Fat Princess
A new game about to be released for the PSN called Fat Princess is a TF2-like capture-the-flag game where the point is to feed your princess enough cake so that she grows really fat so that the opposing team can’t carry her back to their castle.
Honestly, the “core game mechanics” are brilliant, and if I didn’t care one whit about the objectification of women or fat-bashing, I would think this was the best thing since… well, Team Fortress 2. And I’m quite sure that this describes 99% of the PSN players out there, so I’m sure the game will do very well.
But here is another game mechanic:
Instead of running out into the forest to find cake to fatten up the princess with, why not go out and find gold (which is a lot heavier than cake) to stuff into a treasure chest. The more gold in the chest, the heavier it would be, and the harder it would be to carry.
Oh, but that’s not as “cute” as cake and fat chicks. Right.
So how about layering, Karamari-style, a bunch of random shit on top of the chest, like shrubbery, rocks, bison, etc, that would also weight it down. That could be cute, and silly, and not reinforce nasty stereotypes about women and the obese.
Update: Shakes has caught wind of this, and she is pissed.
Update again: Can you believe just this afternoon I was wondering when my next outbreak of herpes trolls would be?
July 19th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Okay… so… they make game after game with women with unrealistically skinny bodies, then they change it up and do the extreme, unrealistic opposite, and the woman is still the helpless, inactive character. Fail. Why did they have to make it a person, indeed? Why not make it a farm animal or something? “Capture the Cow” could work on the same mechanics, be cute, and not offend anyone.
Or how about “Arm the Princess” — where when the opposing team comes to kidnap her, she blows their faces off with a rocket launcher? The more she’s armed, the harder it is to kidnap her. Woot, I made a game!
July 19th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I like the idea of an animal. You could have a different one every level that starts out teeny and ends up gianormous. It wouldn’t have to be a real animal, either. Pick a dragon hatchling that goes from pocket size to slightly smaller than something that’s twined around the world in Norse mythology. And ‘Arm the Princess’ sounds awesome. You could have different weapons everywhere. The better the weapon the harder it is to get. Daggers and lead pipes would be easy but BFGs would take heroic effort. Each level it gets harder to find the weapons and armament gets scarcer so the teams really gotta move to find the good stuff. I’d play that!
I was flipping through some favorite fairy tales and noticed that the ones Disney never adapts had some kick-ass princesses who broke curses or were the sole reason a rather stupid hero makes it out of the ogre’s castle. Why can’t we see some of those ladies in games? Let’s see Zelda (or any given female video game royalty) go East of the Sun and West of the Moon or have every second level of the next game be her doing vital inside saboteur missions to make sure Link gets the widget he needs (and instructions on how to use it) or an attack gets thwarted by a preemptive strike.
July 19th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
The other thing about “Arm the Princess” is that then the Princess could be a player, rather than just a McGuffin.
July 19th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
This post made me hungry…
Perhaps we are missing a secondary subversive element where the fact is not that she is a FAT princess but a fat PRINCESS? A disgusting and useless appendage of royalty who spends her days eating cake whilst the peasants starve and then suggesting they ought to be eating cake too?
Oh, Princess, eh, very nice. And how d’she get that, eh? By exploiting the workers! By ‘anging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. If there’s ever going to be any progress…. LOOK, Strange women sitting in castles becoming increasingly untransportable is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical eating competition!
Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!
July 20th, 2008 at 12:45 am
Maybe we need someone to adapt ‘Heads’ into a PC or console game. It was a fun card game were you played an executioner during the French Revolution and got points based on the kind of people you decapitated. The higher the rank, the more points you got.
July 20th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Now I’m doubly sad because we will probably never see the alternatives Maestro and Dungeon Keeper describe. They sound fun!
July 20th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
actually seeing how I’d like to get into gaming cancept art/design I wouldn’t mind doing some sketches for this ‘Arm the Princess’ game XD
July 20th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Do share!
July 21st, 2008 at 8:44 am
That’s it, we need to form our own company: Might Pony Productions. We’ll make games that are fun and don’t pander to the trolls.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:39 am
Pwnies Productions presents…
July 21st, 2008 at 11:47 am
dude, don’t even tempt me. Long time pipe dream, there.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:13 pm
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/ReiSilver/pics%20banners%20etc/armPrincess.jpg
there’s my first sketch, I got the idea of not only finding weapons but finding an outfit that would afford the princess more mobility then her gowns, I went for the page boy uniform
July 21st, 2008 at 9:36 pm
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/ReiSilver/pics%20banners%20etc/armPrincesscolor.jpg
colour version ^^
July 21st, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Torri, that’s awesome. I request more sketches, if it’s not too much trouble, because that looks a lot cooler than Fat Princess. “Arm the Princess”… now there’s a fine approach to the old “defend your castle!” games.
I have nothing whatsoever to say about the game, because I have no words after looking at that picture. I am not surprised they let it go through like this. No, I don’t give a shit if it’s cartoony and cutesy, it’s offensive to women and fat people (and doubly to fat women). It’s a shame, too, because the basics of the game are well-thought and could work when all of the classes come together.
I’ll bet that they have some sort of gruesome death scene for the princess when she’s captured, too.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Better clothes?! BRILLIANT! Pants! Finally, at long last, pants….!
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:25 am
Torri, that is SWEET. You rock out loud!
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:21 am
You could upgrade the clothes, too, and get better armor to go with your weapons. Wow, this would kick so much ass to play.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:29 am
I am seriously tempted to ask what sort of programming resources we have here at FG… I’m just a db developer so I wouldn’t be able to get the actual engine going, just inventory management and possibly level design.
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I know some programmers! Except that they are all already neck-deep in their own projects.
Other than that, I’m pretty useless.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:29 pm
You RESCUE the fat princess. The player wants to SAVE her, not make fun of her. I don’t see the problem. Of all the things to get worked up about, this is one of the silliest.
Admin’s reponse: I agree… so, you and the rest of your Neogaf friends will be leaving to go pursue actual worthwhile interests rather than spending precious minutes trolling a board for a silly game, then?
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I find this silly. You quite willingly accepted videogames’ objectification of women up till this point. I don’t see any of the hateful stereotypes you described in your article. I’m sure you yourself isn’t a living depiction of Lara Croft, nor are you a fat princess. So what’s the issue here? That a videogame’s depiction of a chosen gender is not the form acceptable by society? I’m afraid it’s not the developers of Fat Princess that you should oppose, but the people in society who will inherently be mean to fat people whether fat princess exists or not.
Seriously, ditch this political correctness nonsense and just enjoy games for what they are, games.
Admin Response: Oooh! He called us “politically correct!” Snap! Also, see It’s just a game. Also, we accepted videogame’s objectification of women up till this point? Really? Did this blog just start today?
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Well, men and women have been objectified since the beginning of time, but the reality is, not every man is built like Leonidas and not every women is Aphrodite. Women are in no means the only ones being stereotyped in games, bald space marines? Bishounens?
It’s rare that you find a game or film or music etc. that doesn’t objectify either genders, and the world is still spinning isn’t it? Entertainment is just that, entertaining, I personally don’t see how someone should get worked up over something like this, especially when a lot worse things exist. Know a film called saw?
Admin’s response Oh, so you get to tell us feminists what we should and shouldn’t care about? Hm, I think I’ll pass. And until you learn to read the previously-linked “Just a Game” article, you really don’t have a leg to stand on. Go back to your troll den. Just because someone reacts to a Sony game with less-than-glowing praise doesn’t mean we’re out to get you.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:20 pm
To everyone else who’s trolling Shakes and FG, I hope a little knowledge doesn’t burn you too badly.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Shakes,
I don’t think you got fat eating shrubbery and bison. The cake makes a helluva lot more sense. Thank you for reinforcing the negative stereotype that all feminists are humorless a-holes.
Admin Response: And you need to eat more fish, because fish is well-known to make the person who eats it smarter.
I’m ponygirl, not shakes, you dipshit. Learn to read. You’re reinforcing the stereotype that all fanboys are illiterate morons who attack before they understand.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
“Oh, so you get to tell us feminists what we should and shouldn’t care about?”
I don’t think Kenshen is telling you anything, but asking. Why DON’T you mention anything about Saw or Bishounen? You’re just as subjective as the forces you oppose.
Also, I’m assuming my last post was denied because you couldn’t think of an immature response to it like so many others? Hopefully you won’t deny this one so you won’t have to live with a sense of failure inside you.
Admin response: No, it was denied because I don’t let people post hate speech on my site. Too bad, so sad. I’m sure that Neogaf will let you post all the hateful, nasty bile you like.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Poneygirl,
Comparing someone’s sex and race to obesity is not fair. Do you think that the majority of people are overweight because they were born that way? There are things in life that people cannot change like race or sex, not that they should want to. For the majority of overweight people they do have a choice. And with a strict diet and exercise, they can be healthier people.
My question is why must we, as society, hold the hands of the obese and tell them that it is okay? Doing this actually is putting them into a position to be unhealthy. Who wants that? Now I’m not saying that you should walk out side and hurl a hurtful phrase at an obese person, but we also shouldn’t accept such self-serving blog posts like the one on Shakesville, with a “bravo.” It’s ridiculous, and harmful to do so.
If someone blogged that the anti-smoking message in Metal Gear Solid 4 was offensive to those who smoked would anyone applaud that? This theoretical blog post would be much more in the vein of the Shakesville post on Fat Princess than N’Gai Croal’s valid and well illustrated comments on the Resident Evil 5 trailer.
Your link to the racist lawn jockey while valid in comparison to sexism in games is completely off base in regards to the Fat Princess blog post on Shakesville.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Having a different opinion is trolling? Your lack of arguments is not covered by calling others trolls, it just weakens your already-not-so-strong-position. Yes, some games portray women as airheaded bimbos only around to look good. Yes that’s unfortunate. Fat Princess does not.
Also, changing the princess to an animal would anger the animal rights activists, and honestly, I have more sympathy for those and their cause. The other suggestions just lack some of the absurd fun this game promises.
And kind of off-topic, but something I totally want to know: Ponygirl in the (totally stereotypical) “girls love horses” way or ponygirl in the “I like to wear leather harnesses and be treated like an animal” way?
Admin response It’s ponygirl as in none-of-you-business. But I’ll give you a hint. If you ever read a book, which I doubt, you might recognize a play on the name of a character in a Susan E Hinton book. So you fail on both assumptions.
And no, having a different opinion is not necessarily trolling. Arriving en-masse from a fanboy website to try to shout down a post that a) wasn’t advocating banning a game b) just happened to point out that it’s pretty rude to women, particularly large women, c) tried to suggest an alternative version of the game that wasn’t so rude … that’s trolling.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Shurs … you might have a point, except that I’ve been deleting comments in the vein of “U bitchez gotta be shittin me with this crap !” Sexism and fat-bashing go hand-in hand. My post was meant to point out that a game, no matter how interesting the game mechanic is and how “play-worthy” it is can still be harmful and reinforce harmful stereotypes. And your concern trolling about how oh we shouldn’t celebrate those poor unhealthy fatties can go away: people suffer from obesity for a number of reasons, including genetic reasons (like, say, being born black). It’s not exactly advocating that everyone become morbidly obese to suggest that maybe people who are obese should be treated like human beings, deserving of respect. And as the trolls here and at shakes have pointed out, this is a total red herring, because they don’t believe that women, and large women in particular, deserve respect. So my lawn jockey post stands as-is.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
…and with that, I’m shutting down comments. I’m too busy for this shit. Go off and claim your victory, trolls. Just because I’m too busy to repeatedly wipe your bottoms for you does not mean you’re big boys now. It means you’ll have to shit in your own crib from now on.
It’s a shame, I really liked where the “let’s design our own game” was going. It’s too bad the fanboys hate games so much they had to disrupt it.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:31 am
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July 29th, 2008 at 10:51 am
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August 3rd, 2008 at 8:29 pm
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August 27th, 2008 at 9:37 am
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February 7th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
[...] Feminist Gamer too covered the story of the Fat Princess and they were a bit pissed as well. They actually come up with a more well rounded and calm argument – in the actual post – about the game mechanic itself and how it could have been better implemented by negating the use of a person and exchanging it for an inanimate object, like a treasure chest. They also suggest arming the princess, which would be the road we’d concur with (be she fat, or not). Again though any polite response that differs from the original argument is ridiculed by the administration or called trolling, which is a shame because the core argument at the posts beginning seems to carry weight… sorry. [...]