Girls That Game

When we tell a story about oppression, why do we tell it through this lens--why are we placated/comforted/soothed by the idea that the oppressed are as awful as the oppressors? How would this game play out if Elizabeth were the point-of-view character, or a black man?

I’ve thought about this subject a lot because I like playing narrative-driven games (such as they are).

The standard narrative for video game stories depend upon the social position of a powerful white man. Characters need to be in good physical condition to run, jump, and shoot. They have to be granted some power (plasmids, magic swords, augmentations, biotics) to give them an advantage over the common rabble. They need to logically fit into a job that usually has some martial training, where a female or a poc would stand out (police officer, soldier, space marine, warrior). They have to be able to move freely and often blend into the crowd without being noticed. We have to see their slaughter of other people as justified and not a threat to a desired order. They can kill with impunity. Their job is to be a savior, someone who people automatically turn to for help, and so everyone else is intrinsically inferior to them. Many of the items in Peggy McIntosh’s Invisible Backpack are essential to the progression of a video game story.

And they have to fit the perspective of the “average” gamer: white, male, middle class, straight. Anyone who falls into the other categories is probably used to playing the standard video game hero, but playing a black man, say, or a lesbian would require these gamers to assume an identity that is not the norm, and that operates under cultural assumptions that assume a diminished agency.

And the problem is compounded by this standard perspective, and the power it assumes, dictating the plot as well. Dragon Age and Mass Effect gave multiple character options: male and female players had almost identical storylines, could pursue romances with NPCs of both gender, and could customize their appearance to reflect other ethnicities, although the default was white. But these choices didn’t change the story to reflect female, gay, or poc experiences. The game just took the standard white-guy story and gave it another appearance.

Despite many people thinking that the voice actress for female Shepard in Mass Effect was superior to her male counterpart, 82% of ME3 players chose to play the male version, according to a Bioware survey. Yes, more and more women are playing video games, but we are in a cycle of game designers basing their characters and narratives on the “standard male player,” these games primarily appealing to the experience of “standard male player,” and then claiming that they (the designers) are only reflecting what the public wants.

But I think the problem goes further than representation. The standard story progression itself depends upon privilege. And until we find another model, one that AAA game makers feel is profitable to make, we're going to see the same stories again and again.

That being said, I play the hell out of these games.