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Pokemon game introductions are too personal and I feel like they force you to be honest as to what gender you are.

Kingpin Rogers

Kingpin Rogers

HILF
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,459
This is something that's bothered me for a while but with the recent Pokemon trailer it's got me thinking about it again. I'm not a big Pokemon fan but I have a little history with it, started with Red and Blue on the GBC, then I tried out Emerald on the GBA, took a long break and finally went back to a Pokemon game in 2018 with Heartgold. As I aged I also changed and one of the things that changed with me is the gender of the characters that I play in games. I used to go with what I am (male) but more recently I almost always play female if I get the chance, but the issue with Pokemon and specifically Heartgold is that the introduction is so damn personal it feels like it's asking me. Not game me but real-life me, so I feel like I have literally have to say I'm male. I think it's just the way they set it up, Professor Oak introduces himself and explains a little about the world of Pokemon and then he says "now why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?" "are you a boy? or are you a girl?" to me this absolutely just makes me feel like he isn't asking my character but he is asking me, the player who I am. So when I started Heartgold I wanted to play as a girl like usual but because of the way he asked me I ended up playing as a guy, even though I didn't want to. I seem to remember something similar happening with Pokemon Black as I think that's one of the main reasons why I didn't want to play that one.

Maybe I'm just being a bit finicky here but this bothers me to a pretty large degree, these are games that you spend hours in and feeling like I can't play the gender I want to play just isn't nice. Pokemon Sword and Shield look good and I loved the character customization that they showed off recently but I'm worried that if I end up getting the game I'll be forced to play as a male again because of the way the game asks me what gender I am, I really hope that isn't the case but I just get the feeling it will.

If you ask me, the way to get past this is by giving Pokemon a character creator so instead of it being phrased as a question it's just a selection to make like most other games. Maybe I shouldn't let it bother me but it just feels weird if I say anything other than me being a guy,. I'm not sure why but it makes me feel off if I say anything else.
 
Reizzz

Reizzz

Member
Jun 19, 2019
1,813
I could be wrong but in the last game they don't specifically ask if your a boy or girl, just what pic looks like "you"
 
Xaszatm

Xaszatm

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,903
Kingpin Rogers said:
If you ask me, the way to get past this is by giving Pokemon a character creator so instead of it being phrased as a question it's just a selection to make like most other games. Maybe I shouldn't let it bother me but it just feels weird if I say anything other than me being a guy,. I'm not sure why but it makes me feel off if I say anything else.
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That's...that's literally how it happens in the modern games. You pick from a series of six pictures.
 
--R

--R

Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,791
He's just asking you to choose, he's not gonna shoot you through the screen if you choose a character that is not from your gender.

And they don't even ask you that anymore, but ask you to choose from pictures. Really seems like a non-issue.
 
Dernhelm

Dernhelm

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
5,422
Dude, been picking girls since Crystal. More recently the professor's just ask you to select what suits you best from a few male and female preselects.
 
adumb

adumb

Banned
Aug 17, 2019
548
Pokemon definitely has issues in this area, but to be honest it sounds like you do too.

Literally nobody cares about your own personal choice. Sack up and play as a girl. Nobody is forcing you into anything. Except a binary choice, which is a different issue.
 
Porygon

Porygon

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,032
Mexicali
If I remember correctly, Pokémon Sun/Moon ask you just for which photo would you like and that's it, no gender question
 
Xaszatm

Xaszatm

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,903
SM_Prerelease_player_selection.png


Like guys, Heartgold is a decade old at this point.
 
Renna Hazel

Renna Hazel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,591
Seems weird, just pick whatever you want. It's a video game and it's not meant to be personal. Professor Oak can't see you or anything.
 
OP
OP
Kingpin Rogers

Kingpin Rogers

HILF
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,459
Well thank god, I guess they realised they shouldn't actually ask the player through the screen and instead just give you a normal choice to make like most other games. Crisis averted and I can buy Sword in good spirits. Still though I gotta say I do think it's a big enough deal with the way they phrase that question in the old games, it's just not right.
 
cdm00

cdm00

The Fallen
Dec 5, 2018
2,225
I pick the guy for my first playthrough because I'm a dude but the girls are consistently cooler. If I were you, I would pick which character design you prefer more. The modern games let you pick from photos instead of a straight question of male or female too. SM, USUM and I wanna say Let's Go PE do this too.
 
Dernhelm

Dernhelm

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
5,422
The more precise issue with the games and your characters is the still hard separation of what each gender can and can't choose to wear.
 
Renna Hazel

Renna Hazel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,591
Kingpin Rogers said:
Well thank god, I guess they realised they shouldn't actually ask the player through the screen and instead just give you a normal choice to make like most other games. Crisis averted and I can buy Sword in good spirits. Still though I gotta say I do think it's a big enough deal with the way they phrase that question in the old games, it's just not right.
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The question is fine. Most people know the professor isn't real and can't see you through the game screen. It's just a way to pick male or female.
 
Wetwork

Wetwork

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,607
Colorado
I've played as female since Crystal when it came out and I was in the 5th grade. I play female characters in most games, except for ones I genuinely few are an insert for me: (specifically animal crossing). Never bothered me tbh.
 

Deleted member 11413

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,961
Kingpin Rogers said:
Well thank god, I guess they realised they shouldn't actually ask the player through the screen and instead just give you a normal choice to make like most other games. Crisis averted and I can buy Sword in good spirits. Still though I gotta say I do think it's a big enough deal with the way they phrase that question in the old games, it's just not right.
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The games are old, they came out at a time where just having a gender choice at all was fairly progressive for video games. They can't retroactively go back and change the wording. Yes it was slightly exclusionary but much less so than most games of the time (say, Harvest Moon 3 GBC) and some of this is not actually implied by the game itself but by your own hangups.
 
Rotobit

Rotobit

Editor at Nintendo Wire
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
10,196
I dunno why they don't just give you all the hair and eye color options from the very start, my dude is gonna look way different to the default goober in Sword/Shield it makes the whole thing less immersive and personal for a couple hours. Maybe even more, depending on how early and good the first customization shops are.

At least Animal Crossing will probably just let you design a character from the very start finally.
 
808s & Villainy

808s & Villainy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
42,700
They don't even ask you what your gender is anymore. Not sure why you're digging into the well with a decade old game
 
Dark_Castle

Dark_Castle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,147
Kingpin Rogers said:
Well thank god, I guess they realised they shouldn't actually ask the player through the screen and instead just give you a normal choice to make like most other games. Crisis averted and I can buy Sword in good spirits. Still though I gotta say I do think it's a big enough deal with the way they phrase that question in the old games, it's just not right.
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I mean they're old games. Society wasn't the same as today's for many aspects of life.
 
RochHoch

RochHoch

One Winged Slayer
Member
May 22, 2018
18,921
The professor is only asking your character the question in-game. I don't think that's as personal as you're making it out to be.
 
chrominance

chrominance

Sky Van Gogh
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,645
I know people are dunking on the OP and I do agree that hey, the Professor won't know or care what gender you identify as and whether it matches what you chose in the game. But I do kind of get the concept of some games more closely identifying your in-game avatar with YOU as opposed to you playing a character that you happen to design. Most of the time I pick a female protagonist but when I played Pokemon X and Let's Go Eevee I did decide to play as a guy, I think because it felt a little weird given how much the games assume you'll be tailoring your character to you. Like, it's YOU going on the adventure, not a character you control. That always feels like the framing the Pokemon games have used in the past, even independent of the gender choices (which thankfully aren't in your face anymore, even though the various premade characters are clearly one of two genders).

That said, I don't think that's necessarily on the game, it's just a different approach from (say) a Fire Emblem or Mass Effect, and I don't think it would take much cognitive effort for me to get past the framing. Given that the series caters to kids so much, I think the extra emphasis on the player being you isn't a bad thing.
 

Deleted member 35653

User requested account closure
Banned
Dec 8, 2017
744
It has been that way for very long, probably they don't feel the need to change it because the request isn't there. Now that sound a bit dismissive but I somehow understand that for some people that question can make you feel uncomfortable. Also keep in mind 'gender theory', as they call it here in Italy, applied to kids it's still not widely accepted, and surely not in Japan.
 
SilverX

SilverX

Member
Jan 21, 2018
13,022
OP, Professor Oak also assumes you are a child too when he asks. Don't take it so personally
 
djinnEXE

djinnEXE

Member
Oct 25, 2017
449
OP it's an RPG a ROLE PLAYING GAME

Where you can play as someone/thing so choose what ever you prefer.

It's not that personal but you seem to make it so
 
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