Author: Imported From Tumblr

Posted on

paladincomplex submitted:

Since metal gear’s all up in the news these days, did you see the Metal Gear Online release trailer? Customizable female avatars and women soldiers dressed like actual soldiers! I am so hype!

I would really love to know what’s going on at Konami these days. Okay I know everyone with an interest in games would like to know that, but Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain is being particularly baffling from a represent of women point of view.

Because they have pretty much flawless representation in this video… but then they have this….*

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– wincenworks

* Mandatory disclaimer for all the MGS fans frantically rushing to tell me things that don’t actually matter:

  • I know exactly who the Boss is and I know she usually wore her outfits closed, and that her scar was a lot more visible in MGS3.
  • I know exact who EVA is and I also know that they could have picked other female characters who had distinctive looks.  Meryl Silverburg or Olga Gurlukovich for example.
  • Absolutely nothing about this promo is about keeping in character – the Big Boss is not a James Bond fan and certainly would never decorate his pony like that.
  • Would it help if I said I breathe through my skin?

More on Metal Gear Solid

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Posted on

Tidy-up Tuesday #6

It’s been a particularly eventful week of updates for us, so no wonder some queries we receive should be addressed.

Please do not comment under BABD posts without adhering to our commenting guidelines.

For those who say we’re being “too negative” in our criticism: look it up in our FAQ.

A reminder our focus is on commercial media, as such we do not feature/call-out personal artworks as examples of the tropes we criticize.  We are certainly interested in personal artworks that critique the issue of bikini armor or provide information about armor and/or design.

Thank you to kuronanestimare for directing us to the segment of Angry Joe’s review where he talks about Quiet. This is the review where he gives the game “the highest possible 9/10 and easily Badass Seal of Approval”. Proving once again, that you can love The Return of the Jedi but hate Ewoks.

Some issues we’ve address previously but received queries recently:

~Ozzie & – wincenworks

Posted on

Caly submitted:

So this is a cinematic trailer for a card game called WAR 1937 that is coming out. It’s so ridiculous and silly that I can’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. How are developers still getting away with making this kind of stuff?

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What did I just watch? O_o

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Someone… anyone?

~Ozzie

Wait, did someone watch Kill la Kill and think that the concept would work better if it was rendered in high definition and without the sense of goofy self awareness?

– wincenworks

(Also we’ve been informed by a number of followers that the “setting” for this game is the Nanking Massacre, an actual horrific real life event – the tastelessness just keeps on compounding)

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Posted on

sursumursa:

Let’s talk about Quiet, and attempt to answer the question:

Can you slut-shame a fictional character?

And in case anyone reading our blog still doubts whether or not Quiet (or any other woman in fiction) can be slut-shamed for her choice of attire or behavior, here’s Sursum Ursa’s concise video explanation.

Spoilers: the answer is no.

~Ozzie

As a side note, since we’re on the topic of Quiet and sexualzing characters, I feel this is an appropriate point to touch on something related:

If your argument is the men are sexualized too, but you have to comb through all the individual games to try to get together enough material to try (unsucessfully I might add) to match how much Quiet is sexualized in ONE game – you’re not going to be very convincing.

There is a massive difference between depicting a character who is many different things throughout their arc (tough, vulnerable, protected, naked, etc) and happens to be sexy at some points and creating a character who is primarily and overwhelmingly sexy all throughout their arc and happens to get to be some other things during it.

One is creating a character who’s like a person so the audience can relate to them, the other is creating a sex object and calling them a character.

It’s kind of important.

– wincenworks

more about character agency on BABD

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)