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All the World's a Stage: If looks could kill
All the World's a Stage is a column for inquisitive minds, playing with roles every Sunday evening. The media usually portrays WoW as a "boy's game." That's not to say girls don't play too, of course -- just that the game is basically about qualities such as aggressiveness and violence, and our culture expects males to be interested in that sort of thing. Whether such a designation is true or not, the "masculine equals violent" stereotype is very pervasive, and it is natural for many male players to begin the game with a powerful and intimidating character in mind. The player may imagine that his avatar is warm and kind-hearted inside, but outwardly, his character looks as though he could rip out your throat with a flick of his pinky finger.But there are many men out there who don't like such exaggerated manliness in their characters, just as there are many women who don't want their character to look like a dainty barbie doll. Being a person isn't just about just one gender attribute, after all. Indeed, female characters in WoW can achieve a full range of human attributes in their appearance; they can look friendly and intelligent, yet lightning quick and deadly at the same time. However, the appearance of male characters is often so filled to the brim with "strength and honor" that there's not much room left for any other human quality.
Manly site lists 10 manliest games of all time
We've grown to understand the internet is full of crazy places; if you can imagine it, there's a site for it. So we were perhaps a little taken aback -- but not outright shocked -- when we stumbled across Arthur's Hall of Viking Manliness, a site about (you guessed it!) being manly. With thoughtful articles like "Spreading the Gospel of Chew" and "Women Who Smoke are Whores," Arthur's Hall is not for the unmanly.How exciting then, that they've focused that same manly acumen to lift up -- with huge, sweaty, rippling biceps -- the "10 Manliest Video Games Ever" from obscurity into whatever part of Valhalla is reserved for such notable artifacts. The list itself is notable for its sheer size. At over 4000 words, it's a manly screed in defense of games with a certain amount of manly violence and difficulty, with an admitted 8-bit bias. Why an 8-bit bias? Because "modern manly games like God of War are only pretenders." Got it, wimp?Their choice for manliest game ever: the classic, 8-bit shooter Contra ... now you're talking manly. The manly way to play it: no Konami code, no Spread gun, just two shirtless dudes, with pixelated abs so hard they look like they were carved from stone, hanging out in the jungle together ... what's not manly about that?[Via Destructoid]
