Around 8 years ago, I had a fascinating conversation with my then 8 years old cousin and godson, who's like a little brother to me. He was talking about either something a female friend of his did wrong or a game she lost, I can't quite remember, and he finished with a matter-of-factly "but she's a girl". He was only 8, and he had already learned that girls were naturally less capable then boys simply by virtue of being girls.

I stopped him right there and asked if he thought girls were naturally worse at (whatever it was) than boys. Sensing he had said something wrong, he hesitated, but stammered yes. I then asked why and who told him that, both of which were met with a confused "I don't know". I proceeded to ask if he thought his mother was less intelligent or less capable than his father because she was a woman, and he confidently said no. So, if his mother isn't less capable than his father, why are other girls less capable than other boys? He didn't have an answer. I answered for him: they weren't, and he should remember that.

I like to think that, in that single conversation, I contributed far more to a less sexist world than the hordes of internet zealots raging against bikini-clad women ever will. How many of them simply chuckle or laugh when the children around them say something like that, only to turn around and be outraged at Lollipop Chainsaw?

There's something else that bothers me in this whole "internet outrage thingy": how the world seems to be divided between evil, sexist men and victimized women. Like Bush's U.S, you are either with them or against them. It seems that none of them asks an obvious question: if only men are sexist and men are raised by women, how come sexism even exists in the first place?

I am no historian, but if you will allow me a bit of common sense historical theory, the male-dominated society is, most likely, a direct result of men's superior physical strength. In the beginning of human society, that was the only power that mattered, and over the centuries, as physical prowess ceased to be relevant to power and success, the idea of male dominance became firmly entrenched in our culture, in both men and women.

So maybe guys thousands of years ago were really evil, sexist jerks, and it's all their fault. And maybe many guys today are still evil, sexist jerks, but the fact remains that, now, women are just as sexist, often more so, then we are, and anyone who is serious about dealing with sexism cannot ignore that.

I grew up in a very conservative region of Brazil, and that phenomenon is plainly visible. Many of my female friends are more sexist than my male friends. Some even admit it openly. My wife in particular came from a very conservative and very sexist family, the kind that relentlessly pressures and guilts their daughters into marrying virgin and behaving like "proper ladies". Her father was very much behind that ideal, but her mother was the one really leading the charge. They failed on all accounts, though they did succeed in messing their elder daughter up so much, she only managed to have a real relationship (and I don't just mean sex) after 30. But I digress.

My wife is the youngest daughter, and when I met her she often showed a at times hilarious gap between words and deeds. She had a Sarkeesian-like super feminist speech, and yet didn't even realize she was much, much closer to the "proper role in the world" their parents envisaged than to the progressive woman she fancied herself to be, and I am glad to say that I helped her to, in the words of master Yoda, unlearn what she had learned. This isn't just my theory, she has told me that several times over the years, and often expresses amazement when she thinks back to how unwittingly sexist she used to be.

Again, over the course of our nearly 10 years old relationship, I probably contributed far more to the anti-sexism cause than most internet screamers combined.

There is nothing wrong with using blondes in miniskirts and babes in bikinis to sell a game to men. There is nothing wrong with Madonna performing nearly naked to promote herself. There is A LOT wrong with real sexism. Real sexism is the one that women expressed in the #1 reason tag (though there are legitimate criticisms against the campaign itself). Real sexism is when husbands think they have a license to beat their wives. When parents spank their daughters but not their sons because "that's how it's done", effectively teaching both of them that violence is alright when it's against women. When beautiful but incompetent women get the job over their uglier but better qualified counterparts because their boss wants to fuck them. When vulnerable women are groped in the workplace and "just have to take it". When women are paid less than men to do the very same job. When a rape victim is blamed for being raped ("did you see what she was wearing? And what was she doing alone in that place at that hour?") The list goes on and on and on.

Sexism is a real and serious problem. I only wish the internet would actually do something about it instead of tirelessly and pointlessly railing against videogames.

Welcome to Norway, I mean, Skyrim!

It's been over a month since I began trekking through the holds of Skyrim. During this time I've slayed countless dragons, became arch-mage, saved lives, considerably thinned the local wildlife (I try not to, but Skyrim beasts are a bloodthirsty lot), worked to fulfill my destiny as Dragonborn, met M'aiq the liar and rode to the farthest reaches of the province. And I had a blast doing all that!

Skyrim is that rare game that just makes you want to talk about it. I want to know how others went about their adventures, what path they took, how they played, and share my own tales. And the C-blog is a great place to do just that. So if you will indulge me for a bit, allow me to regale you with the tales of Legolas (I know, I know. I can't help it!) the wood elf.

The first thing I want to mention: mods. I can not stress this enough. If you are playing Skyrim on a PC and didn't bother with mods because you think it's hard to find or complicated, stop what you are doing right now, download the Nexus Mod Manager and start downloading. It couldn't be simpler. Really, do it. You'll thank me later!

The mods really make an already pretty game a gorgeous one as well as adding and improving content. I use several enhancement mods like hd textures, improved water, smoke, blood, map, night sky, objects, horse armor, more armor types, new interface and more. It makes a world of difference, and even after 120 hours I sometimes still pause to gawk at the scenery.

I like to stay within the boundaries of the game world and lore, so I mostly downloaded cosmetic mods and small additions that make sense within the game world, but if would rather go wild and use, say, a rocket launcher, you will find what you want.


Gorgeous.


Enjoying the night sky.


Roads!!!!

Now on to the exploits of my wood elf proper. As you've probably guessed, I'm playing as a sneaky archer, with a bit of magic on the side. I started a 2-handed warrior to choose a different side in the civil war and join different guilds, but every time I played 10 minutes with it I found myself itching to get back to Legolas, so he's now my only character.

Speaking of the civil war, I had a really hard time deciding who to help! I wanted to choose the best for Skyrim (as long as the resulting Skyrim didn't purge non-nords). Given that the empire was going to kill me "just because" and the emperor seemed pitifully weak (and selfish) by capitulating to every Thalmor demand even though the Redguards pushed them out on their own and Talos is a core part of the identity of the Nords who sacrificed themselves to retake the imperial city, my first stop was the Stormcloak headquarters.

I started having second thoughts immediately after setting foot in Windhelm. Ulfric quickly came across as a power-hungry egomaniac, and the fact their version of Skyrim had no room for a non-nord like me sent me in the Empire's direction. I came close to having a change of heart after meeting the Thalmor for the first time. I haven't been so immediately repulsed by a "villain" in quite a while, so kudos to Bethesda for that. I wanted them out of Skyrim no matter what, even if it meant siding with the racist Stormcloaks. In the end, my allegiance to the empire was sealed after talking to the level-headed Legate Rikke and understanding that separating Skyrim from the Empire would cut off High Rock from Cyrodil, effectively dissolving the Empire altogether and handing Tamriel to the Thalmor on a silver platter.


Die Thalmor scum DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Despite a harsh life of incessant fighting and riding and selling, I somehow managed to find love between my many battles for lord, land and dragon. I was smitten by my first Housecarl, the beautiful Lydia, and we eventually married. We adventured together as husband and wife for a while, but the mere possibility of losing her was to much to bear, so I convinced her to go to the safety of our home. The fact that she doesn't regenerate her barter gold while accompanying me may have played a tiny, marginal, insignificant role in this decision. Now she kindly awaits for me at home while I slay Dragons with the creepy Jenassa watching my back. Our marriage is going well, though it's suffering from a sort of identity crisis...


For the last time woman, I am your HUSBAND, not your thane!

There is so much more I'd like to write, but I've already written far more than most will be bothered to read and time is short. I enjoyed writing this, so I might share more of Legola's escapades later I hope Skyrim fans enjoy the read, and feel free to share your own adventures!

I finally took the plunge and bought Skyrim from Gamersgate. Being as spoiled by Steam as I am, I was patiently waiting for a 75% discount, but unfortunately (for me. Very fortunately for Bethesda), it seems Skyrim was way too successful to get that kind of discount any time soon. Waiting for discounts also allows for the worst bugs to be patched and for great mods to be developed, 2 particularly important things when it comes to Bethesda games. In any case, the wait simply became too much!

Oblivion was my first Elder Scrolls game, and it absolutely blew me away. Until then, I'd only played story-driven RPGs, and though they remain my favorite kind, wandering around Oblivion's gorgeous (at the time) landscapes was simply... magical.

The Law of Expectations all but guarantees the experience won't be as magical this time around, but it will probably be pretty great all the same. After braving the snows of Norway, it is now time to brave the snows of Skyrim, and that's such an exciting prospect I just had to come here and write about it!

So wish me luck, fellow adventurers (and please recommend me some good mods while you're at it). Tamriel, here I go!

I just finished playing F.E.A.R 3 (note to developers: we speak Portuguese in Brazil, thank you very much!), and I was reminded once again of a gaming "evolution" I'm not particularly fond of, at least in single player games: regenerating health.

The first time I remember playing a game with this new evolution was Crysis, way back in 2007 (or 56 BC in video game years). The game was fantastic, but I remember thinking the regenerating health thing made it way too easy. I simply charged like Rambo, killed a few baddies, ducked somewhere for a few seconds, rinse and repeat. Sometimes I would try to approach enemies tactically just for variety, but not once did I feel like it was necessary. Quite the opposite, the game made it feel like a waste of time.

I imagine regenerating health replaced medpacks for the sake of streamlining, and in theory having a bunch of medpacks in the inventory or waiting to regenerate isn't very different, but in practice it is, at least for me. Not knowing when I'm going to find the next medpack automatically makes me have more respect for the enemies and approach situations more cautiously. Even if the game is very generous with its medpacks, I still can't afford to ignore cover and almost die every 5 seconds.

Unfortunately for me, I've never heard anyone talk about this even in passing, so I'm probably (almost) alone in my distaste for regenerating health. What do you guys think?

Sexism controversies, legitimate or manufactured, are all the rage in the gaming media these days, and with good reason, as evidenced by the hundreds of comments such articles get in a matter of hours. A good deal of the recent discussion has been fueled by Anita Sarkeesian's kickstarter project and the bizarre, at times violent, internet reaction that followed.

Personally, while I think there are many legitimate issues, quite a few are silly, hypocritical or blown way out of proportion. Ironically, they also often reveal the sexism of some who decry the supposed sexism! And it's sometimes hard not to picture Anita as an attention-seeking, man-hating, fire-breathing feminist caricature when reading some of her comments.

But I just realized something: all that sexism being hammered on our collective heads is working.

This past week I finished Batman: Arkham City and Bayonetta, and I found myself seeing sexism or thinking about sexism where previously I possibly wouldn't have even blinked. Curiously, I didn't find Bayonetta sexist at all, while Arkham City's Talia Al-Ghul rang my sexism alarm bells.

This is a somewhat new development. I have always been exactly the audience games targeted (teen male gamers 15 years ago, young male adults these days), so sexism and women in gaming just weren't on my radar like they are now. That's not so say I see sexism everywhere, far from it, but I now pay attention to the issue in a way I didn't before.

And whatever one may think of Anita or proponents of Tomb Raider's "rape controversy", raising this kind of awareness is a resounding victory for them, as well as for all who hope for a more egalitarian medium, myself included.

Very quick post just to vent a little about the pointless DRM checks in Arkham City. I recently started
playing it on Steam, which is also designed as DRM. So there we have DRM check 1. After launching the game for the first time, we need to type the serial number to authenticate it with SecuRom. DRM check number 2.

Now comes the best part. After all that, we still can't play the game, no sir. There's Games for Windows Live, DRM check number 3! Guess what? We need to type the freaking code AGAIN to authenticate it AGAIN, this time with GFWL. And of course, nothing is ever simple with GFWL. The way it works, at least for me, is you type the user name, type the password, click ok, type the serial number, and only then GFWL attempts to log in. If it doesn't work you have to retype the serial number. And for some reason I just couldn't log in. I double checked everything and tried over and over again. Which meant I had to type the serial number over and over again.

Strangely, I could log in to GFWL through a web browser but not through the game. I reset the password and still nothing. So before giving up I decide to try clicking on "log in with a different account", typing the same username and same password, and it magically worked! Finally! Go figure.

So at last I could play the game. So much hassle, and for what? To prevent these people from pirating the game, playing it hassle-free and having a a much better experience than a paying customer like me? Well, it's working like a charm. Except of course for the "prevent" part. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to join them after all this bullshit.