Yeah damn. Like what does the skin colour of the character matter here...
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How would you react to a Metroid reboot w/ a black Samus
- Thread starter Spring-Loaded
- Start date
Yeah damn. Like what does the skin colour of the character matter here...
Little Monser
Banned
Trogdor1123
Gold Member
I don't understand why we would change any character for any reason. Just make a new one.
LordKasual
Banned
Spring-Loaded
Member
But what does he mean by "black" here?
LinkAndEpona
Banned
It wouldn't matter to me though it would be a silly thing to do.
Linkstrikesback
Member
I dunno.
Earlier neogaf told me they were just tanned Japanese people, what am I supposed to believe?
That was a terrible thread
Robobandit
Member
Personally, I'd rather they make an all new character rather than change Samus. We do need more representation for minorities in games and other media, though.
LordKasual
Banned
the universally accepted definition by everyone on earth, of course
try and keep up
Tangled Up in Blue
Banned
Marvel created a Black/Hispanic Spider-Man and he's even better than the original. Bring on Black Samus!
Spring-Loaded
Member
Are we sure he's not talking about southeast asians?
Ganguro Samus could still happen. She didn't take her helmet off in Federation Force.
KnightimeX_Legacy
Banned
Little Mons†er;237481872 said:
It would be the same as changing Blade (Wesley Snipes) into a white person.
Even if it was a reboot.
It would not go over well at all.
I'd rather have a brand new character who is a friend of Samus.
Make her about 19 years old and less jaded than Samus.
Just don't replace Samus.
direct_quote
Member
I'm fine with anything that results in a new Metroid. Samus is in a suit for most of the game so it doesn't matter what she is, besides in Other M though but we don't talk about that ( and end of zero mission I guess)..
I agree with this.
Mango The Magician
Banned
It's Neogaf bro.
"Samus" Is her actual name, it's not a alter ego like "Spider-Man" so the equivalent to this would be a character in the future of the series being black and wearing the Varia Suit, but not being Samus.
Marvel created a Black/Hispanic Spider-Man and he's even better than the original. Bring on Black Samus!
I wouldn't mind. It'd be preferable if Nintendo made a brand new IP with a black main character, but it's not like her whiteness is what makes Samus interesting as a character. Though why not change a character who doesn't spend 95%+ of her screen time inside a bulky suit first? Playing as a black Link or Zelda would be rather cool.
Darth Ghandi
Banned
I would play it.
Mango The Magician
Banned
Like, out of curiosity, if the race of the main 30 year old protagonist has no effect on the gameplay, and thus doesn't matter, why does 4K resolution matter on any game anywhere?
I'm not saying anyone in this thread particularly is for or is against anything, but I find the notion that things like the design of the main character of a series not mattering, because it doesn't effect the gameplay, just silly. I mean you could replace Crash Bandicoot with a crate, and have the gameplay be exactly the same, but it wouldn't really be "Crash Bandicoot" because the experience is no longer the same at all.
I'm not saying anyone in this thread particularly is for or is against anything, but I find the notion that things like the design of the main character of a series not mattering, because it doesn't effect the gameplay, just silly. I mean you could replace Crash Bandicoot with a crate, and have the gameplay be exactly the same, but it wouldn't really be "Crash Bandicoot" because the experience is no longer the same at all.
You're trying to equate whitewashing with expanding diversity in games?
I'm not really sure where you're going with that false equivalency, but why does her race changing matter when her out of suit design changes with nearly every game she's in? She has hardly has an established visual identity outside of the suit so it shouldn't matter.
They could very easily have a black link, but they don't have the balls to do it.
Mango The Magician
Banned
She's been a blonde, white, female since her conception. How is that not an established design? Seriously, unless you actually want to argue that different tones in art contribute to the character "changing" but that'd just be silly. Also, yeah, the Varia Suit sometimes having spikes on the knees and sometimes not is hardly as massive of a change as you're trying to make it out to be.
Also, maybe they just don't want to change Link, ya ever think of that?
Oh and this is just hypocritical. If this thread has taught me anything it's that "if it's a reboot, it doesn't matter what they do" (ignoring all the video game reboots that didn't change the established character) and yet this hypothetical is "white-washing" while changing Samus to black or Link to a girl is "diversity." Since when did diversity in gaming become a dogma, where it needs to happen no matter the cost? Seriously, and since no one's provided a answer as to why a new separate character can't work just as well I'll ask again; why does "diversity" always have to come at the cost of something? Why can't "diversity" in games be through a diverse cast that includes the original MC with its original race?
Is there any reason once we moved past the "bit" eras Samus facial look has changed significantly over the years?
Whether or not this move would be a retcon is the less important question. It's more important to clarify why you think it drastically changes a character to modify a skin tone as well as facial features.
GitarooMan
Member
Wouldn't care at all.
Dee Dah Dave
Member
Greater race representation is welcome but not when it's forced for the sake of it. Do it with some new games and characters.
Mango The Magician
Banned
It's almost as if some of those games had different art styles...oh wait that's exactly the case.
But clearly this is somehow a huge change:
Super Metroid:
Other: M:
I mean hell look at that a whole different part in the direction of the hair, Nintendo better get started on that Black Samus!
Messofanego
Banned
Is there lore reason why Samus has to be white and can't be any other skin colour?
I've never played a Metroid game other than Prime so I got no idea lol
Mango The Magician
Banned
Is there a lore reason as to why Slade has to be black. I've never watched a Blade movie, but I'm just curious.
EDIT: lol I meant Blade, I really don't know movies.
Lore-wise, Samus shouldn't look as human as she does. Our lady is part bird (Chozo).
The Horror the horror
Banned
Has nothing to do with lore, or her background...of which she really has none. She's an automaton, a glorified android that must somehow maintain her "ethnicity" to Metroid traditionalists. The ground argument of this 1,000-reply thread can be summarized to one point: if she ain't White, it ain't right.
Mango The Magician
Banned
Explain to me why this mentality is wrong. I mean I'd be defending her all the same if she was originally made as black, but she wasn't, she's white and has been white since day one. Now, you could argue that there's no lore reason for Samus to be white, but I could just as well argue that there's no reason for Anthony in Other: M to be Black, or for Crash Bandicoot to be orange.
A quick google search tells me that she was born 100% human, and was later infused with Chozo DNA, meaning that since we haven't seen any Chozo like look to her externally, that she should actually look as human as she does. :I
No thanks, Anthony is too forgettable.
Like I said, I don't know movies. Still I find it a bit hypocritical to say that because there's no lore reason that explicably states that she must be white that it's suddenly ok to change her. I don't even see how it being a potential reboot somehow makes it any better, as a reboot is still the same franchise and it being Nintendo would be used to sell or market past Metroid games, like the ones on the Virtual Console, much in the same way the Tomb Raider reboot probably introduced people to old Tomb Raider games. Thus why change her race and have that massive divide in designs between the reboot and past games that Nintendo would still be trying to make money off of, when you could do like plenty of other video game reboots and keep the main character the same?
Plus, like how many actual characters actually have a lore reason for being the way they are? I mean Mario doesn't really have much of a lore reason for being Italian bar the real person he's based off of, and Sonic doesn't have much of a lore reason to be a Hedgehog. In fact, it's even more ridiculous when it comes to race as a character is typically only going to have a reason to be a certain race if and only if race as a concept is a major facet of the universe the character is in.
Trade ya.
Is there a lore reason as to why Slade has to be black. I've never watched a Blade movie, but I'm just curious.
EDIT: lol I meant Blade, I really don't know movies.
Blade's bi-racial.
LinkAndEpona
Banned
The Zero Suit helps her connect with the suit, it's much better than just underwear.
Juke Joint Jezebel
Member
Much like in comics I'd honestly just think it was rather lazy. Give me new and interesting characters of different races and genders, Samus is as blank a slate as they come.
The Horror the horror
Banned
Because this is video games, an amalgamation of ART and tech. Caricatures like Samus Aran and Pac-Man with no human personality or identifiable ethnic backdrop, who operate as mere avatars, can be subjected to various artistic interpretations without closet racists and perservists condemning the notion and immediately branding these characters as something more in the guise of "30 years she looked this way bla bla bla" simply to validate their conservative positions.
But this is a pointless debate as Nintendo will never entertain the notion, but at least they have valid excuses as to why they'd be vehemently against the idea, which is more than I can say for some of the Metroid traditionlists in this thread. The ultimate merit of this discussion, however, is that it reveals to me there's a long way to go before we can be rid of the closet racists that still plague the VG community.
wildvine47
Member
Yeah, I'm gonna echo the opinion of most sane people and say introduce a new character and don't retrofit a character with 25 years of history as a different race for what amounts to a hamfisted attempt at diversity.
It's not like Link where different races/genders would be ok because each Link is a different person, Samus has always been the same person across every game. It'd be like if Mario was suddenly Maria and it was Super Maria Sisters. There'd be no reason for it to happen, and the drastically different look of the character would just make recognition of the series that much more difficult.
If it ain't broke don't fix it.
The difference is Samus, especially in her most recent games, isn't some "caricature" or cartoony figure like Pacman, she's clearly meant to look at least somewhat like an actual human being. Changing the race of an established character who's not meant to be a self-insert or a generic playermodel makes as much sense as changing their gender.
I'm sure you'd agree that if Nintendo decided to make Samus a male after 25 years of her being female, they'd be better off introducing a new character rather than changing an old one. The same goes for her race.
To me this just sounds like "Anyone who doesn't agree with this radical nonsensical change to an established character, I get to call a racist to make myself feel more self-righteous." "Art" has nothing to do with it.
It's not like Link where different races/genders would be ok because each Link is a different person, Samus has always been the same person across every game. It'd be like if Mario was suddenly Maria and it was Super Maria Sisters. There'd be no reason for it to happen, and the drastically different look of the character would just make recognition of the series that much more difficult.
If it ain't broke don't fix it.
The difference is Samus, especially in her most recent games, isn't some "caricature" or cartoony figure like Pacman, she's clearly meant to look at least somewhat like an actual human being. Changing the race of an established character who's not meant to be a self-insert or a generic playermodel makes as much sense as changing their gender.
I'm sure you'd agree that if Nintendo decided to make Samus a male after 25 years of her being female, they'd be better off introducing a new character rather than changing an old one. The same goes for her race.
To me this just sounds like "Anyone who doesn't agree with this radical nonsensical change to an established character, I get to call a racist to make myself feel more self-righteous." "Art" has nothing to do with it.
Not that the series is aiming for realism or anything (DIE IN FIRE TO SEEK MALE PERMISSION), but it was more that if they wanted her to look more alien, they have a great reason to. Spiderman also looks very human and is very not. It's one of those situations.
I'd rather Samus be a bit more alien, TBH. Chozo don't look human, so it'd be neat if some of that bled over to her.