I Have One Question For Team ICO

[korinna]

I Have One Question For Team ICO by Alex @ Border House: What the fuck century are you FROM?

In a 1UP post about Team ICO’s next project, The Last Guardian, from this week’s Tokyo Game Show, Matt Leone writes:

Early in development, the main character in The Last Guardian was female, but the team ended up going with a boy. The reason: they thought

Comments

[emily_goddess]

they thought it would be more realistic that he would have enough grip strength to be able to climb around

Tell that to Lara Croft.

they wouldn’t have to worry about camera angles with a girl who wears a skirt

Girl = skirt? Really? Guess I'd better start throwing out my pants.

[flamingcat]

Wait... wait wait wait wait...

I was like the second best monkey bar climber in my school...

And I've worn pants almost exclusively ever since I was allowed to dress myself...

I'm a BOY?

[dark_puck]

.....wow. That logic is special.

[tooimpurenangel]

They're so bad at their jobs they can't design a pair of damn pants?
SERIOUSLY?

[ultrapeach]

It's those difficult lady-pants specifically. *nods*

[tooimpurenangel]

Hee!

[flamingcat]

"The zippers on these examples are all backwards! How the hell do they expect us to deal with this kind of thing?"

[ellonwye]

I don't know if I can word this very well, I'm sorry if my point isn't clear.

I'm biased because I love Team ICO, but I kind of understand from their general character design philosophy that the roles of male and female are kept 'traditional', if you know what I mean. The settings of the games (I'm not sure if they're the same) seem to be a long, long time ago and I think most people would automatically assign 'traditional' gender roles to the characters as that's what we associate with 'long, long ago'.

The female characters in ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are iconically and traditionally female, having long hair and wearing skirts (dresses?). I don't believe this is sexism, this is just what the setting and design philosophy made appropriate. Things in 'long, long ago' are different, I don't think today's attitudes would fit the setting as such.

[benndragon]

Actually, traditional is just as easy: they have these things called petticoats and bloomers, you see. Yes, there will be fanboys trying to look up her skirt, but bloomers are so baggy there's nothing to see, even if you catch a glimpse of them underneath several petticoats. So I'm not giving them a pass on that pitiful modesty excuse just because of traditional styling

[ellonwye]

The game isn't an attempt at realism, so discarding their 'tradional, ye olde worlde' design because not every part of that particular setting is applied is a little nonsensical. You'd assume the characters would also occasionally go to the toilet too, but that part of reality is suspended in the interests of design.

But anyway, I'm not sure I can put my thoughts into writing eloquently enough and I'll probably end up going in circles trying to explain my meaning. I just think that Team ICO deserve a little less vitriol for something that was admittedly poorly-worded, but with some reasoning behind it.

[dzurlady]

I just think that Team ICO deserve a little less vitriol for something that was admittedly poorly-worded, but with some reasoning behind it.

Yeah, but the reasoning was sexist and relies on stereotypes, not reality. Besides, if you're making a fantasy game game and you put a gryphon in it, you can put a far more justifiable female character in it just as easily. It's just more of the same crap and excuses, no matter how awesome the rest their work is. (And there is stuff in their work to celebrate, don't get me wrong, but being mostly awesome does not mean they deserve a pass on this.)

[sisterjune]

Gad this is just sad. I cant get mad because the whole thing is just such a letdown to find out cause I love their games, their designs and they have so much imagination. I was looking forward to this game, and now when I play it I wont enjoy it even half as much. I'll be looking at the protag and thinking the whole time "oh you could have been girl" and there's no reason why he COULDNT have been a girl. No real reason. Honestly I almost would have preferred that still stupid but slightly less ridiculous excuse of "well boys play our games more than girls do!" gah. so pitiful ._.