Male vs Female Game Protagonists

Hey everyone!

I've been talking to my friend and we discuss about the female vs male in games. He doesn't like when a woman is the game protagonist,

he says that a men can't identify himself with the game if theres is a woman in the role.

I see this situation as a cause, no matter if is he or she. If the motivation of the main characters are good, I begin to like he/she.

What do you guys think? Male or Female? Or doesn't matter?

I really like to hear your opinions.

-Gleison

If the gamedev needs to tell something (a story, or just "say" something) about a white guy, then the main character should be a white guy. If it's about a woman, so be it. About a black jewish punk from Russia? It should be a black jewish punk from Russia.

It's not all about identification, but also about what the gamedev has and needs to say through his game. Even more, I'd say I can identify to a lot of different people than me, no matter their sex, creed or skin colour. Why? Because they're people first.

We live in a world where everyone is different and every story is worth telling. Reformatting women - or anyone different - to feel and look more like white straight men in games just cuts away from what games can be and do.

After a long conversation that we had, i told him exactly what you said. In the point of view of a gamedev, no matter the sex or race, the main character need to be what the story asks he/she to be. As a player i would love to see more games with an interesting story about different kinds of people and culture. Not just "white straight men" kicking ass and exploding everything. That's more about the AAA games.

doesnt matter to me honestly

I only care about playing a good game. Some people still have prejudice when it comes to this subject.

-Gleison

Beavers of course

Honestly....it´s like asking about does a movie need a male or female actor....it´s just ...superfluos to me!

As a player i would love to see more games with an interesting story about different kinds of people and culture. Not just "white straight men" kicking ass and exploding everything. That's more about the AAA games.

Bayonetta 2 was certainly one of my favorite games of last year. In 2013 I immensely enjoyed the Tomb Raider reboot. And not too long ago I finished and enjoyed Marlow Briggs, a game with a black male protagonist.

It certainly isn't important what gender or race a fictional game character belongs to. It could even be a non-human being and the gamer would still be able to relate, given the developer has done a decent job.

You are implying it is somehow bad using "white straight men" as protagonists. I cannot agree with you, there is nothing inherently bad with using any type of protagonist.

Above all a game needs to be - you guessed it - fun!

Some people prefer staring at a more attractive backside for 80 hours.

Beaverlicious hahaha Beavers are awesome xD

PixelRebirth It's not that it's bad to use "white straight men" but use a little less. Could be more exotic, using different cultures. Our world is full of amazing people with wonderful stories and often they are not the "white straight men".But that does not mean there are not good stories with the "white straight men", it's only for diversify a little bit, creating more different originals games.I think it's very cool the idea of non-human characters. That's just my opinion of course xD

Paradox it's always good xD But I also think, it wouldn't hurt the person staring at a softly character, ugly, made of flesh for a few hours, could be even interesting xD

-Gleison

Whatever the scenario calls for.

As a creator, it's natural to build things that represent your own background and experience. But, it can be rewarding to venture outside of your comfort zone and try to put yourself in the shoes of someone different.

Unfortunately, in many games, women and minorities are depicted in a stereotypical way, or, even worse, exist as mere visual skins, with little thought as to how such characters would really act.

That being said, I think creators should be free to make whatever creative decision they want. As we've seen lately, some people disagree.

PixelRebirth It's not that it's bad to use "white straight men" but use a little less. Could be more exotic, using different cultures. Our world is full of amazing people with wonderful stories and often they are not the "white straight men".But that does not mean there are not good stories with the "white straight men", it's only for diversify a little bit, creating more different originals games.I think it's very cool the idea of non-human characters. That's just my opinion of course xD

I think you should consider letting everyone create their games the way they want, even if they do not diversify by having pink bi-curious unicorns all over the place. This also means you can go ahead and make your own insanely diverse game. If your avatar is any indication, you're not quite on track yet. But maybe he's gay at least...

Unfortunately, in many games, women and minorities are depicted in a stereotypical way, or, even worse, exist as mere visual skins, with little thought as to how such characters would really act.

In contrast I do love the always super accurate way in which straight white men are depicted. It never fails!

> Unfortunately, in many games, women and minorities are depicted in a stereotypical way, or, even worse, exist as mere visual skins, with little thought as to how such characters would really act.

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In contrast I do love the always super accurate way in which straight white men are depicted. It never fails!

Touché.

Or...maybe we do all have super-muscles and bazooka's?

TiAm I fully agree with what you said about getting out of the comfort zone. This is something I'm doing at the moment, it's really challenging, but I'm enjoying the way in which ideas are taking. You end up surprising yourself.

-Gleison

This is quite hard to answer. Games like Bioshock Infinite I really don't mind the character being male because the story was so very good, plus it was necessary for the storyline.

However if a game like Skyrim did not allow gender choice than it would annoy me to no end.

I think maybe there is a difference between immersing yourself in the character (Skyrim) and immersing yourself in the Story (Bioshock).

I see no difference tbh.

It may seem irrelevant, but my softcore characters in Diablo 3 are male whereas my hardcore characters are female.