CHANGING FACE
OF LARA CROFT
Copyright 2001 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ February 12th 2001 ]
With
the advent of Sony's multi-million selling Playstation
enticing a larger mainstream audience encapsulating
both sexes, an increasing number of female game
designers are applying more thought to their characters,
a report in The Guardian announces today.
"Lara
Croft may be the best-known woman in games, but
if she were real it is likely her oversized chest
would see her toppling over rather than raiding
tombs. Could it be because she was designed by
a man? Historically, few women have been involved
in game development. Games were generally viewed
as being made for men by men, with the representation
of female characters - there to be rescued or
ogled at - hardly enticing women to play."
This
trend now appears to be changing, according to
British Graphic artist Caroline Green, who says
the number of women entering the gaming industry
has increased significantly with the processing
power of today's platforms significantly increasing
the graphical sophistication leading to more realistic
titles and ultimately moving away from the traditional
over-emphasised cartoon-character style genre.
The target of The Guardian's report is the impending
release of Shadows of Memories, a new adventure
game from Konami aimed for the Playstation, in
which the female influence on production has rendered
the title "more normal," veering away from the
typical "mini-skirted stereotypes usually associated
with games."
Game
company Supedo's Catherine Skinner says: "The
PC/console games industry is beginning to converge
with many other industries - web, interactive
TV and telecoms. Industries like TV and the web
have high proportions of female production staff,
and as these different production skill sets become
integrated into the games industry, so will the
men and women who work in them." The article graciously
concludes with the suggestion that the traditional
"Boy's making toys for other boys" era is coming
to an end, and that the future of Lara Croft may
gradually appear more proportionate.
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