Have any of you ever noticed that in most games where you have the choice of playing as a female, they make it easier for female characters?
Why is that? Do they think that women can't handle it? And they get special benefits sometimes, too.
Like, in Harvest Moon for the Gameboy Color, if you play as a girl, you start out with all the basic tools (same as if you play as the guy), but you'll also have some seeds ready for planting AND the watering can! If you play as a guy, you have to get the watering can yourself and actually BUY the seeds.
If you remember, I played Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life (the girl version). This version is a joke. By the end of the first month, I already had enough money to buy the milking room (something that took me several years to have enough money for in the original). Granted of course, I didn't spend much on other things, but still. Perhaps they made the items sell for more, which is lame in my opinion. Also, you start off with the seed maker (another piss-off since that too isn't easy to get in the original).
Also, in Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords, if you play as a woman, you will skip the boss fight with Darth Sion in the Korriban ruins.
So, why do you think this is? Please give me some input here.
EDIT: I know I've brought this up before, but I wanted to know what your collective opinions are. That, and I'm in Mr. Hitson's B block class right now, in blatant disregard for the work he assigned us. I'm not doing any of it, and neither is anyone else. Carlos is looking at images to forever scar onto his body (tattoos), Bi-yaoi is reading something in Japanese, or whatever language he reads in, and Jimmy is writing a paper. And no one is doing any real work.
well personally i don't care if you play as a chick or a guy, but man i hate how that they deliberately curve the game and make it easier with the chick version.
like i have the inuyasha: the secret of the cursed mask, and you can play as either a chick or a guy. i'm obviously playing both ways to get a feel for it, and the chick you have it a little easier than if you do as a guy.
however, to play devil's advocate girls don't play as much as guys do, and i guess it's the gaming industry's way of trying to attract more females to the enjoyment of gaming
kannibalkaney
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You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, she is beautiful because you love her. ~Author Unknown
everyone already knows what my view on sexism in video games is, 3 words.......I HATE IT!!!!!
do the video game developers think that they have to "hold a girls hand" through the whole game and make it easier, aparentally they think so but i wish they didnt in fact sometimes i will deliberately play as a guy because i want to have a challenge not a game that will tone down the enimies strengths and whatnot and just make it too easy just because im playing as a girl.
-- Edited by Jena Runner at 16:11, 2006-04-05
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There is a fight between two wolves going on inside everyone. One stands for all good things and the other, all that is evil. Which one will win? The one that you feed.
yeah i'm not much into sexism myself, but what can you do about it, the lovely game makers will continue to make games they make them until they get a good kick to the balls
kannibalkaney
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You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, she is beautiful because you love her. ~Author Unknown
Another example: Resident Evil. Jill has 8 item slots and a grenade launcher, Chris has 6 item slots and...nothing.
I do think that it's partially because in general (not always), girls don't play games quite as much as guys. This is mostly because a larger percentage of games are guy-oriented. Does that make it 'better'? Not really.
But you also have to look at it from this perspective. Back when they first started letting you pick man or woman in games, they usually made the woman's quest 'easy', whereas the man's was 'normal'. I think that trend has carried over in today's games, not just to be sexist, but because many people expect it.
Personally? I'd like to see a bit of variation in things. Playing as a female shouldn't give me more stuff, but it should have it's own advantages. Just like playing as a male.
-- Edited by Snake at 19:27, 2006-04-05
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"If you believe in yo'self, eat your school, stay in milk, drink your teeth, don't do sleep, and get eight hours of drugs, you can get work!"
Another example: Resident Evil. Jill has 8 item slots and a grenade launcher, Chris has 6 item slots and...nothing.
Oh yeah, I completely forgot that one.
Also, if you play as Jill, you get the lockpick, which makes most doors pop right open. Whereas, with Chris, you have to practically turn the mansion upside down looking for those small keys so you can open the doors that Jill can go through just by walking up and pressing A. (Or X if you still play the PS version.)
Chris only had 2 things going for him: Better accuracy/speed (for easier headshots), and those mini-grenades. He also had a lighter that you carried around without taking up an item space, but that's almost useless.
yeah from when i played the ps version of re since i haven't gotten around to playing my copy or re-make overall i like playing a jill better because she was more for the eye candy and for a well how shall i say sight oriented guy like me i was able to look past the handicap
kannibalkaney
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You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, she is beautiful because you love her. ~Author Unknown
all i can say is that im glad that they didnt make Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town easier than the orrigional its the same no changes except for the fact that you play as a girl and you marry guys, oh and the opening cutscene is different too.
-- Edited by Jena Runner at 21:47, 2006-04-06
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There is a fight between two wolves going on inside everyone. One stands for all good things and the other, all that is evil. Which one will win? The one that you feed.
Actually, they added a lot more extra items, like that thing that lets you shop any store from home, and the rings. And there are more guys that you can marry on the girl version than there are girls you can marry on the guy version.
ok i didnt know about the thing that lets you shop from home and yes there may be just 2 more guys that you can marry than girls in the guy version but who in their right mind would want to marry the gormet judge or won or even the cappa? and the rings dont really mean anything as far as i know but in any case for the most part it is not eaiser aside from the shopping thing now is it?
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There is a fight between two wolves going on inside everyone. One stands for all good things and the other, all that is evil. Which one will win? The one that you feed.
just for clarification, i'm full of bullsh** so don't take 90% of what i say seriously
you know i have the uncanny ability to make people question my sexuality don't worry i'm into to girls
you know another thing that's killing me with many games is how that they make the male characters as feminine looking as humanly possible so you don't know if he's a she or a he at all
kannibalkaney
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You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, she is beautiful because you love her. ~Author Unknown
when characters get to the point of where they could be either i just call the character an "it". the one that comes to mind first is Flea from Chrono Trigger. Flea looks like a girl to me but yet Flea proclaims to be a guy in Chrono Trigger so here take a look for yourselves.
flea is the one with pinkish hair just in case some dont know.
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There is a fight between two wolves going on inside everyone. One stands for all good things and the other, all that is evil. Which one will win? The one that you feed.
well it's certainatly not unusual for people to cross dress in this day and time so the prospect of flea being a guy in drag isn't that unusual, but i wish that game developers would make the characters more masculine or feminine based on their genders. i don't like to see a hot game chick and find out that she wasn't a chick to begin with
kannibalkaney
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You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, she is beautiful because you love her. ~Author Unknown
Games are still designed to hold womens' hands (olo casual gamers), Kristen can actually type halfway decent, and I play primarily as a female in an online roleplaying game.
Games are still designed to hold womens' hands (olo casual gamers), Kristen can actually type halfway decent, and I play primarily as a female in an online roleplaying game.
and 4 years later... I am looking back at all this and wondering wtf?? lol!!!
You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, she is beautiful because you love her. ~Author Unknown
There is a fight between two wolves going on inside everyone. One stands for all good things and the other, all that is evil. Which one will win? The one that you feed.
don't worry i'm into to girls 
