The Good The Bad and the Ugly of Video Games
Really not happy with the summary of Mario – however I feel that the fact that everyone gets what they mean when they summarize Samus as being novel for ‘not being half-naked’ says everything important about mainsteam video games.
Also, as someone who was really excited to play the first generation of FPS games – I can’t help but feel that they sort of set the the standard for this sort of generic hero.
Meanwhile, Jurassic Park: Trespasser, one of the first FPS games to star a female protagonist didn’t give her a face and had a… unique way of displaying the health bar:
Yeah.
– wincenworks
edit: Now also tagged for ableism in the “Good” panel. Sorry we failed to tag the post initially and thanks to readers for pointing that out.
Speaking of comics and nostalgia, the video game Arkham Knight recently confirmed it will feature Barbara Gordon as Batgirl (a curious decision given that Barbara featured as Oracle in Arkham Asylum) and this is how she’s being promoted. Per perspective – this is how Batman looks:
That’s right, not only does he get an outfit he can physically move in – but he is portrayed as a tower of strength rather than beauty ideals. See how majestically he looks over the city he guards…
While Batgirl rests awkwardly on one knee (seriously try that pose) in front of… industrial power lines? From the look on her face she’s swearing revenge on whoever convinced her that loose hair was a good idea in that weather.
– wincenworks
As for less subtle differences than the problem with Batgirl’s posing, there’s (obviously) her boobplate. Seems like even though the comics recently got rid of the vacuum-sealed/painted on “batkevlar” in favor of something more believable, the games are glad to keep enforcing needlessly gendered costumes.
And before anyone jumps in to say that Batman has visible abs end pecs on his armor… first, they’re pretty streamlined compared to Barbara’s protruding breasts; second, his plate looks like it’s there for intimidation value, hers looks like your typical “if no boob how woman?”
~Ozzie
