I thought the gaming world was over the sexist thing; apparently I was wrong

I'd hate to tell her that the gaming world still isn't entirely over it 25 years later

  • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
    hexagon
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    As much as gamers have insisted that girls don't/didn't play video games I seem to remember letters like this popping up pretty regularly in video game magazine mail bag sections where women complained about how they were being treated by video game publishers, media and gamers

    I remember how in one Finnish gaming magazine some dude wrote in to complain about how unrealistic it was to have female characters in games involving combat because of le muscle mass, etc. Later a female reader wrote a response where she thoroughly debunked and dunked on the guy. Unfortunately I think she gushed over female IDF soldiers in it

    • GenderIsOpSec [she/her]
      ·
      2 months ago

      Was this in Pelit or Mikrobitti? There was something else too wasnt there thonk dont remember though

      • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
        hexagon
        ·
        2 months ago

        I assume Pelit- this would've been in the mid 2000s before the Xbox 360 hit the scene since I had mostly stopped reading print gaming media by then

        I think there was also Pelaaja (?) but it just wasn't as good as Pelit

        • GenderIsOpSec [she/her]
          ·
          2 months ago

          my brother used to have subscription to it in the 90s and I read all of those so many times, just marveling at the pretty pictures. They would probably not hold up very well if I actually read them today.

          • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
            hexagon
            ·
            edit-2
            2 months ago

            I seem to recall they were at least not as cringy/horny as many other gaming magazines

            Though the 90s cringe is what makes browsing these OPM issues on the Internet Archive so fun

        • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
          ·
          2 months ago

          You don't truly grow up until you realize Pelit was never actually that good.

          • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
            hexagon
            ·
            2 months ago

            What do you mean? I remember one issue having a comic strip where the main character went out and killed every Finland Swedish person with a katana because he misunderstood a quest in an RPG or something

            Incredible comedy

            • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
              ·
              2 months ago

              No, I really like reading ”everything except the stuff I like is bad and for children” columns from a condescending boomer chud for 30+ years.

              • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
                hexagon
                ·
                2 months ago

                If I ever come across old issues of Pelit in my parents' house or something I'll have to see just how awful their takes and politics are to my adult brain

                • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  Honestly, all the really bad takes were on their forum, where they were assumedly free of the shackles of any journalistic pretense xok

                  That forum was where I found out about 9/11 was happening, though.

                  • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
                    hexagon
                    ·
                    2 months ago

                    I can't even imagine how bad those forums must have been, especially if they had been around for that long