Should women date gamers? Should gamers watch 'Titanic'?



A couple of weeks ago, Liz Wheeler went viral on X for a post that listed men’s least attractive hobbies according to women.

While Wheeler (and now the community note) clarified that the statistics presented were satirical, it still managed to stir up quite a bit of controversy. The top hobby on the imaginary “most hated” list was video games.

What if regularly spending six consecutive hours playing video games isn’t bad because it’s unattractive but because it’s actually unhealthy?

Predictable gender war crossfire ensued. Men hissed back:

“Women like you assume your company is more interesting and valuable than a good video game. You are incorrect.”

“Women really do hate when men are happy doing something that isn’t centered around them.”

“Well, we're not going to sit around and watch the Titanic for the tenth time.”

On one hand, it is understandable to feel defensive when you perceive that something you personally enjoy or take pride in is generalized and belittled. This is the essence of stereotyping, and no one has the stomach for it any more. On the other, is the response proportional to the perceived offense, which was simply an expression of preference?

The internet has become a battleground for gendered infighting, and the constant bickering has done nothing but send us farther into our respective corners. We all want to generalize but not be generalized. Meme warfare offends this sensibility. It’s not for the faint of heart.

But — and hear me out — stereotypes exist for a reason. What if regularly spending six consecutive hours playing video games isn’t bad because it’s unattractive but because it’s actually unhealthy? In other words, what if it’s unattractive to women because it’s bad for men, not bad for men because it’s unattractive to women?

There's growing evidence to suggest that gaming can be just as addictive as gambling, leading to withdrawal from and loss of interest in social life and problems at school and work.

According to recent study on what's been termed internet gaming disorder:

Current prevalence estimates of IGD vary widely (2–15%). ... Prevalence may be underestimated due to low response (surveys take time away from gaming) and underreporting (a criterion of IGD is hiding one's extent of internet gaming). Yet, even by conservative estimates, with 318 million people in the US playing digital games, at least 5 million (probably many more) meet criteria for IGD, experiencing personal, social, and academic difficulties.

Perhaps women’s intuition isn’t as shallow as some have made it seem. Perhaps hard-core gaming, as the study suggests, indicates a deeper problem that impedes long-term social success in life. It’s too easy to dismiss Wheeler and the women who agree with her as nagging busybodies who just don’t like it when men “have fun.” Maybe some of them are. But maybe, deep down, some of these guys don’t like their reflection. Accountability is a bitter pill. Distraction is easier.

That said, on the particular level, does it really matter if a guy is a gamer as long as he isn’t hopelessly addicted and antisocial about it? If a gamer finds a woman and they fall madly in love, is he still “unattractive”? Certainly not to his sweetheart. And conversely, if you’re a woman who finds gaming unattractive, don’t date a gamer. It really is that simple. Who cares?

As one commenter said, “Attraction is subjective; hobbies don’t define someone’s worth or attractiveness. Crazy thought: Maybe we let people enjoy what they love without reducing their value based on personal preferences for entertainment.” Well said.

Suicide Squad game marches on after $200M loss with new, DEI version of character Mrs. Freeze



Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is pushing forward with a new depiction of a classic character.

The game was released in May 2024 by Rocksteady Studios, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Games, and was a $200 million disaster. The studio later said revenues for the entire parent company went from a reported $607 million in Q1 2023 down to just $184 million in Q1 2024, a 70% decrease.

However, the studio has seemingly taken zero cues from its audience.

Shortly after the game's freefall, Warner Bros. Games launched a leadership program for women and non-binary individuals aimed at making the video game industry less male. Announced by startup and tech community Built In, the Women and Non-Binary Leadership Program had the stated goal of upending the gaming industry's allegedly male-dominated characterization.

'They perceive femininity and female anatomy as threats to society.'

Weeks later, the Suicide Squad game is moving forward with Season 2, despite fewer than 500 people currently playing the game on the Steam platform, according to PC Gamer. These concurrent gaming stats are absolutely abysmal figures for a project of such a magnitude.

It seems at least one new character is ready for launch in the new season, and it is Mrs. Freeze — not Mr. Freeze — but his wife, whose character name is Nora Fries.

Mr. Freeze was typically portrayed as a bald man with varying degrees of scientist looks and was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1997's "Batman & Robin."

At the same time, there exist near limitless depictions of Mrs. Freeze as a classically beautiful blonde woman. The character was played by model Vendela Kirsebom in the aforementioned 1997 flick.

It seems the video game studio decided not to go with anything in the vicinity of the usual portrayal of Mrs. Freeze. In previous iterations, she was cryogenically frozen by Mr. Freeze in hopes of finding a cure for her illness. Now, she is seemingly portrayed as taking over her husband's role.

One gamer even took it as far as to describe the new character as looking like a "non-binary Karen they/them."

The same account, with over 20,000 followers, suggested the studios sees feminine attributes as a threat.

"I predicted this before the game's release, and the backlash was intense. They perceive femininity and female anatomy as threats to society."

The short-haired depiction is actually so far off that outlets have theorized it must be from an alternate/timeline or universe.

— (@)

The character art follows the recent revelation from a video game artist that it is very difficult get studios to depict beautiful women in modern games.

Del Walker, an artist who has worked on Star Wars and Batman games, said that "after 10 iterations the concept or model comes back without a speck of the original beauty I pitched."

Walker added that it wasn't only the faces of the characters that have been changed but their entire likenesses, ages, and attitudes.

Gamers have pointed out the many examples of dampening beauty, such as Star Wars Outlaws character model Humberly González.

A recent remake of the classic Perfect Dark video game was also dragged for hardening the jawline of beloved hero Joanna Dark.

This appeared to be a similar instance with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, as the studio has seemed unwilling to depart from the diversity, equity, and inclusion parameters it set for itself during its production by involving diversity consulting company Sweet Baby Inc.

The game has faced significant backlash and calls for boycotts throughout its time on the market.

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Tomb Raider developers uncensor content, claim it was removed by accident: 'This has been resolved'



Almost two weeks after fans noticed that a portion of a Tomb Raider video game was removed, developers have since reinstated the content but claimed it was removed by accident.

Aspyr Media Inc., a subsidiary of gaming giant Embracer Group, admitted to fans of the series that it was behind the removal of images in Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artefact.

Previously, gamers noticed that developers had removed polygonal photos of its main character, Lara Croft, lying in provocative poses from the background of one of its environments. The original game's graphics made the images barely discernable, but in the remastered version, the animated posters were clear. This came more than two months after the release of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, which came out on February 14, 2024.

Fans were doubly mad at the fact that the remastered games were supposed to be presented in their original form, or so a disclaimer at the beginning of the games said.

"The games in this collection contain offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic prejudices. These stereotypes are deeply harmful, inexcusable, and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics," a prompt in the game read.

Aspyr Media chalked the removal of the images up to textural and graphical updates which caused an error.

"Thank you to the Tomb Raider community for your continued feedback and support for Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft," an employee named Daniel wrote.

"In the recently released Patch 2, we made several texture and graphical updates to the HD version. As part of these updates, the posters in Sleeping With The Fishes (The Lost Artifact) were inadvertently removed in the HD version of the game. This has been resolved and these textures will be restored in Patch 3," he added.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered's second update removed pinup posters of Lara in Tomb Raider III. Updates should never be used to retroactively censor games, it's a form of theft. Any company that engages in this bait & switch behavior should go bankrupt.
— (@)

Many fans were thankful for the decision, but some called the believability of Aspyr's claim into question.

"I have a hard time in this day and age believing that the change was inadvertent but it's certainly possible. Thank you for restoring them, either way. My faith in Aspyr is restored. My only suggestion is to get the word out quicker should something like this happen again," one fan stated on X.

@AspyrMedia I have a hard time in this day and age believing that the change was inadvertent but it's certainly possible.\n\nThank you for restoring them, either way. My faith in Aspyr is restored. My only suggestion is to get the word out quicker should something like this happen again.
— (@)

"I don't believe the change was 'inadvertent,' but good for you listening to fans and fixing the poor decision," another user wrote.


I don't believe the change was "inadvertent," but good for you listening to fans and fixing the poor decision.
— FedUpMajority (@FedUpMajority) April 26, 2024

Yet another user pointed out that there remained another change in the game that has mostly gone ignored. A enemy character in the game who had a topless woman on the back of his jacket was shown to have it covered with a bikini in the new version.

Credibility of the franchise has wavered among fans as Tomb Raider has suffered from horrible PR in early 2024. In addition to the alleged censorship and content warnings, a licensed board game for Tomb Raider also faced huge criticisms for saying that the series' main character, Lara Croft, was a "colonialist" while the games consisted of out-of-date and offensive themes related to stealing.

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Tomb Raider studio censors its own game months after release, despite saying it would present content in 'original form'



An update for video game Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artefact removed polygonal photos of its main character Lara Croft, lying in provocative poses, from the background of one of its environments.

Developer Crystal Dynamics is behind the latest update, which came more than two months after the release of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, which came out on February 14, 2024.

The apparently too-risqué pinups are reportedly based on promotional renders made for the original Tomb Raider III, and were found on the fourth level called "Sleeping with the Fishes" above a scuba diving gear locker, Bounding into Comics reported.

The first photo shows the lead character wearing her default outfit lying on a velvet background, while the second shows her covered by a bedsheet; neither shows any animated nudity of any kind.

In fact, the original game's graphics make the images barely discernable, but it is only the remastered version where the animated posters, signed by the fictional character herself, are clear.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered's second update removed pinup posters of Lara in Tomb Raider III. Updates should never be used to retroactively censor games, it's a form of theft. Any company that engages in this bait & switch behavior should go bankrupt.
— (@)

Reports at the time of this writing stated that there was no mention of the removal in the update's patch notes, despite the company having already made a disclaimer that said it wouldn't remove content from the game.

When the game launched, fans pointed out that it booted up with a content warning about "prejudices."

"The games in this collection contain offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic prejudices. These stereotypes are deeply harmful, inexcusable, and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics," a prompt in the game read.

"Rather than removing this content, we have chosen to present it here in its original form, unaltered, in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it," the warning concluded.

What\u2019s going on with the Tomb Raider Remastered Collecti\u2026.oh.
— (@)

Gamers theorized that the content warning was implemented due to characters called a "tribesman," also from the third game. The characters were purported to be from Polynesia, "shoot poison darts from blowguns," and killed and ate explorers on multiple occasions.

Celebrated game designer Mark Kern told Blaze News that the biggest concern regarding these changes is the ongoing "impermanence of digital media and the willingness of companies to censor, edit, or even remove entire games after purchase."

"Consumers deserve better protections, as our reality is edited in real time. Today it was a patch of some pinup posters, but tomorrow it will be much more. It's important to be aware of what is happening and the power we've given up to corporations to mess with things we've already paid for," he added.

The update is just days removed from stories about a Tomb Raider board game chastising its own fans and product by claiming the Lara Croft character is a result of "a world wounded by colonialism."

An excerpt from the game's manual gave a definition of the term "raiding" and then condemned it as operating on "the assumption of 'finders keepers' that grants raiders with the means and the drive to claim ownership of artefacts, regardless of whether they have any historical or cultural claim to the treasure."

Board game creator Evil Hat Productions said that it was working with Crystal Dynamics to "address colonialist themes" while creating games that "respect and support" other people and cultures.

Ideologues using beloved IPs as meatpuppets once again\nthe irony of using this as a tagline; "The Truth is hidden. The Truth is dangerous. And in the end, the power of Truth is what we make it."
— (@)

Evil Hat Productions did not respond to inquiries about the board game's manual. Crystal Dynamics was asked about the board game, as well as the decision to remove the posters from the video game.

This article will be updated with any relevant responses.

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Woke gaming company Sweet Baby Inc. blames 'far-right' conspiracies for backlash from DEI projects



Video game writers accused of injecting diversity, equity, and inclusion narratives in mainstream titles have blamed backlash from their projects on the "far-right."

The company, called Sweet Baby Inc., has dominated headlines in tech circles after a community of gamers formed a group to point out which projects the company has worked on.

The gripe among video game players has been that Sweet Baby Inc. painfully adds DEI storylines into popular games like Spider-Man 2 and God of War Ragnarok.

At the same time, cofounder David Bedard has declared that backlash from the gaming community is part of a far-right harassment campaign.

"For the past 4 months, my company (Sweet Baby Inc) has been targeted by a far-right harassment campaign / conspiracy theory," Bedard wrote on LinkedIn. "This is a tough situation for me, my co-founder Kim Belair, our entire team, and our collaborators. More than the frustrations caused by the harassment, and the precautions we’re putting in place as a result of that, the toughness comes from the fact that this entire campaign is based on misinformation. Misinformation so wild and left-field (or right-field, I guess) that it’s impossible to even engage with it to combat it," Bedard added.

The misinformation, the company has alleged, comes in the form of claims that Sweet Baby Inc.'s predominant work is pushing DEI narratives. Cofounder Belair argued that "people can’t imagine that we might do anything else but DEI. ... They can’t imagine that we’re just talented writers."

"We spoke with press to clear things up about exactly what we do, and how we do it," Bedard continued, as first reported by That Park Place. "Adding our voices to this conversation felt necessary, because what is happening to us is something that has happened before in this industry, and will happen again. It happens to not just us, but also to countless other devs, players, journalists, and creators."

Sweet Baby Inc Co-Founder, David B\u00e9dard speaks out on LinkedIn post. \n\nI would love for the opportunity to interview them on their processes and mission.
— (@)

This consistent position is a peculiar one for the self-described "inclusion-focused narrative and consultation company."

The company's site notes that its consultation process includes a "multitude of perspectives" while bringing in "diverse voices to solve diverse problems." Its website also states that the company provides "Cultural Consultation, Sensitivity And Inclusivity Reading, Risk and Opportunities Assessment, and more."

In addition to boasting that it can "assemble and lead" teams of "new and marginalized voices," the company also provides resources for "new and marginalized talent" with the potential to "change [the] industry if given the proper support."

While individual cases of misconduct toward the company are likely present, and of course inexcusable if elevating to illegal harassment, the overall sentiment from the gaming community is that they simply don't like DEI-infused video games.

The company has even seen criticisms from X owner Elon Musk and recent UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.

"Sweet Baby Inc is an evil blight on the gaming industry. All they do is make games terrible and try to cancel people. They cannot go broke soon enough!" Musk stated.

"Sean why aren't you in the UFC game"\nYears later being a top contender\n"Wow your stats are so low"\n\nWell you guys, the video game industry is leftist cesspool. I am the definition of what these people hate....\n\nBUT! I I take it as a compliment:) thanks.
— (@)

"Check in on your marginalized colleagues, and friends in this industry," Bedard said. "Make sure they're okay. Let them know that they are loved, that they are appreciated, that they are welcome and that they are talented. Tell them you're not going to let this kind of hate push them out of this industry. Tell them that things like this won't scare all of their community away — that they are protected, and that they have a place here, now more than ever," he concluded.

Bedard later edited his post to note that he had locked the comments section due to the presence of a "hate mob."

Sweet Baby Inc. and its employees have declined several requests for comments on a range of issues related to the ongoing topic.

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Video game developers take part in organized scream for 'diversity' and 'marginalized people'



Video game developers and designers took part in an organized event in which they screamed in unison for upwards of 30 seconds to express discontent with criticisms from fans and the gaming industry as a whole.

Among the reasons for their screams, participants stated frustration with the industry, a priority of sales over passion, and the treatment of diverse and "marginalized individuals" who feel harassed.

The scream took place at the 2024 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, where the event was organized by Caryl Shaw from Epic Games and Fortnite Festival designer Scott Jon Siegel.

"The game industry is falling apart around us, and we're all flocking to San Francisco for a week to pretend like this is fine," the event page read. "Let's take a minute where we all stop pretending, and express just how it feels to be a game developer in 2024. Join us for a collective moment of catharsis, camaraderie, and caterwauling. Let's descend upon Yerba Buena and when the clock strikes noon, have ourselves a nice big GDScream."

Siegal revealed to PC Gamer that the event was organized in part in response to the controversy over gaming narrative developer Sweet Baby Inc., a company accused of incessantly injecting diversity into video games.

Video game developers attending the Game Developers Conference participate in public scream.
— (@)

The event was covered by multiple gaming outlets, including IGN's Rebekah Valentine, who described it as a response to the growing discontent among game developers, who are facing mass layoffs and alleged coordinated harassment. Specifically, she noted that marginalized individuals were the ones being harassed.

Siegal told IGN that he is "always slightly screaming inside for a lot of personal reasons, but this is an industry that is built on passion."

"I loved games so much and I found that I had this passion for building them and building experiences that brought delight to other people. It's an industry that really feeds on that passion and takes advantage of that passion, and that's broken my heart over and over again ... and I just wanted to scream about it," he added.

"When you have this many people coming together in the game industry, going to all these events, having all these people attend presentations and awards ceremonies where not necessarily everyone is even mentioning the layoffs, even mentioning where the culture is currently, it all feels absurd," Siegel also told PC Gamer.

The event reportedly had around 50 people, with Siegal and others expressing that they feel forced to act like "everything is fine" in their industry.

Developers vented their frustration at the game industry's layoffs in a long scream at #GDC2024.\n\nGDScream is a "collective moment of catharsis, camaraderie, and caterwauling": https://t.co/WanmY9G0Zq\n\n#games #gamenews #videogames #GDC\n\nVideo by @TenaciousChi
— (@)

An anonymous game developer, according to IGN, took part in the scream after talking "about diversity in games."

"We were all marginalized people, and we're all looking at each other going, 'Yeah it sucks, for some reason we have to do this, and we cannot not do this, and I don't know how to deal with the obligation of having to do this just because I'm the person that I am.'"

Another attendee and developer, Jimmy Chi, expressed that his reasons behind screaming were related to job losses, which caused colleagues to lose houses but also lose visas or be deported.

"Meanwhile, record profits, all the time," he noted.

Other employees at publisher Tender Claws spoke of feeling "hopeless" and "angry" and urged for unionization.

"We screamed because we're angry. But we're also here because we really want people to know that you don't just have to be angry. You don't just have to feel hopeless ... I think it's really, really urgent in this time that people use the leverage that we have, that we unionize," said programmer Robin LoBuglio.

Gamers have grown tired of forceful DEI injections into games, but it seems diversity-centric gaming employees are not aligned with their customers on this issue. Developers at an individual level appear to feel attacked by criticisms of forced DEI — as shown by their reactions online and at events like this — but their focus predominately is on their treatment from parent companies and employers.

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‘Call Of Duty’ Parent Company Censors Streamer For Defending Kids From Trans Agenda

The fanatical celebration of LGBT ideas can only proliferate so far before a crackback, as demonstrated by the ongoing parent protests and the 'Call of Duty' counter-offensive.

'Only the tip of the iceberg': Pentagon leaks traced to Discord, a gamer-centric chat app



Researchers have traced a major leak of U.S. classified documents about the war between Ukraine and Russia to a gamer-centric chat app called Discord, Bellingcat and the Associated Press reported.

"We don't know. We truly don't know," National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters Monday on whether the leaks present an ongoing threat.

Kirby said the the Department of Defense has referred the matter to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation. He added that President Biden was briefed late last week on the leaks and had stayed in contact with national security officials over the weekend.

Thursday, the New York Times reported on the documents appearing on Twitter and Telegram.
Researchers from Bellingcat, however, have traced the origin of the leak farther back in time and to a different app called Discord, where documents circulated as early as January 13.

Discord is a chat app popular with gamers but is used by a wide variety of other communities, like bird watchers, fans of television shows, and even college professors holding classes. The platform offers chat, voice, and video channels.

Aric Toler, Director of Training and Research at Bellingcat, traced ten documents with "Top Secret" markings about Ukraine to a Discord server called "Minecraft Earth Map" posted March 4. He says that leak was spurred by a spat between users, one of whom attached the bevy of documents, apparently to win an argument.

Bellingcat is "independent investigative collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists brought together by a passion for open source research" founded in 2014.

Seven items from the ten-document trove on the Minecraft Earth Map server later appeared on 4chan and Telegram.

Tracing even further back in time, Toler notes that on March 1 and March 2, more than 30 documents were posted to another Discord server called WowMao. Though he had seen those posts, he could not independently verify their authenticity.

Stepping back in time for a final time, posts in the same style and formatting as those posted to Discord's WowMao server apparently also appeared on a now-deleted server called Thug Shaker Central January 13. Toler also could not independently verify the authenticity of these posts.

The Thug Shaker Central document screenshots were reportedly provided to him by members of the Thug Shaker Central community in the form of intentionally blurred screenshots. Those who provided the screenshots told Toler the files leaked to WowMao were only "the tip of the iceberg" compared to the material shared on Thug Shaker Central.

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Why The Woke Mob Came For ‘Final Fantasy’

When the 'Final Fantasy XVI' trailer first dropped, race-obsessed losers noticed none of the characters had dark skin tones and promptly lost their minds.

CROWDER: The Biden administration FINALLY defines a 'woman'



The White House announced who has to register for the draft: people born with a penis. Crowder revels in the outrage. Also, Troy Aikman is being attacked for making a 100 percent accurate comment about the "wussification" of the NFL. And they let Joe Biden talk with Jake Tapper for some reason. That and more on today's episode of "Louder with Crowder."


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