PixlBit

I know the current trend is to "agree with the women", but this video pisses me off.  There is material and facts she takes out of context to prove her point.  And, she gets a bit judgemental in the last 4 min of the vid.  She certainly picks on Nintendo a lot.  It's not like they started the "save the girl" trend in videogames.  They just used a simple story.  "Saving the girl" is a basic story and you don't have to be a genius to follow it (hence for children [during the '80s]).  I don't see the point in attacking it.  It's a Super Mario Bros game.  It's not like the story is going to win awards and I doubt it will ever change.  

What also annoys me is that some people believe men & women are "equal".  We are not.  Men have their strengths and women have their strengths.  I don't understand why people want to ignore that fact.  

As for women's role in videogames, it won't be a bad idea to change it up a bit.  Videogames are fantasy, so more women heroes aren't going to hurt anything.  I'm not taking a shot a women.  I'm just making the statement.  It's not like I can do any of the things men do in videogames (it's fantasy). 

pretty much agree with you, in her defense she is just trying to evolve the trends of women in games (even i find the typical stuff annoying now) but she is going about it wonky. (like Kid Icarus)

However i've seen some of the HATE she's recieved since is wholely unwarrented.

I'll try to stay with her to the end, but I have a feeling where this is all going.  

I've read some comments to her in the past.  They are pretty bad.  But, she does come across as if she's better.  It's a bit insulting how she judges the people that enjoy the way things are.  

The video does seem overly critical of miyamoto. One thing I wish she had adressed in her video was the difference in culture between US and Japan. Though she does state that Donkey Kong was created for a US audience so introducing these tropes might be a reflection on our culture from a Japanese point of view. I'm not sure. I wish she would have addressed that. Also, her opinion isn't really a "feminist" opinion. Games have gotten to the point where they need to evolve, and having a  playable Zelda or Peach in a game has been a complaint for as long as I can remember playing a zelda game or mario game. It's the first video in a series, so I will have to wait and see what the conclusion will be. She does bring up some good points. Punching women in the gut at the beginning of every Double Dragon game. That poor  woman has been punched for 10 years.

I play Mario games because they are fun and well designed. Not because I'm some sexist bastard who needs to feel powerful by saving a woman. There are powerful women in videogames. Look at Final Fantasy. Terra, Freya, Lightning. In FF Tactics female characters make the most powerful black mages stats wise.

Maybe she'll cover that in the next vid. 

I think she's just analyzing trends. She hasn't full on attacked the audience for playing these games yet, Just criticisized some themes. She did say she liked peach in Mario 2. I can't wait until she finds out Peachs weapon in Mario RPG was a frying pan.

Interesting you post this, as yesterday I watched a video criticizing her for disabling comments. I tend to agree with its assertion that not rolling with the punches of troll comments and disallowing the non-trolls to have their say, positive or negative, doesn't help her in her goal of reducing the "weak woman" stereotype. Not when male content uploaders have to face annoying crap like that as well, and many of them allow it and just let the idiots look like idiots. I know people say heinous things in those comments, but it's Youtube so there's trolls everywhere. It doesn't help her case to stifle criticism in such a way; and yes, we're commenting on it here, but how much does she has to respond to directly when it's away from the actual video? She disabled ratings as well.

Which is a shame, because I don't actually disagree with anything she said here, really.

Well, ok, I think in Nintendo's case, the princess rescue thing is more lazy than it is malicious, but she's not incorrect in saying that's an unfortunate trope to repeat in the case of women. I'm also glad she acknowledged the fact Zelda has been given more to do in recent titles, even if she reverts to the damsel at their endings.

Personally, having actually enjoyed Star Fox Adventure, I think it would have been cool to have Crystal as the main protagonist, and I see what she's saying there, even if I thought the scene where Fox finds her was more corny than offensive. After all, I enjoyed the hell out of Legend of Korra.

I do have problems with modern day feminism, but I'll save those for when she actually brings them up. In this video's case, I can't disagree that damsel in distress is an overused gaming trope, and that more female heroes can't hurt (everyone certainly seems to be loving Tomb Raider's newest), and my only dissent is that I don't think the game companies are implementing "rescue princess" stories to be assholes, but to, like jgusw said, provide a simple story anyone can follow. That, and I'm not sure this needed to be twenty-three minutes (I'm 22, I know what a damsel in distress is and that games have them; speed it up, sista!), and while it does have good presentation, I'm not seeing that she needed thousands of dollars from donators to pull any of this off, but those gripes aren't related to the content of what she's saying so, eh.

Shutting down comments sort of hurts her argument a bit. You can't dish out criticism without defending your position or at least expecting to be criticised in return. Although in her defense, people have been sort of abusive in the past to her regarding comments, website attacks and account hacking. 

I didn't watch the video, I've seen it, or one similar to it before. I think rather than spend 23 minutes going on and on about something, she should use the money and make a game that shows the change she wants to see in the industry. Shrug. I work in a male-dominated field, and the only way you get respect is by earning it. You earn the respect, you can start causing the positive change bit by bit. And why isn't she bitching about Disney? There's a reason Mulan is one of my favorite Disney movies, lol.

I agree with you. She could have used the money to make her own game, or at least sponsor a game company to make a game she likes. Even a flash browser game. All she really needed was a cheap web cam really. I think her complaints are valid, from her  point of view, games do need to change but I doubt that complaining will do much to change anything.

You said everything I had to say without watching the video and much more succintly. Hats off to you, rangergirl. lol And you definitely have my respect, you're probably more handy than most guys I know.

I watched one of her  other videos a couple of years ago. Her tune and message really don't change from video to video. And there are plenty of good games out there with good female role models. Dreamfall, The Longest Journey, Syberia, Beyond Good and Evil to name just the few that popped into my head in about a minute. She'd impress me more if she attacked those hideous Twilight books.

Nice.  You guys make some good points.  This is a big change from the last time I made a comment on a blog about "women & race" in videogames.  That was a 1-on-1 nightmare.  I was almost afraid to leave my comment for fear of a backlash.  

I'm all for women's rights, but sometimes some people want to impose too much.  I mean, does this lady really want to change, Super Mario Bros.  Mario saves the day.  Period.  Peach can save the day in her own game.  And she does, but then this lady belittles the game for being on a handheld.  

As for the Legend of Zelda, I have to admit, Zelda could be a playable character by now.  The game is called, The Legend of Zelda and yet Link saves her.  It should be called, The Legend of Link.  

I'm trying to keep my thoughts to myself on the topic of the video until I watch part 2, but I don't know if I can watch another one of these.  Regardless of content, it was extremely boring.  This video could be about five minutes long and still contain all of the same information and arguments.  I'm also struggling to tell why this required kickstarter funding.  

I wonder where that money is really going. 

It seems like the videos were not made with a consensus of any sort. It's totally one sided and worse, comments shut down so there is no discussion whatsoever. A vacuumous echo chamber if I ever saw one. And I though she made some good points too. A shame.

Soooo...based on the logic of her "wisdom", should my wife ever be in any mortal danger, I should NOT attempt to save her-- even if the ability to save her were in my hands. Because after all, bothering to rescue her would mean that she's nothing more than a sex object to me.

So I guess in part 2, she'll diss Samus Aran for looking attractive despite being a tough main character. Then she'll dump on Tomb Raider for Lara Croft not being portrayed as some "Lifetime" drama about a woman struggling with breast cancer.