An article was recently published in Time Magazine regarding anew video game that was released in June, titled "Hey Baby." In this video game, women are approached by men that blurt out random pick-up lines. Some of these lines are as seemingly innocent as, "Hey, how you doin'?" or, "Hey sweetheart." However, they can also be as raunchy as "I want to lick you all over." After hearing these comments it is the female player's decision whether or not she wants to shoot the male offender. This type of video game is not more violent than other video games on the market but it has recieved criticism from both males and females. In response, the creator of this game, Suyin Looui, commented that this violence was supposed to be humorous. She said this game was a, "space to act out their ridiculous revenge fantasies...and have a good laugh about it." When Louii created this game, it seems fairly obvious that it was intended for the female market. And this seems to be for good reasons. According to recent studies 40% of gamers are female. Therefore, video game creators have to keep women's desires in mind when creating their games if they want to be successful. If this game is what sells, is this still a buisness action that we can condone, or does this go too far?
The author of this article also points out the reversed gender roles. Often times in video games, men are the heroes, or they are at least heavily involved in the action. However, in this video game women are the people with the guns and the power. In the hope of eventually eliminating specific gender roles, is it ok to temporarily reverse the roles to get either revenge or equality?
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2024265,00.html
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