| "My boobs don’t have to be so big," Athena scowls. "What have they got to do with fighting?" She swings her sword at me.
"Balance?" I counter-attack with a leg sweep.
She jumps back. "The hyper-sexualization of women is what’s wrong with video games today."
"Blame Lara Croft," I say.
"It’s not her fault. At least she has a context."
"A context?"
"Yeah. Lara Croft is the Tomb Raider. She’s independent, she’s tough, she’s her own woman. Being sexy is secondary to everything else she is." Athena flips over me and kicks me in the back. "But here there is no context. We’re just fighting, and the size of my boobs doesn’t help me fight better."
I pick myself up and settle into a defensive stance. "Do you want to quit?"
"No. I’m going to kick your butt." She cuts into my arm with her sword.
"Ow. Would you be doing this on your own?"
"No. Gaming is a social experience for me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. That’s why I like MMORPG’s so much. You are actually interacting with other people." She tries to flip over me again, but I’m ready for it this time, and I knock her down with my staff.
"So you prefer playing games on the computer?"
"I’m more computer oriented. The computer is where I go for entertainment, not the television."
"But you’ve got an Xbox and a PlayStation in the house."
"I don’t play them unless we’ve got a whole group in on the action."
"A social experience."
"Right."
We circle, each waiting for an opening.
"Do you think you’ll always play video games?"
"For sure. Don’t you?"
"Yeah. In the future, rest homes will have Halo tournaments every night."
"Not unless the game developers get their act together."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, women make up, what, 40 per cent of gamers these days?" Athena blocks my attack and counters with a punch to my head.
"That’s what the statistics show."
"Then it’s time for games to be made for women. And making all the female characters look like Barbie is not cool."
"Is it really that bad? Isn’t it getting better?"
"No, it’s not getting better. Take World of Warcraft, for instance. I was looking forward to that game, but it’s disappointing."
"Not very good?"
"No, it’s great, but…. OK, all the characters have the ability to dance when interacting with other characters. But the female characters dance like they are strippers onstage. It’s like the people who created World of Warcraft just disregarded the fact that women play their game."
"What about men pretending to be women when they play?"
"Oh, that happens all the time. You know what MMORPG stands for, don’t you?"
"Sure. Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game."
"Nope. Many Men Online Role Playing Girls."
I dart in, trying to trip Athena, but she steps aside, and takes my head off with her sword.
I sit back in my chair and take a breath. "Maybe that’s why the female characters all dance like strippers. It’s what the men want to do when they’re women."
"Typical. Want to play again?"
REVIEWS
· Nintendogs (publisher: Nintendo; platform: NintendoDS; rated: everyone).
This game is not only fun to play, but was designed to appeal to even the most reluctant gamer. After selecting a puppy from the kennel, you take it home, give it a name and settle in for life with a dog. You play with and train it, and take care of it by feeding, watering and cleaning it. The touch screen for the DS allows you to pet your dog, and the DS’s wireless functionality means that you can interact with other Nintendog owners. Or so that Princess and Butch can… anyway. Despite claims that Nintendogs is nothing more than a next-gen Tamagotchi, it’s not hard to look past the cute-factor and realize that games derived from this kind of inventive and outside-the-box thinking are the future.
· Lumines (publisher: Ubisoft; platform: PSP; rated: everyone 10 and up).
Somehow, puzzle games seem made for portable gaming. Maybe it’s because you can drop into a game anytime, and kick out of it just as immediately. I love to play Lumines while on the bus or in interminable lineups. It’s a Tetris-like experience that exploits the slick screen and sound capabilities of the handheld unit. But Lumines is more than just a clone of the puzzle standard – it’s taken the concept of arranging falling blocks and twisted it with an electronica soundtrack and futuristic backdrop. And using the PSP’s built-in wi-fi you can compete against that cutie who sits across the aisle from you on the bus.
· The Warriors (publisher: Rockstar; platform: PS2, Xbox; rated: mature).
I don’t know who at Rockstar decided that making a video game out of the cult film The Warriors was a good idea, but it was a decision that could make or break a career, depending on how well it was executed. The Warriors game succeeds largely because the dark, carnival-like atmosphere from the film has been perfectly replicated. You play as a new member of the Warriors in the days leading up to the events that start the film: the fateful meeting of gangs and the assassination of Cyrus. In this way, the developers have constructed a more complete world around the — let’s face it — simplistic plot of the film. And in so doing, Rockstar establishes that they are as competent at creating a crumbling, tenement New York as they are a hard-light, cocaine-fuelled Miami or sprawling, violent Los Angeles. This is the New York of the late ’70s and early ’80s that spawned other dystopian visions like Escape from New York, and it is a dangerous place ruled by the criminal underground. The person who proposed this game should be getting a raise. |
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