If you want EVEN MORE of my thoughts you can find them on patreon where any tier unlocks a written post mortem a few days after a video upload. www.patreon.com/AdamSrayi
The only "mother games" i can think of are the Plague Tale games... even though Amicia is only the older sister she tries to raise Hugo within very hard circumstances which creates a gripping story.
Such an important and beautiful video. And the awful comments just prove your point. Regardless, the fact that some people out there like you still make content like this makes me happy. So thank you.
yeah, some of these comments straight up depress me. gamers will confidently say the dumbest shit imaginable about women and then wonder why female gamers try as hard as possible to not interact with them.
The only game related to motherhood or at the very least being a daughter looking for a mother figure that I can think of is Horizon Zero Dawn. The whole game Aloy is trying to find out where she came from, who is her mother, and she keeps following this lengthy trail of this woman who looks identical to her who could be the only possible candidate for her mother. Throughout the game women play a very important role and Aloy's "mother" plays a huge role in the story and Aloy's life. It's not as much the focus in the sequel, Horizon Forbidden West but it's still a lingering plot point that Aloy desperately wished to connect with her "mother" but she can't because her mother died long before she was born. I highly recommend both games if you want a fun experience and a story that will bring you to tears.
The Last Of Us 2 clip at the end was a great way to finish this video. Although I wasn't as moved by TLOU2 as I was the first game, I'm excited to see how the series will once again start a new trend, this time through motherhood. I just hope they don't make Ellie a "female father", but actually try to make her a mother.
It happened to my girlfriend and he didn't get much prison time. He's free now and knows where she lives. It's been a long time without him doing anything, but she was living in fear the first few weeks of him being out. Tragic what it can do to a woman long term 😢
Misogyny in spheres centered around video games are rampant; I find it at its worst in places like TH-cam, along with a myriad of other issues like racism and homophobia. It feels good to be acknowledged and validated in how this community responds to women like me and the roles they are expected to play. It's nothing we can't handle - to be a woman you must have thick skin - but I wish it wasn't this way. I wish every man could see humanity in us like they see in themselves. Thank you for your videos, they are endlessly beautiful and meaningful to me. EDIT: I really want to say that videos like this are especially important in this culture war being waged against any and all minorities. Hatred and bigotry against racial/ethnic, disabled, and sexual minorities has been rampant lately with the far-right propaganda that's being spewed and just this pride month I'm being shown that public opinion is swaying against us. But I know that hatred of all kinds, even when it has dominated in the past, has never won. The video really speaks to me, thank you :)
You aren't hated. You're just incorrect about things, and being debunked. You don't need thick skin as a woman. You have life on recruit difficulty. Men see an enhanced form of humanity in you. We treat you better than a man in the same situation all the time. The same people you accuse of being misogynist want rapists to get a death penalty while your left wing friends want them to be given a second chance. So called bigotry is more common on TH-cam because it allows more free speech, and so called bigotry wins in a far fight of arguments when our side doesn't need to fight with both hands tied behind it's back.
Can't believe someone else noticed this. Motherhood is completely ignored by most popular movies and videogames. Though I don't think this is completely due to the majority male audience.
What an insightful and well edited video. Breaks my heart that misogyny is still so rampant in the video games community. Theres so many stories to explore and prejudice inhibits telling those stories in one of the most immersive story-telling mediums! As a nonbinary person who has a girlish voice I would always be afraid of voice chats and connecting with the community, afraid to be a victim of abuse like ive seen countless times. It is a bit better than it used to be, but that comes from carefully curating a safe space for myself. I hope we get to have more female and gender nonconforming characters represented in mainstream games, i’ll be so willing to embrace them and I hope others too, once they get over their prejudice. And I think these types a videos and conversations is one step towards that! So, thank you!
I know misogyny in the video games industry is a serious topic that needs to be talked about more, but I must admit I'm very disappointed that this video didn't talk about any actual mom games. _Are_ there any mom games out there? That's the question I expected to find the answer to when I read the title of your video and clicked on it. But you didn't answer that question. You didn't tell me where the mom games _are,_ you only told me where the mom games _are not._ Which is not an answer to the title of this video. Some games I can think of where motherhood is a prominent theme: Detroit: Become Human - Kara's storyline Death Stranding - The protagonist is male, but really the game is all about motherhood Unpacking - er...including this game on the list is technically a major spoiler, sorry about that Returnal - Maybe? Not sure, I haven't had the chance to play it yet. The protagonist _is_ a mom though, so there's that Okami - I haven't played this game, but from what I've heard the protagonist Amaterasu has maternal qualities
This was an amazing and insightful video. Thank you for highlighting this important topic. I'd really like to see motherhood in gaming explored more as a whole. In the past recent years it seems like a lot of horror films deal with themes of motherhood and horror, it be interesing to see that more in games. We already have some that have dealt with this: bloodborne, the silent hill series. It would be interesting to really expand upon in any genre, but there is something very interesing to me about it in horror. Especially if the main protagonist is pregnant/ a mother. It forces the player to empathize with her and gives them a perspective we rarely see in games.
As a man who has his own saga of resentment and reconciliation with his own father I really love the "dead genre" in games. The lack of motherhood stories and sexism in the game industry is such an important but also delicate topic to talk about. Kudos to you for being careful enough to bring up sources to back up your line of thought. Well made video as always! Here's hope to see this reality change soon enough. It's well overdue
Important video! What you said about these dad games being a natural progression of the frat boy culture in the industry is very thought provoking. Hopefully a AAA “mom game” is just over the horizon and can blow our socks off just like god of war 2018.
Well that only really explains the AAA scene, which has a whole host of other problems. Why haven't we seen games about motherhood on the indie scene? There's Lisa: The Painful which is an indie dad game,
I'm not involved in the gaming community, but don't AAA studios have no resources to make more experimental games? Wouldnt indie studios be more strapped for cash and investors, which stifles their creativity as their prioritize "safe" or "profitable" games compared to more experimental games?
@@BronzeBellaBria It's the other way around. Indie game developers are more free to experiment because they aren't being hounded on by investors to produce a game that is "guaranteed" to make money, i.e. a game that is "safe" and "profitable". Also most indie game developers make their games as a hobby, not as their primary source of income
that would indeed be an interesting character arc and development path , ofc it could also be argued that Lara was/is the counter-idea of a woman who does not want to be a pregnant wife/mother and is always out seeking adventure/etc , ie she is strong/independent and doesnt need/want to be tied down to a man/father ; i think the reason we dont have as many 'mom' games is because it goes against the proto-typical female-empowerment narrative
I loved watching this video. these messages are so important and horribly hidden by the rest of the game industry. I’ve loved the rise of fatherhood storytelling in media and games especially, but it also gives me the idea that men can’t be good fathers unless the mother is not in the picture. I get that having one less parent makes for more hardship and thus more complex stories, but I hope someday we’ll get a game with both. thanks for this.
If only the protagonist were...actually female and not the manliest middle-finger wielding, zombie fighting, motorcycle-riding, grease smeared Norman Reedus...nothing like a Norman's love
@@BronzeBellaBria Kojima once mentioned in an interview that there is a Japanese sci-fi book in which males can give birth by using an artificial womb. I would not be surprised if Death Stranding was partly inspired by that book.
Fantastic vid! I love that you featured some women game devs but would have loved an ending that featured some actual footage of the games they made. I sadly did not recognize any of the women!
yeah, i cant watch this. ive heard about plenty and legit just dont wunna get angry. im sure its a great vid though. def gave it a thumbs up. thanks a bunch for the warning fam.
Oddly enough I find that women these days almost look down on motherhood. See it as a burden. That's likely the reason why they haven't tried to make a motherhood-focused game. Not only that, but the gaming community can get a bit misogynistic at times too. Edit: I made this comment before watching the video btw
12:42 "The stories themselves are hostile to mothers", then you begin listing games where the mom's dead. I don't really see how that's hostile. Are we gonna describe stories about lone mothers as "hostile to mothers"? I think the answer to the title question is pretty simple and doesn't really have that much to do with sexism - it's the demand. Tbh you can see a lot of stories portraying motherhood (especially lone motherhood) in media and even in everyday life. Stories about lone fathers are much more rare, but they resonate more to adolescent boys who are the majority in gaming community. Moreover, there are several well-made mother games that people in the comments have talked about.
Theses game are either this mom was dead, abusive, on drugs and is used more symbolically then in a similar fashion as a mother journeying with her child or on a journey to be a mother. Motherhood is an identity that erases the woman herself most of the time. There isn't a multifaceted depiction like with Kratos here.
The industry sucks, the culture sucks... Being a woman in modern world is an existential crisis. The industry is a sausage fest, just like any tech field, but there's plenty of lady developers who just don't care to make games nobody else seems to be making. Teaming up? Sometimes, rarely... Considering how 90% of women I talk to say they don't want kids, thus they don't want to be mothers: It seems there just is very very very little market for... Anything motherhood related or interest in making them. Sure, there might be like 15 people wanting that at any given time, but chances you get a game like "Amy" are high... Blame whatever cultural shifts of this, how girls and women nowadays are shamed if they dare to plan/wish to be mothers or housewives, as everyone has to be on that girlboss sigma grindset 24/7, otherwise you're participating in internalized misogyny and patriarchy... So while fixing the industry and the sexism in it is the priority: It won't magically give us games about motherhood.
I think there are many games about motherhood like one example of the top of my head is Detroit Become Human. Kara represented beautifully how the motherly nature in women just wants to protect the child. Also it mostly has to do with the demand in the market right now. Right now there's been a culture shift going on and more and more women who are ideologically driven are demanding more and more badass female protagonist who are so called independent and can do all the things without anyone's help. That's why we are getting characters like Lara Croft from TR and Chloe from Uncharted. I love those games and the protagonists ad well. But the developers will only produce characters and stories that will sell in the market and most modern women aint looking to become mother's who have to slave all the time and follow their husband's command. They wanna be rich, cool and badass like those female protagonist. That's why those games sell millions of copies. And not the one with stories about motherhood. Secondly, males especially fathers in today's society are shamed IRL and clearly discriminated against in the family court specially in matters regarding child custody and paternity. So in a way these fatherhood stories help men in general live those moments temporarily. Young men also relate to such stories since a bunch of them grow fatherless and often with a toxic mother. So, having someone even a fictional character can help them connect and learn about the hard lessons of life like purpose, journey and moral duty to themselves and society in general.
Men are treated that way in those courts because women are identified as caretaker and not individual person. Men are separate people from their children. Women are not seen or treated that way. So, it's assumed that the mother should get the kids because they are not seperate.
Honestly the next Bioshock could capitalise on this idea. You can still keep the core “rules” set by infinite but the gender flip would be fresh take. Likewise; Resident has a pretty good shot at pulling this off.
I believe the 'father' role fits much more in the role of a protagonist. I mean the role of a father in general is to provide and protect, so it fits much more easily to create the gameplay core around the idea of you the player taking the role of a guardian and protecting someone smaller and weaker than you, in other words it's easier to make an action game around. I don't say it's impossible to replace the father protagonist with a woman but I don't think that makes a 'mother' game. In my opinion, a mother game should be built around the themes of motherhood like nurture, love, and also protection but enclined more on the emotional than physical and this is why I believe there aren't any mother games as building a gameplay loop to facilitate those themes is undiscovered ground. But I hope in the future we will see a mother game, one that doesn't try to be a father game with a woman as a protagonist but a mother game that embraces the core aspects of motherhood in a fun and possibly very successful way because I really want to see this new type of genre
This comment is actually an AMAZING example of what Adam's talking about. Of course you think the 'father' role is more fit as a protagonist. You don't see women as fully actualized human beings. Men's stories are just the "naturally" more interesting story to you because you've unfairly assigned women these weak, and lets be honest (worthless) qualities and attributes that are prescribed from a gender binary. You have literally said that womens stories aren't worth telling because of invented reasons x, y, and z. You prescribed traits that you don't inherently value to women and then labeled them as uninteresting for it. You don't need to be a man to protect someone smaller and weaker than you. You don't need to be a man to be a compelling and complex character, experience struggle, have battles of epic proportions, or to have stories worth telling. The fact that you can't even conceive what it would look like to have a mother story speaks to how limited your imagination is because of misogynistic structures like this in gaming. Women are feral, especially when it comes to their children. Women literally BREAK their bodies to bear children-- do you understand that? They break their bodies, oftentimes permanently. It is literally the most hard-core thing a human being can do. It is one of the worst pains a human can endure, so much so that our brains must have resorted to self-amnesia so that we are willing to do it again. And btw, women have a higher pain tolerance than men, and far exceed men in competitions of endurance and perserverence. Sounds like a badass video game character to me.
@@ionutpetrisor9073hey're right. If we're talking about games as fantastical and mythical as GoW, we can have women that are strong protectors (because they already exist irl). Freya in GoW was almost a good example of this but fell short. She's powerful but acts crazy for half the series which is just reinforcing other annoying writing cliches for women characters.
@@seancutt793 But Freya isn't crazy at all, her wrath against Kratos is completely justified. Meanwhile she's a lot more reluctant to attack Atreus because he's only guilty by association, which shows that even in her grief and rage she's still got a fairly level head on her shoulders
I'm surprised you didn't mention Metroid: Other M. It's a good early example of an attempt to make a 'mom game'. And while it definitely has its faults, the backlash to it was certainly still influenced by it.
I am a man, i like sex and violence, why would i play a "mother game"?? people who complain most about social stuff are not actually consuming the products. I mean how did Forspoken?
I am a woman, I love video games and also love sex and violence. Maybe actual mothers and people like me would enjoy a game that revolves around a woman and a maternal relationship. While I don’t particularly find myself to be a nurturing person, I think it would be an interesting storyline to explore and learn more about. Crazy how there are different gamer demographics.
I understand why you made the video but i don't think its that deep. A plague tale sounds like more of what you're looking for and the truth of the matter is the gameplay in that game to me just isnt very interesting. But to say that woman dont have any parental motivation in video games in 2023 is just a strange observation. Then you just turned it into a social commentary instead of actually proving your point. Horizon is probably planning on doing exactly what you're asking for so just have patience. These narrative style of games are not new. Last of us is only a decade old and revolutionized the linear narrative style of story telling. In that time, we've only really had god of war try something similar and succeed to a similar effect. Literally the same studio. You can't just show one person's work and then complain that not enough people are becoming inspired to create new stories that fit your ideal.
@@Confusedddd Agreed. Following the opening act, Amicia tries taking more of a mother role to Hugo, than sister. At least from what I've play, though I haven't finished the game.
@@Wisdawms Injustices against women occurs which needs to be solved but mixing that up with video games like that doesn't make sense. There's a reason why video games don't feature motherhood. It's because of the cultural shift. A lot of modern women not all but a bunch of them just don't want to have kids anymore and want to be bossy and independent that's why studios are giving them such characters like Lara Croft, Chloe from Uncharted, etc.
@@the1stmetalhead That is not true at all, that's just how you wanna look at it 'cause it serves your narrative point of view. The percentage of women who don't want to have children, you'll find, is actually surprisingly low. It's just the internet and modern feminism seems to blow these things out of proportion and make it seem like it's the new frontier, when in fact, it's only a speck of dust. If there is fatherhood, there surely will be motherhood. "but mixing that up with video games doesn't make sense" What do you mean mixing that up, who mixed what up? People don't choose how they are prejudiced, and if we choose to talk about a valid concern it is not "mixing it up for political reasons" I recommend getting out of your bubble and put yourself in other's shoes every once in a while .
If you want EVEN MORE of my thoughts you can find them on patreon where any tier unlocks a written post mortem a few days after a video upload. www.patreon.com/AdamSrayi
The only "mother games" i can think of are the Plague Tale games... even though Amicia is only the older sister she tries to raise Hugo within very hard circumstances which creates a gripping story.
the walking dead
@@redacted8472 that's another big sister story. Far different from motherhood.
Such an important and beautiful video. And the awful comments just prove your point. Regardless, the fact that some people out there like you still make content like this makes me happy. So thank you.
yeah, some of these comments straight up depress me. gamers will confidently say the dumbest shit imaginable about women and then wonder why female gamers try as hard as possible to not interact with them.
The only game related to motherhood or at the very least being a daughter looking for a mother figure that I can think of is Horizon Zero Dawn. The whole game Aloy is trying to find out where she came from, who is her mother, and she keeps following this lengthy trail of this woman who looks identical to her who could be the only possible candidate for her mother. Throughout the game women play a very important role and Aloy's "mother" plays a huge role in the story and Aloy's life. It's not as much the focus in the sequel, Horizon Forbidden West but it's still a lingering plot point that Aloy desperately wished to connect with her "mother" but she can't because her mother died long before she was born. I highly recommend both games if you want a fun experience and a story that will bring you to tears.
I love Horizon! I featured the games in a previous video actually
Don't forget Detroit: Become Human. Kara's entire story is about being a mother, it's a much larger plot point there than it is in Horizon.
I wrote a treatment for a Mother-Son game a while back, it's a seriously under-explored concept I think could be done extremely well.
The Last Of Us 2 clip at the end was a great way to finish this video. Although I wasn't as moved by TLOU2 as I was the first game, I'm excited to see how the series will once again start a new trend, this time through motherhood. I just hope they don't make Ellie a "female father", but actually try to make her a mother.
Society doesn't shame sexual assaulters as much as they should. The fact that people can comfortably joke around about it is just sickening
It happened to my girlfriend and he didn't get much prison time. He's free now and knows where she lives. It's been a long time without him doing anything, but she was living in fear the first few weeks of him being out. Tragic what it can do to a woman long term 😢
No shade but where did this come from? I just clicked on the vid so I'm all ears
Misogyny in spheres centered around video games are rampant; I find it at its worst in places like TH-cam, along with a myriad of other issues like racism and homophobia. It feels good to be acknowledged and validated in how this community responds to women like me and the roles they are expected to play. It's nothing we can't handle - to be a woman you must have thick skin - but I wish it wasn't this way. I wish every man could see humanity in us like they see in themselves. Thank you for your videos, they are endlessly beautiful and meaningful to me.
EDIT: I really want to say that videos like this are especially important in this culture war being waged against any and all minorities. Hatred and bigotry against racial/ethnic, disabled, and sexual minorities has been rampant lately with the far-right propaganda that's being spewed and just this pride month I'm being shown that public opinion is swaying against us. But I know that hatred of all kinds, even when it has dominated in the past, has never won. The video really speaks to me, thank you :)
You aren't hated. You're just incorrect about things, and being debunked. You don't need thick skin as a woman. You have life on recruit difficulty. Men see an enhanced form of humanity in you. We treat you better than a man in the same situation all the time. The same people you accuse of being misogynist want rapists to get a death penalty while your left wing friends want them to be given a second chance. So called bigotry is more common on TH-cam because it allows more free speech, and so called bigotry wins in a far fight of arguments when our side doesn't need to fight with both hands tied behind it's back.
Sad but true. Please ignore the dude-bro comments, their misogyny is showing.
Great video. Been following for a couple of months now and I love the topics you choose.
Can't believe someone else noticed this. Motherhood is completely ignored by most popular movies and videogames.
Though I don't think this is completely due to the majority male audience.
What an insightful and well edited video. Breaks my heart that misogyny is still so rampant in the video games community. Theres so many stories to explore and prejudice inhibits telling those stories in one of the most immersive story-telling mediums! As a nonbinary person who has a girlish voice I would always be afraid of voice chats and connecting with the community, afraid to be a victim of abuse like ive seen countless times. It is a bit better than it used to be, but that comes from carefully curating a safe space for myself. I hope we get to have more female and gender nonconforming characters represented in mainstream games, i’ll be so willing to embrace them and I hope others too, once they get over their prejudice. And I think these types a videos and conversations is one step towards that! So, thank you!
Imo Russophobia and Islamophobia are much more real issues than anything you listed.
I know misogyny in the video games industry is a serious topic that needs to be talked about more, but I must admit I'm very disappointed that this video didn't talk about any actual mom games. _Are_ there any mom games out there? That's the question I expected to find the answer to when I read the title of your video and clicked on it. But you didn't answer that question. You didn't tell me where the mom games _are,_ you only told me where the mom games _are not._ Which is not an answer to the title of this video.
Some games I can think of where motherhood is a prominent theme:
Detroit: Become Human - Kara's storyline
Death Stranding - The protagonist is male, but really the game is all about motherhood
Unpacking - er...including this game on the list is technically a major spoiler, sorry about that
Returnal - Maybe? Not sure, I haven't had the chance to play it yet. The protagonist _is_ a mom though, so there's that
Okami - I haven't played this game, but from what I've heard the protagonist Amaterasu has maternal qualities
This was an amazing and insightful video. Thank you for highlighting this important topic. I'd really like to see motherhood in gaming explored more as a whole. In the past recent years it seems like a lot of horror films deal with themes of motherhood and horror, it be interesing to see that more in games. We already have some that have dealt with this: bloodborne, the silent hill series. It would be interesting to really expand upon in any genre, but there is something very interesing to me about it in horror. Especially if the main protagonist is pregnant/ a mother. It forces the player to empathize with her and gives them a perspective we rarely see in games.
As a man who has his own saga of resentment and reconciliation with his own father I really love the "dead genre" in games. The lack of motherhood stories and sexism in the game industry is such an important but also delicate topic to talk about. Kudos to you for being careful enough to bring up sources to back up your line of thought. Well made video as always! Here's hope to see this reality change soon enough. It's well overdue
Great video
Important video! What you said about these dad games being a natural progression of the frat boy culture in the industry is very thought provoking. Hopefully a AAA “mom game” is just over the horizon and can blow our socks off just like god of war 2018.
Well that only really explains the AAA scene, which has a whole host of other problems.
Why haven't we seen games about motherhood on the indie scene? There's Lisa: The Painful which is an indie dad game,
As well you almost exclusively talked about Western devs and games. CD Project Red may be the exception, however that depends on who you ask.
I'm not involved in the gaming community, but don't AAA studios have no resources to make more experimental games?
Wouldnt indie studios be more strapped for cash and investors, which stifles their creativity as their prioritize "safe" or "profitable" games compared to more experimental games?
@@BronzeBellaBria It's the other way around. Indie game developers are more free to experiment because they aren't being hounded on by investors to produce a game that is "guaranteed" to make money, i.e. a game that is "safe" and "profitable".
Also most indie game developers make their games as a hobby, not as their primary source of income
I would love a Lara Croft game where she is a mother or mother figure.
that would indeed be an interesting character arc and development path , ofc it could also be argued that Lara was/is the counter-idea of a woman who does not want to be a pregnant wife/mother and is always out seeking adventure/etc , ie she is strong/independent and doesnt need/want to be tied down to a man/father ; i think the reason we dont have as many 'mom' games is because it goes against the proto-typical female-empowerment narrative
Your channel is so underrated...seriously this was another great video
Wow! Amazing analysis. Among the most insightful videos I've ever seen!
Just found your channel via the algo gods. Good luck to you.
Damages for these discrimination cases should start at a flat 10% of the company's entire estimated value.
I loved watching this video. these messages are so important and horribly hidden by the rest of the game industry. I’ve loved the rise of fatherhood storytelling in media and games especially, but it also gives me the idea that men can’t be good fathers unless the mother is not in the picture. I get that having one less parent makes for more hardship and thus more complex stories, but I hope someday we’ll get a game with both. thanks for this.
i might be missing something but from the context of the video it’s not particularly clear why the girls from TLOU suffered all the harassment?
Death Stranding is a “Mom” game.
Damm I have to agree, it's just not so obvious at first but the motherhood theme is a constant topic throughout the whole game.
@@Utubeuser000 another big game about motherhood is Detroit Become Human. Look at the character of Kara.
@@the1stmetalhead Oh yeah! I love that game so much. Kara's actress performance is top notch
If only the protagonist were...actually female and not the manliest middle-finger wielding, zombie fighting, motorcycle-riding, grease smeared Norman Reedus...nothing like a Norman's love
@@BronzeBellaBria Kojima once mentioned in an interview that there is a Japanese sci-fi book in which males can give birth by using an artificial womb. I would not be surprised if Death Stranding was partly inspired by that book.
Fantastic vid! I love that you featured some women game devs but would have loved an ending that featured some actual footage of the games they made. I sadly did not recognize any of the women!
Great video!!!
I am having trouble finding the connection between all these terrible things and dad games like god of war and witcher
I can think only of that third Amnesia game, that's one about motherhood. Let's hope that there are at least a few more out there.
Immediately subscribed.
Joel did nothing wrong but become a father again.
Only killed a couple hundred innocent people and others looking for a cure. He's not quite a "villain", but he's very far from perfect.
What about A Plague Tale, Requiem? Amicia is pretty much a mom character
Guys like and play video games. Most women despise video games. It’s made for us. The core audience wins the bid.
Bayonetta. Mother.
The Plague Tale games.
Tho Amicia is the Boys sister, she basically takes the role of the Mother.
Thank you. Great example
yeah, i cant watch this. ive heard about plenty and legit just dont wunna get angry. im sure its a great vid though. def gave it a thumbs up. thanks a bunch for the warning fam.
Oddly enough I find that women these days almost look down on motherhood. See it as a burden. That's likely the reason why they haven't tried to make a motherhood-focused game. Not only that, but the gaming community can get a bit misogynistic at times too.
Edit: I made this comment before watching the video btw
I want Mom Games ;-;
12:42 "The stories themselves are hostile to mothers", then you begin listing games where the mom's dead.
I don't really see how that's hostile. Are we gonna describe stories about lone mothers as "hostile to mothers"?
I think the answer to the title question is pretty simple and doesn't really have that much to do with sexism - it's the demand. Tbh you can see a lot of stories portraying motherhood (especially lone motherhood) in media and even in everyday life. Stories about lone fathers are much more rare, but they resonate more to adolescent boys who are the majority in gaming community.
Moreover, there are several well-made mother games that people in the comments have talked about.
Theses game are either this mom was dead, abusive, on drugs and is used more symbolically then in a similar fashion as a mother journeying with her child or on a journey to be a mother. Motherhood is an identity that erases the woman herself most of the time. There isn't a multifaceted depiction like with Kratos here.
TWD 2 Game, talk a little aboth motherhood
The industry sucks, the culture sucks... Being a woman in modern world is an existential crisis.
The industry is a sausage fest, just like any tech field, but there's plenty of lady developers who just don't care to make games nobody else seems to be making. Teaming up? Sometimes, rarely...
Considering how 90% of women I talk to say they don't want kids, thus they don't want to be mothers: It seems there just is very very very little market for... Anything motherhood related or interest in making them. Sure, there might be like 15 people wanting that at any given time, but chances you get a game like "Amy" are high...
Blame whatever cultural shifts of this, how girls and women nowadays are shamed if they dare to plan/wish to be mothers or housewives, as everyone has to be on that girlboss sigma grindset 24/7, otherwise you're participating in internalized misogyny and patriarchy...
So while fixing the industry and the sexism in it is the priority: It won't magically give us games about motherhood.
Speak on it
Bro having a mom on a adventure with you would make it poop
I think there are many games about motherhood like one example of the top of my head is Detroit Become Human. Kara represented beautifully how the motherly nature in women just wants to protect the child.
Also it mostly has to do with the demand in the market right now. Right now there's been a culture shift going on and more and more women who are ideologically driven are demanding more and more badass female protagonist who are so called independent and can do all the things without anyone's help. That's why we are getting characters like Lara Croft from TR and Chloe from Uncharted. I love those games and the protagonists ad well. But the developers will only produce characters and stories that will sell in the market and most modern women aint looking to become mother's who have to slave all the time and follow their husband's command. They wanna be rich, cool and badass like those female protagonist. That's why those games sell millions of copies. And not the one with stories about motherhood.
Secondly, males especially fathers in today's society are shamed IRL and clearly discriminated against in the family court specially in matters regarding child custody and paternity. So in a way these fatherhood stories help men in general live those moments temporarily. Young men also relate to such stories since a bunch of them grow fatherless and often with a toxic mother. So, having someone even a fictional character can help them connect and learn about the hard lessons of life like purpose, journey and moral duty to themselves and society in general.
this should be the top comment
Men are treated that way in those courts because women are identified as caretaker and not individual person. Men are separate people from their children. Women are not seen or treated that way. So, it's assumed that the mother should get the kids because they are not seperate.
Honestly the next Bioshock could capitalise on this idea. You can still keep the core “rules” set by infinite but the gender flip would be fresh take.
Likewise; Resident has a pretty good shot at pulling this off.
Wtf you on about 🤣
I believe the 'father' role fits much more in the role of a protagonist. I mean the role of a father in general is to provide and protect, so it fits much more easily to create the gameplay core around the idea of you the player taking the role of a guardian and protecting someone smaller and weaker than you, in other words it's easier to make an action game around. I don't say it's impossible to replace the father protagonist with a woman but I don't think that makes a 'mother' game. In my opinion, a mother game should be built around the themes of motherhood like nurture, love, and also protection but enclined more on the emotional than physical and this is why I believe there aren't any mother games as building a gameplay loop to facilitate those themes is undiscovered ground. But I hope in the future we will see a mother game, one that doesn't try to be a father game with a woman as a protagonist but a mother game that embraces the core aspects of motherhood in a fun and possibly very successful way because I really want to see this new type of genre
In what world do mothers not provide and protect? I reject the premise of your argument, its flawed imo.
This comment is actually an AMAZING example of what Adam's talking about.
Of course you think the 'father' role is more fit as a protagonist. You don't see women as fully actualized human beings. Men's stories are just the "naturally" more interesting story to you because you've unfairly assigned women these weak, and lets be honest (worthless) qualities and attributes that are prescribed from a gender binary. You have literally said that womens stories aren't worth telling because of invented reasons x, y, and z. You prescribed traits that you don't inherently value to women and then labeled them as uninteresting for it.
You don't need to be a man to protect someone smaller and weaker than you. You don't need to be a man to be a compelling and complex character, experience struggle, have battles of epic proportions, or to have stories worth telling.
The fact that you can't even conceive what it would look like to have a mother story speaks to how limited your imagination is because of misogynistic structures like this in gaming.
Women are feral, especially when it comes to their children. Women literally BREAK their bodies to bear children-- do you understand that? They break their bodies, oftentimes permanently. It is literally the most hard-core thing a human being can do. It is one of the worst pains a human can endure, so much so that our brains must have resorted to self-amnesia so that we are willing to do it again.
And btw, women have a higher pain tolerance than men, and far exceed men in competitions of endurance and perserverence. Sounds like a badass video game character to me.
@@BronzeBellaBria wow...just wow
@@ionutpetrisor9073hey're right. If we're talking about games as fantastical and mythical as GoW, we can have women that are strong protectors (because they already exist irl). Freya in GoW was almost a good example of this but fell short. She's powerful but acts crazy for half the series which is just reinforcing other annoying writing cliches for women characters.
@@seancutt793 But Freya isn't crazy at all, her wrath against Kratos is completely justified. Meanwhile she's a lot more reluctant to attack Atreus because he's only guilty by association, which shows that even in her grief and rage she's still got a fairly level head on her shoulders
I'm surprised you didn't mention Metroid: Other M. It's a good early example of an attempt to make a 'mom game'. And while it definitely has its faults, the backlash to it was certainly still influenced by it.
probly where all the female gamers are. tuff too find
I am a man, i like sex and violence, why would i play a "mother game"?? people who complain most about social stuff are not actually consuming the products. I mean how did Forspoken?
I don’t know, how _did_ Forspoken?
I am a woman, I love video games and also love sex and violence. Maybe actual mothers and people like me would enjoy a game that revolves around a woman and a maternal relationship. While I don’t particularly find myself to be a nurturing person, I think it would be an interesting storyline to explore and learn more about.
Crazy how there are different gamer demographics.
I understand why you made the video but i don't think its that deep. A plague tale sounds like more of what you're looking for and the truth of the matter is the gameplay in that game to me just isnt very interesting. But to say that woman dont have any parental motivation in video games in 2023 is just a strange observation. Then you just turned it into a social commentary instead of actually proving your point. Horizon is probably planning on doing exactly what you're asking for so just have patience. These narrative style of games are not new. Last of us is only a decade old and revolutionized the linear narrative style of story telling. In that time, we've only really had god of war try something similar and succeed to a similar effect. Literally the same studio. You can't just show one person's work and then complain that not enough people are becoming inspired to create new stories that fit your ideal.
That's a sister and brother game and I'm searching for my parent game.
@@melonsauce1474 a parental relationship can happen between siblings bro thats what the game is at is emotional core.
@@Confusedddd Agreed. Following the opening act, Amicia tries taking more of a mother role to Hugo, than sister. At least from what I've play, though I haven't finished the game.
bro starts every video off good then gets political aaauuugggghhhhhhhhhh
How is talking about the injustices women face considered "political" exactly?
@@Wisdawms Injustices against women occurs which needs to be solved but mixing that up with video games like that doesn't make sense. There's a reason why video games don't feature motherhood. It's because of the cultural shift. A lot of modern women not all but a bunch of them just don't want to have kids anymore and want to be bossy and independent that's why studios are giving them such characters like Lara Croft, Chloe from Uncharted, etc.
@@the1stmetalhead That is not true at all, that's just how you wanna look at it 'cause it serves your narrative point of view. The percentage of women who don't want to have children, you'll find, is actually surprisingly low. It's just the internet and modern feminism seems to blow these things out of proportion and make it seem like it's the new frontier, when in fact, it's only a speck of dust. If there is fatherhood, there surely will be motherhood.
"but mixing that up with video games doesn't make sense" What do you mean mixing that up, who mixed what up? People don't choose how they are prejudiced, and if we choose to talk about a valid concern it is not "mixing it up for political reasons"
I recommend getting out of your bubble and put yourself in other's shoes every once in a while .
@@the1stmetalhead 'bossy and independent', way to make it sound like a bad thing
Fucking cry about it lmao
Great video.