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Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (PS3/4/Vita/360/XB1/WiiU/PC) Kickstarter [800K/400K Funded]

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I think that's a chicken drumstick, for unlocking protein mode. You need to eat chicken every minute or so to restore stomach muscles (from belly dancing and hair whipping) and repair your luscious hair.

When I think of "protein mode," the first thing I consider ain't chicken
 
They just posted a new update that seems to further improve the colour palette:
iGNwPHJToVQyq.jpg

It also explains the additive lighting they are using.
Edit: Forgot the link
Muuuuch better.
 

Muzy72

Banned
So mullet, you gonna back now? Since she's much darker.

Also, I am in love with this kickstarter. Seriously hope it reaches all its stretch goals, I want this game to be the best it possibly can. I freaking love Shantae.
 

Salex

Banned
Glad they changed her back to her normal color. I never even played the game before but I remember how the character looked.
 
So mullet, you gonna back now? Since she's much darker.

Also, I am in love with this kickstarter. Seriously hope it reaches all its stretch goals, I want this game to be the best it possibly can. I freaking love Shantae.

Yes, I will probably back this now.
 

Platy

Member
Does Japanese count as white for this discussion of minority representation in videogames? THINK HARD

Yes they count, and no, Terra Branford was not japanese =P

Even 90% of japan games are made with non japanese protagonists

Even Ace Attorney is set in Los Angeles =P
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
Yes they count, and no, Terra Branford was not japanese =P

Even 90% of japan games are made with non japanese protagonists

Even Ace Attorney is set in Los Angeles =P

I understand the point you are making here, but Gyakuten Saiban, the original version of AA, was set in Japan and every character was very much Japanese. They changed the setting and character names in the English versions so the puns and references would be more digestible for Americans.
 
The skin tone controversy is particularly amusing when the original game also lightened her skin time when played on a GBA. That said, I do prefer the darker tone as well.

I backed it, and I love all the games, but this one needs to show something more than just new art style. It looks gorgeous, but I want to see it bring something new. A longer game would also be great, so it's a pity it doesn't seem likely to meet the stretch goals. I would up my pledge if it looked like it would add something like the way the next game adds the pirate abilities and shakes up the gameplay.
 

Yuterald

Member
Man, what's with all the creepy skin tone posts. Who gives a shit. People should be more concerned about what cool transformations Shantae will get and how they'll be used in the dungeons, against the bosses and such. Whatevs, I'm supporting this vid-star.
 

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
Man, what's with all the creepy skin tone posts. Who gives a shit. People should be more concerned about what cool transformations Shantae will get and how they'll be used in the dungeons, against the bosses and such. Whatevs, I'm supporting this vid-star.

It's whitewashing. Same thing happens in movies and its rightful to complain about it when the characters are of certain nationality being played by someone that doesn't remotely looks the part for the role.

Shantae was one if the firsts if not the first tanned female lead and she broke that barrier. Also changing her to white is doing a disservice to the original art of the games. Sure she is a videogame character but the game has a setting and the character was already existing which was fitting of said setting and here simply while it looks good it was disappointing to see them mess with her color.
 

Five

Banned
It's whitewashing. Same thing happens in movies and its rightful to complain about it when the characters are of certain nationality being played by someone that doesn't remotely looks the part for the role.

Shantae was one if the firsts if not the first tanned female lead and she broke that barrier. Also changing her to white is doing a disservice to the original art of the games. Sure she is a videogame character but the game has a setting and the character was already existing which was fitting of said setting and here simply while it looks good it was disappointing to see them mess with her color.

Except when the character starts out white, of course, like when Samuel L. Jackson was cast as Nick Fury, or when Idris Elba was cast as the Norse god Heimdall. Then it's okay to not care about the character's nationality, because we have to protect IRL minorities. Never mind the fact that someone like Samuel L Jackson has seen more starring movie roles than most actors ever will, and Nick Fury had been white for 49 years before Avengers.

The problem with Shantae is she never had a nationality other than a citizen of Sequin Land, a place known to have people of all different kinds of skin and hair colors. If you put Shantae in normal clothes, you can't even tell what her heritage might supposedly be. Her facial structure doesn't specifically match with any ethnicity, so she could just as easily be Hispanic as Arabic. And she had elf ears and cat eyes in the first game. In the second game, she got bright blue eyes, a trait almost entirely exclusive to Caucasians post young childhood (5-7 years).

Shantae's design has changed several times in more ways than one. If all you care about is the skin color, you might not be looking at the big picture.
 

Jobbs

Banned
gonna back this with the force of ten suns.

I think this is the first time Wayforward has gotten 3D environments to look right. I really do prefer 2D everything, but if you insist on doing the environments in 3D, at least make them look like they belong. And it seems they finally are doing that.

It's still a shame they'll never again make a game that looks as good as this, though:


Or this: (I liked it even though not everyone did, but there's no denying the quality visuals)


The 3D bug has bitten them and there's no going back.
 
Except when the character starts out white, of course, like when Samuel L. Jackson was cast as Nick Fury, or when Idris Elba was cast as the Norse god Heimdall.

Marvel made the new universe comic's Nick Fury based on SLJ (I believe they contacted him first to get the OK) and THEN, when making the movies, asked him to play the role of Fury. Soooo yeah, Comics Nick Fury was remade to be based on SLJ and they made sure he played Fury in the movies. As for Heimdall, they likely just wanted to show that Thor's homeland had diversity.

And no, those things are not equals. Taking a few characters in a medium full of mostly white males (that was made in a time where high racism and sexism were the norm in the states) and making them some other ethnic group is not same as taking some of the few brown/ female characters people without white dicks can see themselves in and turning them white. It's kinda like thinking that taking a snack from a arvg American child is the same as taking a snack away from some starving child on the streets. One has more than enough, the other is grateful for ever crumb they get.
 

Yuterald

Member
It's whitewashing. Same thing happens in movies and its rightful to complain about it when the characters are of certain nationality being played by someone that doesn't remotely looks the part for the role.

Shantae was one if the firsts if not the first tanned female lead and she broke that barrier. Also changing her to white is doing a disservice to the original art of the games. Sure she is a videogame character but the game has a setting and the character was already existing which was fitting of said setting and here simply while it looks good it was disappointing to see them mess with her color.

Yeah, I get that, but to see people say they weren't going to support this because she wasn't her original skin color is ridiculous no matter how you justify it. Agetec made most (if not all) the people/NPC's hair yellow in Raw Danger (Disaster Report 2) instead of brown/black (or whatever their original hair color was) so people in the west could relate more to the characters. I couldn't care less at the time. I was more concerned with the actual game and all the cool, new and fun ideas it presented.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Look at how the art for Link, Samus, Pikachu, Mario, Pit or a ton of other mascot characters have evolved over the years before you concoct some dumb conspiracy theory about them whitewashing things. Game art evolves and changes and is reinterpreted all the time.
 
Look at how the art for Link, Samus, Pikachu, Mario, Pit or a ton of other mascot characters have evolved over the years before you concoct some dumb conspiracy theory about them whitewashing things. Game art evolves and changes and is reinterpreted all the time.

Mario's skin color hasn't changed. That being said, I'm glad WayForward has been listening to fan feedback.
 

Het_Nkik

Member
Yeah, I get that, but to see people say they weren't going to support this because she wasn't her original skin color is ridiculous no matter how you justify it. Agetec made most (if not all) the people/NPC's hair yellow in Raw Danger (Disaster Report 2) instead of brown/black (or whatever their original hair color was) so people in the west could relate more to the characters. I couldn't care less at the time. I was more concerned with the actual game and all the cool, new and fun ideas it presented.

To be fair, Agetec was really shitty. The went and censored my KOF.
 
Look at how the art for Link, Samus, Pikachu, Mario, Pit or a ton of other mascot characters have evolved over the years before you concoct some dumb conspiracy theory about them whitewashing things. Game art evolves and changes and is reinterpreted all the time.
The Evolution in Nintendo's character designs is not the same with Shantae.

Those characters never changed skin color or indicated a change in their race. Samus may have had green hair but that's about it. The evolution of Shantae from her Gameboy Color design to Risky's Revenge is more comparable to Nintendo's characters' evolution.

Shantae is more like that Last Airbender film controversy. That's a PR nightmare any dev would want to avoid. This can even become picked up by the mainstream media and it would get pretty ugly.

You don't want that.
 

Mzo

Member
Link had pink hair once. It was the best Link.

I really like seeing their BS reasons of color balancing and lighting whatever. They know what they were doing.

Shantae was looking much better in the latest update!
 
this kickstarter goes way to slow :< i think, if mighty no 9 wasn't announced a few days earlier, shantae would be fully funded by now
 

CTLance

Member
Yeah, the MN9 kickstarter properly fucked them over. Kinda strange they still went and did their campaign nonetheless. They must have known they'd be fighting an uphill battle. Better to cut your losses early, I say. Then again, who knows how much they had already invested.

They should try to get a crossover promotion, like the one Star Citizen did with not-Ultima. "Pledge for both, and you get a Roll skin for Shantae and vice-versa!" or whatever. Not gonna happen though.

Also, interesting tidbit about the new design:
WF on KS said:
Regarding some other design elements, these were arrived at by drawing the character large, looking something like the pixel sprite. Then it was shrunk down until it was tiny on screen and edited at a micro-sized view. Body parts where exaggerated until you could clearly see her eyes, face, navel, and hip-tilt direction even at a great distance from camera. Then it was enlarged again, and cleaned up. This is the reason for the bowling pin shaped body, the very tall eyes, the long torso, and black triangular pants. She was designed for maximum contrast and readability on screen no matter how far we pull back the camera. This way we could have her battle a boss that's truly colossal, or solve a puzzle that requires an extremely zoomed out view (think Harmony of Despair).

So there you have it, Chibi Shantae is because HD didn't offer enough screen real estate. Curse you, HD. Curse you for all eternity.
 
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