Do you think it's in Rockstar's best interest to keep having male leads for their future GTA games? Or, to put it another way, if GTA V had a woman in the lead role, would you get it? And if you did, would you play her any differently?
Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto is a sandbox-violence game, that has drawn attention all over the world, and has pretty much become one of the most noticeable criminal-sandbox franchises ever.
Why aren't any of the GTA protagonists women?
To answer your first question, I think Rockstar is going to do what is in Rockstar's best interest as far as sales. You probably wouldn't believe how many polls and surveys they do of players of all ages, before they even write the stories for these games. Despite the feel of their games, Rockstar is still in this for one reason: to make money. They are going to make the main character whatever appeals to the most people who will buy their game.
If a woman was the lead character would I buy it? Probably so, yes. But they know the majority of people who buy and play their games are teenage boys. Teenage boys want to be empowered and allowed to do whatever they want, therefore, you play a tough guy in every game who gets all the girls he wants and can run around driving cars, shooting guns, etc. I've always been curious what percentage of people who buy GTA games ever play the story. I've heard enough idiots saying, "Check this out, dude! I picked up a hooker! hur hur hur!"
I guess my point is, Rockstar is going to make what sells. Period. As far as me personally? I enjoyed the story in all of them since Vice City. So if they made a story about a woman who had been wronged and is going after the people who wronged her instead of a dude, then I'd say yeah, bring it on.
Surely they'd keep men because women aren't as physically able to do all the shit that goes on in a GTA game without it turning into a feminist nightmare.
I can see your argument about GTA players being men, but would you all say that most Metroid or Tomb Raider players are women? I'm 100% positive they aren't. I don't think it has anything to do with the numbers who play the game, I think its the numbers who commit the crimes. Men commit more crimes then women, and men are more prone to be criminals. I think, in order to create a character like Nico whom players can sympathize with, the character has to be a man. Personally, I just find it hard to imagine a female criminal who is anything but ridiculously evil, the type of character nobody would really enjoy playing as.
Do you think it's in Rockstar's best interest to keep having male leads for their future GTA games? Or, to put it another way, if GTA V had a woman in the lead role, would you get it?
Yes. Also, yes, if the game is any good.
I know this is going to sound controversial, but in the end when we examine American society and the socieites of Europe, and see how male dominated these societies are for the most part. In the end video gamers are for the most part more tolerant with playing ethnic minorities than they are with playing females. These are bittersweet words, and it saddens me that gamers for the most part follow basic sociological theories.
It's simply what sells more. And even though people will probably call me narrow minded, I don't know if I would play a GTA with a female lead, unless it's a very very good character. It's just alot harder for me to relate to the character I'm seeing and controlling on screen if it's not a guy. But like I said, if it's a really well done character like, say, Jade was in BG&E, then I would definitely play it.
It just doesn't seem like such a good idea to me. I have a harder time imagining a woman being the center of all that sort of violence and crime. While I'm not against playing as a woman in games, to me... GTA just doesn't have the setting for it. Imagine if Goodfellas starred 3 chicks instead of DeNiro, Liotta, and Pesci. It's just not the same...Most guys would be less interested in the story and more interested in seeing them being sexy. It'd probably turn it into something cheesy, like Charlie's Angels or something.
What if you could choose between a male and a female? You could have a slightly different story line. Or you can switch back and forth. But I guess the players, except for the undressing/showering parts, would hate to play that female character. There'd be at least crime they wouldn't want to commit as a female (at least on males)
" What if you could choose between a male and a female? You could have a slightly different story line. Or you can switch back and forth. But I guess the players, except for the undressing/showering parts, would hate to play that female character. There'd be at least crime they wouldn't want to commit as a female (at least on males) "
Are you all people having memory-failures, or are teenagers perhaps? GTA1 would let you choose/rename players having portraits, half or more of which were women! Gee... Plus the fact that women in the series appear whorish, is not (necessarily) a bad thing! After all, this is the oldest proffession, and women who worked on it were respected in elder eras (real life), both by individuals and the society itself. 1)Train your memory peeps. 2)Work is not shame. 3)Stereotypes are bad. 4)Respect others; try to judge them not from their looks, but from their deeds. I on the other hand have no problem with all the protagonists being male, after GTA1. Although i would like to play a modern GTA with a female protagonist, some crazy bitch like Catalina would appeal to me. Still, do not whine, people. It is NOT an mmo (thankfully...). What is all this overrated hype about customization for, anyway??
Please Log In to post.
This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:
Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.Comment and Save
Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.
Log in to comment