Cliff Bleszinski, by his own admission creator of one of the most "dude bro" video game franchises in existence Gears of War, took to his blog to discuss some of the problems this industry is faced with in the light of the whole Anita Sarkeesian incident and the awful culture that exists within gaming it showcased. Bleszinski argued that as nerds we should strive to be inclusive rather than the opposite and he closed his blog with the following paragraphs.
"However if we're going to grow up as an industry we're going to need the consumer to grow up a bit as well. The latent racism, homophobia, and misogyny online are black marks on an otherwise great hobby. Anonymity is the gasoline on the fire of hate that flares up on forums, chat rooms, and Xbox Live on daily basis.
Why are there so many shooters? Because it's easy to make a trace in code to see if you virtually "tagged" someone. Why were there so many princesses in need of rescue? Because it was easy, and for many years we didn't have the tools or desire to try something else. Why did Mario have a moustache originally? Because they didn't have the graphical fidelity to depict much more. The purpose of research is to encourage rational thought in areas where there may have not been much before. If, by watching Anita's videos I, as a developer, can reconsider how I depict women in any future product of mine then her work may very well be worth it.
And maybe, as a result of this, years later we may see more and more girls who are comfortable playing games, online or off, or going to a conference ...or joining the industry in a professional manner.
This is where change sometimes starts, merely by asking "Why?""
Here's hoping this is one of the subjects Bleszinski will raise during his keynote at PAX East next week.