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Sorry Nintendo, we've decided that Link is officially a girl

E

-Eddman-

Member
213372bu said:
I feel like me and 1/10th of the posters in this thread got what EvilLore was going for.

But, hmmm.

- -
IMO DISCLAIMER:
Real thoughts : There really shouldn't be a controversy if a game developer decides that a character is a boy. Even if the PR speak is bad, just let the creator do whatever they want. Link has been a boy since the inception of the franchise, and not saying that this should always be followed, but a few posters in particular flipping their shit and calling Nintendo sexist when Link isn't a girl after every release for the past ~4-5 years always strikes me strange. Those posters also posting pictures of a overtly sexualized/doujin/clothes-removed Link almost exclusively also makes my head turn but w/e.

A female Zelda would be cool though and a nice turn on the series. Would like to see where that goes one day.

YOOOO THOSE LINK COSPLAYERS ARE PRETTY HYPE!
Click to expand...

It's strange that Nintendo basically made a way to cater to everyone and keep everyone happy with Mario Bros. 2 (Doki Doki Panic) in the 80s but they don't follow the formula in all of their games with multiple playable characters.

Create a boy, a girl, some cute creature/monster, a fun villain and everyone's happy. It's not rocket science.
 
L

liliththepale

Banned
SegaShack said:
Honestly not sure why every character needs a female version. The option is fine, but an established character it makes sense to keep them how they are. People would definitely get upset over a male Samus or female Donkey Kong (Dankey Kang).

Their reasoning doesn't make much sense, but Im all for keeping an established icon the same. Not sexist either, male or female its the character that matters and to me changing a characters gender makes no sense.
Click to expand...

Is there a place you're seeing where people are earnestly saying that every character should have a female version? Samus and Donkey Kong are established characters with solid continuity/no reincarnation. That's a very false equivalence.


213372bu said:
I'm not speaking to defend them, or anything like that. But I'll give my thoughts.

Devs in general seem to get really weird when stuff like that is brought up. Personally I believe it is because certain Social Media sites would go absolutely insane if the dev said "we don't want Link to be a girl in this game" or "we rather just keep Link a boy because *reasons*" and the backlash would be astronomical. (See:FFXV when there was a pretty legitimite in-story reason.)

But it seems like we have seen a FeLink in HW and I honestly think they're going that route sometime in the future. Just a matter of when at this point, tbh.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I understand it's a phenomenon, but I think it shouldn't be. Devs should either stick to their guns or get over their prejudice, not wallow in the middle.
 
S

SegaShack

Member
Ferrio said:
It's one of the few iconic gaming characters that you could actually do the gender swap and it make sense. It's a damn shame they've slept on this angle so long.
Click to expand...
Why? Why does it matter?

If artisticly the creators of a game want their character to be male, why should we censor them by making them do dual gender characters? Like I said options are fine but I don't see a need to change Link, Mario, Fox McCloud, Kratos, etc into females artisticly speaking.

It's not like a company where all their employees are white and male, its a series with a character that has been around 30 years.
 
M

Mango The Magician

Banned
Ferrio said:
Explain. I didn't know Mario was a different character each game.
Click to expand...
Paper Mario is now offically established as a parrallel or pocket universe with it's own versions of the characters. Likewise galaxy set the precedent for an unlimited number of marios and luigis, as shown with the second luigi and the universe being reborn. If link can reincarnate as a woman, marios universe can resent with prince peach and super Marion.
 
S

Sciz

Member
SegaShack said:
It's not like a company where all their employees are white and male, its a series with a character that has been around 30 years.
Click to expand...

The length of time for which something has been a certain way is not a solid argument in favor of maintaining the status quo.
 
S

SegaShack

Member
liliththepale said:
Is there a place you're seeing where people are earnestly saying that every character should have a female version? Samus and Donkey Kong are established characters with solid continuity/no reincarnation. That's a very false equivalence.
Click to expand...

By being upset that a series with the same protagonist doesn't change to female, I get the idea that people just expect there to be both genders for every character. Some people prefer female characters, and that's fine, but I don't see why it becomes sexist for a creator not to do so.

Some prople even see this as being sexist. Would they also say Zelda is racist for not having skin color options?
 
S

SegaShack

Member
Sciz said:
The length of time for which something has been a certain way is not a solid argument in favor of maintaining the status quo.
Click to expand...
Should Mickey Mouse be expected to change too? Why does a character existing for a long time mean that changes should be made?
 
balgajo

balgajo

Member
C'mon Nintendo this much of Mario and everybody is still a dude?
SuperMario128.jpg
 
S

Skyzard

Banned
To rescue Prince Zelda. He's just a bit feminine and needs your help.

Imagine the tears. I couldn't blame them though.
 
F

FZZ

Banned
-Eddman- said:
It's strange that Nintendo basically made a way to cater to everyone and keep everyone happy with Mario Bros. 2 (Doki Doki Panic) in the 80s but they don't follow the formula in all of their games with multiple playable characters.

Create a boy, a girl, some cute creature/monster, a fun villain and everyone's happy. It's not rocket science.
Click to expand...

Have you ever heard of 3D World?

Mario Kart?

Smash bros?

Lmfao I'm done have fun everyone.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
The rolling beachball next to the GAF logo has ripped open a hole in the fabric of space-time, upending the order of law and returning GAF to blissful chaos.
 
B

besada

Banned
Of course Link is a woman. Why else would we have played Legend of Zelda until our machines overheated? We were obsessed with her.

Weird that some of you thought she was male.
 
L

liliththepale

Banned
SegaShack said:
By being upset that a series with the same protagonist doesn't change to female, I get the idea that people just expect there to be both genders for every character. Some people prefer female characters, and that's fine, but I don't see why it becomes sexist for a creator not to do so.

Some prople even see this as being sexist. Would they also say Zelda is racist for not having skin color options?
Click to expand...

If Link was supposed to be a character, they would have given him speaking lines already (and probably VO). The reason they haven't is because they see Link as a role, as a heroic stand-in for the player. Ergo, the perfect blank slate for the player to fill how he or she sees fit.

What's sexist is saying "this character represents the player, but it's limited to being male."

Hylians are light-skinned for now. Maybe that changes with a future game — I can't think of a reason why it shouldn't — but Link shouldn't be the only dark-skinned Hylian.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
besada said:
Of course Link is a woman. Why else would we have played Legend of Zelda until our machines overheated? We were obsessed with her.

Weird that some of you thought she was male.
Click to expand...
Only time I had a system overheat was my PS3 80GB while playing GTAV — Michael was walking across the desert, talking to his shrink, when a flaming truck flew by and exploded. As I approached the scorching flames in the videogame, my system overheated and died IRL. Goddamn.
 
S

SolicitorPirate

Member
SegaShack said:
Why? Why does it matter?

If artisticly the creators of a game want their character to be male, why should we censor them by making them do dual gender characters? Like I said options are fine but I don't see a need to change Link, Mario, Fox McCloud, Kratos, etc into females artisticly speaking.

It's not like a company where all their employees are white and male, its a series with a character that has been around 30 years.
Click to expand...

You have a fucking weird idea of what censorship means.
 
M

mgs2master2

Banned
Hey guys what's going on in this threa-


*reads thread*



Well I approve.

Can we have a choice of what we want link to be or just female? Either way I agree.
 
L

liliththepale

Banned
SegaShack said:
Stopped reading after this.
Click to expand...

Here's the rest:

The reason they haven't is because they see Link as a role, as a heroic stand-in for the player. Ergo, the perfect blank slate for the player to fill how he or she sees fit.

What's sexist is saying "this character represents the player, but it's limited to being male."

Hylians are light-skinned for now. Maybe that changes with a future game — I can't think of a reason why it shouldn't — but Link shouldn't be the only dark-skinned Hylian.
 
Q

QueenOfThorns

Member
SegaShack said:
Trying to get a creator to change their work because it doesn't fit in with your own personal values is censorship any way I look at it.
Click to expand...

You're right. People should be happy with whatever developers choose to give people. Broken gameplay engine? It was their vision. Sonic Boom was a work of art and anyone who criticizes it or taints a thread with their selfish personal values is trying to censor it.
 
S

SolicitorPirate

Member
SegaShack said:
Trying to get a creator to change their work because it doesn't fit in with your own personal values is censorship any way I look at it.
Click to expand...

I hate item based levelling systems. Guess I'm censoring Bungie now when I say their levelling system in Destiny is trash and needs to be reworked.
 
M

Mango The Magician

Banned
QueenOfThorns said:
You're right. People should be happy with whatever developers choose to give people. Broken gameplay engine? It was their vision. Sonic Boom was a work of art and anyone who criticizes it or taints a thread with their selfish personal values is trying to censor it.
Click to expand...
Yeah cause the gender of an iconic character is clearly equivalent to a broken engine or faulty gameplay.
 
C

Corpekata

Banned
Damn I didn't know when I said the Bat-Tank combat in Arkham Knight sucked ass I was censoring Rocksteady. I'm sorry Rocksteady, forgive me.
 
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