Trashed Idea – Hey Baby Game

Apparently there is now a game designed specifically for women to shoot men for making random, oft-times crude sexual advances.

Hey Baby, which was released in June and can be played for free at www.heybabygame.com, has raised some controversy on gaming blogs, as both men and women debate the validity of its public-service message about street harassment. Although some games are designed to provoke conversation and political action (Darfur is Dying comes to mind), Hey Baby differs in that it’s designed strictly for women ā€” a demographic that until recently wasn’t thought to be particularly interested in game violence.

Hey Baby, which was created by a female designer and producer from New York City, doesn’t really offer anything new in terms of the level of violence ā€” we’ve seen far worse. What does surprise, however, is its reversal of the gender roles. With few exceptions (think Lara Croft from Tomb Raider or Samus Aran from the Metroid series), violent video games typically involve male heroes, and the action is largely male-on-male or, in some cases, male-on-female ā€” such as in Grand Theft Auto, in which male characters can abuse and murder prostitutes, and in Rapelay, a Japanese game in which the male character’s sole pursuit is to sexually assault women.

In all fairness, they don’t report about Bayonetta, which has a female witch killing angels as the protagonist, albeit exploiting her sex appeal severely. You can read more here. Thanks to Rieddhi for the find.

This entry was posted in Anger, Fact Check, Games, Pimp that Site, Trashed Idea and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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