Unfettered Blather

I always love the expression “The elephant in the room”. This usually refers to something everyone knows about, everyone sees, yet no one wants to talk about. Personally, I love to talk about the elephant in the room.

Most men look at, shall we say “romantic partners” in two lights. We love the sexy vixen in a one-night stand sort of way but most men aren’t looking for a long term relationship with that kind of woman. Then we have the good girl, the one who at least appears virtuous in public, who doesn’t play off her sexuality, and maybe demonstrates a skill other than being able to take off her clothes. Most men love the sexy vixen but want to end up with the good girl. Let’s be honest though, you could apply this to women as well with only minor alterations. We’re really not so different when talking about attraction. We might look for different qualities but both genders seeem to focus on different standards for long-term commitments versus an instant gratification relationship.

Maybe it’s just the games I’ve been playing lately, but it seems like I don’t get much of a choice anymore. I liked having a choice, but I wonder what the choice is for most gamers? Especially the male gamers. Sadly, the only option most women gamers get is a handsome but whiny pissant who is such an obvious projection of the developers that they might as well have just used their own picutre. Oops, except that would take away from the “handsome” most likely. (Disclaimer: I’m not exactly going to make the cover of GQ anytime soon myself). What we essentially have is “the good girl” and “the sexy vixen” and never much attempt to stray from that formula unless it is to aim somewhere in-between. Not exactly bold writing. On the other hand, I can live with it so long as my preferences are not assumed to be the sexy vixen. I’m not saying it never would be, but sometimes it just seems so out of place.

Personally, I think the more realistic approach is the girl next door. This might sound trite, and it probably is, but if the world is going to hell in a handbasket is it really going to be saved by a supermodel? One of the classic Campbellian themes is the everyman who ascends to be a hero. Maybe we feel more heroic if gorgeous women swoon and risk their lives in order to bear our children. In an age of strong women I actually would appreciate a useful partner though. Honestly, as much as everyone hates escort missions, what I do not need is a perpetual damsel in distress. At the very least, keep her locked in a tower until I can come rescue her. I’d rather be fighting alongside someone I can respect, someone I can count on, and someone who can challenge me to be a better person. Not mere eye candy or an arm decoration. Ok, fine, I’ll admit this may not be to everyone’s tastes, but again I’d like to see a choice.

Can we go outside these boundaries though? Could we accept a female supporting character who is not just a good girl or a sexy vixen? Can this romantic partner be the hero of the story? Will she maintain sexual attractiveness if she appears stronger than the player? Maybe it’s too soon to challenge players to go outside these boundaries. Good girl, sexy vixen, or somewhere in between. Anything else and we’re talking about story-telling skills that the gaming market does not yet have in abundance.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with the sexy vixen, it’s just that we’ve seen so much of her lately. Game publisher and developers alike have been blatantly pandering to their 13 year old male demographic. What we sometimes forget is how huge this demographic is since no matter how old we get men are always in touch with our inner 13 year old and sometimes we even let him out to play. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this necessarily, I think we’ve just been bombarded with these adolescent fantasies to the point where there is no longer a point.

In all fairness though, what I’m talking about applies to women as well. What do they really want in a long term romantic partners?

Hey, let’s face it, Conan is actually the male fantasy. We want to be all buff and scary looking, but women want the cute guy who could just as easily live next door. Granted, Brad Pitt with his shirt off is going to embarass most guys as well, but that’s not the point. Again, women aren’t usually given a choice.

Games as an interactive experience should be giving us options. Especially when sex is involved. I don’t expect much here, after all we don’t usually see many games where they give you a non-violent option to conflict resolution. If you’re going to introduce sex into the equation, even if we’re just talking innuendo, then I want a choice or at the very least I want someone believable. I want an approximation of a real world woman. I don’t mean this in a cruel way, but if I’m off saving the world I don’t want a bikini model for my sidekick.

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