ha

Yeah I figure I can't pull of a catsuit in real life (I don't know many who can) but why the heck not in a game? Games are not serious business all the time. :D

G-g-g-g-g-g-giiiiiirls?!
Ah it was a silly lil' jab from a silly looking game, fits the bill, it's cool. I'm all for game developers giving each other noogies every once and a while.

I don't understand, weren't customisable characters in from the start? In what way is this a new development?

You're right, in fact it was shown in the Giant Bomb Quicklook (see below). I think it is the jab at Ubisoft that has gotten it more noise. Plus as someone already mentioned, the video is more about traps than anything else.

@jadegl: Cosplay at conventions are a great excuse to catsuit-it-up. For Saints Row it's it's the outfit of a hero... much better than the naked gooey costume or robot dinosaur I went with. That's kind of why I think it only works for games of a certain tone. Those outfits don't ruin the tone of the game, and having a man in a summer dress won't ruin the 'tone' of Sunset Overdrive either.

no, you dont, you create your own guy.

Hey, do you guys remember how many games are out there where you can't play as a female character? Yeah, I guess Ubisoft are the only ones with non playable female characters. Damn you Ubisoft!.....I fucking hate the internet.

And they give you a wide range of customization options, too? With a near-literal blank slate of a character?

How many women can you play as in Battlefield?, or Team Fortress 2? or a shit tonne of other games. You can't really customise the coop guys in Unity cause they are all the same guy. Ubisoft makes an Ass Creed where you can only play as a woman, yet people seem to have forgotten that happened. Also made Beyond Good and Evil where you play only as a woman. But a game where you can only play as a guy?? HELL NO WHAT IS THIS???? Fucking internet. MGS Peace Walker coop had everyone playing as different versions of Snake, essentially what Unity is doing, and not one person bats an eyelid or questions it.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/rust-dev-says-ubisoft-was-unfairly-singled-out-in-controversy-over-female-playable-characters/1100-6420611/

Like this article says, Ubisoft were unfairly singled out.

@sasnake: Their first response was that it was too hard and expensive to make female animation, models and voices. Then they came out and said they were all versions of Arno later on. They should have gone with answer #2 first, then there would be significantly less issues, but they went with a lame excuse for their #1 answer, and that's what people are reacting to.

Simple solution, have your talking points mapped out before you say something stupid or possibly incorrect, then you should have a much better time.

At least that's my issue with it. I could care less what you decide to do for your main character, or side characters, it's your game. But don't say one thing, then come out a few days later with a completely different answer and expect everyone to just be cool with it. Especially when people could look at your past body of work and see that your initial response makes absolutely no sense.

Except the whole point is more about the fact that there next 2 games, Far Cry 4 and Unity, has no playable females, that is actually what the real fuss is about. It is easier to copy and paste the same person 4 times, than to create a whole new animation set.

@yummylee: I don't know. It just seems kind of dickish to me. Like kicking someone while they're down in something you don't have any part in. Plus it always weirds me out when other developers get involved in this stuff just for the PR reason of just trying to seem like the cool hip people. It doesn't feel genuine I guess.

That being said this game still seems really cool and this doesn't change my opinion of that at all.

@sasnake: Maybe I'm lucky, but everything I've listened to or read seems to be taking Ubi to task for their poor PR, not that they have no females at all in their games. Yes some people have an issue, they would no matter what and I tend to filter those more militant opinions out, but most things I've seen have been critical of their response to the initial question followed by a second answer which made much more sense considering their work in prior games. Even on the latest Bombcast they talked about how the first response made no sense.

I defend Ubi's choice to not have females since the game is about Arno and all the models therefore are Arno. I don't defend their poor initial response to the question.

------

Edit - I just realized that my response may seem a bit harsh and that's certainly not my intent. I love the Assassin's Creed universe and I think they've done a fantastic job incorporating different characters of different backgrounds and genders into their games. I am disappointed that their initial answer to a pretty basic question was fumbled so poorly. And I'm disappointed that this has become a rallying cry in some circles against a company that really is much more inclusive when it comes to their characters than others. Anyway, that's my main point and why, while I understand the frustration at "picking" on them for what they said, the point is that they said something pretty silly and they're now being taken to task for it. In my life if I say something stupid I expect to get told so, whether it's at work or home. A game developer shouldn't expect to be treated like delicate flowers if they fumble some basic questions.

I tend to play female characters in games unless it locks me out from the more singleplayer-centric content like romances (I don't mind male romances except for the part where they're either way too beefed-up testosterone buckets or poorly-written or otherwise basically crippled by the multi-game story arc or something).

For females, the female-minded, guys who like to role-play, or the Dave mantra of guys who would rather stare at female butt for the hundreds of hours they'll be playing, having the option is always welcome. Games are the sort of interesting medium where you can place yourself or a virtual representation of what you want to be into a story. Not every game needs to be designed around it, but in one where the option makes sense, maybe take the time to acknowledge that there are the female-minded that might want their avatar to reflect that?

When this game was announced last year I wasn't enthusiastic about it at all but I must say I am warming up to the games' humor quite a lot.

Okay, that's pretty funny.

(Everything else about that video was less funny. "We're not making that reference!" -YOU JUST DID)

Exactly! Andorski you were supposed to say, "May I be that?" Oh....Moreover, use terms such as dwarf, little person, LP, or person of short stature...although most people would rather be referred to by their name than by a label. So very properly you should say, "I want to resemble, Independent Spirit and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee and Emmy Award winner, Peter Hayden Dinklage. May I be that within this video game?"

Because a palette swap really does justice for women....

The email transition was also a pretty well placed reference to Mr. Caffeine

I am guessing your are not a fan of Minecraft either?

For some people it is about coloring between the lines and for others its about splashing paint all over the walls. I haven't found much in the way of video game prose worth sitting through, so I personally, just want to throw paint all over....or maybe gas.....and then blow it all up by driving a dynamited tanker trunk into a landfill of explosive barrels.

@alistercat: cats rock!!!!

Since when did "You can play as male or female" become newsworthy?