@Smokescreened84 @The_Beanster Oh believe me, I've tried very hard to see what other people see in those movies and in her character. I have several friends who are die-hard Alien and Aliens fans. I just don't see it personally. I can see why *other* people like her character, but I think that characters and there development in that series is is just kinda meh at best.

It's that little thing called personal preference...

@bigbear032888 nay

I will say, however, that not every game needs a real 3D character. Some games are designed around cookie-cutter stereotype characters (Gears of War being the most obvious example) and I don't understand why people find that morally wrong or something. Some games need real, well-written, well-developed 3-D characters to work. Some don't.

@Smokescreened84 Meh... I didn't really like Ripley as a character (or any other character from the Alien movies for that matter). I know a lot of people did, but no matter how many times I see those movies, I just don't see it.

After reading a whole lot of these comments, I gotta say something: if you think sexism is a big issue in games, the best thing you can do is vote with your wallet and encourage others to do the same.

There ARE games with well written female characters and protagonists. There ARE games which don't rely on stereotype (either male or female). If it's important to you, then spend your money on those games, encourage others to do the same, and don't purchase games that rely on stereotyping (by gender or otherwise) to develop their characters.

@Smokescreened84 @The_Beanster @THizzle7XU I've read a lot of your comments, and you may not see it, but you're trolling or at the very least coming across as a troll.

You've accused people at several points in this discussion about being closed minded and not listening to others, but when anyone even gives a hint that they disagree with you, you jump all over them.

You obviously see the portrayal of women in games as a HUGE issue, but if you actually want to do something about that, you may want to try to understand why others may not see it as a big issue or at least may want to stop demonizing them. It makes you look like a crazed feminist stereotype.

@Smokescreened84 @The_Beanster @THizzle7XU Classic troll - can't think of intelligent response, trololololololol instead

Anyways, I fail to see how people clicking on something means they want it there. I read tons of articles on websites each week which lead me to the conclusion "that article really had no business being written there".

@Smokescreened84 @THizzle7XU It's not a part of gaming any more than it's a part of anything else in media/entertainment. That's why nobody wants to read these articles.

Now - in the industry itself (e.g. hiring/promotions/pay scales/workplace attitudes), I don't know. I also don't come to sites like Gamespot to find out. Put that stuff in the newspaper. There's a difference between games and the gaming industry.

@Smokescreened84 @bigbear032888 The complaining about complaining about such articles is getting old.

@malec_1 @The_Beanster @anaccsa Yeah I didn't mean that I necessarily agree with everything AegisJas said, but I think his comment shows that this issue has complexities and nuances to it which need to be addressed, which often aren't.

Most gaming journalism sites have just written tripe articles which present one side of the "issue" in a very select fashion. Then they get some combination of surprised/indignant/repulsed when they get lambasted in the comments sections.

Gender roles and gender portrayal are hot topics in our society and they're things which take more than a 500-1000 word article to address in any sort of meaningful way. I wish that for articles like this, the writers would do the work of more self consciously narrowing their arguments.

Carolyn *almost* does that here, but not quite.

@anaccsa @The_Beanster @malec_1 Didn't say that. But the way it's approached in articles like this one, and the earlier fiasco on this topic a few months ago, is that this is a problem which is unique to or at least particularly present in games compared to other areas.

My point is that I think you have to address the issue by also addressing broader cultural ideas/stereotypes. I do not think you can effectively address this issue in the games industry as an isolated thing.

I also think that the issue is more complex than is often pointed out in articles like this, as for example AegisJas's comment exposes.