Nintendo advertising playable female characters in games. - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Swiket;41597871]I wouldn't mind seeing a female playable character for Zelda games. Link's character is so lifeless that it really wouldn't have any impact on the game.[/QUOTE] Before I actually knew anything about nintendo games I thought zelda was the hero since it was her name on the box. Would be kind of cool I guess since she's way more of a character than link

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;41597944]I like how they made emotional outbursts a gameplay mechanic in that game.[/QUOTE] That was the best part. The game was amazingly sexist yet it flew completely under the radar. [editline]26th July 2013[/editline] [quote]When Super Princess Peach arrived in the IGN offices, the box it came in literally permeated the air with an overwhelmingly flowery, peach scent.[/quote] [url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/02/23/super-princess-peach]Source[/url]

[QUOTE=HawkeyeTy;41597604]Am I a freak for being able to think of many very solid female characters in gaming? Even dating back like 20 years now. Why is this even near a selling point?[/QUOTE] 20 years ago gaming wasn't about burley bald emotionless muscleheads. Gaming has become more optimized for male teen power fantasies

[QUOTE=Hunterdnrc;41597535]"One of the many playable female characters in upcoming Wii U games" Literally one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Female protagonists shouldn't be a [I]feature[/I], that's ridiculous. In my eyes it seems like Nintendo is just like "[B]GUYS LOOK WE HAVE GIRLS IN OUR GAMES!!!"[/B][/QUOTE] this is the thing about women in video games, developers have to choose their words very carefully to avoid backlash like this. can't we just be happy for once

[QUOTE=AJisAwesome15;41598159]this is the thing about women in video games, developers have to choose their words very carefully to avoid backlash like this. can't we just be happy for once[/QUOTE] tbh I think it's a bit pandering in the way that they worded it but whatever idc it's a nice change regardless

[QUOTE=The Baconator;41598123]20 years ago gaming wasn't about burley bald emotionless muscleheads. Gaming has become more optimized for male teen power fantasies[/QUOTE] Or at least the "burley bald emotionless muscleheads" were on the margin, and only really used as a marketing ploy. For instance, side-scrolling Duke Nukem only really seemed like a tough badass on the cover. In game, he didn't look that menacing :v:.

[QUOTE=IrishBandit;41597956][URL="http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/47724463171/inspired-by-anita-sarkeesians-video-game-tropes"]Like this?[/URL][/QUOTE] I like the designs but I'm not asking for a full-on gender role reversal, just a simple option to play as a female would be fine. This is a bit off-topic, but I feel like Nintendo has been incredibly stubborn on a lot of aspects from their games. Online play, achievements, region locking, user videos, social connectivity... everything has to be limited because they feel it's best. God only knows when Nintendo will allow us to tie our digital purchases to an online account and not a console, like other companies have been doing for almost a decade.

[QUOTE=Hunterdnrc;41597535]"One of the many playable female characters in upcoming Wii U games" Literally one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Female protagonists shouldn't be a [I]feature[/I], that's ridiculous. In my eyes it seems like Nintendo is just like "[B]GUYS LOOK WE HAVE GIRLS IN OUR GAMES!!!"[/B][/QUOTE] big deal

I don't think guys are really accurately represented in video games [editline]e[/editline] I mean, I shout fuck a lot but nine times out of ten it's in my voice and not steve blum's, and I also dont vault over every waist-high thing I find I have however carried two pistols, four two-handed weapons, and a rocket launcher in my back pocket, I think everyone has had to do that at some point really [editline]e[/editline] Really nobody is accurately represented in games, and gaming has definitely shifted towards shooters and playing as guys while doing said shooting, but acting like women are the only people misrepresented in games is pretty disagreeable Does anything need to be done about it? Probably. Do you really need to advertise that you're being progressive? Probably not.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;41597712]That is the most Joker-esque expression I've ever seen, holy shit.[/QUOTE] joker-esque...

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;41597478][img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JEHlStfFkLo/T2PD6hY6SMI/AAAAAAAAADQ/qqdi7C-VXvo/s320/Peach.png[/img] Hot.[/QUOTE] huge slut

[QUOTE=J!NX;41598602]huge slut[/QUOTE] [t]http://i40.tinypic.com/ic2wxf.jpg[/t] Showing off her ankles? What a whore.

[QUOTE=ashxu;41598646][t]http://i40.tinypic.com/ic2wxf.jpg[/t] Showing off her ankles? What a whore.[/QUOTE] and her arm that bitch is showing arm call the reddit feminists we have a big issue here

[QUOTE=J!NX;41598649]and her arm that bitch is showing arm call the reddit feminists we have a big issue here[/QUOTE] there are feminists on reddit?

[QUOTE=Swiket;41598423]I like the designs but I'm not asking for a full-on gender role reversal, just a simple option to play as a female would be fine. This is a bit off-topic, but I feel like Nintendo has been incredibly stubborn on a lot of aspects from their games. Online play, achievements, region locking, user videos, social connectivity... everything has to be limited because they feel it's best. God only knows when Nintendo will allow us to tie our digital purchases to an online account and not a console, like other companies have been doing for almost a decade.[/QUOTE] Nintendo has always been a very conservative company. They very much value following tradition rather than trying out new things.

[QUOTE=Doomish;41598429]I don't think guys are really accurately represented in video games [editline]e[/editline] I mean, I shout fuck a lot but nine times out of ten it's in my voice and not steve blum's, and I also dont vault over every waist-high thing I find I have however carried two pistols, four two-handed weapons, and a rocket launcher in my back pocket, I think everyone has had to do that at some point really [editline]e[/editline] Really nobody is accurately represented in games, and gaming has definitely shifted towards shooters and playing as guys while doing said shooting, but acting like women are the only people misrepresented in games is pretty disagreeable Does anything need to be done about it? Probably. Do you really need to advertise that you're being progressive? Probably not.[/QUOTE] The difference is that women are often represented as useless and men are often represented as extremely powerful. If black people are represented as lazy criminals and white people are represented as upstanding intellectuals, neither one is a completely accurate representation but it's a lot more reasonable for black people to take issue with it, isn't it?

It's a bit blatant, but rather than jumping to the worst conclusions about it, I'm willing to assume they're only trying to make girls more aware of the introduction of more female characters. Because like people have made notice, there aren't as many female protagonists as there are male. [editline]26th July 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Swiket;41597871]I wouldn't mind seeing a female playable character for Zelda games. Link's character is so lifeless that it really wouldn't have any impact on the game.[/QUOTE] A game centered around Sheik would be fucking fantastic.

[QUOTE=IrishBandit;41597956][URL="http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/47724463171/inspired-by-anita-sarkeesians-video-game-tropes"]Like this?[/URL][/QUOTE] But Zelda was never clueless or sheltered, she always knew about Ganon's plans , so why is Link sheltered and incapable when they switch roles ? Did the artist even play the games ?

[QUOTE=thisispain;41598433]joker-esque...[/QUOTE] Do you actually have an opinion or are you just arguing for the sake of it now?

they could just be referring to bayonetta 2 and the probable new metroid game, this isn't any indication of a new IP.

[QUOTE=Vodkavia;41597509]More female characters would be more of a service to women if their introduction was seamless and not advertised as or made as a novelty.[/QUOTE] Well at this moment it it's still something not completely common so it's a selling point. Once it becomes more common the advertising can be dropped.

[QUOTE=IrishBandit;41597956][URL="http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/47724463171/inspired-by-anita-sarkeesians-video-game-tropes"]Like this?[/URL][/QUOTE] Imo, that artist version just looks more like a rule #63 of Link than an original character. If they want a Zelda that kicks ass, they'd be better off drawing inspiration from Sheik, or making a completely new character. A Zelda game with a random ass genderswap so that you have a character that's basically female Link that's masquerading as Zelda would just feel weird to players. However a game that would for example emphasize Zelda's OOT secret identity as the sleek mysterious ninja-like Sheik that manages to survive perfectly well on her own in the now run down kingdom and that ever so often appears to guide Link on his quest is something new that we'd still be familiar with. A game that emphasizes all her important background work, or a separate game where another Zelda is relying on her secret identity as the main character of the game... would not only fit into the game lore as a whole, but would could make a unique female protagonist to the series without reducing her to a cheap knock-off Link character. A game where you play as Zelda with her secret identity as Sheik that doesn't rely on swordplay and brute force for combat rather than stealth, deception, and tactical knowledge, would enforce that Zelda still has the Triforce of Wisdom rather than Courage or Power. A game where you play as Sheik would bring an alternative take on the Zelda games that would drastically change up some of the ways the game is played, while it can still keep many of the main adventure elements of Zelda games and still fit the lore of previous games. A game where you play as Sheik could even work alongside a separate game where you play as Link, to show a different perspective on who the real hero of the story is, as you unknowingly to Link pave the way for his confrontation with Ganondorf. Mainly, a game where you play as Sheik would show that Zelda can still kick ass with her own abilities of the Triforce, and that Link would be damn wrong to assume that she's the one that needs to be saved or protected. [editline]26th July 2013[/editline] It would be more of a spin-off than a true Legend of Zelda game, but if Luigi's Mansion, Wario Ware or Yoshi's Island has taught us anything, it's that spin-off games can both create an awesome new game as well as giving us an awesome new personality development for an already existing character.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;41597712]That is the most Joker-esque expression I've ever seen, holy shit.[/QUOTE] Well she does love making large quantities of people suffer for no apparent reason see; the entire mirrors edge fanbase

[QUOTE=kaze4159;41599518]Do you actually have an opinion or are you just arguing for the sake of it now?[/QUOTE] it's pretty obvious what his opinion is

[QUOTE=katbug;41599823]Well she does love making large quantities of people suffer for no apparent reason see; the entire mirrors edge fanbase[/QUOTE] honestly if DICE are actually going to make ME2 super easy just because somebody on a stage told them to i really doubt they could have delivered a successful followup to Mirrors Edge in the first place

Can't say I blame them for advertising it. I mean, let's not forget, first and foremost, that Nintendo is a company, and as such, they want to make money. In the vidya market today, feminism is all the rage, and it isn't like Nintendo ever had a lack of female characters, but why not bring it to light and make some extra dosh from it?

[QUOTE=Swiket;41597871]I wouldn't mind seeing a female playable character for Zelda games. Link's character is so lifeless that it really wouldn't have any impact on the game.[/QUOTE] The point of link is to be an avatar of you, that was the main vision of the zelda games in the first place. But having the ability to switch the gender would be neat since link can be unisex as a name.

[QUOTE=Hunterdnrc;41597535]"One of the many playable female characters in upcoming Wii U games" Literally one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Female protagonists shouldn't be a [I]feature[/I], that's ridiculous. In my eyes it seems like Nintendo is just like "[B]GUYS LOOK WE HAVE GIRLS IN OUR GAMES!!!"[/B][/QUOTE] That is a consequence of how the industry has been pretty much forced to add in females. It isn't a natural transition. Nintendo is being made to add them in, or face criticism. You got your milk and cookies, now eat them.

I have no problem with this, unless if the female character in question is being forced in, has no interesting story or personality whatsoever and only exists to give the company good PR.

This sort of thing is a step in the right direction. Doesn't matter if it's token or insincere, as long as female characters become more of a standard this can only be a good thing. Affirmative action for fiction.