Women in gaming

[gamemaster1991]

Now if you want an example, look at Kinsie in Saint Row 3. She's a former FBI agent, socially awkward and master hacker.

Another one, Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark.

Another one, Talim from Soul Calibur. All she has interest in is people's safety. She's an orphan who protects orphans and can take down a giant demon in azure armor holding a 10 ft long manifestation of evil in blade form.

Another, Dagger from Final Fantasy 9.

Another, Lucca from Chrono Trigger.

Kid from Chrono Cross.

Anya from Gears of War

Cass from Fallout New Vegas

Zoey and Roshell from Left 4 Dead.

If you don't think there aren't many strong women in games then you aren't playing the right ones. I named these off the top of my head, and for that matter, Samus is as awesome with or without that zero suit. (Main reason, she's a walking arsenal in the actual non-spandexy suit)

There will always be other examples in games for both sides. Sitras and Mileenas, Dukes and Marcuses.

There's my point in a nutshell. People love those games and yet, games with female leads or games with a female character in the center of the story are deemed as non-profitable by some developers. Why is that?

I'll try to make this short. Most games that star a female lead seem to not get that high of ratings. Perfect Dark was over looked by many people for what ever reason, Kameo was a flop, and there have been many games with Women as leads that have not selled well (it was mostly because it tried too hard to market them to Men that the game play lacked). Think about the examples above. Lucca from Chrono Trigger had Chrono as the real lead, Anya from Gears of War had Marcus and Dom, Zoey and Roshell from Left 4 Dead, had three other guys to share the lead roles with. Dagger may be an exemption but she still has Zidane to share the lead with. You guys will probably prove me wrong (please do) but it's hard to find a solo female lead that also good. They are mostly given a male lead to ether share it with or overshadow them. The only game I can think with Female leads that (I think) sold well were Final Fantasy X-2 and Heavenly Sword.

It's just a saver bet for developers to make a male lead the focus that to have a female lead and that's sad.