After discussing the graphically ‘gifted’ female character Lara Croft in class, I began to think more about how people percieved her effects on gamers and designers.  While some students believed she could be a “positive role model” in society, others thought that she created unrealistic expectations or ideals.  Although I believe Ms. Croft is an acceptable character, cranium-sized breasts included, would some people go as far as advising the censorship or regulation of game characters and graphics in order to mitigate the “objectification of women” and/or “better society?”

After posing this question, I recalled a banned x-box live commercial (which classmate Calvin Poe showed me) that portrays people around a train or metroesque station shooting one another with, well, their hands.  Pointing the index and middle finger toward a person with your thumb extended and shouting “Bang!” implies the firing of a handgun.  Holding, in an air-guitar fashion, a larger gun and miming rifle-like jolts is seen as well; one character even simulates grenade attacks.  Although people fly backward with the impact of these bullets and shells and dramatically clutch their chests with each blow, there is nothing of what you would commonly call violence.  More blood and gore is seen on the nightly news, but this commercial was censored.

Upon further examination of the commercial, I realized it related to this weeks topic of gender in games in a different way.  We classically think that the most common demographic of videogamers is 10-22 year old males, more specifically males that are still in some form of schooling.  This commercial somewhat challenges that notion, as the station is filled with an unexpected variety of people;  kids are left out, but businessmen, a few older gentlemen, and many women participate in the mayhem.