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Sony was nervous about Horizon's female protagonist, did lots of focus testing
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Not to mention target demo for the genre
I look forward to the appropriation backlash
Is that how it is? Be quiet about an honest opinion ot be ridiculed? He was being honest, his issue is probably psychological, if he isn't beating his girlfriend or treating her like a slave it could be a lot worse. Right?
Edit: Never mind, I totally forgot the last post I saw from you, sorry to lump everyone on Neogaf based on one persons post.
nobodyshero
Banned
They're allowed to be nervous, when money and sales are on the line.
Point is, they too the risk and went through with it. Good for them
Point is, they too the risk and went through with it. Good for them
Dre_G_Writer
Member
I didn't even know there was an issue with women protagonist.
Edit:nvm
Stone Ocean
Member
What the fuck does that have to do with anything? Just because you're entitled to an opinion doesn't mean it needs to be taken seriously.
Beerman462
Member
Game of Thrones refrences are on point.
Ricky Ricardo
Member
That rabbit hole is deep, Gamespot did a pretty cool vid about a big part of the subject.
TheLostBigBoss
Banned
She was the lead on the box cover.
And while you play as Joel, I would argue that Ellie is the lead of the game
I'm kinda surprised at the people in the thread. It's great that they are doing a female character but when it comes to sales and business there is a perception that female lead games don't sell as well. Whether it is warranted or not I have no idea. So they did their homework and got outside feedback and stuck with their guns. If games like this are a success you will see more of it in the future I am sure.
Agreed. I honestly don't even care/notice what sex/race/ the main characters are. Just let me play the game.
Duly noted, peace yaw'll!
They're not the same things.
One is a matter of balance, striving to make the industry as open as possible for everyone. The other is about closed minded players who can't see past their own genitals.
Preference is fine, but not being able to play as the opposite gender at all? Especially if it makes them feel less powerful. That's symptomatic of something deeper, imo.
Agreed. It pretty much means you don't read books with female point-of-view characters.
I'd imagine men would be turned off of video games in general if there were only a very small minority of video games with avatars sharing their gender, as well. Not the same thing.
Strangelove77
Member
This has actually always been a much bigger problem than people assume it is. As ridiculous as it is to say, it is something that can and probably will lose a company money. It really does bother people, whether they see it or not.
It seems like the young male demographic has a really hard time playing as a female in an action game. They dont care if theyre white mages in an rpg or a character in a Telltale game.
But they cant be tough or strong. They cant kick heads in or shoot people's faces off or in general be better than all the male characters. Something like that doesnt register with them. They cant suspend their biased disbelief, so they reject it.
It's really sad. The only successful videogame female has been Lara Croft so far, and even then it took a bit of sexualization to make it so.
It seems like the young male demographic has a really hard time playing as a female in an action game. They dont care if theyre white mages in an rpg or a character in a Telltale game.
But they cant be tough or strong. They cant kick heads in or shoot people's faces off or in general be better than all the male characters. Something like that doesnt register with them. They cant suspend their biased disbelief, so they reject it.
It's really sad. The only successful videogame female has been Lara Croft so far, and even then it took a bit of sexualization to make it so.
Plus the games Cage makes tend to be on the short side and are much closer to movies than most other games. You don't get the same chance to see that person as an extension of yourself in the way you will with an - I presume - rather lengthy RPG in which you are always in control.
Still don't see what the big deal is. If you're capable of empathy you should be able to identify with any protagonist, regardless of sex, race, or orientation.
RealityCheque
Banned
Sony -- "Oh no, not girls. They smell and have cooties."
I highly doubt they're basing this on some sort of 'gut feeling' or anything. They have metrics.
More to the point, you can't state 'only young men play video games' as any sort of useful criticism. That's like saying [insert demographic here] accounts for XX% of movies. Games like movies are not monolithic. In the case of games they need to consider platform, genre, etc when determining demos. This title is going to see relatively similar demos as The Witcher.
It's a sad reality, but they need to consider these sorts of things when determining sales expectations and therefore budgets.
FinalStageBoss
Banned
I know people who wont play a game as a female, they do exist. I guess I can see why they'd be worried.
GG did an awesome job though, I think Aloy looks great.
GG did an awesome job though, I think Aloy looks great.
Rats Off To Ya
Banned
I think for a few years we should just have nothing but female protagonists. Drive away the neanderthals holding this medium back.
1.21Gigawatts
Banned
I still think it will affect sales a bit, but they made the right decision.
Especially the more casual male players who just walk into a store uninformed and look for a game probably won't choose a game where they play as a woman.
Especially the more casual male players who just walk into a store uninformed and look for a game probably won't choose a game where they play as a woman.
Shmuely Bully
Member
It's tough to do a female lead properly and not just because of actual sexists. It's easy to take flak because she's too $x or not $x enough.
Sony did well to focus test and get feedback before they ran headfirst into some of the stuff other devs have there.
Sony did well to focus test and get feedback before they ran headfirst into some of the stuff other devs have there.
SkullHydra
Member
I have a friend who thinks the game looks amazing, but won't buy it since the main character is female. I've gotten into arguments with him about this exact thing as it makes zero sense to me.
Dr. Buni
Member
I am glad they kept Aloy as the protagonist. She looks so great, she has a feminine design without being sexualized.
Still, it is really sad that developers need to be afraid of making a game with a female lead, because of how many insecure men there are.
Still, it is really sad that developers need to be afraid of making a game with a female lead, because of how many insecure men there are.
Fantastic idea.
SubiyaCryolite
Banned
Then they're immature little boys that are missing out on some great experiences. For example,
playing as the bad ass and totally OP Ciri in The Witcher 3.
other than talking too much
got to admit i had no idea who that was so googling her name made me chuckle
I'm not disregarding Lara. But being realistic, a game with the budget of the recent AAA games has to sell millions of copies to generate money for the company and that's why they were/are cautions with a stupid backslash.
Samus is a iconic character of a beloved franchise, and she is the stamp of badass female character (Nice armor, big cannons, skilled), she's not a "normal" female character.
Lightning is a new character in a stablished franchise. I might be wrong, but i don't think that having a female lead character have a impact on a series like Final Fantasy, a fantasy rpg where any type of character would be more easily accepted.
Kat is great, but she's the lead of a PSVita game. There's no point in trying to compare the budget of Gravity Rush with the logical amount of money Sony is investing in this game. Faith i would put at the same category as Kat.
I think that you understood my post the wrong way. I'm not disregarding the female leads. I'm just saying that my impression is that in the case of Tomb Raider, Lara being a cool character is less importante than being hot to a lot of consumers.
I really think that the aversion to lead female (and not white) characters got really worst in the last decade. In the past we had games like Oni and Beyond Good and Evil where we had girls being the protagonists, and the reaction wasn't as idiotic as nowadays.
SubiyaCryolite
Banned
This feels very strange to me. Since when has a game ever gotten backlash for having a female protagonist? Focus groups sound like complete overkill imo.
I'd honestly prefer it if every game gave a gender choice, either through character creation or Dishonored 2's method. It's a great way to add replayability and shouldn't piss anyone off.
That being said, a few years of nothing but female protagonists would be as bad as as the nothing but male protagonists in the status quo(well, we've never been at a point where every protag was male, and I doubt we'll ever have the opposite either).
Has someone from GG commented on this yet?
Summer Haze
Banned
Why is it even an issue? So we play as a woman, so what? I care more about if the character we play as is interesting. Gender means fuck all to me.
All of the compalints about Aloy talking too much reminds me of this track from GTA V:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12ltmrFO-O8
XD
All of the compalints about Aloy talking too much reminds me of this track from GTA V:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12ltmrFO-O8
XD
Prototype Viktor
Member
Got to hang him because he double checked something!?! Can't have someone who isn't a dictator
Seriously? You're exactly the reason this shit has to be focus tested and why Lara had tits the size of her head for most of Tomb Raider franchise. Grow up, teenager.
Also, you think maybe you should warn people about the NSFW Google search they might make while trying to make sense of your post.
Devilinthiscity
Member
She reminded me so much of Ygritte. It's going to be awesome playing as her. I really dug the character design.
Magnetic_North
Member
The game looks fantastic! One of my favourite E3 reveals
I think the main character looks awesome love her dreads her rugged looks etc only small thing is she talked a bit too much similar to Drake in Uncharted it's not a major problem though
Really looking forward to it!
I think the main character looks awesome love her dreads her rugged looks etc only small thing is she talked a bit too much similar to Drake in Uncharted it's not a major problem though
Really looking forward to it!
ginger ninja
Banned
the protag was the best part of reveal for me.
jimmythepage
Member
And that goes along with the..ok, I'll try to avoid doing jokes like this xD
Frankly it's the red hairs trend that we have in videogame characters that thrills me, it's a bit like badies guys, but not that overused.
