Video Game Discussion: Girl Gamers. Gamer Girls. Gamey Girly Game-Game People.

So, I wanted to continue on for a bit longer without addressing the elephant in the room. And by elephant in the room, I mean a zoo completely devoted to pachyderms being let loose in a small bedroom in a semi-detached bungalow.

Female gamers and the rather noxious attitude that male gamers have towards them. And their lack of representation in the industry because the entire gaming industry is incredibly misogynist and an "all boys club"

On some levels, that's true. On most levels, however, there's something entirely different going on.

If you're a bit hardwired into gaming news, you might have heard about Jennifer Hepler, the writer of Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. And you may have heard about the abuse she got by "trolls" and the online harassment that caused her to spiral into a deep and dark depression. Until she left BioWare.

I tried to find a better picture. None existed.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-08-16-fan-harassed-writer-jennifer-hepler-leaves-bioware

Even Jim Sterling, chief article editor (or something fancy and well-paid) for The Escapist weighed in on the argument, criticizing and lambasting the gaming community for attacking this woman for DARING to write in video games.

Only that's not why she was attacked.

You want to know why she was attacked?

Sterling was getting his news from all the wrong places. People made derogatory comments about her because she was a woman writing in the gaming industry, but that vocal 1% minority were not the reason people were hitting out at her.

People were hitting out at her because they didn't like her writing.

I'm not even joking. It really was that simple.

But think about it, do you really think a writer was being attacked because of their gender? Really? Why do you think anyone would be attacked because of their gender? She was just a really shitty writer. Bottom line.

On the board where most of the hated came from that was directed towards Jennifer Brandes Hepler, multiple threads popped up simply to praise the women in the gaming industry who have been doing incredible work.

Kellee Santiago: The woman with Journey, Dear Esther and Flower under her belt. All great titles which did well. Hell, I'm pretty sure Flower is on the PS4.

Julie Uhrman: SIMPSONS HIT AND RUN! WOOO! PS2 era! Anyone else remember that?

Heather Kelley The game Thief. Which is getting a remake because it was so damn good.

Kim Swift: Quantum Conundrum, a really fun puzzle game that I recommend. Yeah, she led the team that made that. Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead 2. Portal. Leader of Portal. Half Life 2: Episode 1. Half Life 2: Episode 2.

Hepler wasn't targeted because she was a woman. If she was targeted for being a woman, explain why these women managed to make these great things? And don't say there were still obstacles. Of course there were. But they got over them.

Hepler...

Well, her books were slammed, her video game writing is slammed so...

How dare you.

Just. How dare you.

Type in "Women in the Video Games industry" into Google. We both know what's going to come up but just do it.

Underrepresented. Disrespected. Treated badly.

But that's not my fault. It's people like Jennifer.

How dare you force it into something gender related.

This is, potentially, the world's greatest Strawman argument. Of the decade. Your writing sucks so you go on the defensive and insist that people don't like you because they're jealous of you.

It defies belief.

But hey, look at the fallout! You fooled the entire media because nobody can respond to that! Nobody can appeal to what you're saying because then they're sexist.

It'd be genius if it wasn't so moronic.


This is almost definitely the root cause of all these tirade about male gamers insisting that women can't play games, although if you look back in the news, you'll find there were hallmarks of a bomb that was already about to explode. This was just the straw that broke the camels back.

For the record, I want to say:

- Women have every right to play what they want and do what they want.
- Women have every right to make what they want and get a job in any part of the video game industry.

The problem now is that we've got social pariahs insisting that games cater to the needs of females. What? No they don't. They don't need to cater anything expect fun.

And it's detracting from the cause. Feminism is causing a needless pity parade when women can get coding, get making and prove- No wait, they don't need to prove anything- And show that they're just as good.

In the Manga industry, during the occupation and post-occupation years, most manga was male-centric and female artists were few.

So they went on social media sites and made campaigns pleaing for equal rights to be given to them.

No. That never fucking happened. They shrugged, made manga anyway, AND IT BECAME MORE POPULAR THAN THE SOLELY MALE COMPETITORS.

They didn't need to be given equal rights because they were right there the whole time, ready to be grabbed.

Females have already shown that they can make some fantastic work. That's not a problem. I just want to see this whole "gamer girl victim" thing drop. Because it discredits the people who moved mountains to get where they were today.

So next time you see a "gaaaaymer gurrrrrrl" in amongst the crowds of girl gamers who are happily playing and not being obnoxious, just mute the mic.

I mean just look at that, charger cables are covered in all kinds of bacteria. And why isn't that the standard one? That must be awkward to plug in. Not very functional at all.

A few months ago I saw a YouTube celebrity with blue, green and red hair holding a Portal gun.

She actively admitted she'd never played Portal or Portal 2.

I didn't insult her because she was a girl. I insulted her because she'd spent hundreds of dollars on a video game accessory and yet couldn't play through a game that can be completed in a single 2-3 hour run.

Those people deserve to be insulted, by people of all genders.