Playing As the Opposite Gender in Video Games

[Meego]

I don't really see a problem with being the opposite gender in a video game...I mean millions of girls play the Zelda series as Link, right? I usually play as boys to be honest...unless there is some sort of epic girl character on it! It is the same with the Mario series...they need to make a game with a female character as the lead that is good. Super Princess Peach is not a good example. -_- But yeah, I don't see how it should be a problem to be the opposite gender really.

 

[Ghosi]

I don't see any problems playing as the opposite gender. I mean, I am a girl, and most games that I have, I play as a guy. Even SSBB. For me, the gender of the character doesn't really matter, because you would still be the mind of that character no matter what form you take.

 

[Master Sword13]

I don't have any issues playing as a girl, but I don't do it a lot, because there aren't many games where I have a gender choice. If I had the choice though in RPGs with 2 or 3 files, then I probably would try it.

 

[Escohobita]

I don't really have a problem playing as female characters at all..actually I do it all the time in Soul Calibur (Taki) and Super Smash Bros. (Peach).

 

[Michael Heide]

There are various reasons why I would play female characters in video games.

Sometimes, there is no choice. Metroid, Beyond Good and Evil, Silent Hill 3, Tomb Raider, in those games, you just have no choice unless you want to miss out on a great game.

Then, there are games where you can choose, but the female character is just the better choice. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Doki Doki Panic, not Lost Levels) comes to mind, where the princess can levitate, the three guys can't. Resident Evil is a lot easier when you're able to pick locks.

And then there are games where you are free to choose. I've got to say, most of the time I choose male characters, just because it's easier for me to relate to them. There are exceptions, though. I've replayed both Knights of the Old Republic games with every possible constellation. Male light side, female light side, male dark side, female dark side. In beat'em ups, I tend to play all the characters a bit, I have no favorite fighters (except for Dhalsim in Street Fighter, because of his range).

 

[fredthehylian]

I'm surprised some people see playing as the opposite gender as a big deal. I just play as whoever's my best choice, and if there is no better choice amongst the choices, I choose the best looking one (hard to do with my orientation.)

If you're online gaming, however (which I rarely am) using the opposite gender can make for a hilarious confusion for any stalkers or pedophiles. I've been defriended by a lot of people when they find out I'm really a guy, probably because they found out JUST as they were going to ask for my number, address, quest, or favorite color.

 

[Jimmy]

I don't care, but if I have a choice I usually pick male because I tend to name my character after myself and a girl called Jimmy would just be plain wrong

 

[Vanessa28]

If there is something I never cared about it will be what gender the game character is. I mean I like a game and play it, no matter what gender it is. And if I have to choose I will choose the character which will be the best for the game. Most of the times it happens to be a male

 

[Djinn]

I think this is only an issue in Sims and MMO's. Where only maybe 1-2% of the female population is actually female. A lot of which actually try fake flirting with others for free things. Which does work for some, I always thought it was a little more than creepy. But chances are of you run into a lev 21 female blood elf that is fully loaded in all the gear imaginable, including things their class does not even require, then I begin asking myself.

In the case of things like Tomb Raider, I really do not think playing as the female lead was the concept. All the extreme closeups of Laura's butt and voice sound effects every time she jumped or slowly climbed up a cliff lead me to think that maybe there might have been some other reason she was the lead character. Sonic games do this with Rouge the bat, and that is a little weird. Mai Shiranui was probably not added for female gamers either.

Other than that I do not think I have ever put any thought to it before. Except maybe in fighting games where the girls are normally the much more agile fast types. I usually play speed types in fighting games.

 

[knowlee]

I personally see no problem with playing as either a female or male character. I mean I play a male character in both LoZ and Kingdom Hearts and in Mirror's Edge I play a female one. Not to mention on games such as Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, and Super Smash Bros there are instances where I can choose to play either male or female and either one works fine with me.

 

[Gooey Fame]

This is something I never even think about. I didn't even know people questioned it. I like to play as any character I like. Whether they are male or female.

 

[Random Person]

I see nothing wrong with playing as the opposite sex in another video game. From what I understand, though, some people will play as the opposite gender for immoral reasons which is why some see it as wrong. It all goes to what are your intentions when you play? Are you simply trying to have fun or is there some secret reason that you wanted to be the opposite sex? (There's some kind of issue with this when it comes to Tomb Raider games) If you're just trying to have fun and the game is having no negative influence on you then playing as the opposite gender is not really anything I have ever had a concern with.

 

[Gooey Fame]

I see nothing wrong with playing as the opposite sex in another video game. From what I understand, though, some people will play as the opposite gender for immoral reasons which is why some see it as wrong. It all goes to what are your intentions when you play? Are you simply trying to have fun or is there some secret reason that you wanted to be the opposite sex? (There's some kind of issue with this when it comes to Tomb Raider games) If you're just trying to have fun and the game is having no negative influence on you then playing as the opposite gender is not really anything I have ever had a concern with.

What are the ways it can have a negative influence? The immoral reasons? I'm just curious.

 

[linkman8]

When it comes to RPG's, I often see it as a good thing to play as both a boy and girl, just to see what's different. For example, when I played KOTOR II, I played as both in turn, and found that the girl gets different dialogue options and sometimes different quests.

 

[ChargewithSword]

There is no reason to not be able to play both genders in a video game. Both have their own strentghs and weaknesses and should be be judged against one another for that is wrong on all fronts.