Youtube

[Aeolus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PJQVlVHsFF8

Another goofy music video, but I had to post this one separately so as to not hassle the Hoff.

[Yggdrasil]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25o0EZiogw0

REFUTING ANITA SARKEESIAN's "Damsel in Distress: Part 2"

[Dice]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25o0EZiogw0

REFUTING ANITA SARKEESIAN's "Damsel in Distress: Part 2"

First off, I wanna smack the speaker on basis for his derogatory tone and immediate issues with disabling comments....on Youtube (because Youtube comments are intellectual golden nuggets filled with stimulating discussion, right?!?)

The guy doesn't even make a real point till 4 minutes in.

I agree that "damsels" are an easy plot device, and more power to it if it can tell a decent story or make a game fun (I actually liked Prince of Persia, Bioshock Infinite, and Last of Us having the leading ladies tag along with you than merely saved for the climax of the game).  But I think devs are limiting their demographic with shoving males into every aspect of the game... What I mean is that I feel it's a bad attitude to simply say "yeah, well games are for MEN, so DEAL wiff it!!".  I get more upset though with comments like the SMT creator saying he doesn't want the "mute player-avatar" protagonist to be a female for no real reason other than "tradition" (which is peculiar given how inconsequential the player's role is besides picking whether or not you want to agree with some pretentious idealist trying to change the world into some extreme version of itself).  I do hate on Nintendo for making the damsel such a lame thing (Zelda is seriously useless despite the importance of her character -- her goddamn name is on the title's she's not even featured in).  But I also do think Final Fantasy 13 was a positive push forward though, a beautiful world, a dramatic story, and a strong leading lady (not to argue, but just giving an example, it's a game I often see females grabbing as far as mainstream games).  Attracting female players can be done, but of course it won't be easy, but I think it'd be a better direction for gaming in general.

He makes a lot of stupid examples as well, none are terribly strong either (as in, Anita's were stronger for her cause than his are for a rebuttal).  But to be serious, there is really only so far into that kind of dialogue you can go before you break down the whole system of what it is to have gender divisions (especially because while the social aspects of being male or female is one thing, biological factors are definitely another that can only be helped so much).  I'm more keen to say that while hardcore-feminists tend to take their points really seriously to breaking down just about every aspect of a male-dominated world and wanting to eliminate all there is about gender-based ideas, I think it's good to have them for the mere fact of balancing the arguments than outright turning the tables on them.

Also, the fact so many men have beef with Anita's dialogue kinda looks bad on their part. :)

[Tooker]

Yeah, I couldn't watch for more than about 5 minutes.  He was so dismissive that I dismissed him.  That said, I have yet to hear anything good about Anita's videos.  Her reputation is as the type of feminist that gives feminists a bad name. :(

[Dice]

Yeah, I couldn't watch for more than about 5 minutes.  He was so dismissive that I dismissed him.  That said, I have yet to hear anything good about Anita's videos.  Her reputation is as the type of feminist that gives feminists a bad name. :(

She makes a lot of good arguments and her evidence is fair, but she has trouble seeing the other side of the story.  It's mostly bitching too, she doesn't do anything to make good suggestions or talk about the women who do stand their ground.  She's also pretty grounded in theory, or like looking at how "damsels in distress are APPEALING FOR their weaknesses" *groan*... I'd like to give men the benefit of the doubt to say it isn't that simple.  She's very "university" in that sense that she's looking for the best way to support her arguments without much room otherwise to counter it.

[Parn]

I lasted about a minute with that video.  What a pretentious fuck.  He's a bigger asshole than I am.

[Ashton]

Yeah, I couldn't watch for more than about 5 minutes.  He was so dismissive that I dismissed him.  That said, I have yet to hear anything good about Anita's videos.  Her reputation is as the type of feminist that gives feminists a bad name. :(

I believe the main problem with Sarkeesian was that she always sees what she wants to see, in that everything in a game would be sexist unless she personally approved of the message, which is an obvious bias that kind of undermines her point.

Think Dragon's Crown kerfuffle.

[Wild Armor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZeuYGAbYHE

[Agent D.]

I'm not a fan of hers, and this guy basically summed up the reasons why I think she's full of shit. He, however, is as full of himself as she is full of herself. Still, between the 2 assholes, he's slightly less offensive to an overall audience.

[Akanbe-]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RoGxA48HQ1g

Ah, my sides...

"DON'T BUY UNTIL IT'S DAILY!"

This was awesome.  I tried posting it on my FB wall but no one got the references =(

[Yoda]

http://youtu.be/8zd7QWzbJPE

[Dice]

http://youtu.be/8zd7QWzbJPE

I think the Bears Team [?] grew a baseball bat in their pants.

Code:

[quote][img]...because boners.[/img][/quote]

I'm actually really keen on the Buffalo Bell as far as Asian Sports Mascots go.... on a related-ish note?

[Kevadu]

Here's a thing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1gq-4UOsus

I don't know, it's kind of neat but the character art really doesn't do it for me.  But all the other youtube comments are like "OMFG THIS IS SO AMAZING", etc., so am I just being overly-critical?

Or am I just crazy for trying to learn something from youtube comments...

[Ashton]

Less to do with the artwork and more to do with when the sprites are that high resolution and still haven't increased in detail, it looks really weird. The sprites for when Crono and Lucca are dragging Robo look fine, all the others... not so much.

[Dice]

I'm not a fan of hers, and this guy basically summed up the reasons why I think she's full of shit. He, however, is as full of himself as she is full of herself. Still, between the 2 assholes, he's slightly less offensive to an overall audience.

\sorry just saw this, have to bring this up.

I respectfully disagree.

While I don't care much for Sarkeesian either (her ideas about helpless women being desirable sounds is SOO Fem101 it hurts), I can't say the "Amazing Aetheist" is much better (wait, is his 'in your face' YouTube name supposed to be a self-intellect indicator? Cuz it's no better than the sassy way he says "feminist frequency").

Sarkeesian is at least TRYING to change the way women are seen in videogames, whether right or wrong, she's trying to flip the ideas on its head; she's fulfilling what her ridiculous KickStarter set out to do.  Some of her points are good (parts about Zelda definitely, or any instance where the trope is repeated, or a girl usually fails to help herself which ends up being a wasted effort because she's gotta wait for the hero to roll in), but AA's ideas are trying to KEEP the discussions where they are; keep men in their higher positions in games with really, really grounded and simple-minded commentary like:

-- "It's just proper storytelling structure to have a mission that the hero imparts on, reluctantly, and come back with something" (this says nothing about women, or in effect, makes them the endgame goal --- Sarkeesian would likely say "an endgame goal to be CONQUERED" but *I* personally won't go there; but I'd argue instead that it's a really simple argument that kinda misses the point and certainly simplifies the whole journey)

-- "Games are made by men, for men" which limits future demographic potential and certainly leaves out any openess for female interest who have a chance to switch over (like I said earlier with my SMT comment, there really is NO reason why a game with a silent protagonist with as much agency as picking some options to offer a female lead -- but the SMT creator cited "tradition" as a legitimate reason)

-- His final idea that "Women are damsels that we WANT to save, because we love them!" just reinforces that they can't help themselves, or certainly does ring that women seem "incapable" themselves.  If a guy can be a one-man-army, why can't the woman make efforts to flee her captor AT ALL?

-- Anyone who wastes 4 minutes of a 10 minute video about how "shitty her ideas are" without actually indicating any of the evidence that far in is a bigot.  Period.  In the first 2 minutes, all he's established is how he can write a full book about his contempt for her ideas and how he can't fit them all in a video (again, does nothing for discussion, but I'm sure it works for people who vehemently disagree with Sarkeesian)
 
Again, I really don't mind this trope when it's played out well, and I applauded games like Prince of Persia, Bioshock Infinite, and The Last of Us for making greater efforts to include the "saved lass" into the game mechanics... but too often it's played almost hilariously.  And again, I'm not an advocate of Sarkeesian, but she does more for female-discourse than he does to legitimately and persuasively counter it.

Here's a funny video now
http://youtu.be/v8_7yPocGPg
Swedishness.... and yes, that is the real Swedish Prime Minister being scolded