Also sorry for writing a book post.

I’ve lived a sheltered life and my sister was the one who taught me about white (male) privilege, I’m white male, and I try to keep it in mind whenever dealing with anyone and anything to understand different points of view, to know that I haven’t experienced allot of things that many people deal with every day. I try to be understanding and treat people the way they want to be treated.

It’s one of the reasons I love you site and podcasts so much because it keeps me thinking and hopefully make me a better person. So uh, thanks. lol

Which ever the largest one ya got is. 2-XL would fit me and the other would fit my mom or sister.

My mom never was fond of playing with me and my brother. We usually exclusively played with each other and my dad sometimes jumped in (he’s currently struggling through the Resistance series, making a fuss over how the “monkey” at the end of the third one was giving him trouble haha). About the only game my mom would play was, ironically, Super Monkey Ball haha.

Some of those mission statements seemed pretty basic and blah, they definitely need to add allot more to them.

A biting conclusion, "you had my curiosity but now you have my attention".

Can’t wait to read more, ALayne! Let me know if you need a set of eyes on any of the texts you’re working on. ~KMoore

Yay sweet! Thanks. Me likey t-shirt.

That beginning was just too cute, cuteness overwhelming. XD

The angry orchard cider is pretty good, I’ve only had one but it’s on my drinky list.

My mom Teren, doesn’t really play any games by herself but she would always play with my sister and me like Mario, M.C. Kids and Bubsy and she would always listen to whatever rants or stories I had about whatever game I was playing. She still moves the controller and kicks her leg to get extra help on a big jump. lol

Here in lies why Elizabeth is a phenomenal AI. She never really gets in your way, when you’re low on items she throws them to you (including health, ammunition for the weapon you are using, Silver Eagles, and Salts), and she doesn’t need to be protected.”

I think this basically sums up what makes me uncomfortable with the praise for Elizabeth as “A Great Female Character” or “Most Empowering.” This sentiment seems to imply that a good female character is one who doesn’t get in my way and isn’t a chore to be around, but will instead get me things I need and who I can otherwise ignore during the action.

You would think promotion of diversity would be even more important and crucial in a industry of creation. Different experiences and backgrounds to pull from to make better products. I might just be getting older but games coming out now seem staler and perhaps if the industry can fix these huge issues it could be a great injection of creativity and some new stories. This stuff blows my mind and makes me sad.

Hopefully I don’t sound like a moron.

My reading of the game is that Elizabeth’s role as a “tool” is deeply meaningful, worked out as a commentary on patriarchy. Both Comstock and Booker are trapped by their self-involvement, their inability to see her as anything more than a means to an end (for Booker, as a way to redeem his gambling debt; for Comstock, as an “heir”). The only possible redemption, which only comes about at the end of the story, is Booker’s willingness to start seeing her as a unique individual, to make her goals and her well-being a priority apart from his own.

It’s got a lot to do with the role of the female as the universal Other; the full argument goes a lot deeper. Maybe it’ll open up a different dimension of her character to you if you ever get to read it. In the meantime, glad to hear your perspective on Elizabeth, and I hope to read more of your work in the future!

I think a much more appropriate lay to claim of the Elizabeth-icon folks have fooled themselves into believing is Trip, from Enslaved. To that end, here’s my shameless plug of a piece I wrote last week:

http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/14430/article/bioshock-infinite-elizabeth-on-the-back/

I examined Liz’s role in terms of priority to the narrative rather than the qualities of her character or as an AI, so I quite enjoyed your reading of her. Nice to know I’m not the only one miffed by the topic

I tried to play Mirror’s Edge but I was so horrible at it I gave up.

Can I just say that I love Faith from Mirror’s Edge? I think she’s one of the most empowering female game characters I’ve encountered, despite the fact that the game was short (and I did read the prequel comics too, so I know a little more about her character than most gamers). Hm this might make an interesting article…

Silence in male characters often represent toughness and wisdom, but the problem still remains that her silence is not by choice. Even in the Little Mermaid Ariel makes the bargain to trade her voice to be human, even more problematic but her choice. What I hope for and has maintained my level of OMG-female-protagonist is the metaphor that could play out in Red’s journey. They have the potential of presenting a major struggle for women. A female carrying a heavy burden who has to fight to find her voice in a world that has taken it, something I haven’t seen in video game, and I think it hits particularly close to home for a lot of women, but only if the narrative does it justice. Maybe I want to read too deep into the possibility from my desire for a strong female protagonist, but I hope in this case the simplest answer is incorrect. I look forward to playing it to find out, and to you ladies breaking it down.

I’m a 4-games out gamefly user, so I always have a bunch to play. But this weekend I’ll probably be playing Lego:Lord of the Rings and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. With maybe some Tomb Raider and Dead Space 3 thrown in. And always grinding some Black Ops 2 matches.

Not really liking this Lego as much as the others. I think it loses some of its charm when they talk instead of acting the dialog out.

Can’t play any Ni No Kuni though, broke my controller, stupid temper. -.-

Have a great weekend. ^-^

Keep up the good work!

We played with him and watched him develop from a child with a VERY short attention span into a smarter and more focused little man. He learned to strategize and cooperate better (rough for only children) and his general motor skills improved, too. I’m a big believer in the therapeutic qualities of gaming and I think it helped.

He likes others, but nothing like that. I can’t think of a single game he’s ever played without either Momma or Terry at his side, and even if a game isn’t co-op, he sits with us when we play, too (if it’s a game we’ll let him watch) and “helps.” But he has not focused on anything like he did L4D. I think it was the stakes — he didn’t want to be crushed by zombies. He likes Lego Star Wars, for instance, but all that happens there if you don’t play hard is you flutter out and get rebuilt. Jack hated going down in L4D and would work to stay on his feet. It gave him the motive that other games didn’t.

Certainly, it’s a violent game. They swear. And we’re really careful about his media consumption in all other ways, which is why we were always with him, so we could remark on the language or the violence. We bought him a stuff Tank from the official store, which is silly and purple and makes amazing sounds, just to lessen the realism factor. We explain what’s real and what isn’t and he seems to understand. I know it seems controversial to let a four year old play a game like this, but for our family, it was a great decision and I’d do it again. I just hope we find another game he loves as much, because he’s outgrown it now and I miss spending Saturday mornings snuggled up with my little man and a couple of Xbox controllers! We still play, but not as much. The last game we enjoyed as much together was Limbo, though I had to turn off the deaths… not so much for him but for me!

On iOS, I’m totally addicted to What’s the Word, Icomania and Clue Word.

Just an idea of how these things get enacted in the public, not sure how you’d find out what happens internally without risking someone’s job.

Personally, I don’t find it all that appealing, I mean she’s scratched-up with her eyes closed and she’s running away from something (I think). Maybe if I was more of a horror fan I’d like it.

When I was a teen I was drawn to the first TLJ game based on the front the cover. I read the blurb before buying of course, but the protagonist on the front looks mysterious without being dis-empowered.

Here she is in her drippy shirt: http://imgur.com/UUiswBL

You’re definitely right, we discussed this a little more thoroughly in one of our podcast episodes about the Ripley effect! The whole time I’m playing FemShep I can tell that she is just a female built over a character that is meant to be male. The really sad thing is even with that burning thought in your mind she happens to be one of the best female protagonists of the one’s out there.

I haven’t played Persona 3 Portable, but that is more than enough reason for me to try it out! I’d love to see ‘Remember Me’ turn out well, but to be totally honest I don’t trust Capcom with a whole lot that involves women as of late. Let’s hope that I’m wrong! Beyond: Two Souls looks promising as well!

Sometimes even when the option exists to play as female, the story, writing, or even sometimes the animation is done with a male protagonist in mind.

There were a few parts in Saints Row the Third where my protagonist was referred to as a him. In Morrowind this happened frequently as well, and femshep in ME2 walks and sits rather awkwardly.

A game that did a great job of the optional female protagonist is Persona 3 Portable though. That one was excellent as the conversations and many social events were altered and re-written specifically for a female character.

I’m hopeful that Capcom’s ‘Remember Me’ turns out well, since Nilin seems reasonably cool so far.

That being said…I create 2 separate saves, one for co-op and one of my own! LOL

I believe I tried to write to exactly what you just said. There are many people (men and women) who cosplay in awesome ways and I want young girls and any aged women to see that when they cosplay they don’t need to fall prey to the idea that they need to “sexify” an already over-sexualized character just to get attention.

Or that people think it’s ok to make sexist jokes about sexist content in games because if you play games you must think it’s ok, right?

#1reasonwhy I struggle as an academic studying games is when I told a colleague that’s what I do (and it’s what he does too) he said “YOU? REALLY?” like it was the strangest thing in the world. This response is not uncommon.

#1reasonwhy I feel like I don’t belong is that I don’t play the “right” games and I don’t even care to. The “right” games seem to be set by the industry and media, neither of which–I feel–represent me very well. I tried Skyrim, I did, and I’m finally “good enough” at WoW, but most of the time I’d rather be playing Skylanders and LittleBigPlanet, and I still love the Rabbids and <3 retro-gaming….