “Mortal Kombat” which I touched on in my last post. The problem is not that the studio used to have poorly designed characters, the problem is that they still have poorly designed characters.

Their games such as “Mortal Kombat” and “Injustice” are actually a lot of fun to play.  I personally really love fighting games, and the studio’s decision to be over the top gory in all of their games sets them apart from other fighting games. The gameplay tends to be quick, and the stories themselves are really fun. Each game I have played by them has offered something new from the last one to keep the games from just being repeats of each other.

But then you have the design of the characters. Every female I have seen has had a tiny waist and giant breasts. In many of the games there is even an animation to make the girls’ breasts jiggle when they move. Do people really need that in their game? On top of that, they always seem to be wearing next to nothing. Their design is straight up offensive.

For the most part, the female characters do have well thought out personalities though. Characters like “Sonya Blade” in the “Mortal Kombat” are tough individuals who really kick butt in their stories. The female characters are always shown to be able to hold their own against the rest of the characters. So it is very frustrating that characters who have a lot of potential look so horrible.

Overall, this company does a bad job of representing females. As a girl, I hate spending money on a game that feels of misogynistic, but the solid gameplay always wins me over. It feels like they care more about appealing towards the male audience than making a game that everyone can enjoy. I think if they worked on the physical design on their characters it would be a lot better. Luckily, this is one of the worst examples in the industry. Next week I will talk about a company that does a much better job with their characters. 

Evolution of Female Characters

Hello! The first thing that I want to talk about is how females have evolved in video games. I think it is important to acknowledge how much progress has been made in this front. As the industry itself has evolved so has the quality of characters.

The first arcade game was created in 1971 and it was called "Galaxy Game." In the following years games like "Pong," "Gun Fight," "Space Invaders" and "Pac-Man" were created. None of these games featured fleshed out characters. It was not until 1981 when arcade games started to feature actual heroes. The game centered around "Donkey Kong" kidnapping Pauline and Mario having to save her. There's not really much to say about Pauline as a character. She was a damsel in distress whose only contribution was to give Mario a reason to take on "Donkey Kong." 

The year after "Ms. Pac-Man" was released in North America. This game was an updated "Pac-Man" that featured "Ms. Pac-Man" who was "Pac-Man" with lipstick and a bow. This was a great start for the industry.

In 1986 "Metroid" was released. This game featured a fully armored character named Samus. It is not until the end of the game that Samus takes her mask off. It is revealed to the player that they have been playing as a girl the whole time. While this could have done to prove that the gender of the character does not matter, that fact is undercut by the fact that if you beat the game in a certain amount of time you unlock a bikini costume for Samus.

The next major game worth noting is the original "Mortal Kombat" in 1991. Another arcade game, this franchise is best known for the over the top level of violence. The playable female character Sonya Blade was scantily clad in tight clothes. This is a trend that has continued all the way into the modern "Mortal Kombat" games.

In 1996 Sega Saturn released a video game with a female lead. "Tomb Raider," featured a strong female lead, and while still having a lot of fan service, managed to be empowering. This change was exciting, because it showed that a game could be successful with a female as the main character. Now, it is not uncommon for a game to have a girl be the main character or at least in the main party of a game. While many female characters fit into the "damsel" stereotype, or are the "healers," overall there has been an increase in the number of female characters and the number of fighting female characters. Of course the costumes and personalities of these characters range from well-done to offensive.

There are some games that allow the main character to pick their gender. One of the best known ones is "Pokemon." In the 1999 (in North America) game "Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Blue," the player was forced to play as a boy. It wasn't until "Pokemon Crystal" which came out in 2001 (in North America) that players had the option to play as a girl. Now the "Pokemon" franchise and many other roleplaying games give the option for a player to play as either gender. Some of these games have slightly different dialogue for characters of a different genders while others do not. Overall, these games tend to play the same regardless of gender.

Her is a link to an article about the general history of arcade games if you would like to read more: https://www.wired.com/2014/05/arcade-history/

Introduction

Hello Everyone! My name is Hallee Haar and I have been a Gamer all of my life. Some of my first memories are playing video games.  My favorite past time to this day is sitting down and playing video games. With this blog I hope to shed some light onto what it is like playing video games as a girl. Specifically, things game companies do both good and bad when it comes to their female characters. I will focus on the design of the female characters, and the overall feel to games. Each week I will focus on a different company, going over specific games that they have created. I will also touch upon the gaming community itself.

I am the right person to write this blog, because I have been a gamer my whole life. I played Pokemon before it was an option to play as a girl. I have played video games on every Nintendo and PlayStation console. I think through my years of experience I will be able to accurately portray the good, bad, and ugly of gaming as a girl. 

I hope that my readers will get a taste for what the industry looks like to a girl. I want people to understand how great some companies do portraying female characters, and how awful others do. I also want my readers to learn why these problems are important and how much (most) game companies have approved in the last twenty years. I can't wait to dive right into it next week!