PixlBit

Wow, two shout outs in a row!  I feel special!

I think Nintendo's online publishing errors go even further than just Wii Ware.  Consider their re-released console games.  All they really do is emulate them, with no concessions to modern gaming sensibilities.  I'm not looking for a re-design, but consider the effort put into the game we recently played (TMNT arcade classic.)  It was little more than the arcade game ported to consoles, but whoever did it, put in the effort to make the game playable online.  Compare that with Nintendo's classics available online.  There's currently no way for me to, say, join up with my brother for a game of Balloon Fight without one of us visiting the other.  Consider as well that many of the PC emulators available contain netcode making it completely possible, but not exactly easy, to do precisely that. It does seem that Nintendo is more online-aware now than they were in the past, so here's hoping that they step up their game when they release the Wii U.

That's tricky.  While there really is only one problem here (women are being treated like crap for no good reason) there's multiple causes of it.  It's overwhelming really.  It's almost like playing whack a mole. You smack one in the head, and another source pops up.

Unfortunately, you can't force maturity on people, and at the end of the day, this really is the result of immaturity above all else.  And I'm rambling and probably need to stop responding to this article and get some work done, but I tend to get heated up when we talk about stuff like this.

Yeah, I can get kind of ranty when I'm upset, and this does piss me off.  Here's why:

When I was a kid, being a geek wasn't cool, so I was forced to more or less be on the DL about it.  Back then, the A-holes were the popular kids, who treated us in a similar manner to the ways described by Sam and Chessa on that podcast.  When I was in college though, all that stopped.  The jackasses were gone, people appreciated each other, and I was not only accepted, but popular myself because of who I was.

Now again, I'm ashamed.  It seems like these idiots that everybody despises in High School (and rightfully so) have invaded what I always considered to be my turf.  The last shooter I actually played was Halo 3, and that was just with people I knew.  I automatically muted anybody that I played against that I didn't already know.  I didn't even pick up Gears 3 because I absolutely hate going online anymore and hearing all this crap.  I'll buy it eventually, but I doubt I'll ever play an FPS on Xbox Live again unless it's for review.  Being surrounded by that much outright ignorance and being, even remotely associated with it frankly disgusts me. 

There's so much more to this than even that.  I mean, let's look at how women present themselves when it comes to gamers.  There's good representations to be sure, like Felicia Day, but there's plenty of others that are just like the women referenced in the blog you cited on the first page. This is a big part of the issue too! People can sniff out a fake from a mile away, and when the fakes are so predominantly portrayed by the media, I think it's logical to conclude that some people are convinced that that's all that female gamers are, and are angered because of it! Honestly, nobody likes posers, even if they are cute.  That doesn't justify their treatment of women, but I bet you'd see a difference if they started having real women gamers represent women gamers instead of untalented models.

There's a lot going on with gender issues in culture these days, and when it comes to gaming, I think it boils down to two factors:

1: Men and women are different.  Sorry, but it's a biological truth.  No getting around it.

2: A-holes will be A-holes, especially online, and will not change.  Such is the nature of an A-hole.

Put the two together, and this is the kind of crap that happens.  No amount of legislation, censorship, begging, pleading, or attempt at "gender blindness" is going to remedy that.  One of the best ideas I heard for the first time was something that came across on our recent podcast on the issue, in which Sam was being harassed by some jerk, and she gave it right back to him.  Eventually, he just came out looking like, well, the A-hole that he is.  

True, it's not the most politically correct solution here, but honestly, those only work on people that are interested in bettering themselves.  Chances are, if you're sexually harassing someone for fun, you aren't interested in anything more than attention.  It's the verbal equivalent to a street fight.  If you try to resolve it in a civil manner, you're probably just going to get hurt.  Humiliating someone in return for their attempt to humiliate you will probably actually work, provided you do it properly.  Gender equality has only come this far because people are willing to fight for it.  I say, take that approach, and to hell with being nice about it.

I really enjoyed this one Jason, and not just because my name got dropped.  My thoughts on Mr. Molyneux are pretty much in line with yours, and I'm a big fan of good sarcasm (when I know to expect it!) so I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the podcast as well as the Balloon Fight bit.

Speaking of Balloon Fight, we gotta make that happen.  I like the idea you had, but when I heard it, the first thing I thought of was to make that the "Balloon Trip" portion of the game.  There could be levels where you were free to explore and do the things you mentioned, as well as a forced scrolling section where you scored points by avoiding obstacles and fighting crime on a wind current forced journey through the city.  You could have a storyline worked in, and could only progress if you met certain objectives outlined in the level.  The idea I had could be the arcade mode. Man, I wish we could pitch this to the big N!  I can't think of any way to improve on it further without using chocolate or bacon!

Oh internet, it's the little gems like this that make slugging through the pile of crap you normally spew my direction totally worth it!

I'm a little confused by this response.  You either didn't even read the post I made, or completely lack an understanding of market saturation.  The article you posted is actually very much in keeping what what I was saying, which is that there are lots of excellent RPGs that game from japan this generation, but they were overlooked because of oversaturation.

The problem with what I think you are trying to argue is that if you are, in fact, responding to my argument, you would have to believe that the supersaturation I'm referencing, and the opinion of gamers making the statements you object to, were formed in this, and only this console generation.  Truth be told, the saturation I'm talking about truly came during the previous two console generations, not the current one.  I even specifically pointed you to the 90's as the start of all this in my previous post.  The marketing strategies that cause publishers to overlook gems like Xenoblade and The Last Story are the fallout of standards that were set 20 years ago, and I very clearly stated that games need to be evaluated on their own merits, not on presuppositions that are over a decade old.

Yeah, and I don't really think this game deserves the Super Robot Taisen moniker, but it is fun.  Very heavy on the fan service though.  If you've got a sense of humor for that sort of thing (IE you were able to take the famous "thunder tits" joke) then it's worth playing.

Also, the two games are definatly related.  The characters have a lot of the same moves and animations, and on top of that, a lot of the music I've heard is in both games.  I'm gonna watch out for this one for sure.

Did you try Shattered Memories on the Wii?  That did it for me honestly, I couldn't get into the older Silent Hill, or Resident Evil games, but after playing that, I really want to give SH a try.

Well I'm sold.  Hopefully the 360 version doesn't go rare or something crazy like that.  I've been meaning to play these games for a while now.