That was three days ago? A Rundown of Wizard World Chicago

This past weekend I set aside my internship and other responsibilities to attend yet another year of Wizard World Chicago with Shions_Glasses. It’s awesome to see every year more and more women and girls attending the con—the first year I went there didn’t seem to be a lot of us, but this year there was lots. It’s a good time to be a fan girl.

I don’t know if it was just me, but Wizard World seemed tiny this year. There just didn’t seem to be as many panels or booths. Hell, the Nintendo booth wasn’t even there. A shame because I was looking forward to getting some more free Pokemon cards and downloading a rare Pokemon or mystic ticket for my copy of Diamond.

Marvel’s booth had me a bit disappointed. I’m always impressed with free swag, even if it’s just DC’s Countdown pins and Batman temporary tattoos. I was crossing my fingers for a John Cassidy X-Men poster or something like that. There was a glossy poster for Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter that was definitely cheesecakey, but a little outside my taste.

I was surprisingly impressed with Sony’s booth. They seemed to aiming for some accessibility by being kid friendly. The PaRappa the Rapper port for the PSP was getting a strong push, as was the strategy-RPG Jeanne D’Arc. I grabbed a gorgeous poster for Jeanne D’Arc, and Shions_Glasses was given a PaRappa t-shirt that’s about five times too large just for posing for a few pictures with the PaRappa mascot.

On Saturday afternoon we made sure to stop by the DC booth to get Will Pfeifer’s signature. Other than that, we didn’t have too much to do with the big two. Instead of going to any of the panels we spent our time flipping through back issues and wandering around Artist Alley. We picked up about 20 issues of Gotham Cental (all for $1.50!) and grabbed Spider-Woman: Origin and the Metal Gear Solid TPB for half-off. In the Artist Alley I searched out David Mack (as I do every year) and bought the second and third volumes of Kabuki. Before we left for the evening we caught some Beck (dubbed, yuck) in the anime screening room. I’m a bit annoyed that they were only showing Funimation licensed anime this year. What about Manga and Bandai? They were there too.

Saturday night was probably my favorite part of the convention, though it wasn’t specifically Wizard World-related. In my part of Chicago they were having a neighborhood festival, and in celebration my local comic book shop invited their regulars to come hang out and drink some beers. There wasn’t too many of us there, which was more than alright with me. I was content with talking the whole while with a woman who didn’t even stop at home to change out of her Catwoman costume. The whole experience was a bit surreal: where I grew up I bought my comics from a video rental store, so there was never a place for me to go and hang out and talk geek.

Sunday was more of buying. For 35% off we picked up the first volume of Monster (manga is always seriously lacking at WW), Coward, the three TPB volumes of Bruce Wayne: Fugitive and Tales of the Slayers. We also stopped by Artist Alley and grabbed a copy of Winter Beard by Cathy Hannah and The Exploits of Aimless Boy by John Aston Golden, who is actually a regular at my comic book store. We waited in line for the Wheel of Doom and I won my cat a rubber band to play with (the topic I chose was Lunar: The Silver Star and they unfortunately didn’t know what the hell I was talking about) and Shions_Glasses won a hardcover book of Wizard covers, which he promptly gave away.

It was after this point that the con went sour. We stopped one last time at the Sony booth to check out the Heavenly Sword demo. Some guys came up behind us, and one of them decided that it’d be a ton of fun to verbally harass me. I don’t feel like going into too much detail, but his comments involved such things as upskirt shots, masturbation, and rape. Unable to contain my anger, I told him to please shut the hell up, and went on to furiously explain that rape is not a joke, it’s a hate crime, etc. but as he only seemed to get more belligerent with my every response. So I went to security and he disappeared into the milling crowd. At least I can say that security did take me seriously and even profusely apologized.

Yet getting harassed sucked any fun that was left out of the con. We did go afterward to check out the Fullmetal Alchemist movie, but it was difficult to enjoy.

With all the internet harassment that’s been going on lately in the game and comics community—the avalanche of racist comments regarding Resident Evil 5, the hijacking of GayGamer.com, and Girl-Wonder.org getting hacked— being harassed at the con just fit in too perfectly.

Elebits are cute and creepy.

It’s been a harried week of trying to get used to my new work load, and trying to stay optimistic in light of learning about the sad state of women’s reproductive rights and health care are in this country.

In an attempt to either cheer me up (or to distract me from doing my work) Shions_glasses rented Elebits. I haven’t had the chance to play many Wii games. Sure, I’ve put some hours in on Wii Sports, played a bit of Twilight Princess and beat Trauma Center, but that’s been about it. I can’t afford the prince of new games, and the price of used games for the Wii hasn’t been much better.

Elebits has a lot for me to love, namely its cuteness and penchant for making messes. It seems to borrow a lot of its atmosphere from Katamari and Pikmin. I was a bit worried about the controls, seeing that I dislike first person perspective in video games (ack, tunnel vision) and therefore suck at FPSs, but it’s actually easy to get the hang of. I still feel limited by the perspective, and probably would still prefer a behind the shoulder camera angle, but it doesn’t really impede my enjoyment.

One complaint I do have is the voice acting. It’s worse than the first Baten Kaitos game. Hell, its worse then those budget kids’ shows on PBS. Everyone sounds creepy. And the story? Basically, a kid feels neglected by his parents and is understandably pissed about it. What better way to get back at Mom and Dad than by tearing the house apart? However, it’s not all innocent revenge. The game has been hinting that Elebits are acting strangely--dear god, are these hunks of pastel cuteness going to attack me?

I may not be able to answer that, as we have to return the game Saturday, but I’m pretty sure that if I ever find Elebits in the bargain bin, I’m gonna snap it up.

More on Sony hating me

Alice at Wonderland commented the other day on Sony's "Because your Girlfriend bores you shitless" ad. She also points out that there's a possibility that the ad may not be official:

Beenabadbunny says, while the ads are real, they possibly don't belong to
Sony. A Sony hired-blogger is denying they're official... going from N'Gai's original post, the ads are posted on AdsoftheWorld.com, which claims to showcase worldwide work; however, any user can upload an example.

The blog in question, Three Speech, only says that "we’re reliably informed, however, it’s not a bona fide PlayStation advert."

No names, no official press release--why am I going to believe that the ads are a fake? We all remember Sony's so-called "hip hop" fan site, right?

Besides, even if the ads aren't official, I'm concerned that Sony isn't concerned about their image. I'd like to think that that Sony would see these ads as offensive enough to their consumers to say something, instead of releasing word on a "semi-official" blog.

Why do you hate me Sony?

A quick run down of some of Sony's advertising includes:

-an American ad campaign for the PSP which featured dust balls that can be easily interpreted as racist caricatures of Mexican people.

-the UK's various sex-based ads on buses with slogans such as “Your girlfriend’s white bits here.”

-the objectifying and race-based Black vs. White PSP ad in the Netherlands

-not to mention the topless waitresses featured at the God of War II release party

And now there's this running in India, complete with a tagline that reads"Because your girlfriend bores you shitless."

What. The. Hell. Sony.

There's lots of great discussion over at the Iris boards about the ad, along with some plans to get a letter campaign going. I'll post more info about it here when it happens.

hat tip: the f-word

Portable Playing

I’m once again addicted to my DS, though for awhile it was collecting an admirable amount of dust. Over the winter, I had bought a copy of Contact, but became frustrated with the game after infiltrating the military complex and put it down. (Can I just complain about my HP dropping when fighting weaker enemies? How the heck can this game just not let you build up?) When I came down with a bad case of cabin fever, I started playing some long neglected Animal Crossing: Wild World, but stopped after the Acorn Festival. (I think some unconscious goal was realized.)

So my DS sat, ignored, until one fateful day I went to Gamestop and grabbed a used copy of Phoenix Wright: Justice for All. And then a week later, on an auspicious and bright day, I was given the gift of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan.

I know I don’t need to go into great detail with both these games, because I the general consensus is that they’re both awesome. I don’t mind that Phoenix Wright is text-heavy, and though at times I don’t quite follow the logic as the case--some stuff seems to come out of left field--I enjoy the mystery, leg work and trials. Much better than Law & Order.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand the music selection of Elite Beat Agents, yet I still wanted to play it. Therefore, for the longest time I pined after Ouendan, not being able to justify the price of importing it. (I saw copies of it in Japan when I was there last summer, but wasn’t able to find any good deals.) I don’t know if I’m driving my roommates crazy, but I’m addicted. It’s hilarious, catchy, and original.

I still have plans for my DS after I finish off these two. A copy of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl will be mine, not to mention that I have my eye on Hotel Dusk and Lunar Knights.

Game Rag for Women

According to GameSpot, there's going to be a new video game magazine launched in Germany:

The publisher describes the magazine, aimed at female gamers, as "fresh,
bold, upbeat, and feminine."

While I'm glad that female gamers are being acknowledged, I don't think the answer is to have a videovgame-themed magazine that'll tote the same tired gender stereotypes that plague most magazines that are aimed towards women and girls. Though it wasn't mentioned in the GameSpot article, I can see it now--a review of Jeanne D'Arc for the PSP on one page; facing it, an ad for make up.

While I do think there is a place for magazines that are dedicated to a female audience (I've often toyed with the idea of starting up my own little zine for feminist reviews of games) I can't help but wish there could be an effort made in the current video game publications to be more inclusive of a diverse audience. I know that if such a publication existed, I'd drop the money for a subscription immediately.

Urban Camping

It rained. It snowed. After eight hours, the moisture had soaked through the weather-proofing on the sleeping bag and my toes were ice cubes. But at around 10 this morning, I came home with a Wii.

I wasn't going to camp out--I had a plan so that I'd be able to get at least some sleep before getting up early to wait in line. Yet by last night, when the neighbors decided to have a roaring party and I was anxiously pacing the apartment because I was unable to sleep, Shions_glasses and I decided to go check things out. I made a thermos of hot cocoa and packed some provisions: apple cinnamon rice cakes, cheese poofs, dried apple slices and dark chocolate M&Ms.

We arrived at Best Buy around midnight and the place had already drawn a crowd. We were outside for a good hour when it started to drizzle. It was my turn first to huddle beneath a quilt in the car while Shion_glasses braved the beginning of the precipitation in order to hold our place in line. When it was my turn to go out it started to rain and snow.

The night went by: instead of busying myself with my DS or reading any of the books I brought along, I listened to small talk and watched the snowflakes fall, illuminated by the parking lot lights.

The whole night went pretty smoothly. Everyone was kind to one another: one guy shared his extra large cheese pizza, another handed out some blankets, a woman passed out candy canes. The guy who was first in line made an unofficial list in which everyone signed up in order--and when it came to 8 am when employees started handing out tickets, there weren't any issues.

Getting inside felt amazing: my feet started to thaw. And though by then I was feeling pretty ridiculous that I had just spent most of my night awake and cold in a parking lot, I was pretty proud of myself when I was handed the white Wii box.

Gamers put themselves through some crazy crap, no?

Rest in Peace, Gentle Blue Monster

Scene: A sunny and calm Saturday afternoon in Everytown, USA. Switch to interior of Best Buy, Customer Service desk.

Protagonist: Excuse me, I need to return this. [Places blue brick in box on desk.] The touch screen doesn't seem to be as responsive as it used to be and the left trigger button is sticking. Oh yeah, I have the 2-year warranty. [The protagonist shakily lifts up a wrinkled pamphlet.]

Customer Service Representative: [Takes package and pamphlet.] Hold on one moment, I'll have to check things out in the back.

P:Okay. [Stands, biting fingernails.]

Some long, awkward moments pass. The Customer Service Rep comes back to the front.

CSR: You're all set. Why don't you go get a replacement? We'll just do a switch.

P: [squeaks] Yes! [All but runs to the Nintendo section of the store and comes back gingerly carrying the box of a new shiny, shimmering DS Lite.]

CSR: You just did this so that you can get the pink one!

P: . . . No comment.

Looks like I'll be camping out on the eve of November 19

This morning as soon as my fingertips hit a computer keyboard, I headed over to 4 Color Rebellion to get the dirt about the Wii. $250? Sweet. November 19th release date? I can't wait. One type of packaging? Score. Only available in white? Sadness. I've never been a fan of white electronics.

When I first saw the Wii and got an eyefull of the red and lime green versions, I salivated. Alas, it's not to be. I'm sure in the future Nintendo will release different colored consoles, but I won't be able to wait that long!

Also, be sure to check out Wii's official website.

Commercial Activity

Tim from Old Grandma Hardcore has a great new post that deconstructs Kevin Brown’s speech at the Focus on Gaming Advertising Summit. While reading it I was reminded of Guilded Lily’s post that she wrote back in March that summed up her own thoughts about advertising and what advertisements might look like in games that want to reach the female demographic.

One of my favorite parts about games, (or even in other genres, such as anime) is noticing the fake brands and stores—they enhance the atmosphere and provide little clues as to how the fictional world that I’m becoming immersed in is similar or different to our own. I don’t think that advertisements for Pot Belly’s or Sketchers would heighten the realism of a game; instead it’ll just remind me of my real life, which in turn would hamper the pleasure of escapism that comes with playing games.

Living in Chicago, the amount of advertising I take in during my morning commute is overwhelming. The first thing I see when I descend the staircase of the El are the vending machines that crowd around the turnstile. After I insert my fare card, I push the turnstile bars which are now clear: presently, there’s a slipped in ad for Geico. To find an empty place to wait for a train, I walk over numerous vinyl advertisement mats that now cover the concrete of the subway platform. The wall opposite from where I stand is also plastered in ads. After the train arrives and I step in, it’s impossible for me not to notice the ads that line the perimeter of the car. There are also ads placed in the areas where there are no windows. There are now commercials in the tunnels—what was once black spaces are now ads that work like flipbooks. After I reach my stop and navigate through another area of ad space, I climb the stairs and am greeted by billboards: typical billboards, billboards on the side of buildings, billboards that are stationed like stop signs. Buses, with their own set of ads pasted to them, pass by bus stops that encase ads instead of bus maps. This is just the first half hour being out of my apartment.

And what about sexist advertising? The ads that I encounter are for everything, but of course I notice the most objectifying: a naked woman sitting—she’s in the shape of a cognac bottle. An ad for lotion is centered on a pair of breasts. Another ad, this time for citrus vodka, features a woman being peeled like an orange. I’m not even going to write about the ads for make up, clothing and perfume. You know what I’m writing about: the idea that women are commodities, billboards in their own right. And that beauty and anything that is good and worthwhile is rich, white, blond, tan, thin, and straight. I’m oversaturated.

Yet as much as I don’t want advertising in games, I know all to well that it’s inevitable.

Focus on Women Please--An Update on the Activision Focus Group

So on Sunday I had the privilege of attending a focus group on X-men Legends. I didn't want to go without 100littledolls, but she said I should go in her place. So I tried my best to represent.

My dream for years has been to tell the video game industry how I feel on a number of subjects, and here was my chance. The group consisted of about 7 guys in their 20s and 30s--all but one white. Good start huh? I was all fired up and angry at the fact that I had to go alone, and was ready to throw down some feminism right at their faces. When the questions started though, I calmed down a bit, but made sure to let them know that I really cared about the social messages of their product. They started out asking general questions: what's your favorite game, why do you like the X-men, ect. I tried to relay the point of how cool it is that the X-men are on the fringe of society, and that the basis of the comic is them fighting for their place in the world. They asked about characters within the game, and I pointed out how the X-men already have a diverse cast, and many strong, well established women characters. Raven doesn't need to do anything but put them in the game. I feel the first game had much better character choices, (why would I want to play as Toad?) and a larger amount of female mutants. Personally I would love to see Kitty Pride in a game, Raven studios is such a jerk for not putting her in.

After giving them a well thought out pitch for my own game, they started to pass out descriptions of possible game ideas that were actually being considered for production. They wanted our feelings on them, and let me tell you, most of them were terrible. The funniest and saddest was an X-men World War II game, where in an alternate universe, get this, Hitler won, so therefore communism?! Ruled the World, and Magneto somehow reigned as the supreme overlord. As Cable you would go back in time and kill Nazis with bullet time moves like in a Max Payne type shooter. What? So much of that doesn't make sense. The highlight of the afternoon, however, was the description of X-Men Femme Force. In this concept, Mystique releases a virus that affects all the male X-men leaving only the women left to stop her. Kind of a corny story, but having an all female mutant cast would be pretty cool. I read on though, and discovered a main part of the game would be to "dress up" your characters in different outfits, then it made a reference to DOA and claimed that the game would be just as sexy. Ouch. Costume changes are great, but the X-women aren't dolls, they're freedom fighters. To my surprise, I wasn't the first person to speak up. Two other people in the group informed everyone that their girlfriends were gamers and played the first two Legends along with them. They said that they were extremely disappointed that they couldn't come to the focus group. I also spoke up and related 100littledolls' plight. We agreed that we would play a game with an all woman cast. I then pleaded with them to not objectify these characters--I told them that it would be unnecessary and offensive.

As we were leaving, I heard the two guys in charge of the focus group talking to each other. They were surprised with the responses they were getting concerning women and games: "Wow, we really need to do a women's focus group..." F-ing Duh! But it's a start I guess. Overall, I tried to use this opportunity to also log my complaint of lack of originality in video games. Many of the game ideas presented to us were just rehashes of other popular games: Mercenaries with Wolverine, or Dynasty Warriors with X-men. Personally, if I wanted to play a game like Mercenaries, why wouldn't I just play Mercenaries, or Mercenaries II, whenever that comes out? The main issue with superhero games is that they have never established their own genre, or niche. They have always just hopped on board to a preexisting series of games. The focus should not be to make a copy of a existing game, but to define what superhero games are and create a place for them in the industry. Take a risk! More often than not, it will pay off. Just look at Nintendo.

My genitalia has nothing to do with being a geek.

I was invited to go to a focus group tomorrow for the new X-Men game. I was all set: tonight I've been playing X-Men: Rise of the apocalypse, and I've also started to plan what games or anime I was going to buy with the hundred bucks I was going to make. Then I was called by the person who invited me with the information that I couldn't come because I'm a woman. Immediately, I was pissed. I asked why it mattered. His only explanation is that focus groups are split into age groups, therefore the groups are also split by gender. He then wondered how many women could there be that are interested in gaming and the X-Men? How many women do I personally know that game? I could only respond that while I only know a few women in real life that game, I know they're out there. I know that from blogs I read. (Besides, I live in fricken Chicago--there's a lot of women here.)

I asked if there's going to be focus group for women and he wasn't sure. I'm sending Shion's Glasses in my place--he promised to find out if there will be a separate group for women, and if there isn't, to give them hell in my honor. Hopefully, either way I'll convince him to post his experience up here.

It's annoying that I won't be getting the cash, and it's aggravating that my voice won't be heard. But the worst feeling is that this is all because of the attitude that women and men are completely different, which in turn fuels the gender gap in gaming in terms of perception and representation. I know that biologically there are differences between men and women, such as the fact that symptoms for a heart attack in women are different than that of men--but we're gamers. It's a hobby, an interest. If everything, especially video game marketing, keeps focusing on the differences between men and women, we're not going to get anywhere.

Update: I found out that there won't be any focus groups dedicated to female gamer's interests.

Update #2: per zeldasrevenge's suggestion here is Activision's mailing address:

Activision, Incorporated

3100 Ocean Park Boulevard

Santa Monica, CA 90405

Their phone number: 310-255-2000

If you would like to shoot them a message electronically, click here.

Let's let them know that women gamers are part of their demographic.

Made in China

Left: Michael Wolf, The Real Toy Story, 2004, Mixed Media installation (detail)

Last week, my Modern Asian History class went to "Made in China," an instillation at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. My teacher's intent was to give the class some visuals of China today and an idea of the consequences of Western imperialism. The whole exhibition is filled with great stuff, but I worried about the neutrality of it. It provides examples of clean, productive factories, the dorms in which workers tend to live alongside of images of poorer working conditions, i.e. sweatshop labor. China wasn't necessarily put in a bad light; in fact, I was impressed that the photography managed to put a human face on an issue that is percieved as threatening by some in the United States. What I was concerned about was the fact that the companies, or the United States itself, was not put under any scrutiny. It was all "Look what these American companies have done for the poor people of China!" when we were presented with positive images or "The Chinese government is absolutely horrible" when presented with the negative. (Don't get me wrong, though, the Chinese government does practice some absolutely terrible things--but this is not the fault of the general population of China.) The piece I thought that tried to rectify this gap was The Real Toy Story--it's a piece that could be easily misconstrued because it features photographs of people working in less than desirable conditions, and once again the blame could just be placed on the leadership of China. However, surrounding the photographs are pieces of Happy Meal items and other cheap toys--toys encompassing pop culture for American kids. I was struck by the Batman and Doug figurines, two cartoons that I watched religiously when I was around ten. I also noticed the personified chicken mcnuggets that I used to play with in the bathtub when I was even younger. There were also Barbies; one had a black eye. (Drawn on by it's previous owner?) This specifically makes you aware that we are on a two-way street with China. Our consumption, yes, gives money, yet puts these people in a situation with few viable options. Capitalism in its truest, most disgusting form.

I left the exhibition upset. I know that I don't have any solutions, so I feel powerless. But I do know this: the United States is far from innocent, and in the words of Cat and Girl: "Capitalists do it ruthlessly."

Not Excited about the 360

I haven't been writing much, maybe because I don't feel compelled to, and in a way, I'm still feeling as such. However, I just felt like saying, with all of that 360 love out there, that I'm not too excited about it. I don't think I'll ever try to get one. Yeah, I went to Best Buy, read all the specs, but it just isn't doing it for me. And I feel like hooking your console up to HD television for your demos is kind of cheating. (Don't get wrong, I think Nintendo and Sony would do the same thing.) I want to see the graphics on a shitty tv--isn't that what most of us would be viewing?

Hands down, I think the console was released too early. I'm hoping for more when the PS3 and the Revolution comes out--I think there's a lot to be said by the fact that I was more impressed with the graphics for the remake of Resident Evil looked on my Game Cube compared to that of 360's Kameo. For the next generation I want little-to-none load times, innovated controls (and concepts--though how vague is that?), interesting games, no lag time when I'm playing, and great grapics. In short, I want the next gen to knock my socks off.