It’s gaming month here at the Comixpedia, and that means that blah blah blah disappointing lack of female characters in comics about gaming blah blah blah my D&D experiences blah blah blah; too many people doing gaming comics about two college roommates blah blah blah women like shamelessly slaughtering orcs too occasionally blah blah game reviewer for Computer Gaming World named "Scorpia" who was really cool blah blah blah and once in awhile you found a woman who games with other women rather than a small cabal of smart-mouthed male characters against whom she is set as the "sane/reasonable" character who tries to be one of the boys but ultimately adores shopping blah blah blah PvP blah blah only computer game I’ve ever enjoyed was The Longest Journey and blah blah blah Final Fantasy blah blah why aren’t there more chicks doing this stuff already.
Okay, I really needed to get that first paragraph off my chest. I feel much better now.
Really, I only read Penny Arcade, because it’s well-done to the point of transcending the field it’s commenting on. The same thing explains my otherwise inexplicable attachment to Computer Gaming World, a magazine staffed by a herd of immensely sly and intelligent writers. I’ve never even seen a computer with The Sims installed on it, but by God I can tell you about every expansion feature they’ve added since launch, because the reviews were such damn fine pieces of work.
Let that be noted, folks: if you’re talented and you love something, pay tribute to it (both with praise and deserved criticism) in whatever way you can. Talent draws people like flies: there’s no better way to hook people on something new than to announce your affection for it with flare*.
At any rate, as I was saying, this month’s theme is nevertheless very stressful for me. I was told early on that if I started in on Everquest they would find my emaciated body spread across the carpet three months later, mouse clutched in skeletal hand, and I decided that perhaps gaming was not the right place for me to be right now.
It should be pointed out, however, that there are tons of women out there pumping out fanart for games like Final Fantasy; some of it is breathtaking**. There are women writing about games online, or at least there are a lot of women talking about them.
The fact remains that, as in the print comics world, the gaming industry was originally created by and for boys, and those now in charge have yet to realize that they’re ignoring fully 51% of their possible consumer base.
The Catch-22 here is that, as a result, a good chick-made-chick-approved webcomic about the gaming industry has so much immediate potential for Funny that somebody with talent will eventually get the idea. Or maybe they already have, and, as we speak, they are gradually building their empire in a quiet, unassuming corner of the Internet. It’s still a boy’s club times twelve, games, but it’s up to the girls to eventually kick in the doors on this one and start making active, humorous, and regularly updated commentary. And that’s the sort of thing that can gradually nudge an industry towards serving a wider public.
Just in time for me to graduate from college, and start looking for a good way to waste my time and money on frivolous entertainment. Let’s go, ladies!
*****
*blah blah this is how you get people into comics blah blah impassioned speeches about Sandman blah blah blah. (back to where you were)
**And some of it is Tidus doing horribly unconscionable things with pretty ribbons, but then, Lara Croft is supposedly a positive female role model according to the gaming industry, so we’ll just be dropping that accusative tone now, won’t we. (back to where you were)
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