Too many females

I know I'm going to get in trouble but in my
humble opinion,I have to say that there are too
many female oriented games(those voices).Not enough
male heroes.Bring back Gabriel Knight,Phillip Marlow,
etc.Thanks to Sherlock Holmes producers,I love those games.
Well,I've had my say and thank you...

I couldn't agree more. I find these Barbie doll heroines irksome (and I'm female) and not very believable.
I haven't played the Philip Marlow or Gabriel Knight games - perhaps I should. I loved Post Mortem - at least I think that was the game (set in the thirties with a male protagonist?) because it had a very believable male character lead.
I'm not keen on Sherlock Holmes - difficult to have a pash on him or Dr Watson!
But I adore Nancy Drew - maybe because the voice is so good and I never see her.

Gosh-would love for someone (NOT HerInteractive or Frogware)to give us some games based on the detectives & stories of the 30's, 40's, & 50's !! Big old houses-secret panels/rooms...(Scrathes was pretty close!) Someone who has good talent for creating atmosphere and sound and voices(like Jonathan Boakes), and won't bore us to death with Click,click,click dialogue(like they did with the Agatha Christie games-such a shame)...Someone who loves those stories..crossed with a bit of William Fisher,Jonathan Boakes,Matt Clark and Gabriel Knight,Dashell Hammit(sp?),Rex Stout (oh..that Archie Goodwin!!), Ellery Queen,Sam Spade and Lord Peter Whimsey! Whose got the Dingus?

Beerhead~ No bashing here, either! Your observation is the main reason why I prefer playing first-person games: I don't have to look at anyone, esp. females who don't look like me.

Meryl~ Always wondered why those female characters are so perfect (like robots). Always young, beautiful, and shapely... just like Barbie Dolls.

Gamenut~ I agree with you about those time periods. So many of the old-time radio detective shows would translate so well to AGs. The game "Jack The Ripper," captured that 'feel': Old New York, a reporter (you) getting a story, back alleys & periodic interiors. There are so many great stories from OTR shows, with the leads (mostly male characters) in big cities, walking the streets, meeting interesting people, getting the 'bad guys'.

I adore OTR...try to listen to them and collect a few. Especially fond of the Mysteries,and Spooky,and Comedies(really enjoy Fibber and Molly and Gildersleeve!)

Yeah I agree! I'm not sexist at all but I really much prefer playing a male main character.

I don't think the problem is female protagonists, but that the characters aren't distinct. They're all in the same age group, look the same, on the same type of quest. It used to be fairly novel for a woman to be the main character -- even Roberta Williams was nervous about doing it in King's Quest because she feared it would alienate her audience -- but that's no longer the case and it's kind of gone overboard in the other direction in the past several years, which is no good either.

Don't forget, in the second and third Gabriel Knight games you spent half the time playing as Grace. Both she and Gabriel were well-developed characters, not just "generic woman" or "generic man" - and they each had different talents and personalities that contributed to the way the overall story unfolded. I'm really looking forward to Gray Matter... I don't think we have to worry about a generic female protagonist in that one, either.

I started replaying Dreamfall the other day and remembered how much I loved Zoe Castillo. She's not like any other female protagonist. Same goes for April in the original Longest Journey. There are also plenty of newer games with male protagonists. (Telltale hasn't had a female hero yet!) But in the end, I really don't care which gender the character is as long as it's a well-developed character in a well-told story, and THAT's what I find to be lacking in a lot of newer releases.

This is why I love Gameboomers,nobody yelled at me
because I prefer more male oriented games.Don't get me wrong,a lot of the female games were very good,but a bit too much for me.You know,I shouldn't complain
because I have a lot of enjoyment playing all these games,as we all do.Nice talking to you....

I don't know if having female protagonists makes the games "female oriented" or not. There seem to be plenty of females here who'd gladly play games with male characters. But I'd be glad to see more male protagonists, as well as more older characters of both genders.

I was sorry when Galilea went out of business and we didn't get any more Cameron Files games. And I liked playing as Sherlock Holmes and as Van Helsing in Dracula Origin. But I'd also like to play an adventure game as Miss Marple, or Jessica Fletcher. Of course I'm assuming their characters would be well written.

I really don't care one way or the other about male or female oriented games but the fact that everyone respected your opinion is why this is the friendliest site on the web.

I think Grace and April were absolute stand-out female characters. The Gabe games and the first Longest Journey are some of my favourite games for that reason.
It all seemed to stem from Syberia's popularity, IMO. There are so many games nowadays that try and copy the same formula. And did I mention, Benoit Sokal's Paradise was BAD.

Possibly the worst female protagonist ever.

My other half also has become tired of female detectives, etc. He still plays the games, but wishes for some manly heroes. Teddo

George Stobert(not sure if I have spelt that right)Always sticks in my mind and Gabrial Knight.I dont care as long as the game runs good and there is a good story .My ewlder son prefers a woman .My other son doas nt care same as me .I thought it a little funny as when I go into our local pub that there is a young youth in there and to me he just looks like George Stobert and guess what yes I keep calling him George and he did ask why I kept calling him George but I realy could nt tell him the truth so I just said I m not good with names .It makes me smile though .Maybe because a charector reminds us of some one maybe thats why we some times like a game .I don t know just a thought

I like the fact that most of the lead characters in the adventures are women I think it's done tho cos we can feel it is us playing and the men can look at the busty characters haha.

I personally don't care if the character is a:

Penguin/Lion/Dog/Cat/Snail/Frog/Ant/Etc Etc

Either Female or Male..

As long as I like the gameplay..

The only female protagonist I really felt I got to know and enjoyed was Victoria in Still Life

I did enjoy the Nina Kalenkov character in Secret Files, Nicole Bonnet in Art of Murder, Kate Walker in Syberia and Sylvie Leroux in Chronicles of Mystery.

I would definitely not complain if game developers put out more of these characters

Didn't I read somewhere that the trend towards
more female leads was due to the fact that
this was the 'buying-audience' today?

Amen to the Retro 'Philip Marlowe' type Characters/storylines.

I have no problem w/male or female characters
as long as they aren't 'cookie-cutter' like.

mission, I agree w/the character developments
you mentioned.

and Touche~ quest! GB's Rock!

Maybe it's just the games I'm playing, but I still think that there are more male than female protagonists all in all. I am actually happy women are finally being featured in more prominent roles now. I believe that is a good thing. Grace, April, Zoe, Victoria, Phoenix, (and I'm sure Samantha, once Gray Matter is released) are all leads I found complex and interesting.

I think the problem, as others have put it, is that several protagonists are not as fleshed out as they could be. Also, as others have mentioned, more variety in the type of playing character would be most welcome. Personally, I would like to see more well rounded characters of both genders represented.

As for me, I get bored with playing as one particular gender for several games in a row, whether male or female, and I want to switch. Doesn't matter which gender it is. Luckily, my fiance does not seem to care one way or another. He just likes to play as many games as he can get his hands on.

I just love Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider series! Now that's an adventurous female!

Having females mostly taking the lead part (if that IS actually the case) doesn't bother me as long as the character is NOT a "Barbie Lookalike".

There have been some truly terrible Barbie types and they show up in RPGs too

Mad, I agree. I really don't think it is the case that there are more female than male leads in adventure games. Like I said, I still think we are seeing more male leads all in all. I am happy that we are finally getting more female protagonists.

The only "Barbie doll" type I've noticed among the games I've played is Sunny from So Blonde, and she turned out to be quite sharp in the end, which as a blonde myself, I appreciated.

Like others here I really don't mind about the gender of the protagonist as long as the character 'fits' & 'does the job'!

I think it's been established that the majority of AG players are female so developers are going to get into trouble if their skimpily clothed women aren't upto scratch intellectualy!

I can't help thinking that there would be a complaint about it if most protagonists were male & there was an absence of strong female leads!

I have to disagree with the comments about Ann in Paradise being the worst female protagonist - I thought that game was just as good as Syberia 1 & 2 & Ann was no less, if not more, a better character than Kate Walker - I would have loved for there to have been a sequel to that - it was just a shame that there were so many glitches with the first one.

I haven't completed Paradise yet but so far, the worst female protagonist ever - for me - is Adrienne in Phantasmagoria. She was just plain awful. Maybe I didn't like her because I played the German version first and the voice was terrible - always whining and complaining. The English voice was a lot better but didn't make Adrienne a more likeable character. She was just too much of a damsel in distress, only that she had to save herself instead of a knight in shining armour coming to the rescue.

I don't really care if a character in an adventure game is male or female as long as they are well-developed. For example, I enjoyed playing both as Grace and as Gabriel in the Gabriel Knight games simply because both characters were very well written, fleshed out, so to speak. Same goes for April Ryan in The Longest Journey or Zoe Castillo in Dreamfall; both girls were characters I could relate to. They were strong, intelligent and knew what to do. Or take Nico in the Broken Swords series; she's a cool person and it was fun playing her.

Other female protagonists have proven to be very boring or, to make things worse, very annoying - see Adrienne, or, to a certain extent, Phoenix Wallis in Culpa Innata. As much as I liked the game, Phoenix wasn't a person I could relate to; she just didn't change throughout the game, she remained the same even though she encountered things that should change a person to some extent. What annoyed me most about Phoenix was that she didn't question things; all she wanted to do was solve the mystery but stay true to the code in her world - she was way too obedient, for my taste.

However, there are also male characters that just didn't work for me - Brian in Runaway, for example. At some point, I really started to hate the guy - not because he's a guy, mind you, but because he was such a boring person. Also, I still don't understand why he fell for Gina in the end. Or Martin Holan in NiBiRu; I don't think there ever was a more boring character than him.

As I said before, I really don't care if the protagonist in an adventure game is male or female as long as I can relate to them, identify with them, feel some kind of connection. Some characters lack personality to an extent that I simply don't care about them anymore, no matter if they're male or female. Same goes for NPCs; some can be really, really annoying - anyone remember Phoenix's friend Sandra who constantly talked about men and sex? I detested that woman because she was so shallow and boring. Or Gina in Runaway. First she was some kind of damsel in distress, then she turned out to be a liar - and still Brian decided he wanted to be with her. Argh.

I too will play both male and female characters, as long as they're interesting and I can relate to them. I like the Sherlock Holmes games and Nancy Drew is always fun, even if the games are first person.

I can't think of any character I've played that I haven't liked yet but I also do tend to like the first person games, because I can be the character.

Jehane, I see your point about Phoenix and agree with you to an extent, though I thought she was a complex character underneath a whole lot of denial. If you read her journal, you can see a lot of her internal conflict. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more changes in her in Culpa 2.

Regarding Adrienne, yes she was incredibly annoying and not very bright. She kept saying she didn't believe in ghosts even after she'd had several terrifying visions, and you have to wonder why she didn't just try to leave that house at some point.

Personally, I also enjoyed Ann in Paradise. I thought it was a very realistic portrayal of amnesia, and I just loved the game in general, disregarding the bugs and a certain swinging cage sequence.

A good game is a good game and gender shouldn't really be a factor imo.

ok Lara croft was a distraction but others like Zoe from Dreamfall I was able to identify totally with the protagonist.

Nancy Drew's voice actor,Lani Minella, is superb! As is April and Kate Walker. But like the rest of you as long as the game is absorbing either male or female is fine with me!

I of course agree that it is not important which gender the character is as long as they are 'flashy' and the story is good.
And talking about 'barbie' females - I'd like to see a 'Brad Pitt lookalike' in a game. LOL, Just kidding! Or maybe not?

Or Johnny Depp? He would make a terrific game character wouldn't he?

There are a few Johnny Depp look alike in games.

Dead Reefs - Finvinero
Tales of Monkey island 3: Lair of Leviathan - Bugeye

I thought Kian Alvane from Dreamfall looked a lot like a Ken doll. And Max from the Secret Files games looks a bit like Brad Pitt when he was younger.

Personally, I automatically find the female main characters more interesting somehow. On the other hand there very few truly memorable ones (like Grace Nakimura).

I'd like to have more characters to be in their 30s or older (like Gabriel Knight was). I think the characters' maturity would demand bringing to them additional depth by the writers.

How about a Mrs. Pollifax? In her sixties, learning kratie, yoga, even finding a new life and husband. I real body not a Barbie doll. What kick that would be. Either sex, but story driven and interesting. Another way to travel and see the world.
Charllotte

Vampyre story...now that was an annoying voice

I'd never heard of Mrs. Pollifax before, so I checked the ***Wikipedia description***.
So now that I know who she is, I think Mrs. Pollifax would be a fine character for a game.

Ragnar Tournquist does EXCELLENT, in my opinion, with female characters. They're not wussy or wimpy or prissy. To me, they're very believable and...very much like ME. They're opinionated, adventurous, bright (if I do say so myself...lol), and I enjoy his characters VERY much.

As a matter of fact, I'm very excited about an upcoming MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game) that Ragnar is working on called "The Secret World." I can hardly WAIT until that is released! I guess that would fall more into the "darkside" topics of the forums, but...Mr. Tournquist is the creative designer behind such adventures as Dreamfall, The Longest Journey, and the Syberia series, as well. I always look forward to playing any game he's involved in, because I know the female characters won't be all about just big breasts, tiny waists, even more microscopic brains, and "armor" that looks like stripper attire. YAY for Ragnar Tournquist!

Great topic, by the way. There is definitely noticeable sexism in the world of gaming, to be sure. But...it will continue to get better, I believe.

Jenny100,
Mrs. Polifax, a great series of books. Funny, different, twisted mysteries. They also have men in them so they could work like George & Nico, or Gabriel & Grace.
They re-read as well as GK & BS replay.

Sorry got off of the subject.

Charllotte

great topic !
i agree some of the older-type male characters would be refreshing ,and yep! some older characters.
i'm with Jenny on the cameron files - he was a really unique character( and a dreamy voice on the first couple) and definitely there are book and tv models that could be built on for something different.
carol reed is another interesting female lead. but i would like to see more men ,more women (not nubile young girl types) and more characters who just look like real people.

Beerhead
I think your comment or complaint is right on. I am also female and it astounds me how females that are so young are FBI agents or any kind of cop/detective, etc.

Someone else here mentioned about playing as third person so we can be any gender we want to be.

I loved playing the Syberia games and I really like Kate Walker, but even Myst style games I like where it doesn't take in account any gender and the player is totally alone to figure out puzzles.

In short, I totally agree with your assessment. I wonder why there are so many female protagonists as the problem solver? Hmmm...

Hm, I suppose the young female syndrome never bothered me. I just assumed quite a few of them were in their early thirties. As a woman in her thirties who is often mistaken for an early twenty-something, I could relate to that. (Believe me, that's not necessarily a compliment, even though I know it "should be." )

For me the age of the character doesn't necessarily matter (although it can). April Ryan in TLJ is one of my favorite characters just because she is so well written. I could even be happy playing as a twelve year old - i.e., The Whispered World - as long as the character and the story are well told. Wouldn't want to play that age all the time, though.

However, with that said, like many of you, I would definitely like to see some older characters, too, along with some more intricate characters and plot lines. I really enjoyed Leonardo in The Abbey as an example. And of course, I'm a huge fan of Gabriel and Grace. Though I don't think Grace is any older than many leads we see today, she comes across that way as her character is well written and nuanced.

Speaking of the Brad Pitt characters etc, I was just thinking of a male lead character running around the screen in short shorts and a singlet (Lara Croft style), and another character asking what on earth he was wearing... and him replying "Isn't this the correct attire for a lead character in a computer game?"

It would be interesting to know the male/female ratio of adventure gamers. Are the game developers catering to the primary audience of adventure gamers?

While I (male) do not care much one way or the other about the sex of the main character, I do draw the line at a female FBI agent wearing a mini-skirt and impractical clumpy boots.

This is a great topic!
Personally I don't mind women as main characters if they have a unique and believable personality (same with the male characters). But that's not likely to be the case if she's the "perfect woman" and the "perfect detective/fighter" at the same time.

As for men protagonists, there's Professor Samuel Hunt in AGON - a male character of older age, wearing glasses. Or even Jonathan Hunt of Yoomurjak's Ring, in his thirties. They're quite unique characters.