| My age: | 35 | |
| What is my ethnicity: | Serbian | |
| Sexual preference: | Guy | |
| Tint of my iris: | Enormous hazel green | |
| My favourite drink: | Whisky | |
| I like to listen: | Opera | |
| Hobbies: | In my spare time I love doing puzzles |
Building admirably on the robust foundations laid by the first game, Arkham City managed to exceed the verve and scope of Arkham Asylum, emerging as a definite game of the year contender.
Ad — content continues below. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Yet we know that this demographic is a fallacy: a study showed the average age of US gamers is 37, of which female gamers make up 42 per cent.
This represents an increase of two per cent in the year alone. Source: The Entertainment Software Association — theesa.
However, developers of triple-A titles do still produce predominantly male-orientated software, which suggests one of two things: that the above statistics are misleading, or that female gamers enjoy playing as gruff grunts with arms the circumferences of bins just as much as their male counterparts.
Assuming it is the latter, female gamers must also contend with the perennial annoyance of an extraordinarily high percentage of female characters subscribing to the Nuts magazine idealised notion of physical appearance.
Developers are surely more aware of this gender disparity than most, and if Rocksteady was aiming for a young male audience then surely the treatment of women within the product would have been carefully considered, besides the slapping of a 15 rating on the cover. This is an adult game with adult themes, yet it is set in a comic-book world, which is perhaps why some find its offhand misogyny unsettling.
The perceived problem with Arkham City is less to do with skimpy outfits or their relationship with or detractions from female equality than it is to do with the connotations of the way Catwoman is verbally addressed and blithely objectified. Which begs the question, was the treatment of Catwoman in Arkham City actually sexist, or has a fuss been kicked up over nothing? Have we reached a point where we can stop getting upsetover things like this, or does it represent a huge step backwards in a medium already in dire need of gender-representational progress?
We tried to make a very strong and very defined character. Yet the extent to which sex sells is not the issue here — the accusations against Arkham City concern more insidious intent. Is Arkham City guilty of sexism, or is this all just a big fuss over nothing?
Readers, we throw it over to you. You can read our review of Batman: Arkham City here.
Yet the complaints go deeper than this, and appear to have hit a nerve. So why include such potential sexism is the first place? our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!
Batman sex
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from Luke Holland.
