Above: Some might say female characters could end up with an unfair advantage in the form of a smaller hitbox, but the light male body type seems to indicate that wouldn't be a major issue.
Yesterday, Bethesda Blog posted some impressive numbers to let people know just how deep the character customization will be when Brink comes out this Tuesday. 102,247,681,536,000,000 unique character variations, or a still impressive 27,181,440 when not including minor tint variations. But some of us wonder: if they put so much work into letting you personalize your character, why no option for gender?
Character customization in shooters is still a relatively new concept, especially in first-person shooters. Since you rarely see your character in first-person shooters, it makes sense that this feature wouldn’t be very common. But with the rise in popularity of multiplayer, there comes a desire to personalize your character to in some way reflect yourself. And while there are people (both guys and girls) who enjoy playing characters of the opposite gender, most people tend to prefer their character reflect their own gender.
Some guys might not understand what the big deal is, being that there’s no shortage of shooters featuring characters of their own gender. It can be difficult to comprehend how alienating it can be for a genre to so rarely include you, when you haven’t experience that same level of exclusion. There may be a few shooters, like Perfect Dark, where you’re forced to play the campaign as a female character, but even the multiplayer in that game has males to choose from (more males than females, in fact). Male characters in multiplayer shooters are never considered optional or included as an afterthought; they’re mandatory.
For a company to boast how impressively customizable the characters in their first-person shooter are, only to then exclude half the population from having their character be the same gender as themselves, doesn’t exactly say to female gamers “you are welcome here.”
Granted, there are occasionally completely valid reasons for not including playable female characters in a shooter. For example, it would seem out of place to include female soldiers in a game that takes place during a period in history where women weren’t allowed to serve. But these games are generally outnumbered by shooters that take place in modern times, or some alternate/future world (like Brink).
Female agents were also planned for the first Crackdown, but were similarly nixed.
However, Brink developer Splash Damage didn’t have the time crunch issue. In fact, they were so ahead of schedule, they and Bethesda decided to release it a week early. So, what were the reasons for excluding female characters in Brink? In a thread on the Splash Damage forum entitled “Reconsider Female Characters,” artist Paul Greveson explained:
In fact, we did explore female characters in our early concept art. However, given the realities of development, we had a choice between having a wide range of options for male characters, or a much more limited set of clothing options that allow for both genders. We figured it would be the best use of our time to have a big set of quality customisation options for males instead of less and lower quality for females and males.
This reason sounds pretty silly now, in light of 102,247,681,536,000,000 unique character variations. 27,181,440 variations (minus tints) was more important than including both genders? 13,590,720 variations split between the two just wouldn’t have been enough? I just don’t understand what the problem is. It’s especially frustrating because I’m so looking forward to the game otherwise.
Volition recently announced the “Initiation Station,” a bit of free DLC for Saints Row: The Third to be released before the main game, which will allow players to begin customizing their characters in advance. I’m not sure if it will have 102,247,681,536,000,000 unique character variations, but it will have an option for gender. Maybe Splash Damage should take notes.
Critical Kate
Critical Kate was born on the same day as the Famicom. Primarily a console gamer, Kate has been playing videogames regularly since the NES days (excluding a hiatus during most of the "128-bit" era in college). She prefers her games arcade-y, enjoys a good story, and doesn't understand the appeal of recreational frustration. You don't want to encounter her in the Facility with Remote Mines.
It’s really very simple: girls don’t play video games.
For the 4 that do, we only need to create something that involves using SEAL teams. There are no women in SEAL teams.
Problem solved.
lol with a plus sign+
girls? haha who cares? I’m sick of those tough girls in movies and i’m sick of them in games!
Also, you can’t even fully customize your faces. You just have templates that you have to choose from….and they’re bragging about it !? That’s pathetic
The author makes a good point. Its great to see such significant amounts of social awareness amongst gamers, especially the guys who have posted so far, I mean does it really matter if women are represented at all? We are living in a time where even the most seemingly trivial detail may actually foster disillusionment, such as in Brink’s choice to supply only Male characters. It proves that customisation is far more important than representation to Bethesda, which begs the question: are game developers out of touch with modern society? The gaming world often seems to think it does not have to succumb to the societal constraints of the real world. Look at Gears of war, it took Epic their third iteration to even begin thinking about women in gaming. Funnily enough the parameter of gender is one of the msot significant parameters we use throughout our lives and yet Bethesda decide that it has no place which will most likely be sold to many millions. Terrible form on their part I have to say. Yes we are entrenched in far too much political correctness but is this really necessary??
I am surprised there are no women, but at the same time, I can understand that the developers wanted to put their best foot forward for the first game of a brand new IP. If the game sells well, they’ll likely add female characters in the sequel. The way I look at it, they needed to make the best possible game, which unfortunately had the side effect of making them unable to cater to everybody right away. If the gamble pays off, then they have more money and a bit more time to make up for not including things this time around.
ahhahahahaha
i never knew!
what a waste man!
it definitely alienates female gamers 100%
its such a shame man, they say the game contains lots of custom parts but non for female. At least ABP has both female and male custom parts:/
This article is retarded..
First of all the quadrillion different combinations is a big number but you have to think about how they got that number.
Say you have a guy wearing:
Head: 1
Torso:1
Legs:1
Shoes:1
Someone Wearing:
Head: 1
Torso:1
Legs:1
Shoes:2
Is another variation, they may look almost Identical but thats still another one. say you have 30 things for each body part. well that number goes up fast. But you still may not see as many differences as you thought you would. So Chopping that in half and putting half the time into a gender that lets be honest maybe takes up 5% of FPS gamers is retarded.
And for all those guys who want to be a girl in a game well thats your own damn issue to deal with. Don’t diss on what was obviously the better choice here.
I cant wait to play this game.
TL;DR
Admittedly, I don’t entirely have to. If i’m repeating something said (which I highly doubt) then no harm done. If i’m not, well then hey you learn something new.
Models take up a lot of space. Having a lot of different models is hard. Look at bulletstorm, every single enemy was made up of the same exact guy. Just slapped with different stuff on him to make him look different.
Having a female character would require their work load to double. This includes everyone, editing things to fit the female avatar etc. In short; Stop being so whiny about it. “Oh noes…i have to play as a male…oh noez0rz!”
And here’s the funfact; If some random big news source didn’t write about this, YOU WOULDN’T CARE. The only reason (denying this is a waste of time. Not being mean about it just stating the truth here) you’re, or anyone for that matter, is upset about this is because it was pointed out to you. There are plenty of games out there with only male characters. There’s even a pretty damn impressive list of games that don’t let you even pick a male character. Hell there’s lots of games out there that force you to play as a female just to be a specific class. I don’t want to play a female just so i can be a mage. But that’s ok though apparently.
Actually, now that I think about it. Why isn’t that ever talked about? why is it never a bad thing if you’re forced to fit a female role?
Oh that’s right. Double standards.
Agreed.
Women serve in the army everyday but you dont see them in COD and noone gives a damn.
The fact that people care about this is extremely infuriating.
I love how the guy mentions Saints Row in the end like that game is such an iconic masterpiece that it needs to be learned from..
Let me see if I can translate this from “wallowing in male privilege without acknowledging it” to “English”:
“What are those women complaining about? They don’t need to be represented anyway. It doesn’t matter that most shooters treat women like they’re mythical creatures that are never once glimpsed, because, well, I’m a man, so why should I care? Also, I didn’t like Saint’s Row, so pointing out that it’s doing something that Brink could easily have done if the developers cared is invalid, because only games I like matter.”
Oh, I almost forgot. “I’ve never gone to any places where people might complain about the lack of women in the modern-day-setting Call of Duty titles, therefore they don’t exist. Because only what I personally observe is real.”
The author’s a woman. Holy shit are you a fucking idiot.
[...] The explanation from developer, Splash Damage? It was a matter of resources (hm, sounds familiar). Read the full analysis at the CriticalHit! blog. [...]
There’s only one game I’ve ever heard the “A matter of resources excuse” for and actually bought it. In the original Skate, the developers said they wanted to include a female option, but the execs wouldn’t give them the money or time they’d need to implement this accurately — as females have a different center of balance and other factors that would actually make a difference in portraying skateboarding realistically. They said they would definitely include them in the sequel, and true to word, they did.
An FPS or third-person shooter? … Sorry, no. There is nothing about running around and shooting that makes implementing female characters any different from implementing males. Saint’s Row 2 added the option to play a female character and still expanded the game from the original. Freaking Unreal and Quake 2 had female models for multiplayer — and you could use the same models for singleplayer in Unreal. The reason was that you just didn’t think including females mattered. That’s it.
And call me crazy, but when I can fairly call your game less progressive or advanced than Saint’s Row 2 or some of the first modern 3D shooters in existence? I think that’s a bad thing
[...] from developer, Splash Damage? It was a matter of resources (hm, sounds familiar). Read the full analysis at the CriticalHit! blog. Share and [...]
Excellent job letting the numbers speak to the absurdity of the situation.
That said, if a bunch of guys are happy to play dress-up together with a “no girls allowed” sign on the door, more power to them. There are plenty of other, more inclusive games to spend my money on.
I love all the ignorant comments on this :) Comment’s sections are always full of idiots, but you guys take the cake ;) Dumba$$e$.
I actually looked at the forum you linked to. It seems that they did in fact learn from Saints Row 2. The lesson they took from that game was: SR2 was a sequel, Brink might have a sequel, so you should buy Brink. ( http://www.splashdamage.com/forums/showthread.php?p=208442#post208442 )
Basically, if you want to have women in games, give Splash Damage your money now and they’ll have a good hard think about it.
Yeah right.
[...] the buzzword of the year with Brink claiming to have over 100 quadrillion unique character models (none of them female) and Rod Fergusson talking about pink guns. As you play through Duke Nukem Forever’s [...]
I somehow manage to not feel alienated when I play a game with a female player character or when I watch a movie or a television show with only a few male characters. The problem here is between your ears and has nothing to do with Brink.
The trick is not that it is a game without female characters (I’m fine playing HL2 as Gordon Freeman, because it’s his specific story), but that, as a game which sells itself on the basis of detailed customization, the idea that the player might be (or want to play) a female character is not something that the developers were interested in spending their time on. The message they send is clear: they don’t care about 40% of their consumers.
From Wikipedia:
According to a study conducted by the Entertainment Software Association in 2010, 40% of the game playing population is female, and women 18 or older now comprise 33% of all gamers. Also, the percentage of women now playing online has risen to 42%, up several percent since 2004. The same study shows that 46% of game purchasers are female (Entertainment Software Association).
Hank: girls DO play video games. And yes, we DO play First Person Shooters. All way-the-hell-more-than-four of us. And I’ll be happy to mop up your tears and blood when I’m taking down the Combine and your head’s still stuck up a crab’s ass-mouth if you need proof of that.
“The message they send is clear: they don’t care about 40% of their consumers.”
Implying that women cannot play as male characters, or vice versa. I guess no man ever played Tomb Raider, Bayonetta, Mirror’s Edge or Longest Journey. The developers didn’t care about them! Q_Q
“40% of the game playing population is female.”
What does playing games mean in this case? There’s a big difference between Farmville and Black Ops.
Read the comment point: “The trick is not that it is a game without female characters (I’m fine playing HL2 as Gordon Freeman, because it’s his specific story), but that, as a game which sells itself on the basis of detailed customization”
This is about customization, if there was no customization option, this would not be a issue…
You’ve rather shot yourself in the foot there with your comment about men not minding abour playing as Lara Croft/Bayonetta, given that these ‘women’ have been constrcted specifically to titilate male gamers (huge tits/ass in your face at all times, super skinny, presented as sexually attainable) and do not in any way represent real women. Not to mention, as has been pointed out, the difference between playing as a male or female characters (with a personality, role in the plot) and an avatar (who is customised to represent you and your experience).
[...] 10th – 102,247,681,536,000,000 Unique Character Variations, And Not One Woman » Critical Hit! – Vide… – For a company to boast how impressively customizable the characters in their first-person [...]
[...] Brink has zillions of character variations and no women Call of Duty: Black Ops Commercial Sex Difference in Spatial Skills Girls Who Play Video Games Have More Sex Posted in Podcast, Uncategorized Tags: feminism, homosexuality, podcast, sexuality « Episode 8: You’re A Friggin’ Cow in the West: Women and Technology You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]
[...] 102,247,681,536,000,000 Unique Character Variations, And Not One Woman [...]
[...] Hit blog, blogger Critical Kate looks at why it’s kind of a big deal that while there’s 102 quadrillion possible character variants in the recently released Brink, not a single one of them can be female: Some guys might not understand what the big deal is, being [...]
Come on Splash Damage where are the women characters? I want to play as a Female Engineer with a Heavy body size.
What i think is they should do is either a mammoth exp. or a mammoth dlc to add the female custom option.
No need to erase anything else and why not add plenty of new maps and weapons as well with that in the lot.
I frankly prefer it to be a DLC.
I mentioned this same issue on my blog and on my YouTube channel. Bethesda has developed and published games that been very inclusive in the past. I remember being a young girl when Morrowind came out, my guy friend told me “you wouldn’t like this game, it’s not really for girls.” Luckily, I forgave his ignorance, Morrowind became my favorite game of all time, and we are still friends. ^_^
We keep being told that most female gamers play casual games and RPG’s but *every* female gamer I know of plays FPS games. I Reiterate: Every woman and girl I personally know who plays video games has played at least one FPS and enjoyed it. In this instance I think Bethesda should know by now that they have a huge female fanbase and that my publishing Splash Damage’s “Brink” they are letting some of us down. Character customization must include gender and race options unless it conflicts with the story.
[...] The explanation from developer, Splash Damage? It was a matter of resources (hm, sounds familiar). Read the full analysis at the CriticalHit! blog. [...]
Come on guys dont worry about sex in a video game with huge custimization options in a game like brink iam 15 years old and I even understand that this is an issue but seriously just make a light body type and then add long hair or something dont shit your pants about sexism just grow some balls and play the game
Blogging about…
[...]I don’t ordinarily suggest other internet sites but I’ll break my trend for this[...]…
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Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts. (F.F. Bosworth)…
To your first comment, that having female characters would cause the workload to double- this is completely untrue. I am a software developer. While I do not work in the game industry, I’m confident that making a few alterations in graphics does not mean completely re-modeling the character. You would have to be a pretty shitty developer to start from scratch. Practically everything that is important about the character– the way they move, use weapons, etc– stays the same. The only difference is cosmetic, outer-layer graphics.
I beg to differ on your second comment as well, that if no one pointed this out then no one would notice. When I was first looking at Brink, prior to its release, I was really impressed with the unique world and customization– until I realized that it wasn’t that I was missing the toggle from male to female gender, it just wasn’t there. I’m glad this article is bringing attention to it.
For me, gender doesn’t matter when you are playing a standard first person shooter campaign, with a pre-defined character. Most of the time, these characters are men, with a few exceptions like Portal and Mirror’s Edge. That I can live with– most gamers are male, so it makes sense that most game’s protagonists are male. However, when a game prides its self on customization, I want to be able to make a character that I can identify with, so as to get the full immersion experience.
Overall, I think Bethesa games are a lot of fun, not to mention gender-inclusive. The Fallout and Elder Scrolls games are really good at being inclusive, both in designing your character and in having a variety of female NPCs. I found Brink’s exclusivity to be very alienating. I’ll spend my $60 elsewhere.
[...] The lack of gender choice in many contemporary games is head-scratching and, frankly, inexcusable. 2011’s sci-fi shooter Brink was initially billed as having virtually unlimited character creation possibilities. But at some point in development, the level of customization was reduced. Let’s hear from the game’s creative director, Richard Ham: “From the outset, we wanted to create a character customization system that was so deep and varied that you would never run into another player that looked exactly like you. As we got deeper into development, we were faced with an incredibly tough choice: massively cut back the amount of customization options as well as the quality of the assets, or cut female models.” Guesses as to which one they chose? [...]
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