Another Right-Winger Complains About Violent Video Games. Oh Wait, It’s a Feminist.
The only game that matters to the culture war is the zero-sum game.
Anita Sarkeesian has become central figure of a video game firestorm over her feminist calls for changes to the industry to better represent women in games and to treat women better within the industry itself. There’s been a backlash, and a backlash against the backlash and then there’s
GamerGate, which these days appears to be an argument about what GamerGate is actually about and both sides accusing each other of harassment and very little discussion about games.
While those folks all yell at each other on Twitter and try to get each other’s accounts suspended, the game industry spins on. This week is the annual E3
Electronic Entertainment Expo, where the industry gets together to announce and promote upcoming games (typically sequels of previous games). It’s full of glitzy previews and talk shows and product demonstrations. It’s like Fleet Week for video games or something.
Last night the presentations began, and software company Bethesda (best known for their
Elder Scrolls
and Fallout
series) previewed their many offerings. Here’s what Sarkeesian tweeted
about a new installment of the game Doom, the iconic game that pretty much helped launch the entire genre of first-person shooters:
First of all, this all sounds like something that would come out of the mouth of right-wing moral video game panic alarm siren
Jack Thompson
(which Ken "Popehat" White has noted
on Twitter. Correction:
The quote was actually from Patrick, not Ken.).
These tweets indicate exactly why there’s such a backlash against her. This is culture war as a zero-sum game. These tweets present the idea that either we have violent games
or
non-violent games, not both (or some gradiation of "acceptable" violence). These are not tweets that present video game culture as a marketplace where consumers call for games that they enjoy and the market responds with a selection of choices to meet everybody’s entertainment desires. This is specifically a call for Sarkeesian’s game demands to be met, while the demands of other gamers are to be ignored or rejected and their desires attacked.
And this is where I part ways with Sarkeesian’s efforts, and why I generally don’t have
much to say
about the whole GamerGate culture war. The game industry is big. It is humongous. It can make games that appeal to just about everybody. But they are not going to be the same games. Sarkeesian presents a false choice, that there are right games and wrong games, rather than acknowledge that games, like movies, books, and television shows, are all for different audiences. Furthermore, she actually doesn’t want games to appeal to certain audiences, and that’s exactly why this culture war spins on.
Doom
can exist in the same world as Dishonored 2. It is not an either/or prospect. Don’t complain that Game X isn’t what you want it to be. Push for a Game Y that does meet your entertainment desires.
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abuses.
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She's just as spiteful as the people she condemns. At this point she's just trying to grab attention - so we should stop writing articles about her, mmkay?
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I'm really sure as many people knows who she is or cares about what she says, as say, people who enjoy playing GTA 5, Witcher 3, etc, etc, etc.The only reason to write a story about a person like this is to laugh them to scorn.
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Bingo.These people deserve clickbait headlines:"You Won't BELIEVE What We Overheard . . . ."And the most withering scorn possible, throughout the body of the article.
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But here’s what concerns me about what Sarkeesian is sayingReally, you're concerned about what this person is saying?This person is a loon and a fucking nobody, and no one gives a fuck about what she has to say. The video game industry is a giant steamroller, rolling over this piss ant and no even knows the piss ant existed.her allies are pushing for better representation of women (or others) in video gamesThere's already plenty representation of women in video games. And the boobs are getting better!
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That "fucking loon" is probably the most powerful voice in the industry at this point in time. She has the support of all major video game sites and the msm behind her. Everyone in the media will teflexibly believe everything she says and eill reflexibly disbalieve anything her opponents say. Any opinions she has will and are reported as fact. I do not share your optimism.
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She has the support of all major video game sites and the msm behind herMmmm, that seems a bit of an exaggeration. She certainly has the support of the SJW crowd and its reflexive supporters, but what matters is who is buying what video games. And the Bethesdas of the world only care about their customers when it's all said an done, and they are delivering.You think Rockstar Games gives a flying fuck what she has to say?
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Spot on.
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Or CD Projekt RED maker of the Witcher 3
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Well, it's quite apparent to me, mostly playing Witcher 3 and GTA 5 lately, that the game companies DO NOT give a fuck about what this person thinks of violent video game content.the most powerful voice in the industrySo what game company is she a lead developer or game designer at? How many game companies does she own? How many games does she buy?Can't agree with you. The most powerful voice in the industry are the gamers who pay money for games. And the game companies sure as hell care a lot more about what they think than some dipshit like this screeching harpy.
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100% this. I am also quite sure that the 20 million people (or however many it is) that buy CoD or GTA on each iteration don't even know who this person is. She is a nobody.
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"Anita Sarkeesian has become central figure of
a video game firestorm over her feminist calls for changes to the industry to better represent women in games and to treat women better within the industry itselfher own self promotional campaign"redundant, i know. but AS et al care nothing about 'games', and are simply porting their standard-issue feminist "complain until you get paid" M.O. into a new market area. If it wasn't video games, it would be some other media, and the same complaints. "Troubling" "Problematic" "Concerning". LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME! -
Yeah, anybody who complains that DOOM is violent is just trolling for page views.
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She is a professional complainer. And she certainly isn't the first. But no matter what, she will always find something to gripe about, because that's literally her career. No one listens to her for any other reason that to be pointed at something in the KULTUR WAR shit to whine about. She's a weathervane for kvetching about shit. She has no other purpose.
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"I am shocked and troubled at the level of violence in these FIRST PERSON SHOOTER VIDEO GAMES"because customers of First Person Shooters have too-long been deprived of a *Hug Button*
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I like that you can play as a woman in the new Fallout.I suggest relevant games adopt the ability to play as male or female and then have a male/female option for the set of characters who are meant to be treated as sex objects.
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You've been able to play as a woman in the last two Fallouts. which predate SJW attacks on videogames by quite some time.
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The last two? The first two.
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Oh it's been a while and I forgot. They applauded when the guy presented the option on that preview video. But they were applauding at the sight of a Nuka-Cola, so, enthusiasm.People have been attacking video games along these lines since they started emerging with human characters. And because I'm personally affected by any political meddling in this arena, I say sod off and let parents do the parenting.
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Oh it's been a while and I forgot.So you didn't play as a chick, you cis-hetero shitlord, you.Unlike some of us (resumes moral preening).Actually, the reason I did (on my second play-through) was because they actually built in different dialogue, options, buffs, etc. based on your sex (sorry, no tranny options available, although you could cross-dress).
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I'm always tempted, because I have your typical gay man's appreciation for strong woman characters. But in real life, or in 100 gameplay hours, less is more when it comes to women, amirite.
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I'm always tempted....Of course you are Princess Peach...of course you are.
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less is more when it comes to women, amirite< /IThere's a happy medium in terms of hip to waist ratio.
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You could play as a woman in the "old" Fallout(s) as well. That's not new.You could even be a *gay woman*. Or gay man. and there were more gay relationships than straight oneswhat were you babbling about?
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"She responded to Dishonored 2 by complaining"This comes as a shock
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To stay relevant, they both need their dragons to slay, Conservatives and feminists. Eventually they would both stumble upon the entrance of the same cave.
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She responded to Dishonored 2 by complaining that the player will get to choose between a male and female lead rather than just having a female lead"Look at me, I'm awful!"
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What pisses me off about this article is Scott's "well, she does have a point" in the first half of the article, which he half-acknowledges is destroyed in his second half. Not even to mention that she actually doesn't have a point. And never did. For fuck's sake, Scott, which possesses more diversity: the editorial board of Salon or the roster of fighters in 1995's Mortal Kombat 3?
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Yeah, its the weird blind spot some of the Reason writers have.Just stop pretending people like Sarkeesian have a point, when they don't. Even her apparently unobjectionable call for M/F player options gets exposed as a pretext when she bitches about exactly that in another game, which she wants you to have only the option to play as a female.
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"stop pretending people like Sarkeesian have a point"The S.O.P. of the culture-journalist requires that they first throw caveats and plaudits to the SJW set before offering up any slight criticism that maybe their cup runneth overSee = RobbyEvery single piece he writes has the following formula ="[insert subject X] is *shockingly horrible and racist and*...BUT critics are going too far"You lead with the "Anti-Gay Pizza, Shockingly Racist Duke Professor, etc" to signal 'who's side you are on'....then you bury the actual criticism down in the bottom of the piece.You give with one hand, and you take with the other.
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Social signaling uber alles, nein?
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Its possible its actually an editorial decision, and i'm being unfair by blaming Robby et al.I think there's a concerted effort (in their hiring at least, and in the subject matter covered) to make Reason more appealing to millenials, and that involves some minor Buzzfeedification, and providing angles on stories that split the difference between SJW cheerleading and Taki-mag-style culture-war ripostes from the right.(*noted: Taki's now refers to itself as "a Libertarian magazine". never seen that before."takimag.com/
Taki's Magazine
Takimag is a Libertarian webzine. We believe the best stories are smart, cheeky, and culturally relevant. We take our politics like we take life—lightly.")Biting our style!? -
To me it seems like a standard concession and a bit formulaic. Doesn't standard high school English teach to grant a concession in a debate to establish credibility?Some writers seem to go on auto-pilot and do this reflexively even when the point isn't concession worthy.
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There's a word for this sort of thing.
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Ahem, I never said she had a point. I said I had no issue with her lobbying for what she sees as better representation of women in games. Nor would have I have an issue with somebody lobbying for anything they like to be included in games. There's all sorts of things I personally would like to see more of in games, but I don't mistake my consumer desires for fulfillment from entertainment as a crusade for moral righteousness.
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If that's what you meant, I'm going to trust you; however, when you write
I said I had no issue with her lobbying for what she sees as better representation of women in games.
I hope you can see that one could read that as you have no issue with her willful misrepresentation of how women have been historically represented within the narrative of games. One should have an issue with her lobbying efforts because they are mendacious in nature. -
Lunatic or feminist?People love to pretend “fantasy" and "reality" are separate, distinct, unrelated. Nothing could be further from the truth. They’re entwined.
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That's actually a quote from an early 90's Cinemax soft porn. You can't fool me!
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Indeed, one of the games promoted by Bethesda in this very conference, Dishonored 2, will allow players to complete the storyline without killing anybody.You could complete FONV without killing anyone. Super-hard, but there it is:
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You can also murder like 100,000 people and still get a "messiah" karma-rating.its easier too.
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For me, one of the worst features in any game, is anything that moves that you cannot kill. Every NPC, including animals, should be killable.
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"one of the worst features in any game, is anything that moves that you cannot kill"Clearly you're thinking of the Indestructible Children.There aren't as many of them in New Vegas. But Fallout 3 had loads of them. I think you could at least *enslave* a few, right? I mean, that was something.
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Hmm. I didn't even notice that. Yeah, you should at least be able to make a few of the orphans polish monocles.
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It's why I admire GTA V even while feeling guilty. You can shoot and run over dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, wolves, coyotes, cougars, etc.In some neighborhoods, you can see a cat lounging in front of the house. Firing a non-suppressed weapon near it causes it to jump up a lot like a real cat when it gets seriously startled.
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Sarkeesian is actually pretty good at what she does. She's turned her 2-episode series into a massive self-victimization campaign that has given her fame, fortune and in the minds of a number of gaming journalism and MSM, credibility.Fortunately, GamerGate has done much better in showing how gaming journalism are more likely to support a game if it uses the right buzzwords or have the right connections while games Sarkeesian supports have pretty much all failed.
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Rightwingers complain about violence in video games? I could see SoCons being upset with sex or profanity in video games but violence? Anti-violent toys seems kinda like a progressive thing.
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Back in the day, one of the most outspoken critics was Mr. Sheepdog himself.
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A psych professor? That isn't much of a rightwing resume.Shackford writes "Another Right-Winger" like we all know who is typically against violent video games. I don't know much about the subject as I don't play video games but "right-wingers" being in the vanguard of opposition to what I guess are mostly military games just doesn't sound right.
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It was Hilary who wanted to ban Grand Theft Auto.It was Uber-progressive California that passed laws to ban violent games.You are correct in pointing out Scott is full of shit.
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A psych professor? That isn't much of a rightwing resume.
Someone's job determines their political ideology? That's an odd way to go through life...I don't know much about the subject
No offense, but there's your problem right there. While the current face of the anti-video game movement is a progressive harpy, there are those of us old enough to remember when it was Jack Thompson, a born-again Christian lawyer who, when he wasn't calling Janet Reno a lesbian, was leading the charge against the corruptive forces of gangsta rap and violent video games. The American Family Association has a few astroturfed groups that lobby against violent video games. -
Most SoCon gamers I know play Call of Duty or Battlefield. I just cannot get in to any of that genre of games. They're boring.I like shooters, but I like a story and some adventure/looting in it. And as I always say, some boobs never hurt a game.
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(She responded to Dishonored 2 by complaining that the player will get to choose between a male and female lead rather than just having a female lead)
So, she's bitching about something the industry already did back in 1982 with Ms. Pac-Man? -
To say nothing about the Tomb Raider franchise.
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I can't think of many, if any, games that have createable characters where you cannot choose to play as a female.In party based games, like Dragon Age, Divinity Original Sin, etc, I always have females in my party. Cause boobs, you know.
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Real men don't play CandyCrush.
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Damn straight. They just dress up as Bronies and play The Sims.
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The first Portal game made you play as a female astronaut, and you never killed anybody. You never even had a gun.And if you look at an old school game like Leisure Suit Larry, isn't the joke always on Larry for being such a sexist creep?
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A game I always wanted to play, but didn't because you had to play as a girl, is Venetica. I did play Tomb Raider 2013 though, which is pretty good.
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Ohhhh, so GlaDOS was no one? Finally your bias towards carbon-based lifeforms rears it's head.
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And don't get me started on your anti-cubism...
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Yes, but she was a villain--in the first game--and you didn't get to play as her.
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I'm currently playing a sexist game. You have to play as a male, Geralt of Rivia, so it's not only sexist, but having to play as a Witcher, you're also being racist against Elfs, Dwarves, etc. And I fail to give a flying fuck. I am a really bad person.
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Sarkeesian seems like a humorless scold and the kind of joyless harpy that anyone with any sense couldn't possibly enjoy being around because no matter what you do she'll find something to bitch and moan about. I can't fucking stand people like that.
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"She responded to Dishonored 2 by complaining that the player will get to choose between a male and female lead rather than just having a female lead"I understand that sometimes players just don't care. In Portal, you didn't find out you were a woman until the end of the game. But insisting that it's somehow wrong for guys not to want to pretend they're women is probably a bridge too far...I'm not saying that people who don't cross-dress should be discriminated against, but, god damn it, if there isn't enough support for cross dressers out there, then the industry needs to start making gamers cross dress virtually whether they like it or not?Gimmie a break.
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Not surprised. While I'm sympathetic to some of her critiques, she has a big problem with any violence. She's claimed Katniss Everdeen and Mattis Ross aren't good female characters because they don't reject violence.
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Well, looks like this screeching harpy is winning. Here's a new FA4 trailer. I didn't see any violence at all!
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Is this Peak Tedium?
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No, Tulpa hasn't started whining yet.
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over her feminist calls for changes to the industry to better represent women in games and to treat women better within the industry itself.This is like somebody bitching because all movies are not Westerns; or all dolls are not Barbie.
Holy fuck, why are people so offended by variety? Don't like the games on the shelf, MAKE ONE. -
The difference between SoCons and Sarkeesian is that SoCons dislike violence and sex in the media because it might corrupt children and spoil their innocence.Sarkeesian is aghast that adults might enjoy those things due to her irrational views on those matters. Frankly, that's far more sinister than what SoCons think.
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She's Mary Whitehouse. Nothing is new. All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again.
