Naughty Dog’s new game “Intergalactic” is sparking a discussion on Twitch because the game’s main actress is bald. This calls out two streamers who are at different ends of the political spectrum on Twitch.
Who are the 2 streamers?? Asmongold is a trained MMORPG nerd who, since the Johnny Depp court case, has realized that his fans also like to hear him talk about political issues. He sees himself as the “voice of reason” while the world around him has gone crazy. Critics accuse him of using sexist clichés while denying that he is sexist. A few weeks ago, after being banned from Twitch, he went through a period of remorse and admitted that he had turned into a terrible version of himself. But that was almost 2 months ago, so it doesn’t count anymore.
HasanAbi is a left-wing commentator on Twitch who comments on the world situation and presents controversial views that are often critical of the US. In our country, politically, he would be a mixture of Gregor Gysi and Oskar Lafontaine – in the USA, some hardliners see him as an unpatriotic terrorist and traitor. Critics accuse him of preaching water while drinking wine. He is a champagne communist who rails against capitalism while living in an expensive villa and having a good time.
What are the two of them discussing? Studio Naughty Dog has released a trailer for their new SF game “Intergalactic”. The hot topic is the protagonist, an Asian woman without hair and with harsh facial features.
The trailer was presented at “The Video Game Awards” and is controversial:
Trailer for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the new game from the studio behind Uncharted & The Last of Us
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“Anyone who develops bypassing the target group will not be successful”
This is what Asmongold says: Asmongold said in a tweet on December 13th:
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the market for masculine, non-conventionally attractive female protagonists in games isn’t as big as the video game industry thinks.
He continues in a video about the tweet (via YouTube): 5 years ago, when Intergalactic was created, things might have been different, but the situation and the mood have changed. With its design and orientation, Intergalactic is clearly aimed at a predominantly male target group, so the game also needs a female protagonist who appeals to this target group. The game looks really good, but the protagonist won’t suit the male target group:
If you make a character that the main audience doesn’t like, the game won’t work well.
You can get angry at players and call them racist and misogynistic. But you have to accept reality. Ultimately, you couldn’t force players to accept such a character and buy the game.
Asmongold sees confirmation that Naughty Dog released the trailer for Intergalactic with closed comments. You don’t do that if you expect good reactions.
HasanAbi: Then you can’t live in a civilized society
This is what HasanAbI says: The streamer tells Intergalactic:
The standard for female characters shouldn’t be whether you can jerk off to them.
Anyone who has this point of view unironically is a pervert and cannot live in a “civilized society”.
People should be ashamed of saying things like, “Oh, the gaming industry doesn’t cater to my masturbatory fantasies at all.”
Some games do that – but others don’t. You just have to accept that.
HasanAbi says: He himself is just too normal. When he sees a new video game, his first thought is not whether he can jerk off to the protagonist. He thinks it’s weird to think like that – this attitude needs to be deleted.
For him, it’s disappointing that the reaction to a new game from a great studio like Naughty Dog is: “They have a bald Asian woman – so I hate it.”
He points out that he finds the game interesting simply because the fantastic Trent Reznor (“Nine Inch Nails”) is working on the game as a composer (via vice).
As the target of his criticism, HasanAbi identifies a friend of Asmongold, the streamer Tectone, who complained on Twitter about how unattractive female heroes are compared to the heroines from Asian games like Stellar Blade. That’s exactly who needs to hear what HasanAbi has to say.
That’s what lies behind it: This is a new edition of a discussion that has been going on for years in the politically divided USA. The direction of play in gaming is approximately:
The last edition of this discussion was about Stellar Blade and Aloy: The new PS5 game from South Korea sparks a discussion about beautiful women in video games