Also it requires internet to play, and that is bullshit.
Wait, What? Our X-box here isn't and has never had the internet connected to it, and I played and finished Arkham Asylum just fine.
I'm playing it on the PC(retail), and as far as I can tell in order to save progress, or even access your progress, you have to be logged into a windows live account. I don't know if there's a work around for it, or I'm just stupid, but from here it looks like it requires the internet. EDIT:
Also it requires internet to play, and that is bullshit.
Wait, What? Our X-box here isn't and has never had the internet connected to it, and I played and finished Arkham Asylum just fine.
I'm playing it on the PC(retail), and as far as I can tell in order to save progress, or even access your progress, you have to be logged into a windows live account. I don't know if there's a work around for it, or I'm just stupid, but from here it looks like it requires the internet.
Ah, sorry about that - I forgot that you could get it on PC as well as Xbox.
Just finished God of War again, now playing through God of War II again. Really liking the HD upgrade to both games.
This is actually a fun game to watch/listen to while you're doing something else. My boyfriend has been replaying this again as well. I do enjoy Greek mythology and it was interesting to see in the game.
The demo for the 3rd game looks pretty awesome as well.
As for myself, since I missed out on most of the N64 games, I started playing Mario 64. I start getting queasy from the various camera angles. I don't know if I can continue playing this game. -_-
Finished off God of War Collection yesterday with beating God of War 2. Also started and got about half way through Brutal Legend over the weekend. I can definitely see how polarizing that game can be to a lot of people, I've been having a lot of fun with it. My only real complaint is that the number of secondary missions seems excessive, and it feels like it takes a long time going from one place to another. I think I got too used to RF: Guerrilla's fast travel system to the bases.
I'm playing it on the PC(retail), and as far as I can tell in order to save progress, or even access your progress, you have to be logged into a windows live account. I don't know if there's a work around for it, or I'm just stupid, but from here it looks like it requires the internet.
You only have to log in once for activation, then you can use your "Offline" profile, you just won't get updates, achievements and other stupid stuff.
That game could be the best game ever made. It is too bad it has one of the worst main character design/concept ever. Ugh, it is so stupid and sexist [continue grumbling rant in this fashion].
I'm hoping to do this sometime this year too. I think my current file has like 30 hours on it, so I'm decently far in the game. I just only play it for a few hours every few weeks.
That game could be the best game ever made. It is too bad it has one of the worst main character design/concept ever. Ugh, it is so stupid and sexist [continue grumbling rant in this fashion].
The way I see it, Bayonetta is to femininity as Gears of War is to masculinity. Every aspect of these games is a ridiculous and often amusing caricature of stereotypical traits in either gender. I wanted to be mad about Bayonetta, but if I didn't get angry when Dom, the four-hundred pound manly man made of nothing but muscle and bad attitude, shakes off the death of his wife within minutes by killing more evil monsters with a chainsaw, I just can't get righteously indignant about that sort of thing.
That game could be the best game ever made. It is too bad it has one of the worst main character design/concept ever. Ugh, it is so stupid and sexist [continue grumbling rant in this fashion].
You just have to be able to accept that it was made to be over-the-top and insane like that, and not to be taken seriously. Some of the dialogue alone is evidence of that.
EDIT: Gunter said it better, and moments before I did, at that.
That game could be the best game ever made. It is too bad it has one of the worst main character design/concept ever. Ugh, it is so stupid and sexist [continue grumbling rant in this fashion].
The way I see it, Bayonetta is to femininity as Gears of War is to masculinity. Every aspect of these games is a ridiculous and often amusing caricature of stereotypical traits in either gender. I wanted to be mad about Bayonetta, but if I didn't get angry when Dom, the four-hundred pound manly man made of nothing but muscle and bad attitude, shakes off the death of his wife within minutes by killing more evil monsters with a chainsaw, I just can't get righteously indignant about that sort of thing.
Except, here is the rub: Video games much more frequently portray more realistic and believable male characters. The same really can't be said about female video game characters (particularly from an anatomical perspective).
That game could be the best game ever made. It is too bad it has one of the worst main character design/concept ever. Ugh, it is so stupid and sexist [continue grumbling rant in this fashion].
The way I see it, Bayonetta is to femininity as Gears of War is to masculinity. Every aspect of these games is a ridiculous and often amusing caricature of stereotypical traits in either gender. I wanted to be mad about Bayonetta, but if I didn't get angry when Dom, the four-hundred pound manly man made of nothing but muscle and bad attitude, shakes off the death of his wife within minutes by killing more evil monsters with a chainsaw, I just can't get righteously indignant about that sort of thing.
Except, here is the rub: Video games much more frequently portray more realistic and believable male characters. The same really can't be said about female video game characters (particularly from an anatomical perspective).
Care to elaborate on those realistic male characters (only if they didn't have a equally realistic female counterpart)
Except, here is the rub: Video games much more frequently portray more realistic and believable male characters. The same really can't be said about female video game characters (particularly from an anatomical perspective).
I understand the broader frustration, but the plot and characters in GoW and Bayonetta are so over-the-top and culturally irrelevant that getting angry about them is a waste of energy. Bayonetta was never an opportunity for women to be taken seriously in video games, as with anything else written by Hideki Kamiya. I think it's best to laugh it off and direct my attention towards games that actually have a coherent plot.
Video games much more frequently portray more realistic and believable male characters. The same really can't be said about female video game characters (particularly from an anatomical perspective).
I would argue that it's a wash. You also have to consider the games you're looking. DOA: Beach Volleyball, for example, is an unrealistic portrayal of females, but we know it is. The game doesn't really disguise what it is at all. I would understand if a game were marketing itself as being "realistic," but extremely fantastical games have extremely fantastical representations. You can't expect true-to-life reproductions from things that are trying to be anything but true-to-life.
And, for the record, there are very few video games that actually portray male characters in a way that even approaches realism. Games with male characters pigeon-hole them into very archetypal roles: the lone wanderer, the brooding hero, the valiant knight, the muscle-bound goon, etc. Aside from that, most video games also do a piss-poor job of developing the characters at all. As for the anatomical perspective, male video game characters are grossly unrealistic, possibly even moreso than female characters. Most female viji game characters are drawn to be soft and curvy with ample bosoms, which - while not common - is a type one could at least reasonably expect to find in real life. Male video game characters are often drawn with all of their muscles flexed simultaneously, and they often have visible muscles that don't exist in real human anatomy. Let's not forget the fact that every male video game character is either obese or has a six-pack. That's hardly realistic.
Video games much more frequently portray more realistic and believable male characters. The same really can't be said about female video game characters (particularly from an anatomical perspective).
I would argue that it's a wash. You also have to consider the games you're looking. DOA: Beach Volleyball, for example, is an unrealistic portrayal of females, but weknowit is. The game doesn't really disguise what it is at all. I would understand if a game were marketing itself as being "realistic," but extremely fantastical games have extremely fantastical representations. You can't expect true-to-life reproductions from things that are trying to be anything but true-to-life.
I am all for fantasy in fantasy genres - my problem is the cliched, uninteresting, and downright gross character design of this supposedly "badass" woman. It is just fantasy heroines in chain mail bikinis in a new era. Its tiresome and more than a bit insulting.
I think videogames stereo type both men and women. The problem is that men tend to not care about/revel in there stereotypes. No matter how negative the stereotype is very few men would actually be offended by it. Where women tend to dislike standard female stereotypes more. A "Hyper" masculine man is not offensive to men. A "Hyper" feminine women is offensive to women.
I see two major reasons for this:
1. Men are not as offended by media as women in general. Stereotype a male as muscle bound, womanizing, idiotic, slight homosexual undertones, men don't generally care. This is probably a little genetic and a little social training. 2. Male stereotypes are generally aggressive female stereotypes are generally passive. From a hunter/gather evolutionary standpoint this makes sense, but no one wants to be the passive party.
Solution? Either make a perfect society where no one uses stereotypes and everyone is hyper politically correct, or change society view points such that female stereotypes are viewed in a more comedic and less offensive manner like male stereotypes. Both not easy tasks and probably wont happen in our life times, but my money is on that the second would be more realistic to do.
I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic with that example. Even if he's not, that's concept art from Duke Nukem Forever, which doesn't actually exist. He's also no more anatomically realistic than Bayonetta.
EDIT: @Jay: That's a gross over-simplification of the issue. To elaborate, neither women nor men are more prone to be sensitive to stereotypes. Many people see stereotypical portrayals and simply fall in step with them. They don't question them.
Many people, both men and women, are sensitive to those stereotypes, because they're paying attention. The reasoning can arise from multiple places, but in the end, stereotypes are noticeable and often tiring to those who notice them. I believe you're looking at one person's reaction to a stereotype and extrapolating from there. I mean, are you honestly content with stereotypical male characters in video games, or do you just not care? I'm bothered by the stereotypes because they're repeated entirely too often. I want something fresh to come my way every now and again, and stereotypes simply wind up growing stale.
I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic with that example. Even if he's not, that's concept art from Duke Nukem Forever, which doesn't actually exist. He's also no more anatomically realistic than Bayonetta.
EDIT: @Jay: That's a gross over-simplification of the issue.
Well to be not grossly oversimplified would take a very large research paper with ton's of qualifiers not really suited for forum discussion. Take it as is and refute/agree with it. It's part of the fun .
Edit: For instance another reason why I believe female stereotypes are viewed in a negative sense is because women were on the subjugated side for thousands of years. Generally when your on top you tend to be offended less. I compare this to say racism towards white vs. black people in the United States. White racism is usually viewed as comedic where black racism is viewed as detrimental. Why? Because blacks where subjugated where Whites where dominant. On average there are still more Caucasians then African American people in higher tiers of society in the United States. If roles were reversed women stereotypes would probably be laughed of and men would be crying fowl every time a muscle bound idiot was shown in media.
Also, I am not saying women shouldn't be offended by the stereotypes. They're are reasons to be offended and they are justified to be offended. I was just saying that the media has stereotypes of both parties in semi equal amounts, and proposing reasons to why one party is more offended then the other given both are being stereotyped.
I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic with that example
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Though, I chose an in-engine cutscene render DNF because the original ones look like shit. And also, in the originals, Duke was fighting the main antagonist, because the antagonist's "Hi I'm ur new master kthxbai" broadcast interrupted his soap operas.
Another point is that female characters are being exaggerated to appeal sexually to men. Male characters, while exaggerated, are not being exaggerated to be appealing to the opposite sex.
Edit: Also, males have not had to push for the majority of their history to overcome being restricted by their gender to only sexual and domestic roles. Some women are more sensitive because we realize how recently our rights were gained and how they are still unequal in many sectors of even modern societies.
Another point is that female characters are being exaggerated to appeal sexually to men. Male characters, while exaggerated, are not being exaggerated to be appealing to the opposite sex.
I honestly wouldn't mind being ravaged by Kratos. He seems to know how to please the ladies in his game. ^_~
Another point is that female characters are being exaggerated to appeal sexually to men. Male characters, while exaggerated, are not being exaggerated to be appealing to the opposite sex.
Yes, instead they're strong and repressed to the point where they don't need to have a meaningful relationship with anyone, let alone the weak, useless ladyfolk.
Another point is that female characters are being exaggerated to appeal sexually to men. Male characters, while exaggerated, are not being exaggerated to be appealing to the opposite sex.
Everything in a video game is exaggerated to appeal to men. Big muscly badasses are designed to appeal to that "I could be that guy" side of all men, and jiggly butts are designed to appeal to 14 year old boys who masturbate 17 times a day.
I think the real issue here is that many video games aren't aimed at women. It's the same thing with porn. It's not for you, by and large.
Edit: Also, males have not had to push for the majority of their history to overcome being restricted by their gender to being relegated to only sexual and domestic roles. Women are more sensitive because we realize how recently our rights were gained and how they are still unequal in many sectors of even modern societies.
There's that too. Women notice these things more (or seem to) because they've been treated as objects for most of history.
However, that still doesn't mean that male stereotypes are any less prevalent in video games. I understand why you've latched onto the female stereotypes, but why no griping about the male stereotypes? They're just as egregious - if not moreso - but they're often seen as being more "flattering," so they're overlooked. I guarantee you that men notice those male stereotypes, and may even be bothered by them a little bit, but overlook them because they're all part of ridiculous entertainment.
I believe you're looking at one person's reaction to a stereotype and extrapolating from there. I
It is my general experience in life that more women then men take note and are offended by media stereotypes of their respective sexes. Not by a small margin either. I could list of at least 20 women I know that on several occasions have vocally displayed displeasure with popular media stereotypes of females. I can only think of one male that has done the same.
I mean, are you honestly content with stereotypical male characters in video games, or do you just not care? I'm bothered by the stereotypes because they're repeated entirely too often. I want something fresh to come my way every now and again, and stereotypes simply wind up growing stale.
Honestly, no I am not content with stereotypes. I enjoy seeing unique character design. I find Mario far more interesting then Cloud. Though, I am also not bothered by stereotypes. When I see the hulking male in Gears of War I am not offended. When the COLE TRAIN! runs through I laugh along with it. I also understand why a women would be offended by female stereotypes and could imagine an alternate history where I would be offended by male stereotypes.
I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic with that example
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Though, I chose an in-engine cutscene render DNF because the original ones look like shit. And also, in the originals, Duke was fighting the main antagonist, because the antagonist's "Hi I'm ur new master kthxbai" broadcast interrupted his soap operas.
Might I point out that I was also being sarcastic, just forgot the green text.
Ergo, as I said before, it could be the best game in the world, but I will never know it. I won't ever play it.
That's a shame, because it is pretty awesome. Once again I want act all bothered by how much weight you put on something that I just find amusing, but I really haven't got an argument beyond that. More power to ya', I suppose.
Comments
EDIT:
The demo for the 3rd game looks pretty awesome as well.
As for myself, since I missed out on most of the N64 games, I started playing Mario 64. I start getting queasy from the various camera angles. I don't know if I can continue playing this game. -_-
EDIT: Gunter said it better, and moments before I did, at that.
And, for the record, there are very few video games that actually portray male characters in a way that even approaches realism. Games with male characters pigeon-hole them into very archetypal roles: the lone wanderer, the brooding hero, the valiant knight, the muscle-bound goon, etc. Aside from that, most video games also do a piss-poor job of developing the characters at all. As for the anatomical perspective, male video game characters are grossly unrealistic, possibly even moreso than female characters. Most female viji game characters are drawn to be soft and curvy with ample bosoms, which - while not common - is a type one could at least reasonably expect to find in real life. Male video game characters are often drawn with all of their muscles flexed simultaneously, and they often have visible muscles that don't exist in real human anatomy. Let's not forget the fact that every male video game character is either obese or has a six-pack. That's hardly realistic.
I see two major reasons for this:
1. Men are not as offended by media as women in general. Stereotype a male as muscle bound, womanizing, idiotic, slight homosexual undertones, men don't generally care. This is probably a little genetic and a little social training.
2. Male stereotypes are generally aggressive female stereotypes are generally passive. From a hunter/gather evolutionary standpoint this makes sense, but no one wants to be the passive party.
Solution? Either make a perfect society where no one uses stereotypes and everyone is hyper politically correct, or change society view points such that female stereotypes are viewed in a more comedic and less offensive manner like male stereotypes. Both not easy tasks and probably wont happen in our life times, but my money is on that the second would be more realistic to do.
EDIT: @Jay: That's a gross over-simplification of the issue. To elaborate, neither women nor men are more prone to be sensitive to stereotypes. Many people see stereotypical portrayals and simply fall in step with them. They don't question them.
Many people, both men and women, are sensitive to those stereotypes, because they're paying attention. The reasoning can arise from multiple places, but in the end, stereotypes are noticeable and often tiring to those who notice them. I believe you're looking at one person's reaction to a stereotype and extrapolating from there. I mean, are you honestly content with stereotypical male characters in video games, or do you just not care? I'm bothered by the stereotypes because they're repeated entirely too often. I want something fresh to come my way every now and again, and stereotypes simply wind up growing stale.
Edit:
For instance another reason why I believe female stereotypes are viewed in a negative sense is because women were on the subjugated side for thousands of years. Generally when your on top you tend to be offended less. I compare this to say racism towards white vs. black people in the United States. White racism is usually viewed as comedic where black racism is viewed as detrimental. Why? Because blacks where subjugated where Whites where dominant. On average there are still more Caucasians then African American people in higher tiers of society in the United States. If roles were reversed women stereotypes would probably be laughed of and men would be crying fowl every time a muscle bound idiot was shown in media.
Also, I am not saying women shouldn't be offended by the stereotypes. They're are reasons to be offended and they are justified to be offended. I was just saying that the media has stereotypes of both parties in semi equal amounts, and proposing reasons to why one party is more offended then the other given both are being stereotyped.
Edit: Also, males have not had to push for the majority of their history to overcome being restricted by their gender to only sexual and domestic roles. Some women are more sensitive because we realize how recently our rights were gained and how they are still unequal in many sectors of even modern societies.
I think the real issue here is that many video games aren't aimed at women. It's the same thing with porn. It's not for you, by and large. There's that too. Women notice these things more (or seem to) because they've been treated as objects for most of history.
However, that still doesn't mean that male stereotypes are any less prevalent in video games. I understand why you've latched onto the female stereotypes, but why no griping about the male stereotypes? They're just as egregious - if not moreso - but they're often seen as being more "flattering," so they're overlooked. I guarantee you that men notice those male stereotypes, and may even be bothered by them a little bit, but overlook them because they're all part of ridiculous entertainment.
It's like hair-twirling in metal bands.
The problem is with finding appeal in these stereotypes and not in material that doesn't pander to their audience by utilizing them.
Ergo, as I said before, it could be the best game in the world, but I will never know it. I won't ever play it.