TRU

Henry Jenkins (to the right) is the publisher to a famous book; 'From Barbie to Mortal Kombat'. Henry covered most issues within Gender representation at the early era of 3D Gaming around 1996 onwards. He covers areas around women that appear within early titles where the characters "rarely appear in them, except as damsels requiring rescue, or rewards for completing the mission."


Henry has placed a key point here within early games of the late 90's. But i'm not sure those points are so valid now, maybe in some cases we still see this, such as within a level in 'God of War' where you are rewarded with two females for sexual pleasure for reaching that level. But Herny and Justine, the co-writer of the book may have had a large impact within the gaming industry and made developers re-evaluate there game concepts. Games now such as; 'Tomb Raider', 'Perfect Dark', 'Metroid Prime' and 'Fable 2' all allow you to control a female lead character. What most games companys are doing is allowing the player to choose whether to play as a male or female lead role.
This book, published in 1997, still remains relied on for identification into gender issues in gaming. But ten years on, games have learnt, they have changed and most have become more exceptable to media conception. Females in most games do no longer appear passive, or objectified/ inferior to the male characters, which is why in games like 'Resident Evil 5' you can choose whether to play a male or female character, as previously mentioned.
Games have changed a lot over the last 10 years, and in another 10 years time they will have changed more than ever. But will Jenkins' views on gender representation still be valued?