Fans have started an online petition to ask for female characters to be an active part in the upcoming Aliens Colonial Marine videogame by Gearbox Software and Sega. If you agree with the below statement, you can sign the petition here.
“While we fully support Gearbox, We would like to request the inclusion of playable females. The ALIENS franchise is dominated by strong females such as Ripley, Vasquez, Ferro, Dietrich and most importantly, The Queen. There is roughly 5-6 months before the game goes Gold and releases February 12th, 2013. We believe ALIENS is the perfect starting point for developers to start including playable females in more multiplayer shooters. And what better company to start this than Gearbox with the success of Borderlands and the benchmark shooter Brothers in Arms?
There are many females that enjoy playing video games and are fans of the films who are tired of playing as a male all the time. Lets let Gearbox Software see how important this is to the ALIENS franchise!“
“What we want is the ability to create a CUSTOM female to represent ourselves just like the men can, in multiplayer/co-op in order for us to “Become a Colonial Marine“
^ ^ I second this
also Moosh's name for the contest your name in A:CM
http://blogs.sega.com/2012/08/10/aliens-colonial-marines-your-name-featured-in-the-game/
We all want our name on ACM but I believe that no one else deserve this geek reward more than Moosh
Congratz from Mexico
Of course Moosh, a stranger is just a friend I haven't met
Left to right: Wierzbowski, Dietrich, Frost, Ferro & Spunkmeyer
And if you are offering friendship to me, FOR SURE!!! Haha
By the way, I'll be getting this on PS3 no matter the outcome/reviews so if you need someone to ensure that the Aliens "Get Some!!" I'd be happy to join you and anyone else who's stuck for teammates.
I am sure they meant to harm or disrespect to this
All is well, and Thanks for your support!
Hopefully we will see female marines fighting alongside the male marines in the hives!, *Fingers crossed!!!*
I SAID EVERYBODY CROSS YOUR FINGERS!!!! GRRRRWAAAAAAAHHHH!!! hahaha, just kidding!
I wouldn't mind female marines at all, in fact, I would like that.
I've already seen the same Russian guy running around in call of duty for the past three years, diversity would a very, VERY welcome thing in my book
Regardless...it's always better to see diversity in Multi-player, especially in an ALIENS game. f**king AvP 2010 was getting EXTREMELY old seeing the same bald marine running around. If you don't think diversity is important than I guess you would just like to see the same character model in every FPS game when playing multi-player, trust me...it makes a difference because otherwise it's just completely stale.
I respect your points Sinister Serenity
However, ALIENS is about strong females, the Colonial Marines are a unisex fighting force, meaning Men and Women are equals, and a "true sequel" needs to represent this. Also, it is time that more females are represented in shooters, what better game than A:CM?
And yes, Mr. "ADC" snapped this photo of the cast posing to promote the petition!
Again, I honestly wouldn't care if they did end up putting female marines or if they didn't. I'm not against it, just not with it. It just seems like a waste of time.
HOLY SHIT IS THIS REAL LIFE?!
Mr. Trevor Steedman has signed now!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/include-playable-females-in-aliens-colonial/signatures/page/77#sub-3801
There will be a video message from Mr. Steedman sometime tomorrow as well!
Another step ahead! Congrats everyone!!!
Not quite, It looks like Bella, and while she does indeed look playable and customizable (she is wearing different armour, nice "movie-like" armour!), Gearbox hasn't officially stated that there are playable females. (although it looks that way!)
I hope that if there are, that you can build your own!, I hate being premade characters online (except the movie characters, I will like those!)
PETITION RELATED!:
Yes!, My first ring I am offering for sale!, it turned out great!
Now you can have a pet facehugger wrapped around your finger!!!
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi282.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk254%2FMoosh89%2FALIENS%2520Facehugger%2520Ring%2FIMG_0598copy.png&hash=d856555284503a84f0dac3fd7432495632fd302d
More pr0n shots
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi282.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk254%2FMoosh89%2FALIENS%2520Facehugger%2520Ring%2FIMG_0596copy.png&hash=df20d17f7f8550069a530c0e0a1fc6b04d2617b5
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi282.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk254%2FMoosh89%2FALIENS%2520Facehugger%2520Ring%2FIMG_0597copy.png&hash=466db72942992534d21c06e522d344bd2f1a290b
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi282.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk254%2FMoosh89%2FALIENS%2520Facehugger%2520Ring%2FIMG_0599copy.png&hash=bd5e101dfcc9f4e76dbd66c35f0c3cb5e1ac5963
I kept the prices as low as possible!, I am only making (give or take) about $10 for each ring, the rest of the price goes to Shapeways for printing costs. They also handle shipping, which is separate but very reasonable!
It usually takes about 3 weeks for me, and they deliver worldwide.
My plan for the first bit of earnings is to buy more of these rings to personally send to the cast members who have signed and supported our petition as a Thank you!
Many different materials to choose from including incredibly strong and flexible plastic, plastic with aluminum dust (not as strong as the Strong and Flexible), different mixtures of Stainless Steel, Gold Plated Stainless Steel and Sterling Silver.
Pictured is Matte Gold Plated Stainless Steel. :acmaffirmative:
Links to buy:
SIZE 9: http://www.shapeways.com/model/660388/aliens-facehugger-ring-sz-9.html
SIZE 10: http://www.shapeways.com/model/682626/aliens-facehugger-ring-sz-10.html
SIZE 11: http://www.shapeways.com/model/682642/aliens-facehugger-ring-sz-11.html
SIZE 12: http://www.shapeways.com/model/682658/aliens-facehugger-ring-sz-12.html
Different sizes might be possible if enough demand is there, I can't see it going any smaller than Size 8 though, but I can go bigger if needed, although the price may need adjusting then
*MODS, I hope this is OK!, think of it as "art" haha. I had to completely remodel this damn ring like 6 times!!! haha, so I am just shouting VICTORY!!, but my size won't print in steel
"Let's pack 'em in!"
Oh wait... we did already!
f**k YEAH!!!!
Aaaarrrr, absolute BADASSES!
The petition and those who have signed it is real, as well as the need for this change
Bahahaha, Watch her new movie "The Cold Light of Day" then say that again
Spoiler
Water balloon grenades FTW.
Good point.
Now get Weaver.
*****UPDATE, AUGUST 21ST, 2012*****
Just received an email from Ms. Colette Hiller!
Her name does not yet appear on the petition, unless she signed anonymously, But really, her email is good enough for me!
Congrats everyone!
This is a USMC perspective btw.
Cool.
Not personally, but my father was and I know some who are.
Thanks for the detailed reply! It is so informative, and honestly brings up some things that I never would have thought about.
I will check out those two novels you mentioned. Good luck with yours as well, I hope it is a success.
Were you by any chance in the military?
Please do. They provide a quite insightful view into the life of modern female soldiers who serve in combat zones. Got them for research with my own, but glad I did.
Your story sounds interesting! and I will have to check out the other two books you mentioned as well
It's... A bit of a sticky area, to be honest. Obviously, there are concerns about things like upper body strength, although, obviously, if a woman could pass the initial test for that, then so be it. From what I remember, though, the Israelis did studies on mixed gender front-line combat roles and human psychology has an unfortunate habit to enter operational procedure. Men are programmed to be more protective of female colleagues, for example and will take more risks to rescue them - and be plagued by more frustrations/stresses which can distract them, if female members of their unit are captured. This essentially leads to personnel being off their game, so to speak (and can even lead to motivations of revenge creeping into combat engagements and ignoring the recognised rules of engagement).
There's also the topic of fraternisation, which does go on, even though it's not meant to. If you've ever witnessed an office romance and the negative consequences of that, this can be writ large in a life-or-death environment, where favouritism will tend to be suspected by others who are aware of the relationship, leading to trust issues, even if the pair, themselves, are somehow actively trying to avoid it and keep things strictly professional (although, again, considering human nature, favouritism is a real possibility).
To a certain extent (it's not purely sexual, after all - people can have vested romantic feelings and be in a relationship without sex being involved), this latter problem can be eliminated, due to sleeping arrangements being separated (something which can't be done when bisexual/homosexual personnel enter the equation, for obvious reasons). But the first problem is still a risk to efficiency.
Unless policy has changed, I think the Israelis still have women in front-line combat units, but got around it by making them female-exclusive.
The unisex barracks/showering arrangements depicted in 'Starship Troopers' won't be happening any time soon, clearly, unless the Pentagon is allowed to implant mind-control chips in recruits' brains to rid them of basic human emotions.
Yes, female personnel are frequently involved in firefights in support positions, but this is unavoidable. It's not the same thing as deliberately tempting fate in front-line 'dirty' infantry combat (and, it should be kept in mind, female personnel would be priority targets for militants trying to exploit these very psychological weaknesses, in the same way as innocent Jewish tourists are unfortunately more of a target for terrorists).
That's why I think games which revolve around the Colonial Marines should be authentic and allow for female personnel, since the source material has been portrayed that way. But why I also have issues with the slightly self-righteous nature of the Twitter quote. Because there are are genuine psychological issues to take into account, which have absolutely nothing to do with sexism or assumptions about potential sexual assault, when discussing the pros and cons of having mixed-gender combat personnel units.
With all that said, I love female military characters and own copies of the excellent 'Love My Rifle More Than You' and 'Dressed To Kill', which are the biographies of two female soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan and are very enlightening. One of the fiction novels I'm in the process of writing also centres around a female gunship pilot, set in the future, so... I'm all for more of this stuff being represented! But also of applying realism where possible!
Thanks!, That's pretty cool that they even put a mini link in there too!
It's a fairly small write up to be honest, I don't have a scanner but I'll happily type it up here for you in a minute.
EDIT: Here you go;
Aliens fans have started an online petition about the total absence of female marines in multiplayer. In the film female marines like vasquez play a huge role, and many see the Alien series as having a significant feminist message. Check the petition here: goo.gl/VCQD8
Thanks for the heads up!
Anyone have a copy they can share here?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/6073-Lets-End-the-FPS-Sausage-fest
Even when in effective combat roles, I still think women are largely excluded from infantry.