There should be more leading women in games...

Really,how many games,be them series or standalone ones can you list where a woman is the main protagonist?

Other than Tomb Raider or Dead or Alive.

No One Lives Forever series had Cate Archer in the lead role. Just wish they'd make a third game.

Anyway, there's the Alice games - starring...er...Alice. Quite a few PC adventure games have women in the leading role - Syberia 1 & 2, Longest Journey, etc.

You just need to look around. ;)

It's harder to focus on the actual game. It's like when they introduced that female judge in UFC, yeah she's not that pretty but it's still had to concentrate 100% on the two fighters when she's around!

I can't be the only one rigtht? Right?!

I agree. Just not a Japanese game :lol:

But I bet they will mess up Lara Croft in the New TR game. After seeing that demo I think they will make her way too whiney and "Girly" for lack of a better word. They need to keep her as a strong level headed girl who grows into a woman,

No One Lives Forever series had Cate Archer in the lead role. Just wish they'd make a third game.

Anyway, there's the Alice games - starring...er...Alice. Quite a few PC adventure games have women in the leading role - Syberia 1 & 2, Longest Journey, etc.

You just need to look around. ;)

RobertBowen

>_> i hope you realise there's not even a comparison with male leads.

They are too few!

Where everywhere you look,male leads!

I agree. Just not a Japanese game :lol:

But I bet they will mess up Lara Croft in the New TR game. After seeing that demo I think they will make her way too whiney and "Girly" for lack of a better word. They need to keep her as a strong level headed girl who grows into a woman,

seanmcloughlin

Nah, this will be the best Tomb Raider yet, watch.

Really,how many games,be them series or standalone ones can you list where a woman is the main protagonist?

Other than Tomb Raider or Dead or Alive.

GreekGameManiac

Why? shouldn´t games depict real life and not some womean based nonsense ;)

Great Games with Great Female Lead Protagonists:

- The Longest Journey
- No One Lives Forever 1 & 2
- Portal & Portal 2
- Silent Hill 3
- Okami
- Metroid Prime series
- Beyond Good & Evil

....you're right, unfortunately it's not many.

Great Games with Great Female Lead Protagonists:

- The Longest Journey
- No One Lives Forever 1 & 2
- Portal & Portal 2
- Silent Hill 3
- Okami
- Metroid Prime series
- Beyond Good & Evil

....you're right, unfortunately it's not many.

gamerdude375

Make sequels to The Longest Journey and Beyond Good & Evil.!

And Portal.

http://uk.gamespot.com/users/Smokescreened84/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25972837 - I wrote that article a while ago which is about the lack of playable female leads in video games. Many developers always use the excuse that a female wouldn't work, it wouldn't be realistic. Yeah, right, and men who can do super punches, fly, do mid air fights in the 16th century, use magic and other unrealistic things in most games is super realistic. The developers of the Game Of Thrones game has used the same excuse to make up for their lack of creative thought, that game has you playing as two characters - both of them male lead only. No female character because, from what I read in their forums and the reply from one of the developers, it would be too hard to create a female character and to explain her presence in a man's world. The constant lack of creativity in video games and the over use of the same tired ideas and the same non-creative male lead isn't helping the industry progress in regards of new ideas, better stories and such when developers keep doing the same thing time and time again while using the same old flimsy excuses to explain why they can't be bothered to do something new when it comes to playable leads. Out of all the games coming out from this time, only a tiny handful allow for playing as female - Dragon's Dogma, Chainsaw Lollipop - although it's yet another male fantasy ideal of women game with a main lead who doesn't exactly show that the industry has matured in regards of it's attitudes towards females and Borderlands 2 - one female, three males yet again. Only three games have come out so far that allow for playing as female - Kingdoms Of Amalur, Final Fantasy 13-2 and Mass Effect 3. Every other game, which is about 99% of this year's releases both out now and coming out, are male lead only. I only prefer to play as female, I got sick to death of male leads after almost thirty years of gaming. My game list in regards of games to buy for this year is very small, I have no desire to endure the boredom of playing as male when I'm not male and can't relate to males, I like to be able to truly care about the character I play as, and I do that better with a female lead. I can't connect with a male character since I am unable to think and feel as male, it only depresses me deeply after years of being forced to be male because of the whole 'BE A MAN! IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE!' mentality where I live and within society. More female leads are needed in gaming, more gender choice in games, a more equal and balanced choice for gamers instead of generic male 5000's time and time again.Smokescreened84

You Win!

Enslaved doesn't allow for playing as female. You only play as male in that game, the female in the game is the support role and damsel in distress. Heavy rain is male focused. Heavenly Sword's female lead barely wears any clothing - breasts do not make good armour no matter what males may think - Mirror's edge 2 is male lead only - Faith from the first game is now the damsel in distress to be rescued by her son. JRPG female characters are usually stereotypical and don't show a strong female lead very often.Smokescreened84

There is no cleavage of Nariko from Heavenly Sword, Ninja Theory has always had strong, smart female characters that dont have huge boobs or any cleavage.

Enslaved doesn't allow for playing as female. You only play as male in that game, the female in the game is the support role and damsel in distress. Heavy rain is male focused. Heavenly Sword's female lead barely wears any clothing - breasts do not make good armour no matter what males may think - Mirror's edge 2 is male lead only - Faith from the first game is now the damsel in distress to be rescued by her son. JRPG female characters are usually stereotypical and don't show a strong female lead very often.Smokescreened84

Wait what? Is that true about Mirror's edge 2? Where did you hear that?

[QUOTE="Smokescreened84"]Enslaved doesn't allow for playing as female. You only play as male in that game, the female in the game is the support role and damsel in distress. Heavy rain is male focused. Heavenly Sword's female lead barely wears any clothing - breasts do not make good armour no matter what males may think - Mirror's edge 2 is male lead only - Faith from the first game is now the damsel in distress to be rescued by her son. JRPG female characters are usually stereotypical and don't show a strong female lead very often.crimsonman1245

There is no cleavage of Nariko from Heavenly Sword, Ninja Theory has always had strong, smart female characters that dont have huge boobs or any cleavage.

She wears barely any clothes and shows a lot of leg and skin. That's not good enough.Just look at her, how will this protect you in a fight?

Samus is the only one who has had proper armour that doesn't allow for her boobs to protrude out. All other females in any game with armour still have the shape of breasts in their armour and it's not needed. Samus is the only one who has real armour

[QUOTE="Smokescreened84"]Enslaved doesn't allow for playing as female. You only play as male in that game, the female in the game is the support role and damsel in distress. Heavy rain is male focused. Heavenly Sword's female lead barely wears any clothing - breasts do not make good armour no matter what males may think - Mirror's edge 2 is male lead only - Faith from the first game is now the damsel in distress to be rescued by her son. JRPG female characters are usually stereotypical and don't show a strong female lead very often.seanmcloughlin

Wait what? Is that true about Mirror's edge 2? Where did you hear that?

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

[QUOTE="Smokescreened84"]Enslaved doesn't allow for playing as female. You only play as male in that game, the female in the game is the support role and damsel in distress. Heavy rain is male focused. Heavenly Sword's female lead barely wears any clothing - breasts do not make good armour no matter what males may think - Mirror's edge 2 is male lead only - Faith from the first game is now the damsel in distress to be rescued by her son. JRPG female characters are usually stereotypical and don't show a strong female lead very often.Smokescreened84

Wait what? Is that true about Mirror's edge 2? Where did you hear that?

Man that's a lame a** story then. I was also hoping for faith to return. She was very nimble and agile. Let's hope that's a bogus rumour. Only way I would buy is if it has some good gameplay then

Tomb Raider was not originally a female character she was just a female model used to represent a male character to prevent litigation over copying Indiana Jones. What we need is good characters with genders first and then good female characters can appear. ATM a lot of the characters are genderless and pretty much characterless. [QUOTE="Smokescreened84"] I was researching for any information on Mirror's Edge 2 and someone on Fuse found it, as well as a trailer. It's set about fifteen years or so later form the first game and Faith is kidnapped by the government of the first game, her son goes to rescue her. I won't be buying it, that's for sure. I was hoping for a return of Faith as the main lead, not as the stereotypical damsel in distress.markop2003

And what do you think is the liklehood of DICE of all companies to deliver that amount of character and emotional intreraction? Not bloody likely. Chances are it will be a male lead and have more gunpplay because it's a male.

It's no excuse to have you only playing as male though. Allowing the player to choose form playing as her son or her daughter would allow the player to choose the direction of the story themselves instead of lumping yet another male lead only in an industry clogged with them. Lara Croft was turned into a large breasted sex toy by the marketing department, the video game industry is controlled by males who have very outdated and sexist ideas of females. In their eyes the only way that a female character can be accepted is if she's wearing barely any clothes, has large breasts and the same amount of personality as a male lead - as in practically none. It's rare that a well written playable female lead isn't shown as some male fantasy of skimpy clothing, large breasts and the male ideal of perfection.Smokescreened84

I wouldn't say the devs are sexist, they just think of gamers as nerds who want to play around with women and stare at them. They don't think very highly of the fans when it comes to these issues. Unless it's a japanese female character then you can say it's sexist on their behalf

It's no excuse to have you only playing as male though. Allowing the player to choose form playing as her son or her daughter would allow the player to choose the direction of the story themselves instead of lumping yet another male lead only in an industry clogged with them. Lara Croft was turned into a large breasted sex toy by the marketing department, the video game industry is controlled by males who have very outdated and sexist ideas of females. In their eyes the only way that a female character can be accepted is if she's wearing barely any clothes, has large breasts and the same amount of personality as a male lead - as in practically none. It's rare that a well written playable female lead isn't shown as some male fantasy of skimpy clothing, large breasts and the male ideal of perfection.Smokescreened84

You know what?

If i was a game developer,i'd design a videogame centered around a fat girl!

:)

Really,how many games,be them series or standalone ones can you list where a woman is the main protagonist?

Other than Tomb Raider or Dead or Alive.

GreekGameManiac

[QUOTE="GreekGameManiac"]

Really,how many games,be them series or standalone ones can you list where a woman is the main protagonist?

Other than Tomb Raider or Dead or Alive.

YoshiYogurt

Lol.:P

Make sequels to The Longest Journey and Beyond Good & Evil.!

GreekGameManiac

The did make a sequel to The Longest Journey:

http://www.gamespot.com/dreamfall-the-longest-journey/reviews/dreamfall-the-longest-journey-review-6147844/

it also had a female lead and it had an excellent story....but unfortunately it didn't live up to the high acclaim of the original due to some poor gameplay design decisions (like incorporating combat, into what was supposed to be an adventure game), not to mention the sequel ended on a jarring cliffhanger, which Ragnar Tornquist is taking his sweet time to resolve (going on 6 years now) because these days he's more interested in cashing in on MMOs.

They are are making a anticipated sequel to Beyond Good & Evil.....or they claim to be....who knows when we'll see that.

Another game I would add to the list in terms of strong leading women....though it doesn't feature a female protagonist....it's features strong female characters as the primary characters of the game....BioShock 2....particularly with the strong contrasting characters of Eleanor Lamb and Sophia Lamb.

Most dev's think of gamers as nerd boys who want to play as big testosterone dripping space marines and maybe have some chick with ridiculously large boobs accompanying them.

And they're right.

Have all the academic discussions you want, but if you want to stay in business, you give the customers what they want. Not what they say they want - but what they actually buy.

To tell the truth I stay away from games that have female lead, but I have to agree with you tc.

But you know what will be more awesome? If there were more female game designers, programmers etc

That will change the industry FOR THE BETTER I'm sure.

The did make a sequel to The Longest Journey.

gamerdude375

I meant ANOTHER one,

>_>

Video games present a fantasy world, why would I want realistic instead of idealistic women in the games I choose to play. Are you going to add a nagging thread to their speech pattern as well? The point is video games are meant to present a world that we don't live in and to bring a more realistic approach to females, however noble, simply isn't marketable. I'm willing to bet money that the next Tomb Raider flops due to what they have done to Laura Croft.

Most dev's think of gamers as nerd boys who want to play as big testosterone dripping space marines and maybe have some chick with ridiculously large boobs accompanying them.

And they're right.

Have all the academic discussions you want, but if you want to stay in business, you give the customers what they want. Not what they say they want - but what they actually buy.

Jackc8

Actually, I'd disagree.

That sells because it's primarily the only thing being fed to us. Look at point's #5 and especially point #4 here.

Provide a valid great and more intelligent alternative to an audience at many will gravitate toward it.

Uncharted 2 & 3 are among the best selling games this gen within the action genre...and at the top of the pile in terms of critical acclaim....it doesn't feature big roided-out space marines or chicks with big boobs....that didn't stop it from being one of the most acclaimed action series this gen.

...one of the most acclaimed FPS series and one of the highest selling of all time...Half-Life 2 and it's episodes.....it doesn't feature some space marine, nor is the female characters presented in ridiculously over-endowed ways.

Same can be said with movies....in the 80's, action movies were dominated by muscle bound rambo types and scantily clad damsels in distress....that changed in the 90's and the muscle bound rambo type is viewed as an anachronism....well, with the exception of Michael Bay movies, but he caters to the juvinille male mindset.

To tell the truth I stay away from games that have female lead, but I have to agree with you tc.

But you know what will be more awesome? If there were more female game designers, programmers etc

That will change the industry FOR THE BETTER I'm sure.

pesh_fury

Sadly,that's wrong for one simple reason.

Those women will never be DIRECTORS.

Making games to. There needs to be more Women working behind the Scenes in making games to.

[QUOTE="crimsonman1245"]

[QUOTE="Smokescreened84"]Enslaved doesn't allow for playing as female. You only play as male in that game, the female in the game is the support role and damsel in distress. Heavy rain is male focused. Heavenly Sword's female lead barely wears any clothing - breasts do not make good armour no matter what males may think - Mirror's edge 2 is male lead only - Faith from the first game is now the damsel in distress to be rescued by her son. JRPG female characters are usually stereotypical and don't show a strong female lead very often.seanmcloughlin

There is no cleavage of Nariko from Heavenly Sword, Ninja Theory has always had strong, smart female characters that dont have huge boobs or any cleavage.

She wears barely any clothes and shows a lot of leg and skin. That's not good enough.Just look at her, how will this protect you in a fight?

Samus is the only one who has had proper armour that doesn't allow for her boobs to protrude out. All other females in any game with armour still have the shape of breasts in their armour and it's not needed. Samus is the only one who has real armour

Well let's see...

There's Samus from Metroid.

Faith from Mirror's Edge.

Rubi from Wet.

Shantae from Shantae: Risky's Revenge (A surprisingly good DSi Ware side scroller from WayForward)

Rayne from the Bloodrayne series.

Dollface from Twisted Metal.

The cast of Skullgirls.

Amaterasu from Okami.

Bayonetta.

Nariko from Heavenly Sword.

Chell from Portal.

Shanoa from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.

Alice from... Alice.

Cate Archer from No One Lives Forever (Monolith, make a sequel)

Jill from Resident Evil Revelations. RE as a series is always overlooked in these types of threads. RE4 was the only one without a female counterpart, and even then you get to play a separate Ada campaign when completing the main game.

Momohime from Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Though IIRC she was technically possessed, but whatever.

Lightning in FFXIII.

There are also instances where you can play as females during the course of other games. Such as Mona Sax in Max Payne 2 (who's awesome, btw), Catwoman in Arkham City (even going as far to allowing you to freeroam with her), or Rachel/Ayane/whatever the other girl's name was in Ninja Gaiden II.

It isn't nearly as much as male leads, but there you go. Now, this will be dismissed by a lot of people because the women are either "oversexualized" or don't portray real women. I think that argument only applies to Bayonetta and Rayne. Sure, Jill Valentine has nice proportions. Her frame is way more common among women compared to Chris' sheer muscle mass compared to the modern man though.

To be completely fair, games that actually portray males in some sort of relatable light also portray their women the same. Such as Uncharted.

I think the lack of leading women in games largely reflects real-life. How many female leaders do we have in this world? Not many.

Mainly because we objectify women; usually when we have women in games we portray them as beautiful, and more often times than not, lack any real personality. I'd be interested in seeing games with more female roles, so long as it's pulled off right.

The problem however is that will then lead to any female leading role appear to be more masculine, and people have problems with that. We essentially have 2 types of women in games and no middle ground; Whiney, emotional and useless, and to contrast, cold, emotionless and anti-social.

Cmon! There are heaps of Japanese games with leading women.

But if you mean interesting women protaginists who aren't just eye candy, than yeah I mostly agree. And Lollipop chainsaw doesn't look like it's gonna make things any better

No One Lives Forever series had Cate Archer in the lead role. Just wish they'd make a third game.

Anyway, there's the Alice games - starring...er...Alice. Quite a few PC adventure games have women in the leading role - Syberia 1 & 2, Longest Journey, etc.

You just need to look around. ;)

RobertBowen

Laura Bow pc game Jen Tate from ps2 primal Kya from PS2 Yuna,Rikki,Luna from final fantasy x-2 Claire Redfield resident evil 2 Maya summoner 2 actually surprise no one mention these two leading female characters Aya Brea Parasite Eve and Regina Dino crisis 1,2

I disagree.

As a male I still enjoyed playing these rare games and relating to the female player character. Some call it role-play. Others, empathy. I suppose you don't bother to concern yourself with such irrelevant features of masculinity.

Characters should serve the story and the context of the game. Remember that most of the real-life sh*t we like to emulate in videogames, is done by men. Typical women have little place in most games, but so do typical men. Exceptional (unreal) people are the focus of most videogames, and exceptional people are usually either men or women who are like men. The argument is like saying games should be less violent, it's a nice thought but combat is still the most fun thing in games.

Besides if you really want to see more demographics represented, why not include more children or the elderly (even bearded wizards are middle-aged at best) or black people?

And why games, of all arts?

Forcing female player characters into games often just screams "progressive". It's like most homosexual stories that not only fail to bring insight to this condition, but are simply bad romance stories as well, settling for a simple 'it's great to be gay message.

Unless you're a female gamer or a dude who like to pause the game and fap off at pixelated boobs and booty, I don't see the need for more female lead protagonists in games if it's only just to have more female leads. Games giving players character customization options and gender decisions is good enough. If a good story can be written specifically for a female protagonist and the game is worth playing, I'm all for it.

I will say it's a shame that 85% of games with female characters like Bayonetta, Lara Croft, Chloe, Miranda, most jrpgs, etc, are obviously designed to entice and arouse male gamers and nothing more. It would be nice to see more female characters who actually have character and are more than the over sexualized damsel in distress or the bad ass, butt kicking fem-dude chic with big boobs. Other than that, it's just another PR, 'politically correct' movement similar to companies like EA appeasing the gay community who felt left out due to a lack of homosexual romance options.

I agree, I would love to see:

• A female assassin on Assassin's Creed
• A princess of Persia
• A female horse rider on Darksiders
• A female character on Resident Evil (like they did on RE4)
• And so on...

Really,how many games,be them series or standalone ones can you list where a woman is the main protagonist?

Other than Tomb Raider or Dead or Alive.

GreekGameManiac

Whats the reason for the need for more female leads? to justify some womens selfimagine they know is not a reality?

Also most games try to keep at least some things true.

So personally i would hate to play as a women, but i could understand if more games let the gamer choose like Mass Effect.