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Man Edits Wind Waker so 3-Year Old Daughter Doesn't Feel 2nd Class

I feel like folks should procreate and actually hold their newborn in the arms before commenting. It's life changing.

I completely understand what this dad is doing. Good for him.

I never said I didn't understand it - I said it's absurd. Provided I have a kid, I'll let them do what they like. I'll buy them toys of both... actually, if the commercials today show me anything, dolls are stupid. Maybe no dolls. Or just one, to have something to care for. Haven't decided, but the point is, beyond clothing (eh), fuck gender lines.
 

Kazerei

Banned
No , but she should have been introduced to both before buying FIFA. Her favorite soccer players were female, introduced in an all-female squad. It probably wasn't a matter of sex, rather a matter of there were none of her favorite players (sports teams are homogeneous with sex).

Female Link doesn't actually exist. If the message is that everyone can be heroes, why not show that in lieu of modding games? Let her play games with male and female leads. I did (and, again, as the privileged sex I should be more adverse to it).

In the soccer story, she wasn't interested until she learned there were women's teams.

I think your mistake is to assume that the daughters were somehow introduced to only female soccer players, or only female heroes. It's pretty much a certainty that the one girl is aware of male soccer players, and the other girl has heard stories with male heroes.
 
In the soccer story, she wasn't interested until she learned there were women's teams.

I think your mistake is to assume that the daughters were somehow introduced to only female soccer players, or only female heroes. It's pretty much a certainty that the one girl is aware of male soccer players, and the other girl has heard stories with male heroes.

Well that's sad as well. I suppose I can't criticize a child, but sex really shouldn't matter except in terms of reaching equality (as in, just because sex shouldn't matter doesn't mean that we should just keep making male heroes or ignoring the injustices women face). Perfect world and all that.
 
I think I can sum up this whole thing in one word.... "Neat"

Not sarcastic, not condescending... it's truly a neat thing to do. I don't particularly feel it's a big deal either in how he did it, or why he did it. I would say that that's the type of thing a good parent does. Not necessarily hacking a rom to replace male pronouns with female ones, but just little touches like that. Going out of his way to do something extra for his daughter.

When you're a parent you start to realize it's the little things you do that may make a huge difference later on in their lives... though the poor thing is going to get made fun of a bit at school when she tells her friends that Link is a girl~ But if it wasn't that there'd always be something else.
 
Having Link be a 'link" might have been the idea at the very beginning of the series, but in the 3D games, he's pretty much a character, not just a blank slate. Especially in Skyward Sword, where he has relationships with other people and a romance with Zelda. And if I remember the ending of that game correctly, Link and Zelda are supposed to have started the Hylian race together, Adam and Eve style. That would be quite a challenge if they had the same gender. ;-)

And he's male because his creator designed him as a male, that's really all the reason he needs.

Aside from the repopulating aspect, I don't see how having a romance with Zelda would be weird if Link was female in Skyward Sword.

And Links character is basically just a brave courageous and nice being. There is nothing inherently gender specific about him that couldn't be displayed by a female avatar.
 

Kazerei

Banned
Well that's sad as well. I suppose I can't criticize a child, but sex really shouldn't matter except in terms of reaching equality (as in, just because sex shouldn't matter doesn't mean that we should just keep making male heroes or ignoring the injustices women face). Perfect world and all that.

There's nothing sad or un-perfect-worldly* about preferring role models who are similar to oneself.

*I can't think of a word here
 
There's nothing sad or un-perfect-worldly* about preferring role models who are similar to oneself.

*I can't think of a word here

Preferring? Nah. Ignoring every other non-similar role model? Yup.

I could look for black role models in life and video games, and eventually I'd quit the latter if I ignored non-black characters. As for role models in life? Sure, I could prefer a black male to be a role model, but that doesn't say that other people don't act as good role models. Wisdom comes from everywhere, and I'd be remiss to ignore that because people don't look like me.
 
I think it would have been better if her dad would have chosen any of the real games with good heroines (sadly not lots, but they exist), than changing a character than when she is older will discover that was a boy (also Tetra/Zelda).
That or make her see MLP: FiM, is much better for her age (another problem we have, theres really a very small amout of girl cartoons were girls have prominent roles, where this heroines can be brave and have real adventures, not like thise fucking zombie girls shit that only show little girls how to make up and think of boys).
I mean, at the age of 3 she cant read or play well in a 3D enviroment, for example my cousins had problems with that type of games until they became a little older (like 5).
I do not think 3 is a good age to start this types of games, not becuase of their content, but becuase they are difficult to understand and play.

This will probably do nothing to her, positive or negative. At least its a nice gesture.
 

zoukka

Member
Play Beyond Good and Evil.
Shit, lots of people have already said that. lol

But, why not just fire up RPG maker and make your own game at that point? Presumably if you're hacking up a ROM and playing it on an emulator, you have some idea of how to do these things.

Or if that's too high tech, make a LBP level using those tools. There's got to be a way to make games that can provide positive role models than to take an existing game and superficially changing the words in that game.

Damn that lazy father for not making his own videogame lol.
 

Wiseblade

Member
This seems like a good idea at first, but then I remember that there are good games with strong female protagonists already.

Beyond Good and Evil
Any Metroid game that isn't Other M
Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones
Mirror's Edge
Even any Pokémon game from Crystal onwards (except don't actually pick Crystal, because it sucks)

And I'm sure there's a whole bunch more that I'm forgetting or have never heard of. Needing to edit Wind Waker is more a failure on the father's end than anything.
 

FyreWulff

Member
I think it would have been better if her dad would have chosen any of the real games with good heroines (sadly not lots, but they exist), than changing a character than when she is older will discover that was a boy (also Tetra/Zelda).

And every suggestion people gave were games rated T or above.

Wind Waker is basically a playable Disney movie.

I think if she were old enough, the dad WOULD have shown her Metroid and Beyond Good and Evil. He's not only a cool parent for doing this for his kid, but for being a parent and not exposing her to stuff that might scare a kid at that age.

Like this perosn:

This seems like a good idea at first, but then I remember that there are good games with strong female protagonists already.

Beyond Good and Evil Rated T for Teen
Any Metroid game that isn't Other M Rated T for Teen
Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones Rated T or E10+
Mirror's Edge Rated T for Teen
Even any Pokémon game from Crystal onwards (except don't actually pick Crystal, because it sucks) Actual good suggestion

And I'm sure there's a whole bunch more that I'm forgetting or have never heard of. Needing to edit Wind Waker is more a failure on the father's end than anything.

Because really.. doing a simple edit to a game is being a failure? Grow up.
 

Jburton

Banned
Second class?

An right, video games .... the great oppressor.


That shit is nonsense.



Apart from that it was a sweet thing to do for his daughter, just attaching over importance to everything that riles me.
 

Kazerei

Banned
Preferring? Nah. Ignoring every other non-similar role model? Yup.

I could look for black role models in life and video games, and eventually I'd quit the latter if I ignored non-black characters. As for role models in life? Sure, I could prefer a black male to be a role model, but that doesn't say that other people don't act as good role models. Wisdom comes from everywhere, and I'd be remiss to ignore that because people don't look like me.

Err, I think you're inflating things again. Soccer players aren't really the type of role models we draw wisdom from, like say, Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi. If someone ignores a subset of soccer players, really, how is that sad?
 

Wiseblade

Member
Like this perosn:

Fire_Emblem_The_Sacred_Stones.JPG


If I felt that my (hypothetical) child didn't have enough black role models, I wouldn't invent one by changing the skin tone on a white character. I actually go out and find media with strong black characters. Changing a few lines of text is just lazy.
 
Err, I think you're inflating things again. Soccer players aren't really the type of role models we draw wisdom from, like say, Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi. If someone ignores a subset of soccer players, really, how is that sad?

I wasn't speaking of wisdom alone, despite my wording.
 
Fire_Emblem_The_Sacred_Stones.JPG


If I felt that my (hypothetical) child didn't have enough black role models, I wouldn't invent one by changing the skin tone on a white character. I actually go out and find media with strong black characters. Changing a few lines of text is just lazy.

No, lazy would be doing nothing and just sitting back and letting things lie how they are.

If you can't find good characters that represent your values that you want to teach than why NOT invent them? Someone has to at some point. You say "go find one" well, someone at some point and some time has to do it, and if it means simply just altering an existing character... why not? It doesn't harm anyone... he's not selling his "mod" for profit or anything like that.
 

Wiseblade

Member
No, lazy would be doing nothing and just sitting back and letting things lie how they are.

If you can't find good characters that represent your values that you want to teach than why NOT invent them? Someone has to at some point. You say "go find one" well, someone at some point and some time has to do it, and if it means simply just altering an existing character... why not? It doesn't harm anyone... he's not selling his "mod" for profit or anything like that.

In that case, you should talk to your child instead. Changing "he" into "she" and dusting your hands is lazy.
 
In that case, you should talk to your child instead. Changing "he" into "she" and dusting your hands is lazy.

I like how you make the assumption that this is all he did. That all the time he's spent as a parent for the last 3 years culminated in this and only this. I don't think someone who doesn't have a kid really realizes that EVERYTHING you do from the moment the child is born onwards has an effect, positive or negative. Everything, including things you think they don't see.

A parent who truly loves his daughter made a few word changes to a game to try and reinforce his teachings to her that girls can do anything, even be great adventurers, battle impossibly evil forces, and yes... even save princesses. Instead of celebrating his unique way of showing this to his daughter, we get people who look at this and go "is that all? Not a good parent."

Maybe I'm just being overly defensive because I myself have a daughter of almost that age (she's 3 in January) but it just amazes me how much people can judge a parent based on 2-3 paragraphs.
 
In that case, you should talk to your child instead. Changing "he" into "she" and dusting your hands is lazy.

I'm not sure talking to her about the current plight of under represented female heroines in gaming is a suitable subject for a 3 year old. Perhaps later when she's aware enough to notice it and asks dad why that is he could explain it to her. Until then a female link saving the world would seem to be a fine heroine.
 
I'm not sure talking to her about the current plight of under represented female heroines in gaming is a suitable subject for a 3 year old. Perhaps later when she's aware enough to notice it and asks dad why that is he could explain it to her. Until then a female link saving the world would seem to be a fine heroine.
lol, nice one
 
So, he's basically teaching her how other people's intellectual property is worthless, or not worth considering. Nice lesson Dad.
 

FyreWulff

Member
So, he's basically teaching her how other people's intellectual property is worthless, or not worth considering. Nice lesson Dad.

Anyone has the right to modify a work they possess. Your IP rights protect you by preventing people from selling or distributing works based off your work.

This harms Nintendo about as much as someone editing the guns back into ET on their personal copy harms Spielberg.
 

Platy

Member
Actualy ... Wind Waker representation of women is actualy REALLY bad.


People only remember how Tetra is awesome and stuffs like that ... but she is kidnaped in the first 5 minutes of gameplay and people forget that when
she changes into princess zelda she is basicaly locked in the castle underwater for half of the game
wich is basicaly a way of saying "Do you think you are cool ? Yeah I was joking ... go be defenseless"

And for fuck's sake !

Link basicaly has a SKIRT in every single one of his designs
Not to talk about the girly grunts ... SPECIALY on Skyward Sword =P


Also for the 2 dudes telling how zelda is important because the game title is on her, Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask for you =P
 

stuminus3

Member
She's 3 years old, why bother?
You can't be serious. A 3 year old is a rapidly-learning and highly impressionable little person, not a newborn baby.

Cool dude for doing this but maybe he should've made it easier on himself and just played a different game.

EDIT: oh, I just realised this thread is 4 pages long. Carry on.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Also for the 2 dudes telling how zelda is important because the game title is on her, Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask for you =P
Those too have "The Legend of Zelda" name, with Zelda way bigger than the rest in the covers I've seen. Almost every Zelda has a subtitle anyway (quite often with Link in there), but Zelda has been a constant.
 

Platy

Member
Those too have "The Legend of Zelda" name, with Zelda way bigger than the rest in the covers I've seen. Almost every Zelda has a subtitle anyway (quite often with Link in there), but Zelda has been a constant.

.... I was talking about how in those games there is absolutly no sign of the Princess Zelda character
 

faridmon

Member
So he is implanting some gender issues on a 3-year old daughter already? Why can't he let her watch other games wih strong female protaganist? Beyond Good and Evil for instance.

Or just tell her that the gaming industry is big messed up industry where most of the main charcters are all male...

Wait, she won't understand that because she is a 3-year old child? Why can't he just play with her a bit more untill she realise what is wrong and what is wright in few years...
 

pantsmith

Member
Link as a character is gender neutral enough that I wish it was open to the player to decide.

Even a quick but respectful gender swap, like Fiona and Cake in Adventure Time, could do wonders for a series already beloved by girls of all ages while also respecting the game's universe. Don't even care if Princess Zelda becomes Prince Zelda, I think it could work just as well if a girl saved the princess too.
 

Durante

Member
Knowing three year olds;

assuming the three year old pays attention to the game longer than 20 seconds
assuming the three year old can read at a high enough level to make sense of the text changes
assuming the three year old cares about gender issues

Assuming all that? The three year old will probably want to watch him play a decent zelda game instead anyway.
Your first 2 points may have some merit, but the 3rd really doesn't. It's not about "caring about gender issues", it's about the very real and well-documented impact of the formation of early cultural connections.
 

Pociask

Member
Actualy ... Wind Waker representation of women is actualy REALLY bad.


People only remember how Tetra is awesome and stuffs like that ... but she is kidnaped in the first 5 minutes of gameplay and people forget that when
she changes into princess zelda she is basicaly locked in the castle underwater for half of the game
wich is basicaly a way of saying "Do you think you are cool ? Yeah I was joking ... go be defenseless"
Wait, what? Tetra is the captain of a pirate ship. She leads a crew of fierce huge dudes who are loyal to her. She is almost kidnapped by a giant bird which she was leading her ship in fighting. Link's sister is the one that is actually kidnapped - without Tetra, Link wouldn't be able to try to rescue her. Tetra actually helps rescue all the other young girls. Ganon is able to defeat Tetra twice - at the same time he is also able to defeat Link. He is after all a powerful wizard-god who has the triforce of power.

After it's all over (right in the head!), Tetra then decides to go voyage for new lands with Link. She is pretty awesome throughout.
 

SovanJedi

provides useful feedback
To reiterate:

Maybe he just really really wants her to experience Wind Waker because it brought him so much joy, yet wanted to tailor it to her because it's nice for parents to do things for their children to make them feel special? And he wants the best for her? And this is why he hex-edited a few lines of code.

There's really no need to overreact to this, guys.
 
I hope Nintendo sues.


That's like trying to reshape The Thinker because it gives out the impression that girls can't be thinkers... This "political correctness" is getting out of hand.
 
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