The official Olympics 2012 videogame — called, imaginatively, London 2012: The Official Videogame — appears to think men’s sports are more important than women’s.
The game, which is currently top of the all-formats charts, offers the following sports:
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Archery § Individual § Team Aquatics § 3m springboard diving § 3m synchronised springboard diving § 10m platform diving § 10m synchronised platform diving § Swimming – 50m freestyle § Swimming – 100m backstroke § Swimming – 100m breaststroke § Swimming – 100m butterfly § Swimming – 100m freestyle Gymnastics § Trampoline (men only) § Vault Shooting § 25 metre rapid fire pistol (men only) § Skeet shooting |
Track and field § 100m (men only) § 110m hurdles (men only) § 200m (men only) § 400m § Discus throw (men only) § High jump § Javelin throw (men only) § Long jump (men only) § Shot put (men only) § Triple jump (men only) Other sports § Beach volleyball (women only) § Canoe slalom – K1 Kayak (men only) § Cycling – Keirin (men only) § Rowing – Single sculls (men only) § Table tennis (men only) § Weightlifting over 105kg (men only) |
I’ve checked with the publisher, Sega, and they confirm that this is the correct listing. There are indeed 15 men-only sports.
There is just one women-only sport . . . and I bet you could have guessed what it was.
Yes, it’s the one where the contestants wear bikinis:
I just find this really odd. It’s not as though there is a huge extra cost involved in making female avatars. Neither is it the case that there are droves of world-renowned male canoe slalom contestants, but no female ones.
A source at Sega says that the sports were chosen “for what works best for gameplay”, but that doesn’t make much sense to me either. Is a manly way of firing a pistol much more enjoyable than a ladylike one?
The only conclusion I can come to is that Sega see “male” as default, and only include women where they’re useful for sexy box art/promotional reasons. Which is really weird, given that the game’s rating is “3” – ie suitable for ages three and up. This isn’t a game where the buyers are assumed to be drooling male adolescents, which is the usual excuse people make for including objectified female characters.
So what’s the reason for making London 2012 such a sausage-fest?
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