Yesterday I had the most incredible day.
Yesterday I visited the studio of Good Game: Spawn Point, at the ABC.
Good Game: Spawn Point is a TV show about video games, and its target audience is young gamers – under 10s — kids who spend their days playing Minecraft, Smash Bros., and Mario Kart.
The show’s creator is a woman, her name is Janet Carr. She is a real hero of mine, and I’ll never forget what she said.
“The kids are so innocent in the way they love games,” she explained, as she showed me around the set, “but the thing that really amazes me is just how many girls there are gaming.
“When I speak to developers I always say, ‘you better start thinking about the games you want to make in a couple of years for teenage girls — because soon there’s going to be a whole army of them, and they’re going to be angry when they see what’s out there.’”
And then I went home and I watched the new trailer for Hitman Absolution.
No doubt you’ve seen it already – sexuality by numbers – chaste nuns, casting aside robes to reveal themselves in the most tacky way possible. Dressed in leather and stilettos, having their faces smashed in and shot by Agent 47 — a strapping bald male — grimacing as he chokes, punches and blasts his way through this sexualised horde of females.
This, I think to myself, is what those girls, who love video games in the purest way possible, have to look forward to.
They get to watch the ‘sexy’ unboxing of video games. They get to wear underwear armour that isn’t armour at all. They get to lick lollipops suggestively. They get to play beach volleyball; they get to choose which bikini to wear while doing so.
I can’t abide it. If this is what works, if this is what genuinely sells video games, I just don’t want any part of it. Is this what we want as a culture? Is this what really works. I genuinely hope not.
Yesterday I had the most incredible day, and I left with a real hope for video games as a medium — because it has this beautiful, pure, diverse audience to look forward to, to cater to — an audience that doesn’t engage with video games in the same dull, gendered way.
They’re going to be so angry.
And I hope they get angry. All of them. There’s already an army of girls playing, engaging, writing and talking about video games – and they’re about to get some new recruits.
Janet told me that in a single week, Good Game: Spawn Point receives over 17,000 letters and emails from its viewers. At least 50% of them are from girls. I sincerely hope that, by the time they’ve grown up, we’ll have something significantly more substantial for them than Nuns in stilettos and beach volleyball in bikinis.
Because if we don’t, there’ll be hell to pay. And you best believe they won’t be donning leather and bikini armour when they burn this silly little boys club to the ground.
I'm not a woman, but do we really believe that selling games with pretty pink ribbons and my little ponies are going to less offensive to grown women? They're human beings they don't want to be patronised to.
The target market for this game is males... and that's who it's being marketed to.
Do I think it's stupid? Absolutely.
Do I think it's short sighted? Completely.
Do I believe that a company is going to blow millions of dollars in marketing without some market research first? Hell no.
Look at this from a business point of view: Games are product, with a defined market (I'm not saying their modelling is right) and until that market changes that's who their ads will target.
The market may evolve, but until it does publishers... and probably developers... will not change.
It's not about what's right, it's not about art, it's not about what's wrong, it's not about reinforcing stereotypes... it's about dollars.
Agreed. What's truly sad is that the research indicated that adding sexy nuns to a stealth shooter would sell more copies.
haha. This ^
You made me laugh. Mainly because If I didn't laugh at the truth in this i'd be crying instead.
Once again, someone writes my argument before I do, dammit!
Anyway, upon repeat viewings of that trailer, I realised that as nonsensical as it may seem, it's actually a symbolism piece for Agent 47. If you're confused as to why the assassins are dressed in nun garbs, then truly examine why it is you think the creatives did that.
[what I wrote on another site]
At the beginning, we see Agent 47, in what may be his first appearance ever, undressed, in the game's history. He dresses his wounds and we also see that he's tried to remove his barcode tatt and has covered it up. This represents the fact that for the first time we are seeing the inner layers of this man, and that he has begun rejecting his identity, again pointing to a more personal adventure for 47 in Absolution.
Now the nuns. It's strange at first to see the assassins dressed that way. Why? There's no church... they're heading towards a hotel... no reason at all to dress that way. Again, it's symbolic. The nuns represent religion; the female element represents the innocence we associate with females. These are both figures whom human beings generally find difficult to deal violence to. No one could really shoot a nun in the face without even a slight fear of divine retribution, or kill a woman without fear that some loved one would come for them. But 47 can. Because he's not clouded by emotions or thoughts. He's bred to be precise and objective.
As the nuns approach, 47 senses them in his dark room, and as he slips out the back door the camera focuses on the peephole where the brightest bit of light shines through, a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel that one could say 47 avoids. He's going to adapt, and he's going to survive.
The bondage outfits represent impending calamities, and being hunted is a theme IO interactive tells us is prevalent in the story. Their agency tattoo seemed to be proof enough of where those threats are going to come from.
But 47 is still not phased. In a sequence where he is supposed to be hunted, he turns the tables and becomes the hunter. Taking them out as quickly, brutally, and more importantly, as dispassionately as he normally does. He then stores their weapons in the trunk of his car and drives off.
This idea of the trailer being symbolic excuses the lack of narrative context in the scene("why are they at a motel?") or the ludicrous outfits, and why we don't see how 47 manages to creep up behind a group of 7 deadly assassins. The answer is because it's not important. They're trying to get you to look deeper, and while I agree they didn't execute as well as they would like people to think (no nun, er, pun intended) it is ultimately what I got out of it.
And I do think and hope people would be more understanding about creative work in future before falling into hopeless discussions about how socially detrimental any of this is.
I think that, like most things, the industry is driven by profits. Once a publisher realizes there's money to be made in games targeted specifically to women they'll start making them. The industry is growing; they're slow on the uptake, but they're not blind.
It's a transitional period for the industry - from predominantly male - to mainstream; everybody plays, and everybody's OK with that. Games made for women are coming.
I'd say they already exist. Games like The Sims, Farmville, Draw Something. I still don't buy there's a market out there for women who like games more immersive than that. Most of the hardcore gamer girls out there actually like playing games that guys like. Maybe try asking them directly if they'd like a game more sympathetic to female perspective?
The issues isn't as black and white as farmville vs CoD
From some of the things I have read you are more likely to find that women are more likley to play a game like Mass effect where interactions and conversation are a larger part of the game than KDR.
The difference between goal oriented game play and emotional gameplay is one that hasn't been fully explored. No matter what the media is there is always some that is targetted to a specific gender, film have martial arts action films for men and romantic comedies for girls. Which isn't to say that their will not be some overlap but you generally have those on either side.
What you generally then get is a range of middle ground films that are marketed neutrally and equally enjoyable from either side. Currently AAA titles that focus on this middle ground are a much smaller % than those that sit on the martial arts action film side of the scale.
Referencing hardcore gamer girls you are talking about a very small subset, what about the girls who enjoy gaming but aren't hardcore as you call them. The 8,500 young girls who are writing into GG:SP but fall away as they get older. Some can make the transition into the boys club by becoming one of the guys, but a large number will find their in nothing to hold them in the media and turn to TV or movies to fill that space in their recreation
Nice points. Maybe it has something to do with the fact most developers are males themselves. Very few females become developers. I don't know about game designers. I think the best solution is for a bunch of girls to setup their own company and design games they think will cater to a more engaged female gamer audience. To be fair, most male developers got into it for the love of games, and I'm not talking about their love of Pony sunshine 7.
Don't know if you read the article about purple moon which was basically an attempt at that. The problem was that in order to get funding it was to do more market research than game development.
But there lies the catch 22, as long as games are catering to males and there is a strong undercurrent of making women who play games unwelcome then the number who want to flow through to development will be low. How it happens I don't know, but what I think would be a better solution is to include the more female friendly features into the games. In the same way that a big budget action film will have a corresponding romance storyline running through it.
I do like playing games that guys like. Doesn't mean I don't think there is plenty of room for improvement, both of portrayal of women in male-dominated games, and some more games that feature women as protagonists. I obviously don't speak for all women, nor all women who play games, but I know plenty who are frustrated and sad that the medium they love does not seem to consider them an audience worth considering. See: The Border House, or the upcoming web series Tropes Vs Women in Video Games by Feminist Frequency. There are hundreds of people out there who love playing games targeted at guys because that is the only option available for "hardcore" games, not because they completely condone every single thing in them.
Fair enough. I guess you just need to keep grouping together and raising awareness so the developers can have an idea how big of a market to sell to
Or just make some more games keeping in mind that their market is much more diverse than they often give it credit for. That's where a developer like Bioware excels. And where a developer like Rockstar, who have made some of my favourite games ever, have not succeeded quite so well. The option to play a female charater, or, more radically, a few games where the protagonist is as well characterised and deep as other Rockstar games but just happens to be female, would be appreciated. It's not so much about how big a market it is, because I think with less sexism in the medium there would be more women playing, which is the point of this article, but about telling more varied stories which might appeal to a varied market. Women are forced to play as men all the time, I don't think it's too radical to ask men to do the same occasionally.
This is a much wider issue than games and is a don't know if it can be solved, at least not when this is all being done by businesses. I was talking with me niece the other day and she is really looking forward the the movie "The brave" (starring Mark Serrels) because it has a strong female lead.
But these are few and far between because research has shown that a girl will still watch a film with a male lead, however a number of boys will not go see a movie with a female lead. So you lose a percentage of your audience with no corresponding increase for doing so, why would any company knowingly make that choice.
Unfortunately unless the culture changes and people realise that men will go and see things with female leads, then there will be less of them around and men are not likely to go and see things with female leads. It's a horrible circular pattern that I can't see changing unless a company makes a concerted effort to take a big risk. Which is such a pity. I'm still hoping that the success of Hunger Games might begin to make a change in movies, since I work at a cinema and that consistently had the most diverse audience in age and gender that I had ever seen. Couples, groups of teenage boys, groups of 40 year old women, elderly people, and the requisite tween girls. Just heartwarming to see :)
I agree with most of this though the threats through out could have been dropped. "Hell to pay, BURN down the silly boys club" all that stuff. For the record I agree. Females heroins are few on the ground in the gaming world. Lets hope more like EA's Mass Effect 3< where you can be Male or a Female leader in "actual armor" becomes popular :) In the end it's supposed to be equality, not take over and act worse.
I'd be much more impressed with a girl wearing a pair of sneakers and a hoodie with body armor on underneath.
Who am I kidding though? Heels and leather mini skirts is obviously more appropriate for trained killers to be wearing...
Wow, haven't checked this site for a while, but when have gamers become such female apologist wusses? Did I just see a trailer for Hitman or Barbie Ponies Unicorn 6? Of all games that can afford to be ultra macho in an over-the-top manner, it's Hitman. It's a game enjoyed by guys. Yes, there are lines that it mustn't be crossed, but one example does not a trend make. The whole world is becoming so effeminate with less and less male role models in society. Can't guys have a bit of escapism in our own domain? See the girls out there screaming their heads off for Justin Bieber or One Direction? That's just girls being girls. In the same way, boys like to see boobies. Stop apologising to women about it.
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well, you certainly seem to have a firm grip on your manhood.
"Can’t guys have a bit of escapism in our own domain"
So games are just the domain of men now? The problem some of us have with this clip is that it is trying hard to make that statement a reality. How would you react if a woman started saying that books are the domain of women and therefore any books to targeted towards her likes shouldn't be allowed. Or to use your example the music is women's domain because they are the ones that care enough to go and scream at their idols. So major labels should only release boy band and light pop.
It was apparently a trailer for hitman, but that clip is nothing at all like the hitman I know. It is dark, mean and violent. Wait for the right moment and then strike without warning. Stipper nun fox news bait isn't or at least has never been part of what makes hitman, hitman.
Like x infinity.
Fail. I said Hitman is a game for guys. When I say 'domain' I mean the domain of 'games for guys'. e.g. Gears of War, GTA, COD
Why are Hitman or Gears or GTA or COD guys games?
Also, I am not saing this particular trailer is not offensive. But one example a trend does not make.
Oh hai, girl here. I hate Barbies, Ponies, Justin Beiber and One Direction. I play GoW, Hitman, etc. It's not "your" domain, it's something both sexes have fun doing, get used to the fact that there are ladies in the treehouse now and we will only increase in number.
Oh, and funny side note: the only people I know who have collections of barbies and ponies are all guys.
Agree Clee, great response.
What I want to know is why were they dressed as nuns in the first place and where the hell did she pull that RPG from?
If modern day hitmen wear suits, surely these nuns should have been in business attire instead
Nuns don't wear habits anymore either... well, a few orders do but not many.
read my long-ass comment above where i explain it.
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I have to admit, that's a pretty annoying trailer.I hope there is more to the whole Nuns thing than just "Absolution" but really, it would have been perfectly fine if they stayed in the Habits.
I don't think the skimpy leather outfits didn't add anything, and to me, cheapened the whole clip. And it did so in a way no other Hitman game has done in the past.
I'm suddenly a little bit worried about this game...
I love Kotaku AU for the interesting articles on gaming culture, and the fact that unlike most other mainstream gaming sites I've seen, they're willing to address the darker sides of gaming culture, such as the sexism, racism and homophobia that is unfortunately rife among a vocal minority. And in particular, I love Kotaku AU for the community that seems to be open minded and comments with considered opinions , unlike pretty much anywhere else in mainstream gaming online culture.
On the article itself, I pretty much just play single player RPGs because theyre the ones that let me play as a female character that I define (oh Bioware how I adore thee), or games with carefully crafted stories and deep main characters (like Red Dead Redemption), because those are the few games that allow me to mostly avoid the isms that really bother me.
So thank you to commenters like Shane and Shoggoth for giving me hope for humanity. And to Mark for such a fantastic article, I love Good Game itself and have been thinking I should watch Spawn Point for a while, and I think knowing that the show runner is a very intelligent woman with great things to say about gaming culture will finally convince me :)
yeah...somtimes I DO get angry
While the trailer may be slightly over the top, we're arguing about the poor representation of women in a game that's entirely dedicated to finding the most effective way to illegally assassinate someone. No problem with the murdering or promoting a criminal lifestyle, just get those damned latex clad nuns out of there...
The World: Those video games are violent and we are worried that they will make people more violent!
Gamers: Look at all these studies proving that you're wrong!
The World: Okay, but what about all the sexist objectification of women for reasons that have nothing to do with gameplay?
Gamers: OMG! Why aren't you worried about all the violence in video games?!
Amen, brother!
im a big fan of action games like this.. but sadly that trailer disgusted me in a sense that to me it seems that they have inferiorated females making them look weak and their outfits were also a little "too sexy/over the top" for what they were doing.. idk i guess i just wanna be able to play a game like this or any other action/shooting/violence game where i can be/play as a female character that is equal to male characters.. although the fact that there arent any or many female characters in violent games is that it may be that the gaming industry doesnt want to endorse violence against women (except for the fact that this trailer kinda just did in a way) because the gaming industry gets accused for many things such as the future behaviour of many young children/teens growing up and being desensitized to violence towards people and thinking that its ok.. idk this kind of topic is quite controversial because there are so many view points and ideologies.. but thats just my thoughts :)
"but sadly that trailer disgusted me in a sense that to me it seems that they have inferiorated females making them look weak"
Agent 47 is perhaps the deadliest assassin in his fictional world and the protagonist of the game. Surely they wouldn't have the nun assassins kill him and thus end their popular video game franchise because of the fear of making females look 'weak' or 'inferior?' To me those were some kick ass empowered chick assassins living in a world of equal danger of which both genders can participate in. So if Agent 47 can't kill bad female assassins because it might may them look 'inferior' or 'weak' what do we do next - leave female enemies out of the game entirely (oh now that's sexist isn't it?) or just cheap out and have Agent 47 knock them out with a steel pipe or something?
"and their outfits were also a little “too sexy/over the top” for what they were doing"
What they were doing? They were armed to the teeth and about to blow away another assassin... Should they be dressed in suits or something? You do realise this is a fictional story set in a comic book quasi-popcorn universe dont you...
"idk i guess i just wanna be able to play a game like this or any other action/shooting/violence game where i can be/play as a female character that is equal to male characters"
There are no games like this at all? Are you sure?
"although the fact that there arent any or many female characters in violent games is that it may be that the gaming industry doesnt want to endorse violence against women (except for the fact that this trailer kinda just did in a way) because the gaming industry gets accused for many things"
You just accused them of a few things as well.
why is every body so up set about this it makes no sense at all when movies and tv get away with much worse why is it that game s are the ones being targeted when i play games i dont play for what the enimies are whereing or about their gender i play for the story the and gameplay all you adults are over thinking it
Thanks for this Mark - well fricking said. Sadly though, I think I need to reinstate my comment blocker policy on Kotaku posts that look at gender issues in gaming. But I'll still be reading the stories.
I'm proud to say my daughter will be a member of that army.
I thought you meant the nuns for a second. Then sense kicked in. :P
Hopefully that trailer has nothing to do with the actual game.
That said, why can't we just let people make/play the games they want to make/play. Get a group of people together and try startup a game devoid of the sexism you hate?
Seems better than attacking developers.
Showed my girl friend the trailer she cant wait to play the game, not everyone fits in your cookie cutter world.
Great article! My sentiments exactly. Let's burn it to the ground and out of that create something better in the process.
17000 emails and they determine the sex of the authors? yeah right. I work with high volumes of emails 80,000 plus and there is no way anyone would be doing that sort of analysis.
unless there is a webform
Most of the questions answered on the show are along the lines of I'm this old and a boy I like adeventure games like this and cane you recommend anything for me
It's a game that is squarely in the pulp/action/schlock genre. While it is an exceedingly silly premise, anyone who is genuinely offended by it should re-evaluate their own sensibilities.
Yes there is sexism in video games, yes I hate how people use the term "rape/fag/pussy/bitch" all feminising words to be-little their opponents.
However I don't think this trailer in particular is some kind of overly aggressive sexist example people should jump on, this is like a Conan pulp comic/story, it's all massive stereotypes and over-the-top characters.
While we are at it can we please do something about all the topless, ripped muscle men in video games. It is so sexists and offends me so much.
God of War
http://i.imgur.com/LtDe2.jpg
Mass Effect
http://i.imgur.com/vxzrW.png
Gears of War
http://i.imgur.com/AWyJu.jpg
Deus X
http://i.imgur.com/s1Ezs.jpg
Resident Evil
http://i.imgur.com/3X798.jpg
Devil May Cry
http://i.imgur.com/9Xn77.jpg
Here's why you are being a dick.
http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-13/05-the-death-of-snkrs/falseequivalence/
That just became one of my favourite comics of all time.
Two words: false equivalency.
"They get to watch the ‘sexy’ unboxing of video games. They get to wear underwear armour that isn’t armour at all. They get to lick lollipops suggestively. They get to play beach volleyball; they get to choose which bikini to wear while doing so."
All of that is awesome.
YES THIS IS WHAT WE AS A CULTURE WANT, A MILLION TIMES YES.
But that doesn't mean there isn't room for something aimed at girl gamers too. And if they are indeed as big an audience as is generally believed these days, then it will happen. It's just good business.
That trailer was just tacky :\
Gaming really needs more Alex Roivases, more Samus Arans.