I get the knee-jerk reaction when someone's potentially misrepresenting you. From what I've seen of Anita's work there appears to be legitimate cause to be concerned that that's what's going on here. I'm not a fan of hers.
However that doesn't make the "who's a real gamer" discussion any less ridiculous. There's no real way of measuring any such thing, and less so as time goes on. It's much the same as my major criticism of Anita's feminist point of view: dismissing someone because of perceived privilege/gender/cred-within-a-culture is poor form no matter which side you're on.
Also: using the computer-generated voice to narrate one's video is a great way to ensure I don't watch much of it.
So the games gorgeous visuals are disregarded because the Sorceress has giant cartoon tits and the Amazon has a huge, silly donk? That's personal bias speaking and has no place in a review. Again write an editorial about that sort of thing.
I'm sure they probably will write an editorial. Probably just as traffic from the review is dying down. The sexism thing in games is great for stirring up comments sections and for getting people fired up on Twitter. It all equals more clicks for them. One would think someone actually interested in equality would take more issue with the cynical assignment of a female reviewer to a game that's had a history of stirring up this kind of debate. Polygon's not dumb, they knew what they were doing.
That said, whoever can write whatever they want. I don't take Polygon very seriously because of their track record with reviews, I know to avoid 'em in much the same way a person who's not a fan of the art style of a particular game would know to just stay away from it. A lot of the lizard-brain reaction against criticisms like those found in this review seems to stem from the implied "this is wrong and you're wrong until you agree with me and expend energy to change it." Right or wrong that sort of approach is usually only good for getting peoples' hackles up.
I'll be buying Dragon's Crown not to spite Polygon or people making what they think of as a feminist argument, but because I'm interested in seeing beautifully crafted art. Anyone who's going to be offended by the content shouldn't buy it or play it. That's that.
@hawkerace: Even Metal Gear Solid had a character or two with goofy "birdies" around their heads when knocked out. The parachutes would have to be the equivalent of "death" if your vehicle got destroyed. I can picture a killcam of Cobra Commander shaking his fist while hanging from a parachute.
In the cartoon they solved this by introducing those robot soldiers (B.A.T.s?). Even they realized the constant survival of every character was getting silly.
Or just forget that part of the license and go full-on bloodbath.
@hawkerace: That would be a problem. I'm not sure how a game would handle that except to just introduce death/respawn. I looked at that movie tie-in game from a few years back to see how they handled it, but it wasn't much help. The enemies just dissolved after falling over.
Just spitballing here. I would love a Battlefield-style game built around the GI Joe license. I'd wager there'd be an audience for it with the gaming demographic getting older.
Instead of picking a class and having every Medic/Engineer be a clone of the others you pick an individual Joe/Cobra with varied abilities.
Loads of great, interesting vehicles to take control of.
Cel-shaded 80s cartoon graphics
Put those voice actors back to work!
All manner of interesting scenarios from the show to apply to levels.
A Cobra-La expansion pack that no one cares about!
Was just sitting here thinking about it and thought I'd throw it out to you guys for discussion.
I had a [fairly minor] car accident in college and was extremely anxious on the road, even as a passenger, for a long time after that.
I find that a few minutes of preparation like looking at a map beforehand (not relying on a GPS while driving) does a lot to help calm my nerves when I'm going somewhere unfamiliar. Also dialing down distractions as much as possible (music, etc). I drive much better when I'm alone and am not distracted/influenced by someone else in the car.
As a new driver it's a natural thing and nothing to worry about. I remember being on a learner's permit and driving with my mom and being nervous to go up to 45mph. It just seemed too fast. Just don't overcompensate and end up being a jackass behind the wheel. =)
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