Gaming in the Media Blog

I’ve been fairly disgusted with what has been going around the internet in reference to Jade Raymond, the Ubisoft game producer who has been the subject of yet another form of cyber rape. 

While I will probably expand on this a bit more in the media and gaming column this month, here’s a quick and dirty guide to the links on this.

Posts That I Liked

Feministe’s Take on The Situation - The Trouble With Jade

Actually, you know what pissed me off the most? Not the gratuitous sex-and-PR crap, but the portrayal of her as a ditzy idiot who can’t even pronounce “creative.” Raymond is a programmer as well as a producer; she helped start the first research & development group at Sony Online, was part of the team that built Jeopardy Online, and went on to be one of the producers for the Sims Online. Anyone following Assassin’s Creed has been able to listen to her blog about the development of the game and she obviously knows what she’s talking about. But apparently none of that matters next to the fact that she’s got a pretty face, that the media focuses on her looks, and that there are thousands of creepy dudes on the Internet drooling over her.

Game Girl Advance - Jade Raymond is for Real

But on the other hand, I’m eviscerated by the notion that we can’t celebrate women’s achievements in the game industry without encountering this sort of resistance, fueled also in part by a rabid fanbase that was as quick to idolize Jade’s image as it was to tear her apart. And naturally as someone working on something she believed in she would want to stand up and be proud of her accomplishments. The price of fame is a pound of flesh.

These…Not So Much

Kotaku - Ubisoft Threatens Something Awful Over Jade Comic

Lowtax responded in the expected Something Awful fashion, posting “I don’t know where this image is located, I do not know who drew it, and the only vague connection to this site is because somebody posted a link to it on these forums.” His full response to Ubisoft’s legal council is worth the read.As I said, the comic seems to have been removed from its previous hosts, but those expecting something worthwhile should look elsewhere.In the meantime, I’m deleting all known copies of my Patrice Desilets erotic fanfic comics, just in case. It’s a shame, as I really thought the beard turned out perfect.

Fascinating how Kotaku can stay with the ZOMG! Jade is hott! She broke my heart! Ohh Pretty! comments for every other post relating to Jade Raymond, but now that there is something serious on the table, they are silent.  The treatment of this post was almost clinical, a marked contrast from the fake pal persona they adopted before.

 There’s also a discussion of this in the forums.