I firmly agree. In a game with character creation, I do feel somewhat passed over as a gamer when a developer makes a choice to not include women. It's not a matter of special treatment, it's that it shouldn't be viewed as special treatment at all. Girls are a big part of the gamer crowd.

To be fair, there's something to be said for getting to be a big stompy fat space marine and decorating my boots with some alien's intestines regardless of gender.

Oh I didn't think they did a bad job! Maybe its just his stubble that rubbed you the wrong way :ninja:

My wife is now getting into games. We both play Reach together and she loves being a female Spartan. I showed her some vids of Brink this weekend (let me be honest, I'm showing everyone lol) and the first thing out of her mouth was "Can I customize a female too?". Sadly I had to say no which I find strange in this day and age.

Female characters should be playable in ANY game where you make your own character IMO.

Yeah, it would seem logical, it could, increase sales Jim.

Haha, I'm not saying that if he bought me flowers and a heart-shaped box of chocolates I wouldn't give the guy a chance. He is a war hero/sole survivor/ruthless. I think maybe I just like Jennifer Hale too much.

Thats bull [censored] those guys who say that should be head butted then kicked out of the store. Video games are not ment for guys only, how I see it, if you have the money to buy the game then you have all the right to play it. Also those people who give out titles like "girl gamer" should be kicked in the _____ (insert favorite appendage to hurt) This is for you Wanderneko :turtle:

Your point is valid, but we should worry about gameplay first, characters second.

who says males and females need the same hitboxes? it can be a slight tactical choice, although i bet most male players would still play males, regardless. besides, let SD worry about the details like that. we just need to get them to make female player characters! brink can't completely revolutionize shooters without them!

OH MY GOD A TURTLE HOW DID YOU KNOW~~~

Labeling has been a problem in almost every changing demographic. It's a way for purists to keep their group 'clean' and free of outsiders by giving a separate label to anyone who is different. The idea that a "girl gamer" has to be a separate construct from a "normal" gamer is just another way to keep this stereotype going and to keep developers under the impression that girls don't game.

There are plenty of games that have used similar textures/items that you can place on either gender with subtle differences. I think the customisation numbers have been exaggerated as well, I don't think there are an awful lot of choices for Brink. A list of jackets for example just about fills up the screen (am I right?) and the colour choices are limited as well. It can't have been all that complicated to double that with slight alterations to fit female characters in two years development..?

As for voice packs, there are only eight to choose from. Eight female voices to record the same repetitive lines during combat wouldn't be that difficult either. I've watched several gameplay vids and trailers and have probably heard every possible comment each of the eight actors make.

I don't think that was ever out of SD's reach.

I've been a gamer since I could hold a control pad and I've watched the definition of "gamer" change over the years...first it was limited to people who could manage the eldritch rituals required to actually launch game software back in the day, and then it grew to encompass hardcoe computer jockeys, and more recently a rush of "non-gamers" have hopped on board for franchises like Call of Duty and Halo, which strongly contributed to gaming becoming a "mainstream" hobby. The fact that the group never really grew to acknowledge women who play is a failure to acknowledge a large portion of the crowd.

If you look at gaming commercials over the years, it's clear that it has been billed as a "boys' hobby" for a very long time. Marketers and even game designers often foster a sort of "no girls allowed" treehouse mentality that intimidates a lot of girls into thinking games aren't "for us." It goes all the way back to early childhood customs. Boys wear blue, girls wear pink. Girls have toys about kitchens and dresses and ponies, and boys get toys that explode, light on fire, shoot sparks, and otherwise battle/destroy/overpower. There are actually people who believe that it's because it's "what girls like." I know plenty of guys who are great in the kitchen, and a lot of girls whose dolls engaged in battle. It's an old stereotype that reaches into the deepest sort of taboos for a lot of people.

EDIT: I'm not saying that there aren't girls who like domestic things, I'm saying it's often assumed that it's specific and universal to our gender.

seriously I dont understand why guys want to have female chars? Eyecandy for all those nerds without girlfriends? I just want to fu****ing shoot somebody ... and masks

CoD 4+ and Halo, the Popped-Collar Frat boy games.

This thread is very interesting. :>
I've also noticed that there is a lack of women avatars in games and I hope we will see some change in the future.

Your point while valid, really holds no bearing on development. It's a given that gameplay should come first. But that is no excuse for not offering female characters to play as.

The game has been in beta since last year. Clearly they've had time to add female characters.

I reed a article about the lack off deep female characters in games the other day and i relay stuck with me. Strongly recommend it. I think it was on IGN. ^_^

btw I couldn't agree more with your point. :thumbsup:

I wouldn't trust anything written by IGN.

The demographic spread may be closer but the community attitude has remained more or less the same, if a girl is found to be playing a game online she will be hounded to death by every guy with a headset... its unpleasent that so many people find it impossible to take in the idea that girls play games. :confused:

Tis a shame really. :3

OFF TOPIC: Your avatar has a :3 face...

...marry me :3

Game reviews, no. Editorials, though...they do have some good writers. Imagine how hard it is to spin some of the trash games out there up to 9.5s and 10s!

I'm trying to find the article to give a link, but no luck. I read it too, and it did strike some good chords.

And this sure got into a big-ass topic, this must be a very hot topic since all if not 2 in 3 of them gets this much attention..

200 Posts/thread, remember this

Also:

They could've added female models, but they said they lacked the time and if they removed some focus of the male models it would end up both being half-assed, which they did not want

And.. That's my 0,52 cents

Thanks for the defense. :biggrin:

*Starts to clap*

If we hit the 200-post mark without a flame war, I'll consider this a successful thread. :3 I've already met all the other criteria, which are soapboxes, external quotations, and a request to marry me because of my avatar <3

As far as the technological issues go, I understand. It's not the technology I'm lamenting, it's the choice to not include women even at the expense of some customization for the men.

IGN just leaves a bad taste in my mouth whenever someone mentions something by them.

If adding female characters would have compromised some of the polish in terms of the story, the gameplay and the customisation then fair enough.

But if it's possible post-release for DLC to add some multiplayer characters then it'd be nice. Although I can sort of see the difficulty with that as single-player-story-multi-player are virtually as one and the cinematics/story only contains male characters.