Cerise Magazine

In Australia, a game called The Coolest Kid in School is being billed as “Grand Theft Auto for Girls.” The gameplay revolves around risky teen girl behavior, prompting your in-game doppleganger to take drugs, practice cutting, play around with sex, and “lie, bitch, flirt your way to the top.” After checking out some of the game play, I can definitely say this is nothing like Grand Theft Auto.
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Confession time: I’m completely addicted to playing Miss Bimbo.

The web-based game celebrated its UK launch last month and already has made global headlines for its dubious goals and unabashed vapidity. Miss Bimbo is fairly simple in scope - your goal is to be “the most famous, beautiful, sought after bimbo around the globe!” In order to accomplish this, you essentially imitate the life of a celebutante - get blonde, stay slim, locate some generically blandsome guy to finance your life style, wear pretty clothes, work a bullshit job until you become famous, grab a boob job to go and marry well.
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Aww, sweet, sweet geek love.

The New York Times recently published a piece titled “How to Date a Video Gamer” which revolved around the relationship of Miho Walsh and Roy Prieb. While the piece is almost cloyingly sweet, describing a modern day love story, upon completion I couldn’t help but sigh.

The piece was great for romantics. The piece was not so great for the image of gaming in the mainstream mindset, especially in terms of how female players are perceived in the media. (more…)

Nick Douglas nails this post for Gawker media about the issues found in video game reporting:

[Gaming Journalism] is still a new field and will always be as subjective as covering music or film, with the accompanying celebrity culture. But now that women outnumber men in online gaming, party games like Rock Band appeal to both sexes, and casual games (popular among women and adults) are the fastest-growing segment of the gaming industry, gaming journalism should be an all-inclusive genre. Why does it still pander to a core audience of straight young males with outdated misogynistic material, to the boredom and frustration of all of us who can get laid outside of World of Warcraft?

Douglas makes a good point here. This is problem that applies to both gaming journalism and gaming culture. Why do we ceaselessly campaign to stop the infantilization of video games but then turn around and throw adolescent sex jokes into our marketing and media? It’s ridiculous. (more…)

This piece was originally intended to be a wrap up of the year in games but it looks like every other blog has covered the topic - and, in a surprising twist, so did BBC. Apparently, the world of gaming has gone mainstream. Perhaps we will remember 2007 as the year video games came out of the fringe and into the realm of mainstream entertainment. (Or maybe not.)

At any rate, while reading through all the other year end wrap-ups, I came across an interesting series on the MTV Multiplayer blog.

The Women Working in Games Series features interviewer Tracey John asking various women in the gaming industry about their impressions working in a field that is male dominated and has some very sexist overtones.

(There are also racist/ableist/homophobic overtones but that is another post entirely.)

The results were illuminating. (more…)

This isn’t just about the comic.

The issues that arose from the Jade Raymond comic incident (summarized and discussed here, here, here, here, here, and here) are about far more than just a misguided comic on the internet. The whole situation is symbolic of some of the overall issues that arise in the gaming community, most notably generally accepted misogyny, the idea of “a joke,” and what this situation means for women who are looking for careers in the industry.

As all the links above have covered these issues in depth, the focus of this piece will be on some interesting items I came across while sifting through the comment fallout.
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By Latoya Peterson

I’ve never played Guitar Hero, but when I stumbled across this post on Curvature (hat tip to Feministing) I could immediately relate to the blogger’s situation.

Cara, a self-admitted non-gamer, fell hard for Guitar Hero when it was released and gamely played each subsequent version. However, the latest foray into rock stardom took an unwelcome twist: (more…)

For this installment of Gaming in the Media, I am going to deviate from providing game commentary or analysis and instead provide you with some reviews of other gaming blogs to watch. While I do read many of the more mainstream blogs (Kotaku, Gamasutra, etc.) the lesser known blogs tend to provide me with a bit more to grapple with mentally. (more…)

I think I have a love/hate relationship with Princess Peach.

On one hand, she’s been hanging on to her crown for ages, and she is down with Mario and Luigi.

On the other hand, she kind of epitomizes gender stereotypes in gaming.

Peach became Nintendo’s chosen ambassadrix in June, lending her voice to an email about Nintendo’s sales and upcoming titles.

[Hat tip to Kotaku for the article and press release.]

Peach writes:

Oh, my! All this attention is enough to make a girl blush!

As a princess I’m used to being adored, but this is just too much! I know I’m probably sounding like a broken record, but once again my friends at the NPD Group are telling me that Wii and Nintendo DS finished May as the most popular systems in the United States.

Thanks to everyone for your wonderful support! Nintendo couldn’t have made it back to the top without you. You’re all Mario-caliber heroes in my book.

Now I’m not one to brag, but some of the top games of this month happen to feature someone very pretty and popular - me! I’m talking about the super-fun Mario Party 8 and Super Paper Mario for Wii. Sure, Mario gets top billing, but from where I sit (on my throne), I’d say he’s earned it. Besides, my own game on Nintendo DS, Super Princess Peach, is still selling strong, showing that a girl can do anything she puts her mind to.

I think all my Super Princess Peach fans would have just as much fun working to earn their Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree. I’m not in that one, but don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Be sure to watch for me in my super-stylish soccer gear in Mario Strikers Charged, which arrives on Wii on July 30. I can’t wait!

Kisses!

Peach

The email was so cute and breezy and Peach, but I’m starting to wish Peach would branch out a little. Maybe she should get an alterego like Princess Zelda and stop slacking around the castle all day.

Or maybe she and Daisy should start a punk band.

I am not sure about anyone else, but I want to see a Millennium Peach - update her look and give her more personality than a 1950s home ec textbook.

Nintendo, are you listening?

Is getting an Adults Only (AO) rating as much of a death sentence as RockStar Games made it seem?

Apparently so. (more…)