(Shoutout to Gerhard Jurgen for being my first patron! I know where you live.)
(Because we live in the same house.)
I have been doing some thinking recently about why I enjoy the things I enjoy, video games in particular. Unlike a lot of kids of my generation, I didn’t really grow up with them; I didn’t own a video game console until I was 18 (it was a PlayStation 2, which I purchased with my financial aid leftovers). We did have some games growing up, but they were mostly educational like The Oregon Trail (which was still pretty awesome) as well as floppy disk games from the local dollar store.
So, I own a Kindle Fire. The particular Kindle Fire that I own has advertisements that show up on the lock screen. It was cheaper than the other models on Amazon, and I’m mostly able to just ignore the ads that show up on it anyway, so it doesn’t really bug me that much.
However, there is one particular ad for the mobile game Game of War. Even though I don’t have a particular interest in smart phone games and pretty much zero interest in this one, it warms the cockles of my cold, dead heart every time that I see it. Now, this isn’t the ad that appears on my screen, but it gives you the idea.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Mariah Carey, Warrior Princess:
The ad that actually shows up is even better, as you actually get a full body shot of the very Xena-esque outfit she’s wearing. Here’s the actual TV spot, using her song “Hero,” that you can watch in its full one-minute glory.
I just have so many questions. Is someone blackmailing Mariah Carey? Does she owe money to the mob or something? Does she still even record music? I haven’t really heard anything about what she’s done since Glitter.
I don’t want to get too down on it, though. The ad was obviously meant to be tongue in cheek, and it does have some amusing moments. Not enough to actually make me want to buy the game, but still.
(Note: I am aware that this was announced several days ago. I have been trying to collect my thoughts about this so that it comes out coherently instead of me typing “OH MY GOD” over and over again.)
Most of you have likely already seen the below video:
Yup! Blizzard is putting out another WoW expansion, and so far it looks like it’s adding some fairly interesting new features. There’s going to be a new zone (The Broken Isles), class order halls, and artifact weapons (you can apparently wield THE FUCKING ASHBRINGER).
What I’m looking forward to, though, is the new hero class: demon hunter. They are looking incredibly badass. Kind of disappointed that there are no new playable races, though. Where are my playable vrykul, Blizzard?
I will probably have more thoughts on this as new information becomes available.
So, I was going through my WordPress feed today, checking the various and sundry blogs I follow, when this headline (from What’s Your Tag) caught my eye:
So, last week it was announced that Konami will be releasing a new Silent Hill game (for which you can see the trailer above). Seeing as how I am a GIGANTIC Silent Hill fan, I have thoughts about this.
It was recently announced that Blizzard will be premiering the cinematic for the upcoming World Of Warcraft expansion, Warlords Of Draenor, on August 14th. The event is set to take place at 9:30 PDT at Ace Theater in Los Angeles. According to the website:
A storm of iron is headed Azeroth’s way—be among the first to witness its fury at the world premiere of the Warlords of Draenor cinematic! Join Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime, Chris Metzen, and World of Warcraft designers Ion Hazzikostas and Brian Holinka for the grand unveiling, streamed live from the Ace Theatre in Los Angeles. But that’s not all—we’ll also host a live interview with the WoW developers, announce the Warlords of Draenor launch date, and debut the first episode of a new animated lore mini-series: Lords of War. You won’t want to miss it!
They’ll also be livestreaming the event at WorldofWarcraft.com for us sorry bastards who don’t live in LA, though those who actually attend will receive a key for the beta. Unfortunately, since I do have a day job, I will not be able to view it myself since I will be at work. But rest assured, loyal readers, I will definitely be talking about it when I get home.
Yup. Someone took The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and then made a mod that replaced all the dragons with Thomas The Tank Engine. Now, I’ve only played a little bit of Skyrim, but I simply cannot stop laughing.
Speaking of dragons, I just got back from watching The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. As it is currently rather late and I have to get up early tomorrow to go to work, I shall give my opinion on the movie tomorrow.
…but just haven’t quite gotten around to it. That topic? The dearth of female main characters in video games.
We’ve all heard this excuse, I’m sure: games with female main characters simply do not sell well. I would like to posit that this is bullshit. Silent Hill 3’s main character is a young woman, and it’s considered to be one of the best games in the franchise. The latest Tomb Raider game was released in March to critical acclaim. Even if Parasite Eve isn’t one of Square Enix’s most lucrative properties it still did well enough to warrant a couple of sequels.
I think that the main reason is that game companies are afraid of alienating men, who they still see as their core audience. Even though an increasingly large number of women are getting into gaming. They think that men aren’t going to be able to relate to a female character.
Well, here’s the answer I have to that: why should I, as a woman who happens to game, be expected to relate to male characters? Because there are male characters (not just in video games, but across all media) that I do relate to, and I’m sure that there are many men out there who are capable of relating to female characters as well. Why can’t our media landscape reflect the gender diversity of the real world?
I probably could just leave it at that, but frankly, that would be rather lazy and doesn’t really make for a very interesting post. So I shall further elaborate as to why it is fucking awesome.
Katethulu's Cave Of Mysteries 