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[ElBoxyBrown]

I like how they used the superior design on this one...

Call me crazy but I liked Zero Mission's version.

I like the gesture but I feel getting into any discussion about social issues as a company is a complete minefield. I will be shocked if this doesn't backfire somehow.

Well there's already a huffington article that criticized this.

S.T.E.A.M. has some pretty cool women as well among its roster, all of them are pretty strong, not overly sexualized, two of them are P.O.C. (although this might be divisive since it's Tiger Lilly and Califia who have been held up as positive and negative portrayals), and despite the game being set in the late 1800s, they're all treated the same way as the men and rarely are their genders brought up, never put in distress and one of them is actually extremely proactive for pushing the plot along. Also none of the male characters ever comment on their looks, and they aren't given any half-hearted romantic elements because they're women.

It's a step up I think compared to Fire Emblem Awakening which at parts definitely seemed questionable despite having a large quantity of women among its roster...

I find it funny that Intelligent had the respect to make Tiger Lily have dark skin and look like a native american compared to the whitewash in the new Pan movie. lol

 

[DICKS AHOY]

They should add this new Nintendo character, Bayonetta, to Smash Bros.

we're already half way there with zero suit samus really

Meme's aside Anthony holds the distinction of being the only character who isn't a complete and utter dipshit in Other M's plot. That's got to count for something, right?

 

[Deleted member 465307]

It's good that though temptingly faulty in execution Nintendo has gone through the trouble of actually engaging in this topic.

Exactly my thoughts. I'm surprised that more eligible characters didn't appear, like the ones people have mentioned above (though I'm guessing Tetra took Sheik's spot) and Female Inkling for some promotion, but I'm glad they're doing this. Nintendo's history is mixed on this, and certainly debatable, but it's still nice to see. Hopefully next year Nintendo has a few new characters to add to the list!

 

[PSqueak]

But aren't Toad & Toadette officially genderless?

When you go around calling yourself Toadette, i think it's a pretty safe bet to assume you identify as female.

 

[woopWOOP]

Bahaha, Bombette? I can see the guy at NoA sitting behind his desk, going through folders upon folders of official artwork wondering who the hell they can feature on the 7th poster.

Atleast they haven't completely forgotten about PM's awesome cast.

 

[rpmurphy]

Caught a HuffPost article about it, and the writer seemed to hate it a lot.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexis-kleinman/nintendo-doesnt-understand-women_b_6893130.html

Basically, it's "what's wrong about video games".

Here's the full list of female characters that Nintendo intends on celebrating for Women's History Month: Tetra from "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD," Toadette from the Mario series, Bayonetta from "Bayonetta," Rosalina from the Mario series, Lucina from "Fire Emblem," Samus Aran from "Metroid" and Bombette from "Paper Mario." Have you heard of most of these characters? Didn't think so.

Like, why would someone ruin their op-ed by starting off with such a thing?

 

[BeatResetsTheWorld]

I also forgot Impa!

I do wonder though, people say Nintendo has a history with questionable female characters. Aside from Peach and Zelda (who has taken greater roles in recent Zeldas) which other female characters of theirs have been problematic?

 

[DICKS AHOY]

In all seriousness Sheik (though might fall into the same trap Tetra does, eh), Impa, Midna, Dixie Kong and Jill Dozer also fit with this theme and would've worked fine. Could've thrown a curveball and had Alex from Eternal Darkness, though I'm not entirely sure if Nintendo still owns the characters from that or not.

 

[Corronchilejano]

Toads are literally genderless, what is Toadette doing there?

 

[Astral/H3X]

I also forgot Impa!

I do wonder though, people say Nintendo has a history with questionable female characters. Aside from Peach and Zelda (who has taken greater roles in recent Zeldas) which other female characters of theirs have been problematic?

Well according to people who are blinded by a character inclusion in Smash Bros, Samus. But lo and behold, they are, as usual, portraying her in the Varia Suit.

Spoiler

Why no MP2 Varia suit... :*(

I was going to question the lack of Peach, but then I remembered she's in games other than Smash.

 

[Hours Left]

Paper Mario eh???

;_;

 

[Data West]

What did rosalina do to get this Roman Reigns push while Dixie can't even get a mention?

 

[The Bankslammer]

In all seriousness Sheik (though might fall into the same trap Tetra does, eh), Impa, Midna, Dixie Kong and Jill Dozer also fit with this theme and would've worked fine.

lmao

yeah, and maybe they'd add ashley from another code or lip too!

Spoiler

 

[Corpekata]

Man someone had to some Olympic tier stretching for that last inclusion. Probably would've been better off going with 6 characters, Bombette just makes it feel like they were desperately padding it out.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Why didn't they go with Vivian or Madame Flurry if they were gonna reference Mario?

They had stronger personalities, and weren't simply gender swaps of pre-existing enemies drawn to suggest that male was the norm like Bombette does.

 

[StayDead]

What did rosalina do to get this Roman Reigns push while Dixie can't even get a mention?

Rosalina is actually good. Dixie is just... the worst Kong outside of Kiddy Kong *shifty eyes*

 

[EatChildren]

Dixie Kong

As long as it's not Retro's bland Dixie, and instead Rare's 90's sassy bubblegum chewing guitar playing Dixie.

 

[Data West]

Rosalina is actually good.

How

 

[ffdgh]

Well according to people who are blinded by a character inclusion in Smash Bros, Samus. But lo and behold, they are, as usual, portraying her in the Varia Suit.

Spoiler

Why no MP2 Varia suit... :*(

I was going to question the lack of Peach, but then I remembered she's in games other than Smash.

On the positive side, atlease Peach wasn't a kidnapping plot device in 3D world for once(tho she almost was initially). Now if they can hopefully continue that trend...

 

[Nocturnowl]

What did rosalina do to get this Roman Reigns push while Dixie can't even get a mention?

Rosalina has "the look" while Dixie is just a monkey, it's all about marketability and what's best for business like amiibo merch sales.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

On the positive side, atlease Peach wasn't a kidnapping plot device in 3D world for once(tho she almost was initially). Now if they can hopefully continue that trend...

But 3D World basically did the same exact thing, just substituting Peach with different Princesses.

 

[axisofweevils]

I think there's far more relevant characters than Bombette... Sami from Advance Wars or even Ashley (the evil witch girl) from WarioWare.

 

[Glowsquid]

why does warioware always get ignored in these kind of things

;-;

 

[ffdgh]

But 3D World basically did the same exact thing, just substituting Peach with different Princesses.

Point taken. Something aside from the usual damsel in distress trope would be refreshing.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

lmao

yeah, and maybe they'd add ashley from another code or lip too!

Spoiler

hey who got into brawl; jill or bombette?

Rosalina is actually good. Dixie is just... the worst Kong outside of Kiddy Kong *shifty eyes*

If you're not playing DKC2/DKC3/DKCTF with Dixie Kong you're playing those games wrong.

 

[The Bankslammer]

hey who got into brawl; jill or bombette?

dag, bombette wasn't even a sticker

i got owned

why does warioware always get ignored in these kind of things

;-;

yeah but at least 5-volt is a shoo-in for their mother's day collection

 

[User 479360]

This is good, but it's weird that Peach and Zelda aren't there. Bombette is an odd choice, and a character I didn't even know existed to be honest.

I'm sick of Rosalina.

 

[JB-the-Hunter]

More like you somehow think the presence of damsels negates the presence of strong characters, which is a very bizarre way of thinking...If every female isn't strong then they're all shit

My thoughts. Princess Peach is often a damsel in distress, but there's nothing wrong with that IMO. Videogame-wise, she's the inventor of the trope and deserves to hold that title with pride. I love playing as her in any game she's in, but I also love rescuing her. Besides, I'd argue that even though she's not as physically capable as Samus or Lucina, she's still a strong character in other ways. She's the ruler of the entire damn Mushroom Kingdom and never stops valiantly governing her citizens even after the numerous times she's been taken hostage.

And like you said, even if you perceive Peach as weak, there are plenty of female Nintendo characters that are "strong."

 

[Edsmells12345]

I dunno, what about the part where it was made apparent how Ganondorf KNOWS that Tetra is Zelda, that he's spending every resource he has searching for her, or how her crew, loyal though they may be, are pretty much screwed against anything that actively attacks them? Oh i'm sorry; pragmatism takes a backseat to 'implications'...

.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

prove it

Well until they undo Other M's destruction of all that made Samus a badass independent strong female character they should remove her from that list ;(

BUT WAIT! They went out of their way to show Prime's version of Samus and omitted Other M's newer version? #METROIDPRIME4CONFIRMED!!!!!

Spoiler

No, seriously, I expect a new Metroid announcement come E3.

 

[Giever]

But 3D World basically did the same exact thing, just substituting Peach with different Princesses.

They were little fairies. I viewed it pretty similarly to rescuing the small animals in Sonic. Doesn't seem to fall into the same trope to me.

 

[Adaren]

Zelda and Peach are cool characters, but they have a history of being damsels in distress. I'm not surprised that Nintendo opted for the safer alternatives (Tetra, Rosalina) that are less controversially positive.

The inclusion of Bayonetta warms my heart. Glad to see Nintendo taking pride in an IP that they don't own but are nonetheless the caretakers of.

I'm also glad to see them including characters who are feminine, like Bayonetta and Toadette, instead of just tomboy-style characters. I love Samus as much as anyone else, but gaming needs more celebration of awesome girly girls.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

Well until they undo Other M's destruction of all that made Samus a badass independent strong female character they should remove her from that list ;(

BUT WAIT! They went out of their way to show Prime's version of Samus and omitted Other M's newer version? #METROIDPRIME4CONFIRMED!!!!!

Spoiler

No, seriously, I expect a new Metroid announcement come E3.

That Miyamoto interview last year where he talked about the 'Prime' style and 'classic 2D' style of Metroid while ignoring Other M despite being the most recent game makes me think they're aware M:OM is controversial, to say the least.

 

[BeatResetsTheWorld]

That Miyamoto interview last year where he talked about the 'Prime' style and 'classic 2D' style of Metroid while ignoring Other M despite being the most recent game makes me think they're aware M:OM is controversial, to say the least.

Hopefully Sakamoto doesn't get Yokoi'd because of it

 

[Deacan]

No mention of Goombella?

 

[Nyoro SF]

Delicious Rosalina salt from GAF. Heh heh heh.

I really like this press release though. Especially the Bayonetta piece. Just feels like a nice move.

 

[SmokyDave]

Caught a HuffPost article about it, and the writer seemed to hate it a lot.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexis-kleinman/nintendo-doesnt-understand-women_b_6893130.html

Basically, it's "what's wrong about video games".

Man, that article is scathing. The Bayonetta gif in the middle nearly made me spit out my drink.

 

[Crocodile]

No Cynthia? No Impa or Iris (their most prominent women of color)? No Palutena? No Dixie? Some weird omissions if you ask me.

 

[GWX]

Should have done a sale and release Zero Mission at a special price to go with it.

 

[Mango The Magician]

Man I need to play both PM64 and TTYD again, I actually forgot that Bombette was a thing.

Also the lack and of Zelda is disappointing, she may he a damsel a lot, but she's still a strong character, female or not.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

I really really want Impa, Dixie and Bayonetta in Smash.

What did rosalina do to get this Roman Reigns push while Dixie can't even get a mention?

You know why.

Yeah Tetra is good and all till they do the Zelda reveal where she just sits there waiting.

Tetra?

Really, Nintendo? That's one of the worst choices given the neutering the character goes through.

What about the bit where Tetra turns into a princess and spends the rest of the game hiding in a basement until she gets kidnapped and Link has to rescue her.

Any other Zelda would have been better. Tetra is a horrible character who people latched on as an example of a strong female character because she wore pants and was "sassy".

She treats Link and others like shit for no good reason and is a selfish brat. She only becomes useful when she puts on a dress and loses the sassiness ironically.

Look at Orcarina of Time where Zelda goes into hiding and helps Link. Twilight Princess where Zelda sacrifices herself to heal Midna. Or Skyward Sword where Zelda is similarly selfless but also goes and her own adventure with Impa, a real action-chick.

I hate Tetra.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Of course there's no Dixie Kong, she only managed to not ever get captured while even DK and Diddy have at least twice each, talk about breaking down those walls and subverting expectations, even had a lead role way back in 1996, that took Peach like another decade to do.

Holy crap I didn't thought about that. In a 2 year history by 1996 Dixe Kong had been playable the same amount of times Peach had been (SMB2, SMRPG) and starred in her own game a decade before Peach would go PMS all over Nintendo DSes! For shame, Nintendo. You shan't not omit Dixie Kong! But no, make way for bottom-of-the-barrel Bombette!

Also Tetra is cheating. She got neutered bad the second she's revealed to be Zelda and goes back to her not-doing-anything and just helping at the very very end (and still managing to get kidnapped).

 

[Kodaman]

Don't know why Nintendo isn't pushing Ashley more. Seems a character with a lot of potential.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Point taken. Something aside from the usual damsel in distress trope would be refreshing.

Bowser's kids are teenagers now and suffer from teen angst and do whatever they want. A crying Bowser calls Mario and the gang for help. Basically the Maury Show.

 

[DoctorFling]

Where is Bubbles from Clu Clu Land? Nana from Ice Climber? Alice from Balloon Kid? Blasphemy!

 

[ffdgh]

Bowser's kids are teenagers now and suffer from teen angst and do whatever they want. A crying Bowser calls Mario and the gang for help. Basically the Maury Show.

So...Mario sunshine 2?

 

[DICKS AHOY]

Hopefully Sakamoto doesn't get Yokoi'd because of it

Doesn't he still do a lot of other projects at Nintendo like Wario, Rhythm Heaven and most recently Tomodachi Life? I hate what he did when he came back to Metroid but the guy's still really talented.

 

[Dryk]

I also forgot Impa!

I do wonder though, people say Nintendo has a history with questionable female characters. Aside from Peach and Zelda (who has taken greater roles in recent Zeldas) which other female characters of theirs have been problematic?

Well out of the 7 they've presented 2 of them are just a male character but Pink and with an -ette at the end of their name so that's not great. And that's without going into the whole strong pirate Tetra suddenly becoming passive (and her tan disappears) for a large section of Wind Waker for no good reason.

Nintendo are trying but there's still a ways to go.

 

[Taruranto]

I dunno, what about the part where it was made apparent how Ganondorf KNOWS that Tetra is Zelda, that he's spending every resource he has searching for her, or how her crew, loyal though they may be, are pretty much screwed against anything that actively attacks them? Oh i'm sorry; pragmatism takes a backseat to 'implications'...



I can't really think of any questionable crap from FEA, not even Nowi...

Spoiler

Dragon hybrids exist, they've been young girls before, and the fact that outside of her intro, the only people still griping about her design are all on the other side of the screens.

Not even Nowi?

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Point taken. Something aside from the usual damsel in distress trope would be refreshing.

Honestly, just have the bad guy steal an inanimate object, that way no person of any gender is being compared to an object to fight over.