Today’s discussion touched upon the identity of Chell and the effect that it has on the game. Specifically, we briefly discussed how the fact that she is female has an effect on the story and potentially the gameplay as well. This wasn’t a major theme for the class, but in case anyone wanted to do some further reading on the topic, there is an article I came across yesterday which specifically addresses how a person’s in-game gender can have an effect on how he or she plays (sometimes regardless of the player’s own gender).

The author found that many male gamers played as female characters in online multiplayer games not because of the enticing view but because of how other players treated them. Whereas, male characters tend to appear as brutes capable of not much more than fighting and destroying, female characters are often expected to have more of a personality, subtlety and the ability to think. Thus it can be an attempt to come off as more than a brute to other players in the game that men will sometimes take on a female avatar. Nevertheless, there are still many players who do choose female characters because of their often-exaggerated shapeliness.