I'm actually quite relieved with the responses in this thread. I have been a bit disillusioned with SHH as of late, and this was a nice bit of optimism for my day.
TheLastBlade, I would suggest that you try and be a bit more empathetic rather than simply the last eight letters, and see things from a woman's point of view when looking at games. Not only is there startlingly little games that actually feature women as the central protagonist compared to men, but their portrayals are often deprotagonised, sexualised, objectified, or simply placed as a blank slate. Even Mass Effect, a very well thought out series, still had the Asari, a borderline nerd sexual fantasy race.
Even worse, much of gaming culture is incredibly hostile not just to feminism, but to the existence of female gamers in general. Just look at the Fake Geek Girls debacle (interesting that the never was a Fake Geek Guys one, despite many existing), the response to Anita Sarkeesian (There are much better feminist videos on gaming, but the responses demonstrate the remarkable vitriol), and the well recorded cases of comic-con guys 'quizzing' women or belittling them in other ways as not 'true fans.'
The mere fact that you continually brush off legitimate criticism as 'it's just videogames' only reveals how startlingly entrenched issues of sexism are. You would never see such overwhelming responses with, say, racism. It is sad really, that so many gamers at once want the wider world to appreciate the possibilities and brilliance of the medium, while at the same time lashing out in that passive aggressive way only middle class guys can do so well at any an all criticism. Political criticism is vital to helping change culture in more positive and equal ways. Hell, even in small ones - like the greater recognition Femshep was given for Mass Effect 3's marketing and packaging over her almost brand invisibility in the previous two installments.
