
NICKMERCS Reveals How to Make the Prowler 'Broken' in Apex Legends
NICKMERCS showcased just how the Prowler Burst PDW continues to have one of the best slaying power in Apex Legends Season 14.
2022-09-02 10:00

5 Best Badges in Super Mario Bros. Wonder
These are the best Badges in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
2023-10-28 03:57

FIFA 23 TOTS FUT Champions Opening Weekend Objective: Full List of Rewards
FIFA 23 TOTS FUT Champions Opening Weekend objectives detailed and full list of rewards.
2023-04-26 02:00

Male characters in role-playing video games ‘speak twice as much as females’
Male characters in role-playing video games have 50% more dialogue than females, highlighting a “stark gender imbalance” in the gaming genre, scientists have said. In role-playing games (RPGs), the gamer controls one or more characters undertaking quests or missions in an imaginary world. Researchers from the Universities of Glasgow and Cardiff analysed the dialogue of 50 RPGs from 1986 to 2020, including Final Fantasy, Skyrim and Mass Effect. This encompassed 6.2 million spoken words from 13,000 characters. The results, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, suggest 94% of the games studied had more male dialogue than female dialogue, including ones with multiple female protagonists such as Final Fantasy X-2 or King’s Quest VII. They also found that the proportion of female dialogue is slowly increasing in RPGs at a rate of 6.3 percentage points per decade – from a mean of about 18% in the 1980s to about 40% by 2020. While we expected to find a larger proportion of male dialogue overall, we were surprised to discover how few games - just three of 50 - had more than 50% female dialogue Dr Stephanie Rennick, University of Glasgow However, the researchers said that if this rate were to continue, gender balance would not be reached until 2036. Dr Stephanie Rennick, research associate in philosophy, school of humanities at the University of Glasgow, said: “While we expected to find a larger proportion of male dialogue overall, we were surprised to discover how few games – just three of 50 – had more than 50% female dialogue. “I was also surprised that the lack of female characters compared to their male counterparts persisted at every level, from main player characters through to background NPCs (non-player characters).” For the study, the researchers obtained the transcripts of dialogue used in the games and identified which character said what. Dr Sean Roberts, lecturer at the school of English, communication and philosophy at Cardiff University, said: “We categorised the gender of each character, not assuming binary gender. “This allowed us to count how many words were available for each gender in each game. “For example, we can compare the number of words spoken by female characters to the number of words spoken by male characters.” The researchers found only 35% of words were spoken by female characters and they were more likely to apologise, hesitate or be polite, compared with their male counterparts. They said the proportion of female dialogue ranged from 6% (King’s Quest VI) to 80% (King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella). They discovered one game, Monkey Island, did not pass the Bechdel test, which requires two named female characters to talk to each other about something besides a man. Around half of gamers are female, but they experience a lot of abuse and exclusion. More diverse representation is being called for by players and developers Dr Sean Roberts, Cardiff University The team also found examples of stereotyped gendered behaviour. The researchers said that in Stardew Valley, characters respond differently depending on the player character’s gender. For example, they said, female players are offered a salad, wine, repeatedly described as beautiful and assumed to have little experience of video games, while male players are offered pasta, ale, described as “full of energy” and are assumed to be good video game players. Analysis also showed only 30 out of 13,000 characters belong to the non-binary gender categories, which is about half as much as in real life, the researchers said. Dr Roberts said: “Around half of gamers are female, but they experience a lot of abuse and exclusion. “More diverse representation is being called for by players and developers. “So we hope that developers will consider addressing the imbalances we found in order to create more inclusive games.”
2023-05-24 07:23

Undertale Developer Teases "Something Special" for Deltarune Chapter 2 Anniversary
The creator of Undertale, Toby Fox, has stated that there won't be any new chapters of his current project Deltarune released this year.
2022-09-06 18:00

Court Dismisses Bungie's Legal Action Against Cheat Sellers
A judge rejected much of Bungie's legal action against cheat seller AimJunkies.
2022-04-30 03:00

Blizzard to Remove Phone Number Requirement for "Majority" of Overwatch 2 Players
Blizzard has revealed that they will be removing phone number requirements for a large portion of Overwatch 2 players, a feature that saw many left unable to play the game.
2022-10-06 22:00

Bungie Gifts 'Crushed Gamma Emblem' to Celebrate Destiny Reddit Community
Bungie has released a free Destiny 2 emblem in commemoration of its community's recently minted Reddit Place art.
2022-04-26 20:25

Mizkif's debut Rumble stream viewership drastically falls compared to his Twitch numbers
If you're curious to learn more about the recent Stream Chart updates concerning Mizkif, read on
2023-05-31 14:24

Morelull Pokémon GO Guide: Moveset, CP, and Best Way to Catch
Information about Morelull in Pokémon GO including its moveset, CP and the best way to catch one.
2022-10-12 03:00

Core Keeper Slime Oil: How to Get
Here's a breakdown of how to get Slime Oil in Core Keeper.
2022-04-26 19:58

League of Legends Essence Emporium 2022 Details
League of Legends 2022 Essence Emporium is out. Here's everything players need to know.
2022-06-29 00:00
You Might Like...

Genshin Impact Lumenspar Locations Listed

Is Resident Evil 4 Remake on Steam Deck?

Resident Evil 4 director says game's camera wasn't intended to be 'ground-breaking'

Microsoft's Phil Spencer: Starfield delay is right decision

How to Help Trapped Worker in Callisto Protocol

Streamer iiTzTimmy Questions Longevity of Apex Legends Amid Season 15 Issues

Ninja's bizarre comment about wife Jessica Blevins while playing 'League of Legends' once took Internet by storm

IceManIsaac Exposes 'Glitched' Warzone Sniper That One-Shots Chests