I’m sure if pressed they’ll say it’s a joke
Game daily runs a tribute to the top ten boobs in videogames. With pictures, of course. And also “of course” we have lots of Dead or Alive and the necessary Lara Croft nods. But the truly fucked up thing is this: the very first game in the list is Custer’s Revenge. Because it was the first game to show boobs. You know, while General Custer rapes a naked Native American tied to a cactus.
Although we detest this game’s subject matter (General Custer rapes Native Americans), it was among the first to show boobs, a pioneer, if you will. We’ve yet to see what happens when General Custer reaches her, but considering the plot and the limited technology, some things are best left a mystery.
First of all, everyone who knows about the game has seen what happens so I don’t buy that for a second. Second, all they’re doing is encouraging people who weren’t familiar with the game to look up the video of gameplay on YouTube so that they can see the rape in all of it’s glorious 4-bit detail. Oh, but they detest the game’s subject matter, so that makes it all better, right? BOOBIES!!!!
Two titles later (after celebrating Samus’s awesome rack at the end of the first Metroid), they actually have the nerve to declare when describing the opening sequence in Double Dragon where Marian (who has nice boobs) is abducted by the bad guys: “First, violence against women makes us angry. Second…uhh guys…we WERE looking at her. Bring her back.”
There’s so much wrong with that, particularly in the context of an article that posts up Custer’s Revenge that I’m not really sure where to start.
Update: I just didn’t have the heart to create another post to talk about this commercial. Is it too goddamn much to ask for an ounce of respect for women in the gaming culture?
December 12th, 2007 at 9:22 am
I first say this video game on “Angry Video Nerd” and I was kind trouble that they was more worry about the terrible gameplay, but not so much for the theme. Like you say, there SO MUCH WRONG with all this. I will like to have your opinion on the NEW TOP 10 by ScrewAttack at gametrailers.com: “Top 10 Ho Ho Hoes in Gaming”. I didn’t see it, I don’t want to see it. I just read the “every intellingent” comments for the video and I could guest that they will get me angry. It is just me or the gaming community is that bad?
(sorry of the bad english)
December 12th, 2007 at 10:11 am
ScrewAttack has been doing a lot of “top 10 hot babes in gaming” lately — sometimes I wonder if it’s actually an effort to “restore the balance” now that there are so many Women Who Game feature stories being done in more legitimate media outlets. And yeah–the comments are pretty bad. Whenever you see an article that has anything to do whatsoever with women in a online gaming journal, you’re going to see “I would fuck her” comments (or other comments talking about her sexual worth), or if it’s about analyzing the role of women in videogames at all beyond simple eyecandy, you’ll get a bunch of “feminists suck, women are whores” comments.
This isn’t limited to just the gaming groups, unfortunately. But it’s a lot easier for us to notice because there’s such a tolerance for it.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Wow… I didn’t even know something as vile and awful as Custer’s Revenge existed way back then. I’m mean I was still on King’s Quest and Oregon Trail (I think). I wish I didn’t know about it now. Seriously.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Just be glad that Custer’s Revenge was a big flop…
December 12th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
The really odd thing about this article is that it’s not even a real ‘history of boobs in videogames’. All they did was just throw Dead or Alive in with some pretty psychotically misogynistic choices. There were several perverse games released in the early days of gaming, and they went with the war crimes choice. I presume Custer’s Revenge would be more worth watching if the technology was better?
And my jaw hit the floor with the “don’t beat and kidnap the woman because we were still ogling her” line.
This is pretty much the most disgusting ‘babes in videogames’ article ever by far, and you’d think there’d be more competition.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
I know I’m expecting waaay too much from a piece about boobs in videogames, but where the hell is the editor?
“As teenagers, we were hypnotized by her bouncing chesticles, which resulted in getting our asses handed to us. Her trademark phrase, “Me Bouncy”, could not be further from the truth.”
…so is she bouncy or not?
Also, UGH.
December 12th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
I dont even have that much to say, i gave a deep, heavy sigh from the bottom of my being, and now i just feel sad.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
I know these things have to spoken against, but honestly, I really dont know how anyone can put words together after such……. I cant even find the words to describe it, but its just sick. I cant even begin to imagine how to describe what stupidity must be driving these people, but it really is that awful.
Perhaps I should be somewhat ashamed, but I really dont feel like I have anything in common with shitheads who put out stuff like this. Just like those prick commenters who lap it up, and post all their “Id fuck her!” comments. Shit, I dont know how people can suggest video games incite violent behaviour. Dickheads who do stuff like that stir more violent thoughts in me than any videogame ever has.
December 13th, 2007 at 12:16 am
About the “Gamestop” publicity, an other great example of objectivity of women. But probably the excuse that they will give us: “We are not showing a bad image of women, she beating the “%?$ out of him! So this IS OK”. And then again, we can buy and exchange them when we want to …
Really who in the marketing process approve of that?
December 13th, 2007 at 2:21 am
Apparently it IS too much to ask that games treat women as more than sex objects for male consumption. Didn’t pointlesswasteoftime say something to that effect about the gaming industry not only blatantly missing the point but showing a united front of stupidity on this issue? Someone sic the White Ribbon people on these guys. Please.
And will we’d every see the Top Ten Testicles of Video Games? Not like I’d want to because no character deserves to be reduced to that level but considering the staggering amount of yaoi out there, one could argue there is a market for it. I wonder how the trolls and fanboys would feel if Dante and Sephiroth were treated the same way Samus and Lara Croft were. Admiring a idealized figure is one thing. Making it into something that’s only purpose is exploitive sexual consumption is another. If wish the industry could tell the difference.
December 13th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Asilic — it’s a pretty overdone theme: that it’s “ok” to show women beating up men but not ok to show men beating up women. And as long as the woman is sexy and she’s not hurting him too badly (no blood) then it’s fine–probably in the way it’s fine to show a newborn talking or a dog driving a car because (lulz) the weak girls can’t really hurt a guy, which is why it’s acceptable and funny… even though in three-round fighters, women characters will do just as much damage as male characters and eviscerate them in ways just as gruesome (with the exception of that stupid kiss of death that Sonya did).
In fact, the idea of the commercial is that he’s trading her in because he can beat her up and wants to be beaten up by someone whose every move he can’t block. And that’s fine! So, show him picking up a wizened old male Dojo master or something; so that there isn’t an undercurrent of buying and selling and trading women like they were cattle.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Some online friends and I were talking about that commercial a while ago, and we agreed that there needs to be a version where a woman gamer trades in a Devil May Cry-esque bishie for an even hotter male video game character.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Hey, you found the commercial that I talked about here! Wow, that takes me back O.O
December 13th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
[...] the links between sexist advertisement and in-game harassment of women. ETA 12/14/2007: Thanks to Feminist Gamers I’ve found the video! The description of it was spot [...]
December 15th, 2007 at 1:45 am
I totally agree with Nicole
December 15th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
One more week, one more tasteless article from gaming “journalists”. I’m losing steam in my anger here because it’s almost… familiar that some article written by some undersexed male wanker degrades women.
@Dungeon Keeper: the number one position for top ten testicles in gaming belongs to Voldo, no contest.
http://gaygamer.net/images/voldo.jpg
December 17th, 2007 at 1:40 am
Oh, no doubt. First male PC I’ve seen in bondage gear. The Second was the nosferatu in Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Brave Nossie. More power to him.
I did a ‘zine for a school project called “VG Men: Rated M for Manly”, which was a take on the endless “Hottest Babes in Games” magazines we see over and over again. It included pin-up style drawings of several famous male characters (sadly I didn’t have room for Voldo), as well as feminist observations about the industry. I had more suggestions for characters to include than I could imagine, usually in a statement that started with, “I don’t play games but…” and a list of at least ten characters they wanted to see in Playgirl.
And considering the frightening amount of yaoi out there, can the industry really be surprised women A) Play these kinds of games and B) Think about the characters that way?
It also got me thinking about if it was right for me to be posing these characters in ways I wouldn’t want to see female characters in. Am I being hypocritical to put male characters in a context I object to seeing female ones in? I’m not sure anymore. Is it right to show Sephiroth in the same context that makes us complain when we see Lara Croft in that circumstances? Should our fantasies about idealized figures be private, or is it right to share them and possibly make money off them? (Which I didn’t; it cost me money to get the thing printed - twice) Does it become wrong when a character becomes nothing more than a sex object, or can we view them in a sexual context without exploiting them?
Anybody have any comments? I could use some feedback to solve my moral quandary.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:44 am
DK — had you seen the comic book cover redesigns that Karen at OddityCollector did? (BTW, that link took me forever to dig up!).
I find that the best way to figure stuff out is to take out the pissed off brain (or the horny brain) and put in the logical brain.
First of all you should take a moment to calibrate yourself, are the yaoi comics etc you see out there really “as bad” as the stuff that objectifies women, IE, are they showing off “superman’s chest” or are they showing off “superman’s package” ? I tend to use the old yardstick of whether or not something requires clothing at the beach — if my attention is being drawn to something that requires “covering up” then I’m being titilated (no pun intended) by what could be described as a primary erogenous zone (tits, ass, package)–an area of the body that is specifically associated with sex. If the artist is showing off something that doesn’t require clothing at the beach, then my attention is being drawn to a secondary erogenous zone (legs, chest, feet, whatev) then I honestly don’t see too much wrong with it. I mean, if I got offended by every videogame or comic book woman who had long slender legs whose primary method of fighting was kicking, I’d be such a tight ass that I’d risk swallowing my chair.
Once you’ve established whether or not you’re really comparing apples to apples, the next thing to ask yourself is: in what context do these images exist, and how much power do they ultimately have? While I’m not a huge fan or reducing anyone to their sex organs, if you draw a kinky slash comic showing off Cloud’s huge … erm… sword… it’s really not objectively different than all the naked Aeris/Peach/Midna/whatever that’s out there. And the sentiment behind the yaoi can’t be very different depending on whether or not the subject is a boy or a girl. However, there is a point when you have to zoom out a little and look at the landscape. Do we live in a culture that celebrates the sexualization of men and pre-teen boys — where young men are encouraged to associate their genitals as something that belongs to others or can be traded for items they want?, where the bodies of men are used everyday to sell everything from cars to fast food, and where there is a constant one-two drumbeat of religious and legal attempts to control their bodies? And if this is not the case, then you have to ask yourself if the drawings are reflective of the culture, or subversive of the culture, because that is going to make a big difference.
What I’m trying to say is that we do need to remain objective because it keeps us honest, but we should also be subjective because it keeps us realistic.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:12 am
And considering the frightening amount of yaoi out there, can the industry really be surprised women A) Play these kinds of games and B) Think about the characters that way?
To the extent that they think that women think at all, they are probably pretty freaked out. We’re not talking about a segment of the male population that is overwhelmingly secure in its masculinity.
December 17th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
MO: THanks for the very helpful comments. The illustrations were all my own black and white line drawings of full body poses are mid shots. I think the worse offenders might have been Master Chief (nude aside from his helmet) holding a Halo 3 box over his ‘package’ with ‘To the Ladies Heart Master Chief’ written on his chest’, Sephiroth lying on his side with his wing stretched out, Dante leaning against the strippers pole from Planet Love, and Vergil kneeling on the stage floor worth one hand on the pole like he’d just finished a spin. (I have no idea if male erotic dancers use a stripper’s pole or not, but Dante looked like he could handle on pretty well in DVC3 and I doubt Vergil would let himself be shown up by his baby brother in anything) But no close ups, no erections, no money shots. Mainly the characters just posing like art models and smiling (except Henry Townsend who wasn’t so thrilled to be chained to his door next to Walter Sullivan and Sephiroth who was just too cool to smile for a tiny human insect - that high maintenance, jenova-celled prima donna. I redrew him three times before he worked for me - sheesh.) I tried not to make the ‘joystick’ the center of the piece.
And you’re right about the way the female form is used in our culture. Worrying if I’d just reversed sexism made me loose sight I was saying women’s bodies shouldn’t be property of everyone but themselves and this was a statement on how it would be like to see the male body used that way. Thanks for helping me out guys.
This means I can plan issue 2 for all the submissions I couldn’t fit in! (And fix all the other design errors I made -the type and lay out would probably kill a real designer before they even got to the content) Voldo’s gotta on the cover! And speaking of great covers, WOW Mighty One. I demand to see those the next time I walk into the local comic book store. What I wouldn’t give to see Nightwing, Wolverine, Spidey and so many other male characters disrobing while giving us the bedroom eyes the way Catwoman and Super Girl always are. Stan, Frank; Get on it!
M: I can see men who aren’t secure in their manliness doing whatever they can to prove themselves, and most gamers I know aren’t the sports playing type or other macho activities to prove themselves by accepted standards. Again, its our culture constructing unfair rules about what gender does what, so if you don’t measure up in one column, you better over compensate in another. I think Pointlesswasteroftime asked if these designers have MET any women at all.
December 21st, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I think it is pretty telling that the most comments I ever got on my blog is when I made a post about Play magazine’s annual “Girls of Gaming” issue and saying that I didn’t see the point in these sexualized female gaming characters. http://popularculturegaming.com/archives/000087.html
Then there’s also the disturbing “boob physics” video http://media.putfile.com/Half-Life-2-Boob-physics
Not all of us men like these kinds of depictions of women. I just don’t understand the men who buy these things and enjoy them.
December 21st, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Well, it really helps bolster a game development studio’s decision to push offensive depictions of women when everytime someone disagrees with the decision, the troglodytes come out of the woodwork to declare that boobies are awesome, anyone who disagrees is a fag, and “who cares anyway” ? (which is a question I like to throw back in their faces).
I would actually go so far as to say that it’s a very incestuous culture.