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Overwatch's Laughably Convenient Ageism / Sexism
- Thread starter mindsale
- Start date
But I like playing as beautiful young people
then you must hate how few young hot men in revealing outfits there are in this game
Well Tekken is pretty anime, and in fact has an anime, or movie. Same with Street Fighter
Didn't the PS2 port of matrimelee allow you to play as the transformations as their stand alone characters (including Super Clara and, rather than Poochy, Kintaro), weren't their young selves included? i don't remember.
The Driver
Member
Love the game, but yeah I've had this in the back of my head since the beta and it does bring the game down a bit in my eyes on top of all the ridiculous outfits/poses.
Really hope future characters both expand on nationalities but also body and age types for both male and females.
Really hope future characters both expand on nationalities but also body and age types for both male and females.
FriedConsole
Banned
I honestly think Overwatch and other games would be better if it had somebody who was physically disabled (maybe some guns come out of wheelchair), also somebody overtly from the LGBT community, the different characters can have different religious affiliations showing everyone working together, and maybe somebody with some mental disabilities or mental health problems. Would really move the gaming community forward in progress.
SixMachine
Member
I know Super Clara and Poochy were definitely playable in some version of the game, though I don't remember a young grannies being a standalone. I might be wrong, since the series is kept to Japan for the most part.
edit: Found it, it's the one after Matrimelee which is arcade only it seems
http://powerinstinct.wikia.com/wiki/Goketsuji_Ichizoku_Matsuri_Senzo_Kuyou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw5fGju9Wvw
Still don't see how it disqualifies them from anything, nor do I know what I was trying to qualify them for lol.
No joke, when I first saw D.Va on the character select screen, I thought the girl in the robot was physically disabled in some way. I was thinking "Hey that's pretty cool"
Edit: It actually wasn't the character select screen, since she's sort of standing there lol. But I do remember seeing her and thinking she might be disabled
It sold 10 million copies i thought it had 10 million players?
D
Deleted member 325805
Unconfirmed Member
Yep, we had many women in my WoW guild and they all made their characters look as cute and sexy as possible, no one wants to play an ugly character, at least I've never played with a woman who did. And I can honestly say Tracer being so cute does make me enjoy playing her more for example.
Dragon Puncher
Member
The problem with this argument is that you font actually see the old guys looking old either, since they all have masks covering their face or are Thorbjorn which is such a stereotypical archetype that he either doesn't count or we should have a problem with his depiction as well.
Fact of the matter is everybody is young/doesn't look old in Overwatch. That's not a gender problem to me, but a classical video game trope, that it might be time to try and bury.
Fact of the matter is everybody is young/doesn't look old in Overwatch. That's not a gender problem to me, but a classical video game trope, that it might be time to try and bury.
Junkrat has a peg leg, a lot of characters have cybernitc prosthetics but at the very least...Junkrat has a peg leg.
True, although ibiki should be much younger in 4 than 3.
Waifu factor is a very real element of overwatch, considering how many people compare a lot of the aesthetics to anime, there is a very real Japanese fanbase for this game, lots of fanart and the like. Good number of Asian characters, and of course I do believe the two language track options for this game are English and Japanese.
Of course that's not the only factor, the base game is very solid, lots of intersting stuff, but these Waifu factor only amplifies it. Japan makes the waifu thing work very well, makes very dedicated fans.
Of course that's not the only factor, the base game is very solid, lots of intersting stuff, but these Waifu factor only amplifies it. Japan makes the waifu thing work very well, makes very dedicated fans.
PAULINK
I microwave steaks.
What do you mean? Hanzo is half wearing a shirt. He is definitely a ladies man.
Mr. Pointy
Member
I'm ultimately not fussed by this because Blizzard will probably make an attempt to rectify this with new characters.
I don't really care either way.
Skimming the thread the issue doesn't seem to be so much the female casts ages, but rather their attractiveness. We're conflating older with uglier which isn't necessarily the case in real life and would most certainly not be the case in Overwatch.
Reinhardt, Solider 76, McCree, Reaper, and Hanzo which all look like 'older' men are still attractive in my opinion. Roadhog has no face and he's buff-fat which is still better than regular fat. And Torbjorn is just a typical dwarf though I know he's nominally still human in the Overwatch lore.
If the real reason for wanting a visibly aged female hero in Overwatch is to get an 'ugly' woman in there, then that's a stupid argument. It would be better to simply ask for an unattractive lady which could be neat depending on how that's done.
Skimming the thread the issue doesn't seem to be so much the female casts ages, but rather their attractiveness. We're conflating older with uglier which isn't necessarily the case in real life and would most certainly not be the case in Overwatch.
Reinhardt, Solider 76, McCree, Reaper, and Hanzo which all look like 'older' men are still attractive in my opinion. Roadhog has no face and he's buff-fat which is still better than regular fat. And Torbjorn is just a typical dwarf though I know he's nominally still human in the Overwatch lore.
If the real reason for wanting a visibly aged female hero in Overwatch is to get an 'ugly' woman in there, then that's a stupid argument. It would be better to simply ask for an unattractive lady which could be neat depending on how that's done.
bigedole
Member
What exactly are you implying is the reason it has sold all of its copies?
It's very true, although I don't think Capcom really wants to age any of their characters, they haven't really changed visually throughout the years. Younger Ryu was in a prequel game, and whatever age differences are kinda hard to tell because of the art style changes over the games. For example, Karin in SFV looks like she might be older, but that could be purely due to the style. Sakura is wearing the same outfit, but she's not in the game yet. Even the stats for Karin are the same from Alpha 3 to SFV, she's the same height, and is head of the Zaibatsu which is something she did at the end of Alpha 3, besides the weight it's all the same which they corrected for all the characters eventually.
How else does one play Overwatch without buying it?
Junkrat, Symmetra, Torbjorn, Genji.
Enter the Dragon Punch
Banned
Isn't Pharah literally a machine with a human head, though? She doesn't have any room for elbows or knees, and her model clearly shows her without room for limbs in her "suit".
I'm not making much of a point here, just saying that Pharah is closer to Bastion or Zenyatta than she is to other human characters.
I'm not making much of a point here, just saying that Pharah is closer to Bastion or Zenyatta than she is to other human characters.
Those are stylistic choices, i mean, come on, look at reinhardt, that armor can't possibly have a normal human inside.
From a body image standpoint, you're 100% correct.
But when dealing with age she is a bit younger.
Reinhardt has several skins that show him maskless. One of his character animations has him throw out his back.
There very much is a gender disparity between aged characters in media. In other games it's even more prominent. Look at Street Fighter. There have been tons of older male characters: Oro, Gouken, Akuma, Dhalsim... Now name one older-looking female fighter in Street Fighter. One.
Baby steps, people. We still have a long way to go, as this industry is still going through it's growing pains.
Besides, I was never expecting them to hit it out of the park entirely, but when all is said and done, the development team on Overwatch did a great job with designing a variety of characters of respectable gender and racial diversity, in addition to gameplay styles (more treats for them to include a female bodybuilder and a chubby climatologist that physically look the part). Yes, it's incredibly iffy that Mercy and Mei look to be in their early 20's than to actually look to be in their early-to-late 30's, but so long as Blizzard does the smart thing and include new female heroes that look their respective age and are less traditionally attractive, then it's all good to me.
Besides, I was never expecting them to hit it out of the park entirely, but when all is said and done, the development team on Overwatch did a great job with designing a variety of characters of respectable gender and racial diversity, in addition to gameplay styles (more treats for them to include a female bodybuilder and a chubby climatologist that physically look the part). Yes, it's incredibly iffy that Mercy and Mei look to be in their early 20's than to actually look to be in their early-to-late 30's, but so long as Blizzard does the smart thing and include new female heroes that look their respective age and are less traditionally attractive, then it's all good to me.
No. She's supposed to be wearing a suit.
On that note: It's generally true, but not really for PC users, and even less for "competitive" game genres: Data from 2012, but should still hold water, give or take a few points
Average $ spent on video games and game-related purchases per year :
Male 333.92
Female 87.19
The market reason to cater at men, at least in competitive games on PC, is well alive. Blizzard has done a remarkable good job at trying to expand the audience through both diversity and ease of access to the gameplay, though.
Enter the Dragon Punch
Banned
Except they're not - at least I don't think so. The reason that Reinhardt is so big is that he's canonically 7'4" without the suit. It makes sense that he'd be huge.
Actually the head for the helmetless skin alternates is larger than the helmet. So this is objective truth.
Funniest thing about Cammy is how afraid she is of wearing pants. Like, even in official uniform she's not wearing pants for some reason.
I mean, come on, there is a picture of him in this very page of the thread, open up paint and doodle on top of it what the body inside that armor would look like, nothing like a real person, but appropiate for a cartoon character to look cool in an armor, just like pharrah.
Seriously, he's that tall outside his armour? And Reinhardt is in his mid-60's to boot?
I just thought it was just the Starcraft/Warhammer 40K Space Marine situation, as I thought he was closer to being 6ft 3in.
LQX
Member
There are more half naked males to be honest. Outside of RoadHog who is also half naked most of the guys are in tight body suits.
User 73706
Banned
She's suffering from Samus Syndrome. Anatomy makes virtually zero sense if there's supposed to be a human inside, yet, somehow, there is.
Enter the Dragon Punch
Banned
Fair enough. Apparently her suit is called "Raptora Mark VI" and it is, indeed, just a suit.
Yeah, he's listed at 7'4", and that has to be without his armor since he's a foot or so above Roadhog, despite Roadhog being 7'3". Fun fact: Junkrat is 6'5"
It was in my last post. The waifu female cast has played a huge part in its sales. Like I said, Blizzard isn't stupid and they designed these characters to get people who would otherwise never look at this game twice to buy it. Considering the constant posts around the web from people confirming as much I don't see how it's exactly a revelation.
Every game suffers this, and not even games: hollywood, comic books, almost any form of media going back to fairy tales and legends of old.
It's a piece of fiction, a way of escapism for many. Of course characters are going to be attractive and within their prime.
Honestly, this topic's points seem very generic and overwatch doesn't deserve the criticism the OP gives, but rather blame social norms set by the entire world.
I'm sure if it was the standard to tell stories about unattractive and older heroes and heroines, overwatch would of adapted.
It's a piece of fiction, a way of escapism for many. Of course characters are going to be attractive and within their prime.
Honestly, this topic's points seem very generic and overwatch doesn't deserve the criticism the OP gives, but rather blame social norms set by the entire world.
I'm sure if it was the standard to tell stories about unattractive and older heroes and heroines, overwatch would of adapted.
Mr. Pointy
Member
I bet she has an allergic reaction to pants.
On that note: It's generally true, but not really for PC users, and even less for "competitive" game genres: Data from 2012, but should still hold water, give or take a few points
Average $ spent on video games and game-related purchases per year :
Male 333.92
Female 87.19
The market reason to cater at men, at least in competitive games on PC, is well alive. Blizzard has done a remarkable good job at trying to expand the audience through both diversity and ease of access to the gameplay, though.
Just tossing this out there (legitimate curiosity, dont flame me) but...
Are young women in video games the product of a male driven industry? I mean, I wholeheartedly agree that attractive women (even to the point of unrealistic body types) are definitely made to appeal to men.
But if we separate the two (which is doable, young people can be unattractive, old people can be attractive), I'm not entirely certain that men will be significantly less interested in older attractive female character models.
I'm also not certain women would be significantly more interested in older female character models, attractive or otherwise.
I sincerely think both would have similar fanbases across genders.
I could be very wrong tho
You seem to not get that this is not about older people in general, this is specifically about old women. There are plenty of older men in leading or playable roles in video games. Older women? I can't even name one game starring a visibly aged female character.
Overwatch is a great demonstration of this trend: Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Soldier 76, and Roadhog are all visibly aged to varying degrees. There isn't a single female character like them in Overwatch right now.
No. The woman that is possibly a cyborg or robot is Mercy.
Yeah i'm wracking my brain and best I can come up with is Emma Honeywell II.
And while playing her, I never once thought "I wish she was younger" which is funny considering what happens...
Easily the best character in the entire game, and that was partially due to her age and experience.
User 73706
Banned
It's pretty insane how quick people are to try and shut down the discussion before it can even happen.
Symmetra's cyber-arm may be a prosthetic entirely and not just power armor.
Whom_Gods_Annoy
Banned
I'm at the point that I can't tell if this post is being sarcastic or not. The next logical step you would have after this is demanding Blizzard make a video of the whole cast singing "We are the world, we are the children" together.
But if you are being serious, Junkrat sports a pegleg, and there is also the theory that Mei has autism.
SirPinkyNose
Member
Now now. Don't call dwarfs subhuman please.
Symmetra is explicitly on the spectrum.