I have taken a break from stuffing my face with Easter eggs to bring you this month’s Blogs of the Round Table roundup. Actually, that’s not true: I have a white chocolate Lindor hanging out of my mouth by the wrapper. Rather than describe the delicious mouthwatering goodness, let’s get on with the show. March’s theme was “Female Role Models”:
"Who is your female videogame role model? It could be a favourite character that you relate to, a developer or writer whose work you admire.
If you don’t think that any character meets the role model criteria, then how can games better portray female characters?"
Rachel Helps pays tribute to women indie game developers who inspire her. Some you’ll have heard of, some you won’t, like an unusual box of assorted chocolates. If you like what you see in this curated selection, you should also check out the website Dames Making Games.
Amanda Lange looks at eight women in games she loves, from obvious choices like Samus Aran and Chun-Li to contemporary options like Chell from Portal and Bayonetta. Every time someone uses the ‘B word’, I have the urge to play Bayonetta. A bit like when someone mentions eating chocolate and… excuse me for a second.
Over at the Border House, Samantha Allen says it’s time for more female protagonists, citing GTA V and Assassin’s Creed IV as just two examples of mega-franchises that have once again shirked female leads (although the Assassin’s Creed III spin-off Liberation has a female protagonist). You’d think the triumphant return of Lara Croft (despite unrealistic sales targets) would be enough to inspire other developers to bring women to the fore. Something something chocolate eggs.
Joseph Miller learned something from Aerith Gainsborough: the nature and virtues of sacrifice. I wonder if most players learned that, when it comes to levelling characters in RPGs, you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. (Sorry.)
BONUS ROUND: in the second issue of Five out of Ten, you’ll find features on gender stereotypes in gaming and Silent Hill’s portrayals of misogynist stereotypes. Plus eight other mind-boggingly brilliant features.
That’s it for this month! I guess we were all distracted with GDC, PAX and other similar acronyms. Blogs of the Round Table will be back tomorrow with April’s thrilling instalment- see you then!
Don’t forget to add the BoRT Linkomatic 5000 to your blog. Just embed the following code on your blog’s page:
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And you’ll get this: