Nintendo – Douglas Ernst Blog

Feminist Frequency cries over video game butts, silent on women’s yoga pants addiction

January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by Douglas Ernst 19 Comments

Feminst Frequency Lara Croft

It was only a matter of time before feminist Anita Sarkeesian worked her way into my Facebook feed. The last time this blog mentioned her was when Stephen Colbert was treating her like a delicate flower on Comedy Central in 2014 — and she still had a hard time articulating her point of view. Her website, Feminist Frequency, has released a new video, “Strategic Butt Coverings – Tropes vs Women in Video Games,” where she complains about pixelated female behinds for almost seven minutes.

As a man who cannot walk into Target or Panera Bread on a weekly basis without being bombarded with Jen Selter wannabes in yoga pants, I must laugh.

As a man who watches as millions of young girls and women idolize butt-obsessed Kim Kardashian and Beyonce, I cannot help but scoff at feminist rage over digital behinds.

JS Instagram screenshot

This is what modern-American feminism has come to: YouTube videos griping over how hard it is to look at Batman’s butt under his cape compared with Lara Croft of Tomb Raider. Women are literally sold as sex slaves in the Middle East and North Africa, and the struggle for Ms. Sarkeesian is putting countless hours of time, money and resources into exposing the nefarious game designers who dare to have Catwoman walk…like a cat.

Feminist Frequency YouTube

Break Inter Instagram screenshot

But here is the most telling thing about modern feminists: They are so confident in their claims that they must block the comments section of their highly-viewed videos.

Feminist Frequency no comments

The reason why Feminist Frequency does not allow comments on its videos is because guys like me would mention Beyonce — alleged uber feminst — playing dice on another woman’s butt in her music videos. Video game butts are unacceptable, but Beyonce objectifying another woman with “smack it” underwear in videos seen by millions of little girls gets a pass. Got it.

Beyonce 711 Dice

Here is a suggestion for American feminists — either don’t buy games you don’t like, or become game designers.

Don’t wear yoga pants with your mom in Target that show off every curve of your body, and then expect guys like me to show you sympathy when you complain about the curves of imaginary characters in a video game.

Until American feminists believably target female icons who objectify themselves on a regular basis — you know, real human beings who actually hold sway over popular culture — they will have zero moral authority to harangue gamers over what they find aesthetically pleasing.

Editor’s note: I normally link to videos or embed them within the actual post. I will not do so for this video since Feminist Frequency has blocked all feedback.

Colbert treats feminist Anita Sarkeesian like delicate flower on GamerGate; liberalism exposed

October 30, 2014October 31, 2014 by Douglas Ernst 50 Comments

For those who have followed GamerGate, Wednesday was a great day. Stephen Colbert interviewed feminist Anita Sarkeesian and, ironically, treated her like a delicate little flower. For the entire interview he offered up softballs down the middle of the plate, which Ms. Sarkeesian only managed to hit for singles instead of home runs.

Regardless, the most telling moment came when Mr. Colbert attempted to discredit what GamerGate is all about — an industry of liberal activist journalists who are so buddy-buddy with one another that they ultimately hurt the gaming community they’re supposed to support.

Colbert: “What about the accusations of collusion between designers, feminists and journalists? Do you understand how important it is? Why are talking about ethics in gaming journalism. Do you understand how huge that is? What if there was no ethics in Hollywood journalism? If we can’t trust Entertainment Tonight or TMZ, where would we be? Is that what you want for gamer journalism?”

Anita Sarkeesian: I think that is a compelling way to reframe the way that this is actually attacks on women. Ethics in journalism is not what’s happening in any way. It’s actually men going after women in really hostile aggressive ways. That’s what GamerGate is about. It’s about terrorizing women for being in this industry, for involved in this hobby.

The reason why Colbert tries to tear down accusations of media collusion is because he too is an activist who has made a nice life for himself saying the right things, making the right friends, ignoring inconvenient truths and sending out marching orders as prescribed by his powerful liberal friends in media and politics.

Like clockwork, Ars Technica, Gawker, Salon, The Huffington Post and all of the usual suspects were there to write fawning stories over the segment. Indeed, if one were to believe Ms. Sarkeesian, then the GamerGate community is all about men who want to “terrorize” women.

In the real world, most fair-minded individuals know that if you take to social media and say really dumb things to instigate people (e.g., calling Rainbow 6 misogynistic because it has a female hostage), then out of the millions upon millions of gamers, some of them will respond in a rude — or possibly threatening — manner.

Taking heat from random internet jerks, many of them teenagers, is completely different than, say, having the director of big-budget Marvel Studios films liken you to a member of the KKK because you disagree with him. Yes, that’s right, Joss Whedon lumped the GamerGate community together with one of the most infamous racist organizations of all time. Stay classy, Mr. Whedon.

In the real world, having to suffer the slings and arrows of immature jerks online is expected. What isn’t expected is that a writer for Gawker would call for those who disagree with him to be bullied. Yes, that’s right, that was Sam Biddle who wanted to “bring back bullying” like Justin Timberlake wanted to bring sexy back.

If Colbert wasn’t a liberal activist, then he would talk about women like Helena Horton — a writer who has worked for Ampp3d, Vice, The Guardian, The Mirror, and Gay Times —who thinks society needs to “kill all men.” But he doesn’t. He gives feminists like Ms. Sarkeesian the floor to talk about all the mean, nasty, and sexist men out there who live to “terrorize” her.

How many gamers grew up idolizing Stephen Colbert, only to find out yesterday that he has utter contempt for them? How many Joss Whedon fans thought that they were liberal until they found out that liberal “tolerance” is only extended to those who parrot the precise talking points of the day without question. Disagree with the likes of Joss Whedon, and you’re a racist. Disagree with Ms. Horton, and you apparently need to die. Disagree with Ms. Sarkeesian, and you’re a terrorist.

If you are a gamer who has suddenly found yourself on the receiving end of personal attacks from the so-called “journalists” that you trusted for years, then take note: Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, The Huffington Post, and most of the websites you’ve relied upon to stay abreast of world events are of the same mold as Joss Whedon. If you are a gamer who now realizes that gaming “journalists” lie to you on a regular basis, then it is time to think long and hard about the worldview you’ve been shown by men like Stephen Colbert.

Editor’s Note: If you want to get an honest appraisal of GamerGate, then check out The Main Event’s YouTube page. His coverage of the issue since the very beginning has been superb.

Expendables 2 video game trailer delivers the testosterone

July 13, 2012July 13, 2012 by Douglas Ernst Leave a comment

The Expendables 2 is opening in a few months, which means there will also be a video game. As luck would have it, the trailer is out now and it delivers a much-needed dose of testosterone.

It’s been a disturbing couple of months, as I see a steady trickle of search engine results bring men to douglasernstblog.com in their quest for “brosiery and mantyhose”— but what is more disturbing has been the occasional Republican buying into the claptrap that video games make kids violent. Wrong.

What makes kids inappropriately violent are bad parents. What makes kids inappropriately violent are cultures that place little value on human life. What makes kids inappropriately violent are neighborhoods and communities that tolerate it. The easiest thing to do is to blame video games and video game makers for deep-seated problems that metastasized long before computer graphics perfected the blood splatter or bone crunch.

With that said, it should also be noted that violence isn’t always a bad thing. Teaching kids to be violent — when necessary — is healthy. Does good and evil exist? If so, let’s have it displayed in a video game. And if good and evil exist, who symbolizes good and who symbolizes evil? While I haven’t had a chance to play the Expendables 2 video game, a good guess might be that Communist-thug regimes and the goons of South American dictators are the bad guys. And if that’s the case, then I say: “Put that controller into your kids’ hands and let them have at it!”

Expendables 2 video game — Communism is an ideology that is inherently evil. In order to work it must find ways to crush individualism and property rights, which doesn’t “lead” to totalitarianism — it is totalitarianism. And so, when an American video game symbolically destroys that evil for all the world to see, I root for high sales.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see an avatar of Sylvester Stallone blowing away North Korean soldiers, perhaps the kind who perform in Kazoo Armies by day and rape women by night? There are free nations and there are fear nations, and there is nothing wrong with portraying them in video games. The problem with many video games is that today’s characters are often anti-heroes, or the line between good and evil is so blurred that the user doesn’t know what to believe. Stallone’s movies (and I’m assuming his video games) generally don’t have that problem, which is probably a reason why I’ve been watching and loving them for ages.

Kazoo Army — Don’t let the North Korean soldiers and their kazoo army fool you. When the kazoo parties are over they go back to running modern-day gulags and oppressing their own people.

Still not convinced? Watch this workout video with Terry Crews. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and a stand-up citizen. There’s nothing cooler than a man who is physically fit, mentally strong, compassionate and in possession of a moral compass. If I had kids, I’d let them hang out with Crews any day of the week, and I’d definitely let them play the Expendables 2 video game.

Bloomberg to limit game play of video games sold in NYC

June 3, 2012June 4, 2012 by Douglas Ernst 11 Comments

Fresh off his announcement to ban sodas, sweetened ice tea and energy drinks above 16 ounces, New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg has found a new target — the video game industry. Taking a cue from Reps. Joe Baca (D-CA) and Frank Wolf’s (R-VA), Violence in Video Games Labeling Act (which seeks to put violence warning labels on all video games, regardless of content), Bloomberg has taken it a step further: Starting next March, all video games sold in New York City will have built-in endings that will bring the storyline to a halt after 16 hours of game play.

A press release from Bloomberg’s office went out late Sunday night. Reuters reports:

It has long been established that there is a correlation between violence and video games. There is also a strong correlation between soda consumption and gamers. Both of these vices have long-term costs to the nation’s health, in terms of obesity and crime rates. While the nation waits, I will act. New Yorkers want me to “do something,” and so I will. Starting next March, I will find a way to force Big Apple gamers to understand that sitting for hours while playing video games — particularly RPGs — is unhealthy and will no longer be tolerated. I am working with the video game industry to ensure that at 16 hours ALL video games sold in New York will cut to an ending that will force gamers to either put down the controller or to keep playing a game that has, for all intents and purposes, been completed.

Conservative and libertarian groups have already voiced opposition to the power grab, calling it more evidence of the liberal urge to control every aspect of an individual’s life, now down to their PS3 and XBox controllers. Bloomberg’s liberal advocates say that the mayor is not taking away a gamer’s right to play video games per se, but merely forcing them make the conscious decision to continue playing after a “healthy portion” of entertainment has been reached.

As the news cycle begins, it will be interesting to see if gamers — generally a liberal bunch — see how the soft tyranny of Mayor Bloomberg’s soda ban could be applied to many aspects of everyday life, including the games they love.

Go right

May 2, 2012February 23, 2018 by Douglas Ernst 7 Comments

Mario — The creator of ‘Go right’ makes us look back and smile with nostalgia while urging us to charge forward and battle through life’s obstacles. It’s an amazing little piece of work. If you grew up playing video games, you’ll love it.

Anyone who grew up playing video games as a kid needs to watch the video ‘Go Right.’ It’s amazing. Even a lot of people who don’t like video games, don’t care for them, and wish they didn’t exist will get it.

Long story short, in most side-scrolling video games you spend a lot of your time charging forward, blasting and beating your enemies, jumping over and through obstacles and hurling yourself into the great unknown. You must time your decisions just right, but often times the environment you find yourself in is tricky and unpredictable. The game is “unfair.” Your character is unevenly matched. There are inequalities between you and your competitor. The cards are stacked against you, and you must build up your arsenal of weapons and knowledge by making prudent and wise decisions over the course of the game.

Sometimes, you get knocked down. Sometimes, you fail. Miserably. Sometimes you feel like your world is caving in on you, you can’t do anything right, and that you might as well give up. And, just like in ‘Go right’ we often try to go backwards. We try and head in the opposite direction, away from the uncertainty and the battles we know are waiting for us. It usually takes awhile, but the true hero realizes what he must do. There’s a moment where it all sinks in, and we find our inner mettle and dive back into the fray.

The battles we fight are fierce, but in the end you will either be victorious or die trying. Both outcomes are honorable. What isn’t honorable is giving up and pulling the plug when the bombs are going off around us and failure becomes a viable option.

The creator of ‘Go right’ found a way to tap into a sense of nostalgia with a message about how important it is to always drive forward. For that, I tip my hat to him.

Maniac Mansion: Barack Obama Edition

June 28, 2010July 4, 2010 by Douglas Ernst Leave a comment

Growing up in the 80’s, Maniac Mansion was one of my favorite games.

Unlike most other titles out at the time, it didn’t have a predetermined outcome. You hand picked your team from a number of different characters, each with their own unique skill set. Players had to be strategic about who they chose on their team, because the outcome of the game altered depending on who came along for the mission.

The storyline went as follows:

A meteor falls to the earth behind the mansion of “Dr. Fred.”
Weird things happen in town.
A group of friends decide to investigate when their friend goes missing.

What does all of this have to do with Barack Obama? Lately, he reminds me of Dr. Fred. Many Americans (particularly independent voters) don’t know what the heck is going on inside the White House, but they know that peculiar things are happening to the country. Like Dr. Fred, some people think the President is evil, some people think he’s a genius, some wonder if his behavior is connected to weird meteors that fall from the sky (okay, well, maybe not that one), and others think there’s nothing wrong at all. The rest have no clue what’s going on…but they’re determined to get to the bottom of it.

While you’ll never hear me call the President evil (read Natan Sharansky’s The Case for Democracy if you want to know why), I do think his policies are downright scary and destructive. Liberals treat the United States as their own special science experiment by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars into social engineering schemes thought up by the “equal outcome trumps equal opportunity” crowd.

no9 — Politicians who try to play God usually just do a great job of making life Hell for the rest of us.

Like the run-of-the-mill mad scientist that isn’t much interested in anyone’s opinion but his own, Barack Obama spent years holed up with like-minded liberal academics. The occasional input by hunchbacked, hobbling assistants generally only echos long held beliefs; they rarely offer dissent. And, while it would be nice to believe that Barack Obama was the kind of guy who could create No.9, I’m more inclined to believe his policies will create the kind of post apocalyptic world the characters of the movie 9 inhabit.

“We had such potential,such promise…but we squandered our gifts,” (Allan Oppenheimer as “The Scientist”).

The next time you get the urge to vote for someone who’s narcissistic enough to think they can plan a 12 trillion dollar economy, dust off your favorite old NES games when the polls open and hope you don’t solve them until after they close.