Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Recent Articles on Women in Games: Female Characters, Feminism in FF, and the Lara Croft Reboot

It's funny, when I first started this blog I really thought I'd have a hard time coming up with things to write about, but now I'm finding the exact opposite to be true! I have so much I want to write about that it's actually quite hard for me to decide what I want to cover from post to post. I guess that's a good thing!

Before I get started on the "meat" of this post, I'd like to mention that my most recent article is up at Total Retro Gaming (formerly Norwich Retro Gaming) and is on the PS1 2D shooter, Einhander. Take a look and let me know what you think! (Note: Unfortunately the site isn't working correctly for me at the moment, so for the time being I'll have to direct you to the main page and ask that you click on "news" in order to see my Einhander piece)

So, as many of you who already know me are well aware, I often contemplate the role of women in the gaming community and representations of female characters in the games we play. I'll also be the first to tell you that I consider myself a feminist, even though that term seems to have so many negative connotations these days (no, I am not a femi-nazi, I do not hate men, and yes I changed my last name when I got married). I consider myself to be a reasonable human being who doesn't advocate for the advancement of women over men, but equality for men and women in all facets of life. On that note, I believe overly sexist or stereotyped portrayals of both men and women in any type of media, be it video games, film, or literature, to be worth considering. Ok, no more ranting, I just wanted you all to have your facts straight before I dive in.
Yes, I would buy this
To get things started, Jen over at Video Game Writers has just published a very interesting piece titled "Where have all the strong female character gone?" that I strongly suggest giving a read. Here are a couple of excerpts:

"As of late, there has been an emergence of what I call 'Brittany Spears Feminism.' This is the idea that states 'I dress like a stripper because I’m empowered!' Because of this, there is now a turn to justify latex costumes and triple-D bust lines by claiming they are empowering. I draw your attention to Bayonetta. Large tits? Check. Skin tight outfit? Check. Sexy attitude on par with a soft core porn star? Double check. But wait! She has intellectual glasses! She’s empowering to female gamers! No, she is a vamped up tart who you are trying to market to me as a strong female figure, when in reality she is little more than eye candy for boys. I’m just not buying it — that is not how it works." [emphasis by the author]

"Now is the time to make a very important point: wielding a giant sword, and reminding all the chauvinistic males in the game that the character is a woman, and will totally kick some dude’s ass, does not a strong female make. It makes for an angry girl stereotype."


I find myself agreeing with many of the points Jen makes, but at times her article suggests that rather than having physically strong female characters, she would prefer to see weaker women who are physically agile. I think that the idea that women can't be as strong as men is also a stereotype, and I personally have no problems with a strong female character who can wield a giant sword and kick ass, as long as she has emotional depth. Let me think of an example... Hm, well, I don't think I can, but if you do, leave it in the comments!

Rydia from Final Fantasy IV
I don't want to spend too much time on any one thing, since I have a couple of other pieces I'd like to cover, so I'll move on to the next article for now. I recently was informed by the awesome blog What can I do with a BA in Japanese Studies? (which covers all sorts of things related to scholarship on Japan and is definitely worth a look if you're interested in studying the language or literature) of another blog by a current graduate student in the East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department at the University of Pennsylvania who focuses on contemporary Japanese literature and culture. She has done a lovely 5 part piece on Feminism in Final Fantasy and I highly suggest giving it a read, as it is really well written. I'd love to say more on the topic, but I'll let the article speak for itself and move on to the last piece I would like to draw your attention to today.

Brad over at Drinking CoffeeCola mentioned an  article in his most recent post that discusses the Lara Croft reboot and the possible implications of focusing on a young, more anatomically correct Lara who has so far only been shown as a beat-up, bloody mess. I definitely agree with him that this portrayal of her is sightly disturbing, and though it may be too early to tell how this will play out in the game as a whole. For now I think it's safe to say that I am not very happy how, in an attempt to make Lara more "real," the advertising team feel it is necessary to focus so heavily on her weakened state in the promotional images.

From this...

To this?
Really, that second image is just disturbing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the game plays out, though I'm not much of a Tomb Raider fan as it is, so I probably won't be picking it up regardless.

So, to wrap things up, feel free to let me know what you think of these various articles (if you decide to check them out) in the comments! For those of you who have had enough just reading through my post, how about sharing your favorite female video game characters? My husband and I are quite fond of Beatrix from Final Fantasy IX, and I'm partial to Freya from FFIX, as well.

My next post will be something a little different: A book review!

Emergency 2012

Emergency 2012 - 2DVD
System Requirements
Intel Processor -  Core 2 Duo E4400 2.0GHz 
AMD Processor -  Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+
Nvidia Graphics Card -  GeForce 8600 GTS 512MB 
ATI Graphics Card -  Radeon X800 Pro
RAM (Memory) -  2 GB
Direct X -  9

Fallout New Vegas Honest Hearts

Fallout New Vegas Honest Hearts - 1DVD
System Requirements
Intel Processor -  Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz
AMD Processor -  Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5800+
Nvidia Graphics Card -  GeForce GT 14
ATI Graphics Card -  Radeon HD 3870
RAM (Memory) -  3 GB
Hard Disk Space -  1 GB
Direct X -  9

They Are Alive

They Are Alive - 1DVD
Minimum System Requirements:
System: Windows XP (SP2) / Vista SP1
Processor: Pentium IV 2 GHz / AMD Athlon 2000 + (2,5 GGts/2500 + for Vista)
Memory: 512 MB (1 GB for Vista)
Video Card: GeForce 6600 or ATI Radeon X1800
Sound Card: DirectX-compatible
Hard disk: 5 GB

Dirt 3

Dirt 3 - 2DVD
Minimum System Requirements
o OS: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
o CPU: AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 2.8GHz, Intel Pentium® D 2.8Ghz
o RAM: 2GB
o Hard Disk Space: 15GB
o GFX: AMD RadeonTM HD 2000 256MB, NVIDIA® GeForce® 8000 Series 256MB
o DirectX®: DirectX® 9
o Sound: DirectX® compatible soundcard

Dirt 3 Recommended System Requirements
Specifications: Enhanced for DirectX 11
o OS: Windows® 7
o CPU: AMD PhenomTM II X4 B50 or Intel® CoreTM i7-860
o RAM: 3GB
o Hard Disk Space: 15GB
o GFX: AMD RadeonTM HD 6930 Series / Nvidia GeForce GTX 280
o DirectX®: DirectX® 11
o Sound: DirectX® compatible soundcard

The Sims 3 Generation (Exp)

The Sims 3 Generation (Exp) - 2DVD
Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 @ 2.0 GHz / AMD Athlon XP 2000+
RAM: 1 GB
HDD: 6.3 GB free disk space
Graphics: 64 MB Graphics Memory
Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
DirectX: Version 9

Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
CPU: Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.5 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
RAM: 2 GB
HDD: 6.3 GB free disk space
Graphics: 768 MB Graphics Memory
Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
DirectX: Version 9

Supported Graphics Cards:
Minimum – nVidia GeForce FX 5900 / ATI Radeon 9500
Recommended – nVidia GeForce GTX 260 / ATI Radeon HD 4850

Monday, May 30, 2011

Fable 3




Fable 3 - 2DVD
Fable III Minimum System Requirements:
OS: XP 32bit SP3, Vista 32 or 64 bit, Win 7 32 or 64 bit
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz or AMD Athlon X2 4000+
RAM: 2GB
Hard Disk Space: 12 GB
GFX: NVidia 7600GT or ATI HD 2600 Pro
DX: 9.0c onward
Network: Multiplayer requires internet or LAN

Fable III Recommended System Requirements:
OS: Win 7
CPU: Intel 2.9Ghz Core 2 Duo or higher
RAM: 4GB
GFX: Nvidia 260GTX 896MB or ATI 5770 1GB or higher

PSN Back in Japan.Hallelujah!

That was a loooong wait. I think you suckers around the world got your PSN back about 10 days earlier that us folks living over here in the Land of the Rising Sun. I was suffering Metal Gear withdrawal symptoms so bad I had to go play Metal Gear Arcade instead down the local game center. I've come to realise the game sucks quite bad, the head&gun control system- which seemed kind of cool at first- are actually quite naff ways to move your character around and you don't get anywhere near the mobility you get in the PS3 version. Had enough of that one.

Few more screenies for the up&coming Rebuild 2.









Sunday, May 29, 2011

Thief 3: Deadly Shadows

Thief 3: Deadly Shadows - 1DVD
Minimum System Requirements:
CPU: Intel Pentium® IV 1.5GHz (AMD Athlon XP™ equivalent)
RAM: 256MB System Memory 
VGA: Graphics Card must support Pixel Shader 1.1!*
DX: DirectX 9
OS: Windows 2000/XP
HDD: 3GB free hard disc space

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Can the new Ace Attorney film compete with the Takarazuka musicals?

So, big news if you haven't yet heard–rumors that the famed Japanese director Takashi Miike is working on an Ace Attorney film adaptation have now been official confirmed by Capcom! Exciting, eh? I have to say the thought of Takashi Miike of Ichi the Killer fame doing a rendition of Nintendo DS game about goofy fictional court dramas is a little perplexing, but he did recently do a film adaptation of the anime Yatterman, so there is proof that he is capable of directing a film that isn't all blood and gore.



The role of Phoenix Wright will be played by Japanese heartthrob Hiroki Narimiya, while Takumi Saito will be playing his rival Miles Edgeworth.

Hiroki Narimiya will play Ace Attorney... Can't say I'm complaining! (source)

Takumi Saito will play Miles Edgeworth

Did you know that Ace Attorney has already been adapted, not for film, but for the stage? In 2009 the all-female Takarazuka revue did their own version of the popular video game series, which had a month-long run on stage and was popular enough to merit a sequel.

Poster for the original Takarazuka production
Poster for the 2nd production
 I have yet to see either of theses shows, but I absolutely adore Takarazuka, and I'm sure these productions wouldn't disappoint. Of course Takashi Miike's film will probably get a lot of positive mainstream reception, but really, there's not much better than this (seriously, you need to watch this):

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Jayd "Chira" Ait-Kaci is Having a Print Sale!


And now for something a little different! One of my favorite artists, Chira, is having a print sale, and for only $5 you can pick up an 8.5x11" print of any of the great illustrations she has listed here! She has an exceptionally wide range of influences and inspirations, from Prince of Persia to Disney’s Tangled and iconic Japanese tiles such as Revolutionary Girl Utena. I’ve been following her work for a few years now, and it’s really impressive to see how she’s evolved as an artist in such a short amount of time. Right now she’s working on an upcoming comic titled The Fox Sister with Runaways colorist Christina Strain, while single-handedly illustrating and coloring the superb web comic Sfeer Theory, written by Alex Singer. 
Here are some of my favorites out of the prints she is currently offering: 
A humanoid interpretation of Amaterasu from the game Okami, with the Medicine Seller from the anime Mononoke

Fan art of the game Prince of Persia (2008)

Beautiful stylized Revolutionary Girl Utena fan art



You can see more of her work on DeviantArt, Livejournal, or even follow her on Twitter

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Rebuild 2



I've been keeping this schtum for a while but the latest game I've been working on is actually 'Rebuild 2'.
If you haven't heard of Rebuild, it's a brilliant Zombie strategic survival game by Northway games. It's been played by squillions of people and is still in the top 40 on Newgrounds.
They started working on the second one recently and were looking for an artist. Frankly I loved the first game a lot, and after playing it (for a long, long time) I actually had already envisualised what it would look like with my art stamped all over it, so this was a dream job for me.
Despite the gameplay being top notch, the first game's graphics were a little too simple and it seemed like they wanted to take the game to a darker place visually this time. That's where I've stepped in.

Have to say Sarah Northway has been great to work with. She's definitely a smart cookie and knows exactly how to manage this thing well as well as being constantly supportive and generous with the compliments. Made this first collaboration for me relaxing and stress-free.

Many fans of the first game showed concern that the second game would be a little too heavy if it featured the same variety of gore as I've used in the Insanity games. With that in mind we decided to go with a more cartoon-esque look.





We've both been getting various influences, her from The Walking Dead books, I myself have been heavily influenced by the work of Beksinski recently, so expect to see a bit of his stuff in the work I do.

Only the final end of game images will feature anything as nasty as what you can see in The Insanity games.





One bonus is the new customized character screen that features photorealistic art for each 'survivor'. We've scanned in all our faces for the game so you'll actually be able to see our ugly mugs as a 'leader' or 'scavenger' etc . I think I look pretty cool with a shotgun in one hand, cowboy hat and an old grey moustache.
Anyway, I'm excited and working my buttcheeks off to get the visuals to a level where they truly add another dimension to this already fantastic game.

CHRONICLE:- a chronic failure hahahaaaaa!

Well, seems like the latest news is that the latest game of mine- 'CHRONICLE' is a flop *sigh*
A giant turd of a flop. Couldn't get the bastard sponsored even after weeks of trying.
If nothing else I've learned that arcade games- specifically shooters, are not my bag. Both Bounty Hunter and this one went nowhere fast. This one cuts me up a little though, because although it wasn't reinventing the wheel I personally felt it was a pretty good game. That's 6 months of hobby time largely wasted.

Still, the dude here always remains positive, and here's what I've learned;

a) Don't make games just because you think they'll score you a cashcow.

b) Be original

c) Don't waste time working on games you don't like.

d) With Flash, less is more.

e) Mochiad rates still suck compared to CPMStar.

The game didn't sell even despite quite a few sponsors taking a peek at it. Most of the feedback came saying great music but not original enough. Also had a few comments about the graphics being inconsistent and the game difficulty being a little high.
I didn't send out any e-mails to sponsors and perhaps that was the biggest error on my part- not enough self-promotion.
I think I'm guilty on relying too much on Flash Game License to get my game sponsored. But at the end of the day I was just dying to move away from this turkey and couldn't be bothered with all the hassle of tracking down all the big-wigs in the industry, I didn't believe in the game enough to really play the salesman role. I kind of think of the whole scene like FrightNight where Jerry Dandridge (Sponsor) is coming down the stairs in full vampire mode and Roddy McDowell (me) holds out his crucifix(the game), then Jerry starts chuckling sardistically 'You've got to have FAITH for that to work on me, Mr.Vincent'

Yeah. Lack of faith. And I was dinner.

The dangers of spending long amounts of time with a game are:
a) Oftentimes you can't tell if your games sucks or not as you're too washed out on it or just bored of playing it. Even StreetFighter gets dull after playing it all day. Try 80 days.
b) You've a hundred other, better concepts built in your imagination that you're dying to start work on, but you can't because you've got this lame duck you have to wrap up.

I'm thinking of trying some new. Perhaps making very small games, almost like demos that are fun, a quick fix and not too challenging. For example I might split 'The Damned' into 3 highly polished mini games. Sure people will nag about the game length but you don't have the right to complain when you're getting something for free. Certainly would equal less stress for me. Either way, Insanity 3 will probably be my last, and hopefully greatest full game until the day when microtransactions are fully accepted and we can actually get rewarded properly for our work instead of relying on scraps from the sponsors and pay per click routes.

Recipe for a Very Nerdy Weekend: StreetPassing at the Mana Bar and More!

I don't often do weekend recaps, but this time I think it was sufficiently nerdy enough to merit this post. That, and I wanted to do write-ups on both the Mana Bar StreetPass event I attended as well as the CG animated film Resident Evil: Degeneration, so I figured why not do one big weekend review?

On Saturday, Shaun and I headed into the city for some major window shopping and general bumming around; I, of course, had my 3DS in tow so I could collect some StreetPass hits. For lunch we swung by our favorite Japanese restaurant, Kadoya, where I had their delicious mackerel bento set. We made sure to play a few rounds of Animal Kaiser while we were in the area and had high hopes of scoring a rare card for our efforts, too. Sadly, we did not (and are beginning to think we need to take a break from the whole thing, it's quite the money sink and we haven't gotten any good cards in a while), but Shaun did get a funny picture of me in action:

I think I was captured mid-exclamation
 We spent Saturday evening at home with a family-sized chicken (2 kilos! What can I say, it was on special) and Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008). Both Shaun and I were pleasantly surprised that the CG movie, which takes place between Resident Evil 4 and 5, was actually quite a bit better than we had anticipated. I'd say that if you're a fan of the video game series, you should definitely check this movie out, if you haven't already! Neither of us are huge RE fans, as we've only actually played Resident Evil 5, but the movie was fun and I think it's at least worth a rental.

Expect to see the sequel, Resident Evil: Damnation, sometime in 2012!
 The graphics didn't strike me as particularly impressive, like they did when I first saw FFVII: Advent Children back in 2005, but a couple times during the movie I did notice some pretty well-done effects, especially in the water. The plot was intriguing and pretty well-paced, though I had a hard time understanding what was going on at a couple of points during the movie (I think that's because I'm slow on the uptake sometimes; Shaun didn't have any problems). It definitely is a good fix for anyone waiting for the next Resident Evil game to come along.

There are plenty of shots of Leon being super-cool
Next, we have the StreetPass event at the Mana Bar, an awesome video game-themed bar located right here in Brisbane! Though the event was planned for the slightly-unfortunate time of Sunday evening, Shaun and I decided it was worth checking out, so we hopped on the train to Fortitude Valley and arrived sometime around 4:30 pm. I thought this would be a nice opportunity to spread the word about StreetPass Brisbane and check out this funky venue!

Loved their decor! The Mana Potion was a novel drink, but I'll probably give it a skip next time
Unfortunately, I only got 5 StreetPass hits altogether during the hour and a half we were there, but that may have been due to the fact that we arrived so early. 2 of those were from members of StreetPass Brisbane that attended our event last Saturday, so it was great to see their Mii's level up! Mana Bar also has their own 3DS for StreetPassing, so if you attend the bar regularly, that would be a great way to get a higher level Mii for StreetPass Quest.

The bar itself was smaller than I had expected, but it was pretty cool to see all the TVs with games set up and ready to go (I believe there were 5 in total). Shaun and I played some Mario Kart Wii, watched a bit of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and Shaun did a couple of songs on Guitar Hero. Later on we picked up this intriguing XBox 360 game called Raskulls and did a 3 player race with Natasha, who we know from StreetPass Brisbane. That game was fun for multiplayer, and I would definitely check it out again if it's on the next time I'm at the Mana Bar. Little Big Planet was also available to play, but I'm not a huge fan of that so we didn't bother giving it a go.

All in all, it was a great weekend! Albeit a little more eventful than usual, so things might be a little more low-key next weekend to make up for it. Though I'm chafing at the bit to see the new Pirates movie, so hopefully we'll be able to fit that in! 

What about you all? Do anything fun over the weekend?

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Hydrophobia Prophecy




 
Hydrophobia Prophecy - 1DVD

System Requirements
Intel Processor -  Core 2 Duo E6540 2.33GHz 
AMD Processor -  Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+
Nvidia Graphics Card -  GeForce GT 240
ATI Graphics Card -  Radeon HD 3850
RAM (Memory) -  2 GB
Hard Disk Space -  8 GB
Direct X -  9

Prejudice Section 8




Prejudice Section 8 - 2DVD
Intel Processor -    Core 2 Duo E4600 2.4GHz   
AMD Processor -  Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+
Nvidia Graphics Card -  GeForce 9800 GTX
ATI Graphics Card -  Radeon HD 4830 512MB
RAM (Memory) -  2 GB
Hard Disk Space -  5.5 GB
Direct X -  9

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

BlazBlue Continuum Shift II Box Art Censored in US

Since this has been nagging me for a while now, I figured I might as well post about it. Back when I heard BlazBlue Continuum Shift II was coming out for the 3DS, contrary to some skeptics (aka my husband), I was actually quite excited about it. See, we played the original BlazBlue Calamity Trigger together in the arcades when we were living in Japan, and the series brings back lots of fond memories for me, even though we never ended up purchasing Continuum Shift for the PS3 when it came out. With Continuum Shift II coming out for the 3DS, I figure it'd be killing two birds with one stone since I don't have any particularly enjoyable games for my 3DS yet and I'm long overdue for a new BlazBlue game.

Honestly, I haven't really been keeping track of BlazBlue. I know they added a couple of characters for Continuum Shift, and figured they'd probably add one or two more for this release. Now that I've seen the Japanese box art for the game, I dare say I've seen a little too much of the game's new characters.

Japanese box art with a lovely sleek black logo bar and...
Hm, well, I guess that's cute? I think she's supposed to be a squirrel. I really am not impressed with her clothing design and whoever decided to make her breasts larger than the other characters on the cover. I'd like to see more of the old guy with the seriously pointy beard–I seem to remember he was a vampire buddy of Rachel's in the first game. I have a feeling he'll probably be similar to Guilty Gear's Slayer.

It seems as though I wasn't the only one who was a little displeased by the Japanese cover choice, as the US box art is much more covered up (hah, I can't help it, the bad puns just make themselves).

US box art is a little more tasteful
I have to admit, though I do like the positioning of the characters so that the one girl's barely covered breasts are no longer a focal point of the image, but I actually dislike the American cover as a whole because it seems too cluttered (and I've gotta say, that black 3DS logo is nice). I think I also preferred the BlazBlue logo in the center, rather than to the side. But we can't have everything, right? Which one do you prefer?


BlazBlue Continuum Shift II is coming to the 3DS and PSP on May 31st (pushed back from the 24th) in both Japan and North America

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Retribution


Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Retribution - 1DVD

Publisher: THQ

Developer: Relic Entertainment

Release Date:

Genre: Real-time Strategy

Features: (source: wikipedia.org)

    * Dawn Of War II: Retribution will offer a campaign for every race, including the new race:
    * The Imperial Guard. Players will be unable to import old campaigns from Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising.

Minimum System Requirements

* OS: Windows XP SP2, Vista or Windows 7
* CPU: Pentium IV 3.2Ghz, or any dual core processor
* RAM: 1GB (XP), 1.5GB (Vista), 1.5 GB (Windows 7)
* HDD: 8.5 GB free disk space
* Graphics: 128 MB Graphics Memory with Shader Model 3
* Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
* DirectX: Version 9.0c

The Witcher 2 - Assasins of Kings

The Witcher 2 - Assasins of Kings - 4DVD
Minimum System Requirements
* OS: Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
* CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or similar AMD
* RAM: 1 GB (XP) / 2 GB (Vista/7)
* HDD: 8 GB free disk space
* Graphics: 512 MB Graphics Memory Nvidia GF 8800 or similar ATI card
* Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
* DirectX: Version 9.0c

Portal 2


Portal 2
2DVD
System Requirements* 
Intel Processor -  Pentium 4 3.0GHz
AMD Processor -  Sempron 3600+
Nvidia Graphics Card -  GeForce 315 512MB
ATI Graphics Card -  Radeon HD 3600 Series
RAM (Memory) -  1 GB
Hard Disk Space -  8 GB
Direct X -  9