visiting sunny Los Santos

So, we've just finished GTA V. Don't worry, no spoilers - if you've got this far without being told anything about the ending, kudos, I won't spoil it for you.

I'm a big fan of the GTA series. It's given our household hours of entertainment, shared memories, and occasional moments of trauma (the last instalment made my husband phone me at work to have a cry, for example). We've all thoroughly enjoyed V. For myself, the jumping physics were worth the price of admission alone. Running up to a fence, attempting to jump over it and instead catching your shins and face planting into the concrete? Never gets old (except maybe when it happens during a crucial moment in a chase sequence).

So it feels churlish at best for me to complain, especially when my complaint boils down to... where are the girl characters at?

Accusing GTA of misogyny is like complaining the sea is a bit wet and smells of fish. It's kinda what it does. But still, by this point in time... no playable female characters? No significant female characters at all, in fact, who aren't wife/girlfriend/daughter, and also highly shrill and annoying? The male characters are equally unlikable, granted, but they're also hella-fun to play. So, Rockstar, what's your excuse?

Girls don't play GTA? You're not even going to try that one. Anyone who brings up that argument can go stand in the corner with the "Games Cause IRL Violence" crowd, because your reasoning is just as valid. Girls aren't our target audience? Okay, that feels closer--let's face it, the target audience for these games always has been and always will be 14 year old boys, or those who are still 14 years old in their hearts (and their pants). But, extrapolating from that, are you inferring boys don't like girl characters? That they might put down a game because it's got a female character in the lead? I'm not sure that argument is going to fly either.

Girls are less interesting as characters because they don't act like Trevor Philips? I think we can call shenanigans on that as well. I know plenty of women who are (hypothetically) capable of drinking, fighting, stealing cars, or passing out drunk on beaches amongst the bludgeoned corpses of their other party-goers. Hypothetically, as I say.

So what's up? I don't get it. And, I know it's not a major point in the grand scheme of things, but with the amount of effort Rockstar go to building worlds and realistic characters and interesting missions and Trevor Philips, would it really be so difficult to write some female characters into the game? When I saw the poster art of the woman being arrested by the female police officer, I was really hopefully for this instalment. I would've liked to see someone like that running amok in Los Santos.

Will this prevent GTA V taking the coveted Game Of The Year trophy at the Rakie Awards 2013? Ehhh, it's possible. More likely it'll either be the ridiculous, repeated, unnecessary use of the N-word, or the existance of Bioshock Infinite. But misogyny doesn't help, that's for sure.