Ono discusses Poison's gender and history with EGM
Posted by Jon 'Catalyst' Grey • October 10, 2011 at 5:38 p.m. PDT • Comments: 197
Electronic Gaming Monthly posted an interview with Capcom's Yoshinori Ono concerning Poison's gender. The discussion starts from her somewhat humble beginnings to how she's blown up as a pretty popular character in her own right as of late.
Here's a snip to get you going.
EGM: In talking to members of the trans community who have an investment or general interest in the character of Poison, one major concern I’ve heard has come from some of the videos shown for Street Fighter X Tekken in regards to win quotes. For example, in one video that was shown, both Ryu and Chun-Li made statements toward Poison regarding her not being a “real” woman in one way or another.
Capcom rep: Can I jump in really quick on this one? Those win quotes came from an earlier point in the game’s development, and while we haven’t publicized it too much, we’re actually working very closely with GLAAD. We’re very sensitive as far as not wanting to alienate anybody as Ono-san said, so we’re trying to be careful in that regard. It’s been an education process for us, but we do want people to know that we’re now working with GLAAD to make sure that anything that might be offensive has been very tailored to not be.
EGM: Ah — I’m really glad to hear that.
At the end of the day, in the entertainment industry, you can’t go about willy-nilly and not be sensitive to these sort of things. Our goal here is to make sure we’re caring for all of our audience members, and make sure we’re not stepping on any toes. We want to make sure that the Poison fans out there—no matter which way they see her—are satisfied that the character is being portrayed in a way that suits their idea of the character, but also in a way that isn’t insensitive or demeaning in any way. So, we do take our responsibility in matters like this very seriously, and want to make sure we’re as inclusive as possible.
Submitted by Boba and Virtua_Kazama.
Capcom rep: Can I jump in really quick on this one? Those win quotes came from an earlier point in the game’s development, and while we haven’t publicized it too much, we’re actually working very closely with GLAAD. We’re very sensitive as far as not wanting to alienate anybody as Ono-san said, so we’re trying to be careful in that regard. It’s been an education process for us, but we do want people to know that we’re now working with GLAAD to make sure that anything that might be offensive has been very tailored to not be.
EGM: Ah — I’m really glad to hear that.
At the end of the day, in the entertainment industry, you can’t go about willy-nilly and not be sensitive to these sort of things. Our goal here is to make sure we’re caring for all of our audience members, and make sure we’re not stepping on any toes. We want to make sure that the Poison fans out there—no matter which way they see her—are satisfied that the character is being portrayed in a way that suits their idea of the character, but also in a way that isn’t insensitive or demeaning in any way. So, we do take our responsibility in matters like this very seriously, and want to make sure we’re as inclusive as possible.
