In the pokemon games, the father is only present in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald. In the series, Ash Ketchum also does not have a father figure present in his life, and relies on his mother for support. What is the reason for the lack of mothers in this franchise? Is this symbolism? Do mothers have something that fathers lack? Fan theories can be introduced in this article, and the writer can create their own analysis on why this is so. This can focus on either the games or anime, although I've only noticed this pattern when playing the games.
Edit: Title should read 'lack of father figures' or the impact of a mother. – YsabelGo10 years ago
Ash's mother did mention how his father would be proud in the first couple episodes so that counts. – SpectreWriter10 years ago
The parents never truly provide a significant part due to the fact that the story is supposed to be all about the PLAYER. In the case of Pokemon, you have to remember that the game is strongly marketed towards kids. Kids want to immerse themselves within the world of the game and believe that the adventure is all about them. The games make you care about your rivals and friends because you are supposed to defeat them in the story. Kids can imagine their real life friends in the roles of their in-game friends. Perhaps it's harder for a child to imagine a link between their real parents and their in-game parents? – cdenomme9610 years ago
The lack of mothers is not limited in Pokemon. It's everywhere... e.g. Fairy tales and numerous orphan hero epics. – Jill10 years ago
Yes, Jill is right. Peanuts has no adults at all, same with cartoon Ed, Edd and Eddy, – SpectreWriter10 years ago
To explore the benefits and inherent dangers of beginning a lucrative, or believed to be, project on Kickstarter and whether it is ultimately viable in the face of the goliaths of gaming today, Sony and Microsoft. Where Sony retaliated a year or so afterwards, its project the Morpheus is said to rival the quality of the Oculus, followed quickly with PS4 support and PS4 exclusive games such as 'Kitchen.' Microsoft's own project HoloLens while not derivative of the Oculus, seems very much inspired by this recently discovered appetite for virtual reality gaming. This despite no such foreseeable release date.
You must ultimately come to some conclusion about the viability of Kickstarter, which may concern issue of copyright (or intellectual property law.) (I'm studying law, but put your own spin on it.) You may also wish to consider the issue of trends, the bandwagon itself, in determining the success of new hardware or software.
I agree this topic needs to be discussed and even viewed in detail since it has become very infectious. Besides obvious success stories like yooka laylee or even Shenmue 3 it is hard to argue that making a kickstarter game seems very appealing. However as stated copyright can be the biggest issue if you are displaying your project. All it takes is one asset to be shown that is either very similar or looks like a complete copy of already existing material your project will be almost guaranteed to be shutdown. Besides that the other issue is also coming up with original content. In theory it sounds easy but it is far from it. I look forward to seeing who writes about this topic and what their conclusions are. – tylerjt10 years ago
I was watching the NA Challenger Series for LoL last week and was surprised to hear team Renegade had a female member! We live in a society which openly accepts women's participation in male dominated virtual sports, but still, where are they all? I remember once hearing about a female gamer in a competitive Dota2 match that was really controversial because an enemy team's member tweeted sexually harassing things about her, but other than that the only "professional girl gamers" I hear about are team Sirens (who are basically a joke).
Can someone tell us why there is still a lack of female representation in competitive gaming? (The only reason I can understand is that in LCS, LoL teams live in a house together and male/female residents might get complicated?)
I remember asking a girl when I was very little if she liked Nintendo. Her response was 'Most girls don't like Nintendo.' So... I've been wondering this same thing. Part of the problem will be the male dominated games out there. It stats with Mario, a man who rescues a Princess, which once again serves the role of man rescuing damsel. Link, same thing (though apparently, they're changing this.) The only exception is Lara Croft in Tomb Raider and I guess the problem there is the male dominated cast around her. – SpectreWriter10 years ago
I feel like for me, someone who is a girl, a gamer, and likes Nintendo, I identified more with being the hero for once. I am in the process of starting a game review/let's play channel on YouTube, and while I'm not sure if this answers your question, I am personally concerned about thoughtless comments just because of my gender. I'm reminded of a professional gamer from Australia who went to the commentators' mothers to stop the harassing. The incident is available for researching on YouTube. – BethanyS10 years ago
I play video games myself and I have friends who are girls that love to play games themselves too and they're quite good! I think the problem can probably stem to either there is not enough coverage on professional female gamers as the media specifically seems to focus only on the male demographic, only strengthening the stereotype that only boys play video games. And also most likely that those harasses you mentioned are one of the major reasons that female gamers are scared off. Which can be either that many of the online community that are male, for some reason feel threatened whenever a woman participates in their activity. That even happens when a product that was intended for girls, gets popular with boys, and yet certain boys scare off the girls while claiming it was never for girls. The mindset is almost territorial to an extent. Also, and this one might be a weak reason for your article, but most people online could just spout crap to anyone cause they can. They hide under the guise of the internet, which I compare as to wearing digital masks, so they can be anybody else or nobody and get away with such vile bullying and sexist remarks because no one knows who they are and find them. – Ryan Walsh10 years ago
The fighting game scene actually has a fairly diverse community of men and woman, although there is still a definite uneven ratio. It would also be interesting to look at Ricki Ortiz, a transgender fighting game professional as well as some of the other woman that are prominent in the fighting game community. – DullahanLi10 years ago
One interesting tidbit from my experience is that in the Counter-Strike scene, there is actually an all-female pro league for CS:GO. While it doesn't generate nearly as much prize money as the main ESL circuit, they are still just as competitive. – marknm10 years ago
Has anyone noticed how expensive Super Nintendo (SNES) games have become? Arguably the most influential gaming system ever, Super Nintendo games have endured the test of time for many reasons; but are the treasures so enjoyed by millions in the 1990's to be lost on the current generation because of hefty price tags? A detailed analysis of some of the system's hallmark characters–Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby–would help solidify to modern games why SNES means so much to so many people.
Whoever takes this up should look at how the SNES has influenced modern gaming and whether this influence extends to other consoles than just the Nintendo. – SpectreWriter10 years ago
Recently, Nintendo announced that Fire Emblem Fates will have same sex marriage system(which was surprising considering Nintendo's response to Tomodachi Life's "same sex marriage"). Interesting thing I've noticed was that while the straight couples can have child (so basically an advantage in number), the same sex couples receive some sort of perk/bonus in battle. Another I've noticed that there is a restriction depending on the country the player chooses – one only supports male/male marriage, while the other supports female/female. There will be a story DLC where both same sex marriages are possible.
I thought this was an interesting way to depict the same sex marriage. It does differentiate it from the straight couple, and offers different bonus thus making it viable strategic option. I believe this is more advanced than the same sex marriage in Skyrim, which had virtually no difference between spouses.
What other ways can the game developers make to depict the same sex marriage in meaningful way?
I did not hear about this, but this makes me want the game so much more than I already want it, which I didn't think was possible. If only my Japanese was fluent, I wouldn't have to wait a year for the stupid international release :( Anyways, this topic might be a bit hard, but one thing to keep in mind would be to acknowledge a games genre. A game like Fable or Skyrim would be able to have expansive benefits with social meters based on same-sex marriage, which might be an interesting mechanic. Give access to certain social groups and missions as a part of a same-sex couple. – Austin10 years ago
I believe Elder Scrolls: Skyrim has done this too so you might talk about that too. Though a far as I know, there's no difference in that game whatever way you go. – SpectreWriter10 years ago
I doubt know about marriage but you can do all sorts of non traditional relationships in the jade empire. They really let people do what they were into in that one. – fchery10 years ago
Yes, you can same-sex marry in TES: Skyrim. Same-sex relationships are also possible in the Bioware games Mass Effect and Dragon Age. However, those games have been out for a while, and the same-sex marriage issue was debated at great length, particularly around the release of Dragon Age. If someone takes on this topic, it's vital to start with *thorough* online research to make sure the angle used is a new one, and not one that's been done to death already. – Monique10 years ago
Gold farming is a phenomenon in massively multiplayer online games where players will sell in-game gold for real life money. Despite being against the rules dictated in most games, this still occurs in almost every game – most gold farmers are actually teens from countries like China and India where they work to barely support their families. This article could discuss the culture behind gold farming from the perspective of Western and Eastern players as well as the evolving human right issues involving it. For the Win by Cory Doctorov and In Real Life by Cory Doctorov and Jen Wang are both sources of inspiration and information that could be used.
Actually a very interesting topic given how much online games have expanded. Discussing through perspectives of all players could be good and showing how it affects the economy for certain areas (Given it's popularity) and maybe go into how it's popular? Perhaps links between the perspective of MMO players (From anywhere) and how it leads to gold farming. Lisa Nakamura did a good article about the racialization of Chinese farmers in WoW and how new racial stereotypes develop through the online worlds. Lisa's article is a different subject matter but could be useful with citations and various development on what the perspective of players are when it comes to MMO's – Xzephyr10 years ago
Assassin's Creed is a very popular gaming series. When the original series ended (before Black Flag and the subsequent games were released) the stark difference was drawn? Which Assassin is better? Ezio Auditore or Al Tair ibn Lahad. By better which one gets more press, which one symbolizes the Assassin's Creed most, and which one was perhaps more skilled?
By Assassin's Creed, the actual creed, we mean of course the way Machiavelli and Ezio put it.
Where other men blindly follow the truth, Remember, 'nothing is true' Where other men are limited by morality or law, Remember, 'everything is permitted.' 'We work in the dark to serve the light.' We are assassins.
I think it is almost unfair to determine who gets more press. Ezio was the star of 3 AC games and AC2 is a universal favourite of the series. Naturally, Ezio will garner more attention and symbolize the series given that circumstance. It might not be beneficial to verse them against each other given that fact as well. It might be more rewarding to analyze how each character contributes to the Creed and the series in their own way. – Lexzie10 years ago
I agree with lexzie, also remember fans spent much more time with Ezio. – fchery10 years ago
I agree with Lexzie and fchery, though I ended up liking Altair more than Ezio.... for some reason. This comparison, however, is limited to what we are exposed to... ironically what we are "permitted" to see. Altair's greatness and embodiment of the creed is only limited to AC, Altair Chronicles on PSP... which limits what one can say about him... – Jill10 years ago
Ezio and Altair are similar characters because they both were cocky hotshots driven by personal motivations who developed into wise mentors of the Brotherhood. The question of most skilled is tricky because Ezio (arguably) accomplished more, but also had more to work with; he had a larger organization, better weapons, and more games to achieve his ends than Altair. – PaulMiller10 years ago
A commonly seen argument on the internet and when talking to self-described music fans is the idea that one cannot become a real fan of a band or a song if they came to it from a rhythm game. An expose into this idea would be interesting to see. Looking at how the engagement with the music through the rhythmic game play may or may not deepen one's relationship with the music as well as looking into what these people really mean when they say the words, a real fan.
