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Gaming Journalism of the Year 2016

Chris Suellentrop Glixel Also: New York Times, Contributor Previously: Kotaku Super Mario Run's Not-So-Super Gender Politics By CHRIS SUELLENTROP DEC. 22, 2016 Unfortunately, despite Nintendo's history and reputation, Super Mario Run is not a family-friendly game - or at least not one my wife and I will be letting our 6-year-old daughter play. The game is rife with stale, retrograde gender stereotypes - elements that were perhaps expected in 1985, when the first Super Mario Bros. was released in the United States, but that today are just embarrassing. Super Mario Run begins, as does almost every Super Mario title, with Princess Peach becoming a hostage who must be rescued by Mario. Just before her ritual kidnapping, Peach invites Mario to her castle and pledges to bake him a cake. Upon her rescue, she kisses Mario. The game also includes a second female character, Toadette, whose job is to wave a flag before and after a race, like a character from "Grease By failing to update Super Mario for a contemporary audience, Nintendo is lagging far behind the Walt Disney Co., one of its closest American analogues. Disney's film "Frozen” subverted and reinvigorated the fairy-tale princess movie; "The Force Awakens" gave us a female Jedi. Super Mario Run doesn't even trv In isolation, there's nothing wrong with princesses or baking. My daughters love those things, too. But Super Mario Run relegates its female characters to positions of near helplessness. Peach and Toadette become playable only after you complete certain tasks, which makes the women in the game feel like prizes. (To be fair, the same is true of a few male characters.) Worse should you then use Peach to defeat her kidnappei that neither Mario nor a kiss is waiting for her as a reward. r, Bowser, you'll discover The world would be a worse place if video game creators were judged only by whether they balanced their games with male and female protagonists. Some of 2016's best video games, including the interactive drama Firewatch and the disturbing Mario-inspired Inside, are largely about men and boys. Still, lots of girls and women play video games. There are more women over 30 who play video games than boys under 18 who play, according to the industry's lobbying arm, the Entertainment Software Association. A Pew Research Center survey published last year found that almost 60 percent of girls between the ages of 13 and 17 are gamers. Seeing people like yourself depicted as heroic on TV and in movies and video games can have a powerful effect on viewers and players. The actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani, who was born in Pakistan, tweeted after watching "Rogue One," the new "Star Wars" movie, that he "started tearing up" after a scene in which "people who looked like me and dressed like my ple we Representation in interactive media may be even more important than it is in linear entertainment. In video games, players describe ourselves as the digital avatars we control on a screen. We say "I died," not "he died. This sense of identification gives video games an enormous capacity to create empathy for other people. There are video games in which you play as as replacement therapy, as the son of an alcoholic. But it also presents more conventional game designers with an opportunity to create games in which young girls, and not just young boys, actually become heroes themselves.

Chris Suellentrop Glixel Also: New York Times, Contributor Previously: Kotaku Super Mario Run's Not-So-Super Gender Politics By CHRIS SUELLENTROP DEC. 22, 2016 Unfortunately, despite Nintendo's history and reputation, Super Mario Run is not a family-friendly game - or at least not one my wife and I will be letting our 6-year-old daughter play. The game is rife with stale, retrograde gender stereotypes - elements that were perhaps expected in 1985, when the first Super Mario Bros. was released in the United States, but that today are just embarrassing. Super Mario Run begins, as does almost every Super Mario title, with Princess Peach becoming a hostage who must be rescued by Mario. Just before her ritual kidnapping, Peach invites Mario to her castle and pledges to bake him a cake. Upon her rescue, she kisses Mario. The game also includes a second female character, Toadette, whose job is to wave a flag before and after a race, like a character from "Grease By failing to update Super Mario for a contemporary audience, Nintendo is lagging far behind the Walt Disney Co., one of its closest American analogues. Disney's film "Frozen” subverted and reinvigorated the fairy-tale princess movie; "The Force Awakens" gave us a female Jedi. Super Mario Run doesn't even trv In isolation, there's nothing wrong with princesses or baking. My daughters love those things, too. But Super Mario Run relegates its female characters to positions of near helplessness. Peach and Toadette become playable only after you complete certain tasks, which makes the women in the game feel like prizes. (To be fair, the same is true of a few male characters.) Worse should you then use Peach to defeat her kidnappei that neither Mario nor a kiss is waiting for her as a reward. r, Bowser, you'll discover The world would be a worse place if video game creators were judged only by whether they balanced their games with male and female protagonists. Some of 2016's best video games, including the interactive drama Firewatch and the disturbing Mario-inspired Inside, are largely about men and boys. Still, lots of girls and women play video games. There are more women over 30 who play video games than boys under 18 who play, according to the industry's lobbying arm, the Entertainment Software Association. A Pew Research Center survey published last year found that almost 60 percent of girls between the ages of 13 and 17 are gamers. Seeing people like yourself depicted as heroic on TV and in movies and video games can have a powerful effect on viewers and players. The actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani, who was born in Pakistan, tweeted after watching "Rogue One," the new "Star Wars" movie, that he "started tearing up" after a scene in which "people who looked like me and dressed like my ple we Representation in interactive media may be even more important than it is in linear entertainment. In video games, players describe ourselves as the digital avatars we control on a screen. We say "I died," not "he died. This sense of identification gives video games an enormous capacity to create empathy for other people. There are video games in which you play as as replacement therapy, as the son of an alcoholic. But it also presents more conventional game designers with an opportunity to create games in which young girls, and not just young boys, actually become heroes themselves.

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Quality article

| Kotaku Φ @Kotaku * 요. Suivre The Overwatch fandom is horny for Widowmaker's new highlight animation. bit.ly/2hOtRs Voir la traduction GIF RETWEETS JAIME 62 11:12-14 déc. 2016

| Kotaku Φ @Kotaku * 요. Suivre The Overwatch fandom is horny for Widowmaker's new highlight animation. bit.ly/2hOtRs Voir la traduction GIF RETWEETS JAIME 62 11:12-14 déc. 2016

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Kotaku article from 2009.

Bringing Bayonetta's Butt To Life Brian Ashcraft /24/09 5:00am-Filed to: MAXIMUM RISKY 03.5K 19 Don't think of "stylish action game" Bayonetta as Devil May Cry in heels, think of it as Devil May Cry in heels with a great ass

Bringing Bayonetta's Butt To Life Brian Ashcraft /24/09 5:00am-Filed to: MAXIMUM RISKY 03.5K 19 Don't think of "stylish action game" Bayonetta as Devil May Cry in heels, think of it as Devil May Cry in heels with a great ass

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Zarya is a Gay Icon According to Kotaku

4Back to Messages 8:31 PM 62% kotaku.com Zarva From Overwatch Has Become A Gay Icon, lronically Cecilia D'Anastasio Today 4:17pm Filed to: ZARYA Share y Tweet

4Back to Messages 8:31 PM 62% kotaku.com Zarva From Overwatch Has Become A Gay Icon, lronically Cecilia D'Anastasio Today 4:17pm Filed to: ZARYA Share y Tweet

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Jschreier of Kotaku Discussing Sorceress on NeoGAF

View Single Post Thread: #1633 jschreier Sorry about your boycott. I haven't read this entire thread, but the accusations I've seen that I'm only doing this for pageviews; that I don't actually care about the things I'm saying; that my criticism is contributing to the mistreatment of women - are inappropriate, out of line, and rather disgusting. I won't address those Today, 02:48 AM) Quote I will, however, elaborate on my points, since it doesn't seem like I've been clear enough For reference, let's look at this picture of thes sorceress Other than her proportions, there are a couple of details worth noting. One is that her shirt is trying to escape from her chest. She also has a very childish face that resembles lolicon imagery. I don't think either of those features is beautiful or worth lauding in any way Now let's look at the gif that was posted earlier in this thread. Maybe you think it's reasonable, or beautiful, or aesthetically pleasing when a female character's breasts move like that during combat. I don't. I think it's demeaning and embarrassing See, I don't think the sorceress's design is problematic because of her large breasts. What's problematic is that the character is explicitly designed to draw our eyes to her large breasts. They're exposed; they're jiggling; they're disproportionate. They're immediately striking. They're part of a lolicon fantasy, drawn to appeal to people who are interested in lolicon fantasies (and people who are interested in large breasts) So yes, maybe her design has something to do with fertility, or necromancy. Maybe she's a strong, multifaceted character with interesting thoughts and ambitions. None of that really matters, because her body is presented as a jiggling sexual object for people to leer at. (To those of you who are ready to argue that the men in Dragon's Crown are sexually objectified as well, please google "adolescent male power fantasy" and read explanations from people more qualified than I.) Go ahead and look at that gif again. I hope you can see how that might make people feel uncomfortable You could say that, examined in a vacuum, this is just a silly cartoon. But viewed as part of the video game industry - and it is, despite its niche, part of the video game industry - this is just another example of an exclusionary chunk of gaming culture. On Twitter yesterday, one person said to me, "I like Are you kading me? 1 sur hp es how you complain about some games being 'made for men and only men' as if that's a bad thing." Are you kidding me? I sure hope I don't need to explain why that's not okay Some have accused me of singling out Dragon's Crown because Japanese niche games are easy targets for a westerner. That's just not true. I write a column every week about JRPGs. I'm criticizing this one because I don't want to see the genre headed in this direction. I want JRPGs with great female characters. Strong, complicated female characters who aren't defined by their sexuality, like Estelle in Trails in the Sky or Nanami in Suikoden II. Female characters who don't come across as aesthetic objects. One more thing: I'm probably the only person here who has actually played Dragon's Crown, and I have no interest in seeing it burn. It's a fun, interesting game that I hope to buy and play and write about. Otherwise I wouldn't care this much IF YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO THIS PICTURE YOU ARE A P--------. JSCHREIER CKOTAKU

View Single Post Thread: #1633 jschreier Sorry about your boycott. I haven't read this entire thread, but the accusations I've seen that I'm only doing this for pageviews; that I don't actually care about the things I'm saying; that my criticism is contributing to the mistreatment of women - are inappropriate, out of line, and rather disgusting. I won't address those Today, 02:48 AM) Quote I will, however, elaborate on my points, since it doesn't seem like I've been clear enough For reference, let's look at this picture of thes sorceress Other than her proportions, there are a couple of details worth noting. One is that her shirt is trying to escape from her chest. She also has a very childish face that resembles lolicon imagery. I don't think either of those features is beautiful or worth lauding in any way Now let's look at the gif that was posted earlier in this thread. Maybe you think it's reasonable, or beautiful, or aesthetically pleasing when a female character's breasts move like that during combat. I don't. I think it's demeaning and embarrassing See, I don't think the sorceress's design is problematic because of her large breasts. What's problematic is that the character is explicitly designed to draw our eyes to her large breasts. They're exposed; they're jiggling; they're disproportionate. They're immediately striking. They're part of a lolicon fantasy, drawn to appeal to people who are interested in lolicon fantasies (and people who are interested in large breasts) So yes, maybe her design has something to do with fertility, or necromancy. Maybe she's a strong, multifaceted character with interesting thoughts and ambitions. None of that really matters, because her body is presented as a jiggling sexual object for people to leer at. (To those of you who are ready to argue that the men in Dragon's Crown are sexually objectified as well, please google "adolescent male power fantasy" and read explanations from people more qualified than I.) Go ahead and look at that gif again. I hope you can see how that might make people feel uncomfortable You could say that, examined in a vacuum, this is just a silly cartoon. But viewed as part of the video game industry - and it is, despite its niche, part of the video game industry - this is just another example of an exclusionary chunk of gaming culture. On Twitter yesterday, one person said to me, "I like Are you kading me? 1 sur hp es how you complain about some games being 'made for men and only men' as if that's a bad thing." Are you kidding me? I sure hope I don't need to explain why that's not okay Some have accused me of singling out Dragon's Crown because Japanese niche games are easy targets for a westerner. That's just not true. I write a column every week about JRPGs. I'm criticizing this one because I don't want to see the genre headed in this direction. I want JRPGs with great female characters. Strong, complicated female characters who aren't defined by their sexuality, like Estelle in Trails in the Sky or Nanami in Suikoden II. Female characters who don't come across as aesthetic objects. One more thing: I'm probably the only person here who has actually played Dragon's Crown, and I have no interest in seeing it burn. It's a fun, interesting game that I hope to buy and play and write about. Otherwise I wouldn't care this much IF YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO THIS PICTURE YOU ARE A P--------. JSCHREIER CKOTAKU

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Nathan Grayson on Video Game Butts

Nathan Grayson @Vahn16 * Follow video games: where people are more likely to stand up for a fake woman's butt han a real woman's job RETWEETS LIKES 1,967 2,067 11:41 PM-30 Mar 2016

Nathan Grayson @Vahn16 * Follow video games: where people are more likely to stand up for a fake woman's butt han a real woman's job RETWEETS LIKES 1,967 2,067 11:41 PM-30 Mar 2016

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How I Got Raped In My Rumper By Bum-Poking Fundlers

TOP STORIES WOMEN w I Got R---- In My FEB 20, 2013 00 PM Ho Rumper By Bum-Poking Fundlers 43,070 1,2459 Share1 Like 2.1k GET OUR TOP STORIES FOLLOW KOTAKU Dr. Seuss。 I was minding my own business on one morn last year when a bum-tickling hoodizzler with twizzlers appeared. I shut tight my rumpflap with a plugflompers and defending myself using my steel-toed nutstompers, but the hoodizler continued to draw near parylising me with intensifying fear. It r--- -diddled my fiddle from whence I widdled and Like 229,461 people like this. Sign Up to see what your friends like.

TOP STORIES WOMEN w I Got R---- In My FEB 20, 2013 00 PM Ho Rumper By Bum-Poking Fundlers 43,070 1,2459 Share1 Like 2.1k GET OUR TOP STORIES FOLLOW KOTAKU Dr. Seuss。 I was minding my own business on one morn last year when a bum-tickling hoodizzler with twizzlers appeared. I shut tight my rumpflap with a plugflompers and defending myself using my steel-toed nutstompers, but the hoodizler continued to draw near parylising me with intensifying fear. It r--- -diddled my fiddle from whence I widdled and Like 229,461 people like this. Sign Up to see what your friends like.

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Kotaku Journalist Man

THE KOTAKU SIGNAL! This miscreant is no match for... HONE Somebody is questioning our integrity again! BEER MOUNT Cynical user of women and minorities as a shield Partaker of KOTAKU JOURNALIST MAN! nepotism and bribery! Giant bully! CRASH! I'm so sick of corrupt in ACTUALLY YOU'RE A MISOGYNIST 3AA game 1

THE KOTAKU SIGNAL! This miscreant is no match for... HONE Somebody is questioning our integrity again! BEER MOUNT Cynical user of women and minorities as a shield Partaker of KOTAKU JOURNALIST MAN! nepotism and bribery! Giant bully! CRASH! I'm so sick of corrupt in ACTUALLY YOU'RE A MISOGYNIST 3AA game 1

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Roll Over Cat

Cme wo, step trtoding IT YOU F------ NERD eatr STOP TRENDING, You F--- Good kitte MIA F----- Yo oot your shi

Cme wo, step trtoding IT YOU F------ NERD eatr STOP TRENDING, You F--- Good kitte MIA F----- Yo oot your shi

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Old Kotaku Mascot

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Kotaku Blaming Gamers

Am I out of toucha No,it s the GAMERSwho are wrong.

Am I out of toucha No,it s the GAMERSwho are wrong.

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Homer Simpson as Kotaku

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The Kotaku Slowpokes on Breaking News

BREAK

BREAK

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Nathan Grayson's Interview With Browder

RPS: You have some interesting alternate outfits for heroes. Roller Derby Nova, especially, caught my eye. On its own, that's totally fine - just a silly, goofy thing. A one- off. But it got me thinking about how often MOBAs tend to hyper-sexualize female characters to a generally preposterous degree - that is to say, make it the norm, not a one-off at all-and StarCraft's own, um, interesting focus choices as of late. How are you planning to approach all of that in Heroes? Browder. Well, I mean, some of these characters, I would argue, are already hyper-sexualized in a sense. I mean, Kerrigan is wearing heels, right? We're not sending a message to anybody. We're just making characters who look cool. Our sensibilities are more comic book than anything else That's sort of where we're at. But I'll take the feedback. I think it's very fair feedback. RPS: I have to add, though, that comics might not be the best point of reference for this sort of thing. I mean, it's a medium that's notorious often in a not-good way - for sexing up female characters and putting them in some fairly gross situations. Browder: We're not running for President. We're not sending a message. No one should look to our game for that. RPS: But it's not even about a message. The goal is to let people have fun in an environment where they can feel awesome without being weirded out or evern objectified. This is a genre about empowerment. Why shouldn't everyone feel empowered? That's what it's about at the end of the day: letting everyone have a fair chance to feel awesome. Browder: Uh-huh. Cool. Totally. PR says we've run over, tells me I have to leave] RPS: Thank you for your time. NOTE: This interview, quite obviously, ended in an uncomfortable place, and I decided to break that down at length in a separate opinion piece. It will be live soon, and Il link it here when its been posted.

RPS: You have some interesting alternate outfits for heroes. Roller Derby Nova, especially, caught my eye. On its own, that's totally fine - just a silly, goofy thing. A one- off. But it got me thinking about how often MOBAs tend to hyper-sexualize female characters to a generally preposterous degree - that is to say, make it the norm, not a one-off at all-and StarCraft's own, um, interesting focus choices as of late. How are you planning to approach all of that in Heroes? Browder. Well, I mean, some of these characters, I would argue, are already hyper-sexualized in a sense. I mean, Kerrigan is wearing heels, right? We're not sending a message to anybody. We're just making characters who look cool. Our sensibilities are more comic book than anything else That's sort of where we're at. But I'll take the feedback. I think it's very fair feedback. RPS: I have to add, though, that comics might not be the best point of reference for this sort of thing. I mean, it's a medium that's notorious often in a not-good way - for sexing up female characters and putting them in some fairly gross situations. Browder: We're not running for President. We're not sending a message. No one should look to our game for that. RPS: But it's not even about a message. The goal is to let people have fun in an environment where they can feel awesome without being weirded out or evern objectified. This is a genre about empowerment. Why shouldn't everyone feel empowered? That's what it's about at the end of the day: letting everyone have a fair chance to feel awesome. Browder: Uh-huh. Cool. Totally. PR says we've run over, tells me I have to leave] RPS: Thank you for your time. NOTE: This interview, quite obviously, ended in an uncomfortable place, and I decided to break that down at length in a separate opinion piece. It will be live soon, and Il link it here when its been posted.

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Support A Cleaner Gaming Journalism

HEY, WERE S WORKING He ERE/ GAWK MB Polygon SUPPORT CLEANER GAMING JOURNALISM

HEY, WERE S WORKING He ERE/ GAWK MB Polygon SUPPORT CLEANER GAMING JOURNALISM

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An Empty Couch

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