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Famitsu sales week 15

noshten

Member
Top 5 Marvelous Titles
  1. [DS] Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (2007) - 304.660
  2. [NSW] Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (Marvelous) - 269.842
  3. [3DS] Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (2012) - 264.042
  4. [3DS] Harvest Moon: Linking the New World (2014) - 259.111
  5. [NSW/PS4] Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Marvelous) - 227.674
Despite face planting with Olive Town's launch it's already the 2nd best selling game for Marvelous, while Sakuna across the Switch and PS4 physically has reached the #5 spot. With digital both titles are well beyond Island of Happiness total sales. But it was a huge missed opportunity for Marvelous to really see huge growth for the franchise.
With the two updates they've managed to slightly improve the game's 2 star rating on Amazon jp and they do have additional content planned via expansions. From my point of view their best course of action is to stop selling the expansion and give it for free, to ensure the long term health of the game especially as the summer starts to become packed with releases. Overall it could have been worse but I don't understand publishers not delaying half an year and releasing a far better game which in turn gets much better WoM and legs.

Hope they don't repeat the same mistake with Rune Factory 5, the game is poised to become their biggest launch and will likely ship close to 1 million in it's first month WW(Olive Town managed 700K). It always seemed like their higher caliber release, so I guess it's where they've invested while cutting corners on Story of Seasons. Should be the biggest third party game launching this quarter beating out Resident Evil: Village which seems to be trending towards a result well bellow 250K this Quarter across the PS4/PS5. I also don't have high hopes for Scarlet Nexus being the Bandai Namco game that finally manages to surpass 250K on the PS4.
It's funny when both Capcom and Bandai are launching high profile games aiming for graphics to end up with Rune Factory 5 as the one that is going to make waves in Q2. But it's basically the tale of Momotaro last holiday.
 
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Kerotan

Member
I’m not disagreeing they are getting their fair share. I responded to someone talking about the low sales for the ps5 in Japan this month. I’m just saying since it still seems to be selling out it just means the low numbers are due to low shipments, not the death of the brand in japan.
Well for a traditional home console it's numbers are good.

Just look at the sales of the last 2 from Nintendo with the Wii U and Game cube. Or MS with the series, the Xbox one or the 360.
 

Bodomism

Banned
Famitsu Top 30 on Week 15 (1st or 2nd week of April, depending on the year)

2016:
>3DS - 13
>PS4 - 7
>PSV - 6
>WIU - 3
>PS3 - 1
Nintendo - 16
PlayStation - 14

2017:
>3DS - 9
>PS4 - 9
>NSW - 6
>PSV - 4
>WIU - 2
Nintendo - 17
PlayStation - 13

2018:
>NSW - 14
>PS4 - 11
>3DS - 3
>PSV - 2
Nintendo - 17
PlayStation - 13

2019:
>NSW - 16
>PS4 - 13
>3DS - 1
Nintendo - 17
PlayStation - 13

2020:
>NSW - 21
>PS4 - 8
>3DS - 1
Nintendo - 22
PlayStation - 8

2021:
>NSW - 29
>PS4 - 1
Nintendo - 29
PlayStation - 1
 

Woopah

Member
Top 5 Marvelous Titles
  1. [DS] Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (2007) - 304.660
  2. [NSW] Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (Marvelous) - 269.842
  3. [3DS] Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (2012) - 264.042
  4. [3DS] Harvest Moon: Linking the New World (2014) - 259.111
  5. [NSW] Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Marvelous) - 227.674
Despite face planting with Olive Town's launch it's already the 2nd best selling game for Marvelous, while Sakuna across the Switch and PS4 physically has reached the #5 spot. With digital both titles are well beyond Island of Happiness total sales. But it was a huge missed opportunity for Marvelous to really see huge growth for the franchise.
With the two updates they've managed to slightly improve the game's 2 star rating on Amazon jp and they do have additional content planned via expansions. From my point of view their best course of action is to stop selling the expansion and give it for free, to ensure the long term health of the game especially as the summer starts to become packed with releases. Overall it could have been worse but I don't understand publishers not delaying half an year and releasing a far better game which in turn gets much better WoM and legs.

Hope they don't repeat the same mistake with Rune Factory 5, the game is poised to become their biggest launch and will likely ship close to 1 million in it's first month WW(Olive Town managed 700K). It always seemed like their higher caliber release, so I guess it's where they've invested while cutting corners on Story of Seasons. Should be the biggest third party game launching this quarter beating out Resident Evil: Village which seems to be trending towards a result well bellow 250K this Quarter across the PS4/PS5. I also don't have high hopes for Scarlet Nexus being the Bandai Namco game that finally manages to surpass 250K on the PS4.
It's funny when both Capcom and Bandai are launching high profile games aiming for graphics to end up with Rune Factory 5 as the one that is going to make waves in Q2. But it's basically the tale of Momotaro last holiday.
If I had to guess I'd say Marvelous wanted to get Story of Seasons out before the end of their fiscal year and so rushed it. With the Rune Factory 4 port for Switch doing 62,000 it does bode well for the sequel being the most successful one in the franchise (RF4 on 3DS did 183,445 across all versions so that's the target to beat).
Well for a traditional home console it's numbers are good.

Just look at the sales of the last 2 from Nintendo with the Wii U and Game cube. Or MS with the series, the Xbox one or the 360.
If you count the Wii U as a traditional home console then I think the Wii would count as one too.
 

Reindeer

Member
You say this and yet there are more adults who play games like MH and Zelda, meanwhile there are more kids who play games like COD and GTA which considered as "mature" games.
Which goes back to my point, the lack of masculinity in Japanese modern culture.
 
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Woopah

Member
Japanese gamers don't like mature games is what I have learned. This kinda makes sense with unmasculine culture that's taken over there.
What are you talking about? Which data are you using and what "masculine" games are you referring to?
 
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Reindeer

Member
I don't understand what makes games like Monster Hunter less "masculine" than games like COD?
You have a point. It was just a general observation from types of games that are popular there. Another factor I did not consider was that almost 80% of Japanese gamers game on mobile and Switch is not exactly known for mature games. Also maybe the fact that Japanese are less violent in general probably also plays a role. Lack of masculinity is still a factor imo, but probably not the only one or the main one.
 
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Reindeer

Member
What are you talking about? Which data are you using and what "masculine" games are you referring to?
If you track back like 20 years then you'll see a pattern of Japanese gamers not being particularly into mature games. In my reply above I also highlighted other factors that probably play a role in this.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
You have a point. It was just a general observation from types of games that are popular there. Another factor I did not consider was that almost 80% of Japanese gamers game on mobile and Switch is not exactly known for mature games. Also maybe the fact that Japanese are less violent in general probably also plays a role. Lack of masculinity is still a factor, but probably not the only one or the main one.
Man, you have very shallow look of what “maturity” is.

And maybe in western developers can turn down “masculinity” in their games since even their female characters starting look like meddle age guys.

Why-is-Abby-so-buff-Last-Of-Us-Part-2-comparison-on-Twitter-has-fans-joking-about-steroids.jpg
 

Reindeer

Member
Man, you have very shallow look of what “maturity” is.

And maybe in western developers can turn down “masculinity” in their games since even their female characters starting look like meddle age guys.
Let's not highlight a bad example in TLOU2 that many western gamers hated to try to make your case seem valid. If you think Pokemon, Mario and Animals Crossing are mature then I don't know what to say to you, lol.
 
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Woopah

Member
If you track back like 20 years then you'll see a pattern of Japanese gamers not being particularly into mature games. In my reply above I also highlighted other factors that probably play a role in this.
I think its more about where the games were made and how they were marketed that whether they are mature or not. Capcom has had great success with Resident Evil and Devil May Cry and Konami had a lot of success with Metal Gear. Plus Ghosts of Tushima did very well last year.

Plus there's the fact that some Western Franchises like Assassins Creed or Call of Duty never became massive in Japan like they did in the West, but that's also a result of what platforms they were on (PS3 and 360 were no where near as big in Japan as they were in the West).

Let's not highlight a bad example in TLOU2 that many western gamers hated to try to make your case seem valid. If you think Pokemon, Mario and Animals Crossing is mature then I don't know what to say to you, lol.
Pokémon, Mario and Animals Crossing are popular everywhere though, their success isn't Japan-specific. When you make good titles that appeal to a large number of people you're going to have success in any country. It's a mistake that you need blood and swearing in a game to appeal to adults.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Let's not highlight a bad example in TLOU2 that many western gamers hated to try to make your case seem valid. If you think Pokemon, Mario and Animals Crossing is mature then I don't know what to say to you, lol.
Well for one, being “mature” has nothing if you play “M” rated games or not. If that’s your argument then you are no different a kid who brags his classmate that he plays “M” rated games and think his one of the “grown ups”.

Also most popular games in west are games like Fortnite and Mindcraft, are those games considered “mature”?
 
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Reindeer

Member
Pokémon, Mario and Animals Crossing are popular everywhere though, their success isn't Japan-specific. When you make good titles that appeal to a large number of people you're going to have success in any country. It's a mistake that you need blood and swearing in a game to appeal to adults.
I agree that these games are popular everywhere, but they're not as dominant elsewhere as they're in Japan. Like I already said, the fact that Japanese gamers are mainly on mobile plays a role in this. I also think it would be ignorant to assume that culture plays no role in what games people prefer, hence my point about masculinity.
 
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Reindeer

Member
Well for one, being “mature” has nothing if you play “M” rated games or not. If that’s your argument then you are no different a kid who brags his classmate that he plays “M” rated games and think his one of the “grown ups”.

Also most popular games in west are games like Fortnite and Mindcraft, are those games considered “mature”?
Not sure where you're going with this. Your would have a point if Fortnite and Minecraft were the only popular games along with Mario, Pokémon and Animal Crossing in the west or elsewhere, but this isn't the case.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Not sure where you're going with this. Your would have a point if Fortnite and Minecraft were the only popular games along with Mario, Pokémon and Animal Crossing in the west or elsewhere, but this isn't the case.
Im not sure what you are exactly going with whole “masculinity” arguments. Lots of people in west also play mobile games like candy crush, which I don’t understand playing mobile has anything to do being masculine or not.
 
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Reindeer

Member
Im not sure what you are exactly going with whole “masculinity” arguments. Lots of people in west also play mobile games like candy crush, which I don’t understand playing mobile has anything to do being masculine or not.
You just have to look back over a period of time to see that Japanese gamers domt prefer mature games, not sure why it's so hard to accept this. Just Google videogame sales in Japan for year 1998 etc and you'll see a pattern. Common, just look at Japanese games like JRPGs, they literally have men that look like women, ain't nothing masculine about that, lol.
 
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Woopah

Member
I agree that there games are popular everywhere, but they're not as dominant elsewhere as they're in Japan. Like I already said, the fact that Japanese gamers are mainly on mobile plays a role in this. I also think it would be ignorant to assume that culture plays no role in what games people prefer, hence my point about masculinity.
Again every country has more people playing on mobiles than dedicated video game hardware, that isn't Japan specific.

How are you defining masculinity and maturity here? They are very different terms and I think it would help me understand your argument if you could clarify.

EDIT: Maybe this would help. What would you say is the difference between a game that is feminine but not mature, and a game that is both feminine and mature?
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
You just have to look back over a period of time to see that Japanese gamers domt prefer mature games, not sure why it's so hard to accept this. Just Google videogame sales in Japan for year 1998 etc and you'll see a pattern. Common, just look at Japanese games like JRPGs, they literally have men that look like women, ain't nothing masculine about that, lol.
If that’s your argument then most female character in western game look like guys which make western games more “masculine”........ I guess you are right. :messenger_tears_of_joy:

960x0.jpg
 
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Reindeer

Member
If that’s your argument then most female character in western game look like guys which make western games more “masculine”........ I guess you are right. :messenger_tears_of_joy:
No lol, that would make western games more woke, which I can admit they are. You however have an issue admitting that those JRPG characters are unmasculine, which they obviously are. Highlighting one wrong (western woke games) doesn't make the other more valid.

It's pretty obvious that most Japanese devs are ok with portraying their characters in less masculine manner (because that's what's popular in Japan), they're much more comfortable with that fact than western gamers are.

I find it it funny how people around here are ok with attacking negative aspects in western gaming culture (wokenism), but are scared to say anything about Japanese gaming culture.
 
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Woopah

Member
No lol, that would make western games more woke, which I can admit they are. You however have an issue admitting that those JRPG characters are unmasculine, which they obviously are. Highlighting one wrong (western woke games) doesn't make the other more valid.

It's pretty obvious that most Japanese devs are ok with portraying their characters in less masculine manner (because that's what's popular in Japan), they're much more comfortable with that fact than western gamers are.
If your argument is that Western-made games use traditional Western ideas of masculinity more than Japanese-made games use traditional Western ideas of masculinity then yes I agree.
 

Reindeer

Member
If your argument is that Western-made games use traditional Western ideas of masculinity more than Japanese-made games use traditional Western ideas of masculinity then yes I agree.
So you're saying traditional Japanese idea of masculinity is characters that look feminine and dress like K-pop stars? Is that what Japanese have traditionally held masculinity as or is that a modem trend similar to what woke culture is producing in the West? I think it's pretty obvious that Japanese (in entertainment culture) have tried to make men less masculine while the West is trying to make women more masculine, both of which have nothing to do with what masculinity was regarded as traditionally in those regions.
 
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Woopah

Member
So you're saying traditional Japanese idea of masculinity is characters that look feminine and dress like K-pop stars? Is that what Japanese have traditionally held masculinity as or is that a modem trend similar to what woke culture is producing in the west? I think it's pretty obvious that Japanese (in entertainment culture) have tried to make men less masculine while the West is trying to make women more masculine, both of which have nothing to do with what masculinity was regarded as traditionally in those regions.
I'm just saying that what you think of as "masculine" and what Japanese developers consider "masculine" might not be the same. And that in general I don't think a game's sales are impacted by that too much by this fact. There are several, much more important factors and most games don't concern themselves with how " masculine" or "feminine" they are.
 

MagnesG

Banned
So you're saying traditional Japanese idea of masculinity is characters that look feminine and dress like K-pop stars? Is that what Japanese have traditionally held masculinity as or is that a modem trend similar to what woke culture is producing in the West? I think it's pretty obvious that Japanese (in entertainment culture) have tried to make men less masculine while the West is trying to make women more masculine, both of which have nothing to do with what masculinity was regarded as traditionally in those regions.
Please give some examples of masculine games from your definition.
 

Reindeer

Member
I'm just saying that what you think of as "masculine" and what Japanese developers consider "masculine" might not be the same. And that in general I don't think a game's sales are impacted by that too much by this fact. There are several, much more important factors and most games don't concern themselves with how " masculine" or "feminine" they are.
What you're really saying is that masculinity is something that can be defined differently by everyone, so no wonder you took such offense to what I said. There's no reason for us to keep going on about this if this is your position.
 
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Woopah

Member
What you're really saying is that masculinity is something that can be defined differently by everyone, so no wonder you took such offense to what I said. There's no reason for us to keep going on about this if this is your position.
Well yes obviously. Masculinity is defined differently by different people and different cultures in different countries and different time periods. I don't think this is a controversial thing to say.

That's why I asked for your definitions for 'masculinity', 'femininity' and 'maturity', particular in how they relate to video games. Do you think you can use these terms for all video games, or does it only apply to some? (could you use 'masculinity' or 'femininity' to describe BOTW for example?)
 

Reindeer

Member
Well yes obviously. Masculinity is defined differently by different people and different cultures in different countries and different time periods. I don't think this is a controversial thing to say.

That's why I asked for your definitions for 'masculinity', 'femininity' and 'maturity', particular in how they relate to video games. Do you think you can use these terms for all video games, or does it only apply to some? (could you use 'masculinity' or 'femininity' to describe BOTW for example?)
Why did you ask me for my definition of masculinity of it was something you obviously would not accept anyway since your believe it's something so interchangeable? If you think K-pop star ookalikes are masculine then there's nothing for us to discuss really.
 
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Bodomism

Banned
Why did you ask me for my definition off masculinity of it was something you obviously would not accept anyway? If you think K-pop stars lookalikes are masculine then there's nothing for us to discuss really.
Dude, Final Fantasy isn't mega franchise like it used to be in Japan anymore.

This Kpop protagonist ...
80e2a55b38aad9c7639abde69d21a141.jpg


is no match against super hyper omega popular out of shape mature italian plumber.

super_mario_odyssey___official_mario_render_by_tvgn2000_davcsvy-fullview.png


Mario is the perfect example of the masculinity at the highest order
 

Woopah

Member
Why did you ask me for my definition off masculinity of it was something you obviously would not accept anyway? If you think K-pop stars lookalikes are masculine then there's really nothing for us to discuss really.
Because then it would help me understand your argument better. It doesn't matter if I agree with your definition of masculinity or not.

So if we are to look at the games which do well in Japan, which is it about them that would make them masculine? From what you've said so far it seems like the design of the main character is a key component. So if Link, Jin Sakai and Cloud had bigger muscles and more facial hair would that mean BOTW, GoT and FF7R would become masculine games? Mario doesn't look like a K-pop star, so does that mean Mario Odyssey is masculine? And how about games where there is no defined protagonist. What could Monster Hunter Rise, Smash Bros. Ultimate and eBaseball Powerful Pro do to count as masculine games?

This is why your definitions would help me understand your argument.
 

Reindeer

Member
Because then it would help me understand your argument better. It doesn't matter if I agree with your definition of masculinity or not.

So if we are to look at the games which do well in Japan, which is it about them that would make them masculine? From what you've said so far it seems like the design of the main character is a key component. So if Link, Jin Sakai and Cloud had bigger muscles and more facial hair would that mean BOTW, GoT and FF7R would become masculine games? Mario doesn't look like a K-pop star, so does that mean Mario Odyssey is masculine? And how about games where there is no defined protagonist. What could Monster Hunter Rise, Smash Bros. Ultimate and eBaseball Powerful Pro do to count as masculine games?

This is why your definitions would help me understand your argument.
Nothing would make Mario masculine, it's a cute game targeting children. It's you saying things like this that makes me understand that you're very confused about masculinity and what it means. After all, you do believe it's something that can be changed anytime someone wants. Like I said, there's no point in us discussing this any further as we disagree when it comes to fundamentals.
 
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SirTerry-T

Member
Let's not highlight a bad example in TLOU2 that many western gamers hated to try to make your case seem valid. If you think Pokemon, Mario and Animals Crossing are mature then I don't know what to say to you, lol.
They're all videogames pal. Electronic toys to pass a bit of time...whatever the age rating on the box says.
Disregarding a game because it may have a few too many primary colours in the art direction or game mechanics that are easy to pick up but hard to master is a very shallow way of looking at the medium.
 
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Bodomism

Banned
I'll take that as a joke because I wouldn't know what to tell you if you were serious about Mario games being masculine. They're fun and cute sure, but they're not masculine, lol.
Can you show me a popular video game character in the west that you think is very masculine.

Only popular character with over 100M units sales franchise.
 

Woopah

Member
Nothing would make Mario masculine, it's a cute game targeting children. It's you saying things like this that makes me understand that you're very confused about masculinity and what it means, after all you do believe it's something that can be changed anytime someone wants. Like I said, there's no point in us discussing this any further as we disagree when it comes to fundamentals of the issue.
Which is why I've spent this whole time asking for your definition, and I don't get why you're so hesitant to give me one. You seem to be using "masculine" and "mature" as interchangeable terms. Can a game only be masculine if it is also mature? Can a game only be masculine if it is uses a realistic art style?

My own stance is that "masculine and "feminine" aren't very useful terms to describe any piece of media for the reasons I've already outlined. but you used the term to describe games so I wanted to know what you meant by that. What are the masculine games you were referring to that do well in the West but not in Japan? Are we talking about Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty?
 
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Reindeer

Member
Which is why I've spent this whole time asking for your definition, and I don't get why you're so hesitant to give me one. You seem to be using "masculine" and "mature" as interchangeable terms.

My own stance is that "masculine and "feminine" aren't very useful terms to describe any piece of media for the reasons I've already outlined. but you used the term to describe games so I wanted to know what you meant by that. What are the games that do well in the West but not in Japan? Are we talking about Assassin's Creed, FIFA and Call of Duty?
You haven't even settled on what masculinity means so there's no point in us discussing this unless you're trying to force your opinion upon others.
 
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Woopah

Member
You haven't even settled on what masculinity means so there's no point in us discussing this unless you're trying to force your opinion upon others.
You used the term, I'm asking you what you mean by it. I have no idea why you think I'm trying to force my opinion on anyone, when its your opinion that I'm interested in learning more about.
 

Reindeer

Member
You used the term, I'm asking you what you mean by it. I have no idea why you think I'm trying to force my opinion on anyone, when its your opinion that I'm interested in learning more about.
It's obviously very clear we disagree on fundamentals when it comes to defining masculinity and femininity, so no point arguing about this further in a thread about gaming.

My definition of masculinity and femininity is a traditional definition held by most of the West, the Eats and the rest of the world for most of human existence that we know of. I'm not so much interested in modern day definition of masculinity and femininity since a lot of it is driven by entertainment and media, two institutions that are inherently money driven and corrupt.
 
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SirTerry-T

Member
So you think Mario games are masculine?
Yep, I certainly don't feel emasculated when playing a Mario title.
In my case though, it's also worth taking into account the fact that I'm a married father of three, on the wrong side of 35 who doesn't give a flying fuck if the videogame I am playing on my videogame toy is mature and/or masculine, as long as it's a fun way of passing an hour or two of what limited free time I have.
 

Reindeer

Member
Yep, I certainly don't feel emasculated when playing a Mario title.
In my case though, it's also worth taking into account the fact that I'm a married father of three, on the wrong side of 35 who doesn't give a flying fuck if the videogame I am playing on my videogame toy is mature and/or masculine, as long as it's a fun way of passing an hour or two of what limited free time I have.
Not sure why you not caring about games being mature or masculine have anything to do with the topic. If you don't care then don't comment. If you think Mario games are masculine then hey, nothing I can do there. I play Mario too, it's fun sometimes. I certainly ain't gonna say a cute kid friendly platformer is masculine or anything, lol.
 
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Woopah

Member
It's obviously very clear we disagree on fundamentals when it comes to defining masculinity and femininity, so no point arguing about this further in a thread about gaming.

My definition of masculinity and femininity is a traditional definition held by most of the West, the Eats and the rest of the world for most of human existence that we know of. I'm not so much interested in modern day definition of masculinity and femininity since a lot of it is driven by entertainment and media, two institutions that are inherently money driven and corrupt.
I think we're talking past each other here and maybe its my fault for not making my question clear. I' m not saying me and you should be having a discussion about what masculinity means in wider society and I'm asking specifically about what you mean by it when it comes to games. What does a game need to be like to count as a 'masculine game'. I think we've established that Mario and Final Fantasy don't count, but do Monster Hunter, Ghost of Tsushima or Zelda?
 
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Reindeer

Member
I think we're talking past each other here and maybe its my fault for not making my question clear. I' m not saying me and you should be having a discussion about what masculinity means in wider society and I'm asking specifically about what you mean by it when it comes to games. What does a game need to be like to count as a 'masculine game'. I think we've established that Mario and Final Fantasy don't count, but do Monster Hunter, Ghost of Tsushima or Zelda?
Again, no point in arguing since you believe masculinity can defined by people however they wish, so whatever I say you'll just say that it's a subjective matter, etc. It would make sense to talk about this of you at least had your own set definition of masculinity, otherwise we're just wasting time. Let's not waste each others time.
 
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