Recent Articles on Women in Games: Female Characters, Feminism in FF, and the Lara Croft Reboot

It's funny, when I first started this blog I really thought I'd have a hard time coming up with things to write about, but now I'm finding the exact opposite to be true! I have so much I want to write about that it's actually quite hard for me to decide what I want to cover from post to post. I guess that's a good thing!

Before I get started on the "meat" of this post, I'd like to mention that my most recent article is up at Total Retro Gaming (formerly Norwich Retro Gaming) and is on the PS1 2D shooter, Einhander. Take a look and let me know what you think! (Note: Unfortunately the site isn't working correctly for me at the moment, so for the time being I'll have to direct you to the main page and ask that you click on "news" in order to see my Einhander piece)

So, as many of you who already know me are well aware, I often contemplate the role of women in the gaming community and representations of female characters in the games we play. I'll also be the first to tell you that I consider myself a feminist, even though that term seems to have so many negative connotations these days (no, I am not a femi-nazi, I do not hate men, and yes I changed my last name when I got married). I consider myself to be a reasonable human being who doesn't advocate for the advancement of women over men, but equality for men and women in all facets of life. On that note, I believe overly sexist or stereotyped portrayals of both men and women in any type of media, be it video games, film, or literature, to be worth considering. Ok, no more ranting, I just wanted you all to have your facts straight before I dive in.

Yes, I would buy this

To get things started, Jen over at Video Game Writers has just published a very interesting piece titled "Where have all the strong female character gone?" that I strongly suggest giving a read. Here are a couple of excerpts:

"As of late, there has been an emergence of what I call 'Brittany Spears Feminism.' This is the idea that states 'I dress like a stripper because I’m empowered!' Because of this, there is now a turn to justify latex costumes and triple-D bust lines by claiming they are empowering. I draw your attention to Bayonetta. Large tits? Check. Skin tight outfit? Check. Sexy attitude on par with a soft core porn star? Double check. But wait! She has intellectual glasses! She’s empowering to female gamers! No, she is a vamped up tart who you are trying to market to me as a strong female figure, when in reality she is little more than eye candy for boys. I’m just not buying it — that is not how it works." [emphasis by the author]

"Now is the time to make a very important point: wielding a giant sword, and reminding all the chauvinistic males in the game that the character is a woman, and will totally kick some dude’s ass, does not a strong female make. It makes for an angry girl stereotype."


I find myself agreeing with many of the points Jen makes, but at times her article suggests that rather than having physically strong female characters, she would prefer to see weaker women who are physically agile. I think that the idea that women can't be as strong as men is also a stereotype, and I personally have no problems with a strong female character who can wield a giant sword and kick ass, as long as she has emotional depth. Let me think of an example... Hm, well, I don't think I can, but if you do, leave it in the comments!

Rydia from Final Fantasy IV

I don't want to spend too much time on any one thing, since I have a couple of other pieces I'd like to cover, so I'll move on to the next article for now. I recently was informed by the awesome blog What can I do with a BA in Japanese Studies? (which covers all sorts of things related to scholarship on Japan and is definitely worth a look if you're interested in studying the language or literature) of another blog by a current graduate student in the East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department at the University of Pennsylvania who focuses on contemporary Japanese literature and culture. She has done a lovely 5 part piece on Feminism in Final Fantasy and I highly suggest giving it a read, as it is really well written. I'd love to say more on the topic, but I'll let the article speak for itself and move on to the last piece I would like to draw your attention to today.

Brad over at Drinking CoffeeCola mentioned an  article in his most recent post that discusses the Lara Croft reboot and the possible implications of focusing on a young, more anatomically correct Lara who has so far only been shown as a beat-up, bloody mess. I definitely agree with him that this portrayal of her is sightly disturbing, and though it may be too early to tell how this will play out in the game as a whole. For now I think it's safe to say that I am not very happy how, in an attempt to make Lara more "real," the advertising team feel it is necessary to focus so heavily on her weakened state in the promotional images.

From this...

To this?

Really, that second image is just disturbing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the game plays out, though I'm not much of a Tomb Raider fan as it is, so I probably won't be picking it up regardless.

So, to wrap things up, feel free to let me know what you think of these various articles (if you decide to check them out) in the comments! For those of you who have had enough just reading through my post, how about sharing your favorite female video game characters? My husband and I are quite fond of Beatrix from Final Fantasy IX, and I'm partial to Freya from FFIX, as well.

My next post will be something a little different: A book review!

The 2010-11 Epi-log.

Thanks to everyone who has logged on and kept in touch with my shenanigans throughout the season, with special thanks to the members of the 100FgC who accompanied me on my travels during the course of the season and it was great to finally meet up with some of the squad for the first time.

The Boring Stats
Matches attended 77
(would have been more but December was a white out)
Goals 259 (personal best)
(including record score of 11-0)
New Grounds 35
(FL 15 NL 15 Scot Lg 1 Scot NL 3 Euro 1)

This season I’ve been mostly liking;
Wimbledon promoted and back where they belong.
100FgC on Radio 4
Not watching England on TV
The Halloween Massacre
5under1and
Kevin Nolan’s funky chicken
Scotch Pies
Cornish Pasties at Yeovil
Heed in the Trophy
Heed Ressies in the Durham Cup
Fed in the Vase
Hat Trick for The Bay
Trips to that there London
Ale trail from Newcastle to Gretna
A personal attack in the Darlington match programme.
Ryan Giggs
Arsenal finishing fourth in a two-horse race.
The Far Far Away Trilogy
more Wetherspoons Tours
more GBG listed pubs
more Torchey Travel
Seeing the last games at Church Road, Hayes
Seeing the last game at the Withdean
Finish runner-up in works Dream Team(500 smackers)

This season I’ve been mostly disliking;
FIFA
Semi Final heartbreak at Darlo
Weeks and weeks of snow
A Tory Boy from Teesside
Team England
Chris Hughton’s dismissal
Stevenage
Huddersfield Town not winning promotion
Blackpool relegated
Stockport County relegated
Enrigue going..
..Barton going..
..Carroll gone!
Tchoyi Story 3
And I’m still Wembleyless!

New FanMade

New FanMade

Can the new Ace Attorney film compete with the Takarazuka musicals?

So, big news if you haven't yet heard–rumors that the famed Japanese director Takashi Miike is working on an Ace Attorney film adaptation have now been official confirmed by Capcom! Exciting, eh? I have to say the thought of Takashi Miike of Ichi the Killer fame doing a rendition of Nintendo DS game about goofy fictional court dramas is a little perplexing, but he did recently do a film adaptation of the anime Yatterman, so there is proof that he is capable of directing a film that isn't all blood and gore.

The role of Phoenix Wright will be played by Japanese heartthrob Hiroki Narimiya, while Takumi Saito will be playing his rival Miles Edgeworth.

Hiroki Narimiya will play Ace Attorney... Can't say I'm complaining! (source)

Takumi Saito will play Miles Edgeworth

Did you know that Ace Attorney has already been adapted, not for film, but for the stage? In 2009 the all-female Takarazuka revue did their own version of the popular video game series, which had a month-long run on stage and was popular enough to merit a sequel.

Poster for the original Takarazuka production

Poster for the 2nd production

 I have yet to see either of theses shows, but I absolutely adore Takarazuka, and I'm sure these productions wouldn't disappoint. Of course Takashi Miike's film will probably get a lot of positive mainstream reception, but really, there's not much better than this (seriously, you need to watch this):

Jayd "Chira" Ait-Kaci is Having a Print Sale!

And now for something a little different! One of my favorite artists, Chira, is having a print sale, and for only $5 you can pick up an 8.5x11" print of any of the great illustrations she has listed here! She has an exceptionally wide range of influences and inspirations, from Prince of Persia to Disney’s Tangled and iconic Japanese tiles such as Revolutionary Girl Utena. I’ve been following her work for a few years now, and it’s really impressive to see how she’s evolved as an artist in such a short amount of time. Right now she’s working on an upcoming comic titled The Fox Sister with Runaways colorist Christina Strain, while single-handedly illustrating and coloring the superb web comic Sfeer Theory, written by Alex Singer. 

Here are some of my favorites out of the prints she is currently offering: 

A humanoid interpretation of Amaterasu from the game Okami, with the Medicine Seller from the anime Mononoke

Fan art of the game Prince of Persia (2008)

Beautiful stylized Revolutionary Girl Utena fan art

You can see more of her work on DeviantArt, Livejournal, or even follow her on Twitter. 

Recipe for a Very Nerdy Weekend: StreetPassing at the Mana Bar and More!

I don't often do weekend recaps, but this time I think it was sufficiently nerdy enough to merit this post. That, and I wanted to do write-ups on both the Mana Bar StreetPass event I attended as well as the CG animated film Resident Evil: Degeneration, so I figured why not do one big weekend review?

On Saturday, Shaun and I headed into the city for some major window shopping and general bumming around; I, of course, had my 3DS in tow so I could collect some StreetPass hits. For lunch we swung by our favorite Japanese restaurant, Kadoya, where I had their delicious mackerel bento set. We made sure to play a few rounds of Animal Kaiser while we were in the area and had high hopes of scoring a rare card for our efforts, too. Sadly, we did not (and are beginning to think we need to take a break from the whole thing, it's quite the money sink and we haven't gotten any good cards in a while), but Shaun did get a funny picture of me in action:

I think I was captured mid-exclamation

 We spent Saturday evening at home with a family-sized chicken (2 kilos! What can I say, it was on special) and Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008). Both Shaun and I were pleasantly surprised that the CG movie, which takes place between Resident Evil 4 and 5, was actually quite a bit better than we had anticipated. I'd say that if you're a fan of the video game series, you should definitely check this movie out, if you haven't already! Neither of us are huge RE fans, as we've only actually played Resident Evil 5, but the movie was fun and I think it's at least worth a rental.

Expect to see the sequel, Resident Evil: Damnation, sometime in 2012!

 The graphics didn't strike me as particularly impressive, like they did when I first saw FFVII: Advent Children back in 2005, but a couple times during the movie I did notice some pretty well-done effects, especially in the water. The plot was intriguing and pretty well-paced, though I had a hard time understanding what was going on at a couple of points during the movie (I think that's because I'm slow on the uptake sometimes; Shaun didn't have any problems). It definitely is a good fix for anyone waiting for the next Resident Evil game to come along.

There are plenty of shots of Leon being super-cool

Next, we have the StreetPass event at the Mana Bar, an awesome video game-themed bar located right here in Brisbane! Though the event was planned for the slightly-unfortunate time of Sunday evening, Shaun and I decided it was worth checking out, so we hopped on the train to Fortitude Valley and arrived sometime around 4:30 pm. I thought this would be a nice opportunity to spread the word about StreetPass Brisbane and check out this funky venue!

Loved their decor! The Mana Potion was a novel drink, but I'll probably give it a skip next time

Unfortunately, I only got 5 StreetPass hits altogether during the hour and a half we were there, but that may have been due to the fact that we arrived so early. 2 of those were from members of StreetPass Brisbane that attended our event last Saturday, so it was great to see their Mii's level up! Mana Bar also has their own 3DS for StreetPassing, so if you attend the bar regularly, that would be a great way to get a higher level Mii for StreetPass Quest.

The bar itself was smaller than I had expected, but it was pretty cool to see all the TVs with games set up and ready to go (I believe there were 5 in total). Shaun and I played some Mario Kart Wii, watched a bit of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and Shaun did a couple of songs on Guitar Hero. Later on we picked up this intriguing XBox 360 game called Raskulls and did a 3 player race with Natasha, who we know from StreetPass Brisbane. That game was fun for multiplayer, and I would definitely check it out again if it's on the next time I'm at the Mana Bar. Little Big Planet was also available to play, but I'm not a huge fan of that so we didn't bother giving it a go.

All in all, it was a great weekend! Albeit a little more eventful than usual, so things might be a little more low-key next weekend to make up for it. Though I'm chafing at the bit to see the new Pirates movie, so hopefully we'll be able to fit that in! 

What about you all? Do anything fun over the weekend?

My Matchday - 289 Newtown Park

Bo'ness United 0v4 Linlithgow Rose
East Region Super League
Saturday 21st May 2011


My final trip of the season was in Scotland for the big title six-pointer in the East Region Super League, probably the country’s biggest game of the day apart from that small matter taking place at Hampden Park.

I arrived in Edinburgh at 1pm where I was greeted by Squad#155 James Little who was taking me to Newtown Park, the home of Bo’ness United for the big local derby with Linlithgow Rose.
Bo'ness/Borrowstounness, is a coastal town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland on the south bank of the Firth of Forth, 17 miles north-west of Edinburgh and 6 miles east of Falkirk. Bo'ness is now chiefly a commuter town with residents travelling to work in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Falkirk, but historically was a centre of heavy industry, coal mining and a major port.

The B.U.'s were formed in 1945 when former Scottish League club Bo'ness merged with the junior club Bo'ness Cadora. The club joined the Edinburgh & District League, which they won three times in their early years as well as lifted the Scottish Junior Cup in 1948. Two further league titles in the 1950s and 1960s plus more success followed in the Junior Cup, lifting the trophy in 1976 and 1984, as well as adding four East of Scotland Cups to their list of honours.
Bo’ness were East Region Division 1 champions for a second time in 2007-08 winning promotion to the East Super League and are the current title holders. Last season the club went on to the win their first League Championship since 1969, leading the table from beginning to end, clinching the title in a thrilling final league match against their feisty rivals.
Newtown Park has always been home to Bo’ness United and has been a football ground since the 1880s. The ground has a capacity of 7,500 made up of terracing on three sides with one side of cover. The Main Stand is no longer used for spectators as it’s been declared derelict and is only used as the team changing rooms. The classic looking wooden structure had elevated seating with a standing paddock at the front with blue wooden supports and beams.
Opposite is the terrace enclosure which cost £80,000 and runs in length between the two 18 yard lines. The stand has a silver frame with the club name and crest on its fascia. The terracing behind the goal is made up of 15 gravel filled steps and at the far side is a grass bank with four crash barriers. There’s also floodlights behind each goal and the ground is finish off with a white brick perimeter wall

For the second successive year the two fierce rivals met with the title up for grabs, but this season it’s both clubs challenging for the league, locked on the same points with the BU's having a superior goal difference.
I must have caught Bo’ness on an off day because they didn’t look like a team at the top of the table, maybe the recent hectic schedule has taking its toll as they were comprehensively beaten by their old enemy’s from down the road.
Linlithgow took the lead half way through the first half when Nelson latched on to a deflected shot to fire home and they continued to press with some top class saves from the United keeper keeping the slender score line at the interval intact.
Two minutes after the restart Tommy Coyne capitalised on a goalmouth scramble to double the lead and from then on they were never in danger of letting the lead slip. Herd latched on to a free kick to nod home on 63 minutes and McLennan capped off a fine performance with a fine effort from a tight angle five minutes from time.
A Bo'ness victory would see them needing only a single point from their final two games to clinch the title, but this victory for Rose means that the BUs, assuming Linlithgow win their final match against Bonnyrigg, need maximum points from their remaining fixtures.

So the title race is still wide open but on the evidence of this display it’s Linlithgow Rose that look championship material.
The drive from Edinburgh to Bo’ness and the return journey included a liquid stop at The Duddingston Arms in Newton. On arrival back in the Scottish capital James recommended the CAMRA award winning Halfway House where I enjoyed a lovely pint while waiting for my train. A special thanks to James for suggesting visiting Newtown Park and making it possible by chauffeuring me through the busy Edinburgh traffic.

Apparently the world was due to end on this day at 6pm, the same time as I boarding my train home meaning my demise could have happened on foreign soil! Of course this Camping balderdash was grade one bullshit, so alas this means I’ll be back next season to add to my grounds total and inform my dozen or so readers of where, why and how it was all done.

Update
The following weekend Bo'ness retained the East Super League title and will play in the Scottish Cup again next season.

They won their final game away at Forfar 2-0 whilst at the same time Linlithgow lost 2-4 at home Bonnyrigg in the Battle of the Roses, a match which my travel companion James attended.

Matchday stats
BUFC 0 LRFC 4(Nelson 22,Coyne 47, Herd 63, McLennan 85)
att.700.est(TBC)
Admission £5
Programme:none



Ground no.289 Newtown Park - Matchday Web album (21 pictures)

BlazBlue Continuum Shift II Box Art Censored in US

Since this has been nagging me for a while now, I figured I might as well post about it. Back when I heard BlazBlue Continuum Shift II was coming out for the 3DS, contrary to some skeptics (aka my husband), I was actually quite excited about it. See, we played the original BlazBlue Calamity Trigger together in the arcades when we were living in Japan, and the series brings back lots of fond memories for me, even though we never ended up purchasing Continuum Shift for the PS3 when it came out. With Continuum Shift II coming out for the 3DS, I figure it'd be killing two birds with one stone since I don't have any particularly enjoyable games for my 3DS yet and I'm long overdue for a new BlazBlue game.

Honestly, I haven't really been keeping track of BlazBlue. I know they added a couple of characters for Continuum Shift, and figured they'd probably add one or two more for this release. Now that I've seen the Japanese box art for the game, I dare say I've seen a little too much of the game's new characters.

Japanese box art with a lovely sleek black logo bar and...

Hm, well, I guess that's cute? I think she's supposed to be a squirrel. I really am not impressed with her clothing design and whoever decided to make her breasts larger than the other characters on the cover. I'd like to see more of the old guy with the seriously pointy beard–I seem to remember he was a vampire buddy of Rachel's in the first game. I have a feeling he'll probably be similar to Guilty Gear's Slayer.

It seems as though I wasn't the only one who was a little displeased by the Japanese cover choice, as the US box art is much more covered up (hah, I can't help it, the bad puns just make themselves).

US box art is a little more tasteful

I have to admit, though I do like the positioning of the characters so that the one girl's barely covered breasts are no longer a focal point of the image, but I actually dislike the American cover as a whole because it seems too cluttered (and I've gotta say, that black 3DS logo is nice). I think I also preferred the BlazBlue logo in the center, rather than to the side. But we can't have everything, right? Which one do you prefer?

BlazBlue Continuum Shift II is coming to the 3DS and PSP on May 31st (pushed back from the 24th) in both Japan and North America

Around The Alliance - part six

286. Stocksfield Sports Ground
Stocksfield 0v2 Shankhouse
Northern Alliance Premier League
Wednesday 4th May 2011
Stocksfield is a village situated on the south side of the River Tyne in south-west Northumberland, between Newcastle and Hexham.
Stocksfield Sports Ground is a large complex consisting of cricket, rugby, floodlit 5-a-side courts and three football pitches. The football club use the pitch at the far side in front of the Newcastle-Carlisle train line, which is fenced off on three sides with one side left open to accommodate a second cricket pitch, there’s also a pair of neat wooden dugouts in front of the Tyne Valley line banking.
The cricket pavilion is used for changing facilities and there’s a large car park at the entrance, although this was full due to both cricket and football taking place on the same evening.
The club formed in 2005,winning the Pin Point Personnel Amateur Cup the following year and made progress with two promotions in 2006-07 and 2008-09.
Their first season in the Northern Alliance Premier Division last term was played at the vacant Kimberley Park in Prudhoe, but the reformation of Prudhoe Town has meant a return to Stocksfield.Shankhouse grabbed a well earned win with a goal in each half, with a cross-come-shot from Gustard on 13 minutes and sealing victory five minutes from time with a lovely goal from Dormand, the striker connecting with a corner kick to volley the ball home from inside the box.

Between the goals both sides created good chances, but the visitors deserved the three points, hitting the woodwork and missing a few one-on-ones which would have made the score line look more handsome.

Matchday stats

SfFC 0 ShFC 2(Gustard 13, Dormand 86)
att.27(HC)
Admission and programme:none

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

287. Derwenthaugh Park
South Shields United 2v3 Stocksfield
Pin Point Recruitment Charity Cup Final

Thursday 12th May 2011

Derwenthaugh Park is found west of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead on At Well Road in Blaydon. The ground was built on wasteland on the former site of the Derwenthaugh Coke Works for Swalwell Juniors in 1998. The facility has two full size pitches both with dugouts, with the main pitch fully fenced with floodlights and some hard standing. There’s also a large function room with changing rooms and four floodlit astro turf 5 a side pitches.
Swalwell Juniors comprises 18 teams, made up from kids between the ages of 6 and 17. The senior side has played in the Northern Alliance Second Division since 2009 and the club also run a reserve team.

Swalwell FC played hosts to the Pin Point Recruitment Charity Cup Final, the competition gives financial support to good causes and charities in the north east.
The Charity Cup will be renamed the Bill Gardner Memorial Trophy from next season as a mark of respect to the league's long serving Press Officer who passed away in December 2010.
The final turned out to be a cracker and a proverbial game of two halves. Shields were the better side in the opening half, looking dangerous when breaking forward with their pacey strike force. They took the lead on 39 minutes when Aristote Guerin seized on a loose ball in the box then just prior to the half time whistle, a goal to grace any cup final. Tijan Kah picked up the ball wide right, outpaced the defender, pulled off a few lollipops before unleashing an unstoppable and precise drive into the top left hand corner - a tremendous goal!
So 2-0 at half time and the team in the Blyth Spartans reject strips looked set to lift the trophy, but a Glenn Caygill header on 56 minutes halved the deficit which began a great Stocksfield comeback.
Ten minutes later Scott Johnson’s hard work and persistence paid off, poking the ball home from close range before the fight back was completed five minutes from time, substitute Martin Graham finally smacking the ball into the net after an array of missed chances.
Stocksfield deservingly win the cup but it’s a shame that Shields United, having already tendered their resignation from the League couldn’t go out with a bang by lifting the trophy.

Matchday facts

SSUFC 2(Guerin 39, T Kah 45) SfFC 3(Caygill 56,Johnson 66,Graham 85)

att.130.approx

Admission with programme:£2
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288. South Newsham Pavilion

Blyth Town 2v1 Harraby Catholic Club

Northern Alliance Premier League

Wednesday 18th May 2011

I featured Blyth Town in the third part of the Around The Alliance series in May 2008. At the time the club had problems with their pitch and were giving special dispensation from the League to fulfil their fixtures over on the South Beach pitches.

So after three years I’ve finally got around to revisiting the club at their home turf against Cumbrian based Harraby Catholic Club, the only club in the Alliance Premier who I’d previously never seen in action.

South Newsham Pavilion has two pitches, the main ground is fully railed off with a pair of Perspex dugouts. The pavilion has bar facilities and changing rooms, there’s also a 5-a-side court behind the nearside goal.
At one point I thought there was no football to be had. Harraby still hadn’t turned up by the designated kick-off time of 6.30. The team bus finally arrived at quarter-to-seven having been stuck in traffic, which meant the match was ok to k.o. at a later time of 7pm.

Blyth took an early lead through Hopwood with a header at the far post before an equaliser on 26 minutes, Wordsworth was left unmarked to nod home a left sided free kick.
The match was finely poised and could have gone either way but it was the home side that clinched it, Haig capitalised on a defensive mix-up to skilfully round the keeper and shoot past the covering defenders on the goal line.
Overall quite a good game, which is usually the case and it’s very rarely a disappointing affair when watching games around the Alliance.

Matchday stats

BTFC 2(Hopwood 5, Haig 73)HCC 1(Wordsworth 26)
att.28(HC)
Admission & Programme:none

Chuck 4x24 - "Chuck vs the Cliffhanger"

Acest episod a aparut in SUA pe data de 16 Mai!

Chuck 4x24 - "Chuck vs the Cliffhanger"

Acest episod a aparut in SUA pe data de 16 Mai!

FanMades...