Gaming: are women misrepresented?

It seems to be a topic that has come up time and time again, but are Woman misrepresented in video games?  Kung Fu Factory’s co-founder Ricci Rukavina believes so. In a recent interview with CVG discussing KFF’s up and coming take on the MMA scene entitled MMA Supremacy, Rukavina’s response to the question was “On the whole, I would say yes. And I don’t think anyone would disagree with that.”

Rukavina believes that since supremacy is the first challenger to step into the octagon brandishing sports bra’s and jock straps alike, it will not only attract a larger fan base but also represent woman in a more realistic light, as apposed to other fighting orientated games such as Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and Soul Calibur. “I would say the main difference is women are typically represented in those games with an exaggerated sense of body proportion and are often times overtly sexualized”, said Rukavina.

The problem, which objectifies women and puts them in the role of a “princess in need of rescuing”, seems to stem from a statistically higher percentage of males involved in the gaming industry, according to Rukavina. “But this also happens in cinema, music, all facets of life. And then someone comes along and breaks the mould, by doing this differently. We saw a chance to do that and its fit perfectly into our plan of being a different type of game. It also fits our plans as a company.”

While Rukavina’s intentions seem well placed and simultaneously promote the game as something different from its competitors, female participation in the discussion is paramount. Thus, I would love to actually hear what female members of the gaming community think about the subject.

I’m not talking about the kind of ladies who have never played a game but jump on the misrepresentation bandwagon none the less. I’m looking for opinions from the gals who are actually gamers, the ladies who purposefully subject themselves to these proposed misrepresentations because they love gaming. Are you, as “girl gamers” offended by the objectified big breasted women that frequent our screens as gamers? Moreover, with regards to this particular instance, are you offended by the lack of female representation in gaming and will the inclusion of female competitors in a game like this make you want to pick up a copy?

Source: CVG

Last Updated: April 28, 2011