I’m not sure how many of you own or play on an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, but if you’re a rabid console gamer you’ve probably heard of Assassin’s Creed. For everyone else, here’s the scoop: Assassin’s Creed is a video game that has you playing a medieval assassin tasked with eliminating nine people associated with the Crusades. Assassin’s Creed is one of the biggest games this holiday season, with a big marketing push from publisher Ubisoft following months of hype. The game is projected to sell over a million copies in the next two months, an amazing feat considering only eleven Xbox 360 games have ever sold more than a million copies.
So why should you care if you’re not into video games? Well, if you’re a Shameless reader, you probably care about how women are faring in traditionally male-dominated industries, and guess what? The producer of Assassin’s Creed is Jade Raymond, a woman. Female game developers are nothing new; a lot of classics were conceived and designed by women. But Raymond’s profile is far higher than any woman before her, mainly because she’s been the public face of the game at a time when the video game audience is larger than ever before. This is both a blessing and a curse; while Raymond is easily the most visible woman in game development today, there’s a suspicion that Raymond’s been asked to promote the game so much because, well, look:
Jade Raymond, producer of Assassin’s Creed.
Which brings me to the utterly bizarre way video game audiences—especially younger male gamers—handle attractive women playing and developing video games. Everyone knows the stereotype of the nerd gamer with no social skills who quakes in fear of women. The truth, however, is just a bit creepier. Something about the intersection of “hot women” and “plays video games” creates in some gamers a strange emotional supernova that produces equal parts nerdish adoration, wanton sexual desire, and hateful bile.
First, let’s get to why she obviously can’t be a real game developer:
It would be nice if I could believe that she was the face of Assassin’s Creed because there was some merit, and not just because of her look. After E3 and the whole “Hah Hah Noone noticed him falling off that roof!” goof up, and articles like this where it’s more marketing speak than anything else, I’m convinced that it is because of her looks. I’m the type that would rather have a man (or a woman really) talk about pixel shaders, and bump mapping techniques etc, than sit and listen to a pretty face talk.
Then let’s make jokey comments about how hot she is:
I hope one can unlock sexy pictures of her in the game.I can dream…
And then we’ll get to the explicitly creepy:
In what is easily the best 3MB press release we’ve ever been mailed, Ubisoft sends word that Jade ‘really fit’ Raymond of Assassin’s Creed fame will be making a public appearance in London this Saturday. Gentlemen, prep your stalker kits.
There’s more—way more, in fact. I’ve been trying to figure out a good way to write up Jade Raymond for a while now, but luckily I don’t have to: Jane Pinckard from Game Girl Advance says it better than I ever could. Unfortunately, Pinckard made her post in response to some awful cartoons of Raymond posted to a couple of internet forums. This sort of thing isn’t exactly rare; software developer Kathy Sierra stopped posting to her widely read blog on software user interfaces after receiving sexually explicit insults, nasty photoshops and death threats.
The worst thing about this whole Jade Raymond business is that anyone who knows anything about gamers knew she would be the target of sexual innuendos and harsh commentary about her gamer cred, because this sort of thing happens all the time. Anyone who’s ever read a message board or listened to the voice chat on an online game has seen and heard more than their fair share of stupid and offensive remarks. What I haven’t yet been able to figure out is why some gamers are so puerile and hateful, and what needs to change so that I no longer have to worry about hearing people call each other fags or telling the German players to “speak American or get out” every time I play Team Fortress 2.
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two comments
Wesley! Thanks for posting about this. I don't know much about gaming, you can be my guide.
It's such a huge drag when the past time that you turn to for relaxation or escapism is marred with the ugly things you're trying to escape from. For me, it's movies and music, not games - I get so fed up when I'm just trying to have a nice relaxing time at the movies, or shaking my booty, and that gets intruded on by, well, hatred. I think that the only revenge I've found so far that's helpful is deconstructing all the hatred on this here online forum.
Thanks for linking to Jane Pinckard's post too. I really appreciated what she had to say about attractive women. In terms of talking Body Politics, the one area that I find hard to discuss is the troubles that come with being a good-looking lady.
Considering how much non-conventionally good-looking ladies suffer in a culture obsessed with women's appearances, it can be difficult, and even seem insensitive, to make the argument that conventionally good-looking ladies suffer a lot too. But I think it's an important issue for feminists to think about and work on - because I really believe that the iron fist of conventional beauty standards makes things painful for every kind of lady.
I really liked what Pinckard had to say here:
"Oh, it's difficult to be a woman, period. But if you also happen to be attractive, you are doubly cursed. On the one hand, yes, when you're at a conference where you are among a handful of women, you are remembered, and that is advantageous. But for every break you may get for being female and attractive you get a chorus of voices telling you that you don't deserve it because, well, you are attractive, and obviously you can't possibly have gotten where you are without seducing men along the way."
Posted by Thea
November 18, 2007, 11:14 AM
I'm not a rabid console gamer, but I am an enthusiastic casual one -- no fan of the XBox 360 (I boo you Microsoft), but I do have a Playstation 3, and have heard of and seen clips from Assassin's Creed.
I'm going to put a whole pile of issues to the side here. Including any question of how technical or not Jade Raymond is. And limit the focus of my comment to this: Jade Raymond is a producer.
Do the gamelings really know that little about the game industry? A producer is not the same thing as a programmer. So I call foul on any comments about how Jade is not qualified to push the game if she didn't write a shader or design a level. She's a producer, and she's doing/has done what producers are hired to do. Produce the game.
Just like in the film industry, the worker bees who make the magic happen are usually not the ones in front of the camera, at the podium, or in the interview come publicity time. There are swaths of producers who wouldn't know whether one bump-mapping implementation is better than another. The whingers make it sound like Ubisoft noticed one day that there was an attractive girl working in the mailroom, and decided to build their publicity roll-out around her. Producer is a decision-making (hopefully), front-of-the-line job in game development. So disparaging comments on Jade being out there instead of someone "more qualified"? Whatever. How many of gamers know (or even care) who the Engineering Lead is for Halo? Suddenly everyone's a purist.
On the indignation from gamers that Jade Raymond was chosen because she's attractive -- regardless of Jade's centrality in making Assassin's Creed, it's not a new tactic to build publicity around the "pretty people". The "hot woman!" approach is right up there in terms of innovation with the "we have a movie star!" approach. Who was the face for publicity on Heavenly Sword? Andy Serkis. I didn't hear bloody murder being called out that John Lusty (Lead Gameplay Programmer) wasn't chosen instead. The "hot woman!" approach isn't okay, but it's common practice, and not one the game community has historically gotten terribly upset about. Which makes it much more likely it's just a thinly veiled excuse to be vicious (see: emotional supernova).
This is all separated from the questions around whether Ubisoft decided to go with pat (and stupid and boring and annoying and insulting and...) marketing techniques. Or whether more technical people should be more visible in publicity. Or what to do to move gamer culture away from being misogynist/racist/homophobic. Those are for other posts, and other comments. :)
Posted by Catherine
November 18, 2007, 9:13 PM
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