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[Chû Totoro]

I would have been ok for Linkle but if not here and no female Link I'm ok too.

Why no female Link? I'd answer why would there be a female Link?

If your answer is "for inclusion" then I'll tell you that thinking that a women are men without penises is a little insulting so if they have used a real female character to put in the game (Linkle, Zelda... a new one) I'd be very happy... but just a "female" Link... yeah, sure it's the best way to show what women can achieve and make them being well represented in games. A copy / paste without a penis... good idea -_-

note : I'm still hoping for Linkle DLC

 

[prag16]

Holy.. over 50 pages on this?? I haven't been following closely, but what are we mad about at this point? The fact that there is no female Link option, or is it more Nintendo's weird explanation?

Either way they probably would have been better off not even addressing it beyond "Link has always been a male character for decades; we're not changing that at this point". I doubt they actually SERIOUSLY considered it even if they say they did.

Nevertheless, it's not like gender swapping Link would solve any perceived problems, would it? In this particular case, would women not see it as pandering, and inclusion for the sake of inclusion? Is this the kind of inclusion we want? Is it really better than no inclusion? This doesn't strike me as a logical hill to die on in the fight for gender equality in games.

 

[Orochinagis]

Whatever happened to artistic freedom?

It's their game, not yours. Sure it's disappointing to hear but you people are blowing this way out of proportion.

Fanbase is really scary

 

[terencecah]

I'm glad they aren't folding on this

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Holy.. over 50 pages on this?? I haven't been following closely, but what are we mad about at this point? The fact that there is no female Link option, or is it more Nintendo's weird explanation?

Coming directly off Hyrule Warriors makes it a tad disappointing,
However when they acknowledged it with a bad excuse it made it worse and then they followed it up with an even worse excuse and that made the situation much worse.

 

[Giever]

Well, in a series of roughly 20-or-so games, it would be nice for Nintendo to cater to another audience, just once.

But it wouldn't actually be catering, since adding the ability to play as "female Link" - an entirely silent protagonist - wouldn't take anything away from people who prefer to play male Link.

I mean, it would still be catering, just not exclusively so. Not that I think that would be a problem at all.

 

[googleplex]

Another year and no game with Zelda as the main protagonist. And now this Weird bit-o-logic.

Nintendo really is a weird company.

 

[diaspora]

Whatever happened to artistic freedom?

It's their game, not yours. Sure it's disappointing to hear but you people are blowing this way out of proportion.

Nobody's questioning artistic freedom, just a shit explanation. Had he said "don't wanna", it'd be better.

 

[Not]

More than 40% of gaf faced this question with rejection. We are talking about one of the most progressist forum on internet and the place where most of voices about female link came. Because in the end it has nothing to do with progressism, it's about changing a important trait of a character that a lot of people like.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1153952
Gamexplain made a video about it today on youtube. Look at the comments and see what the real mass really thinks about it.

Even if Nintendo wanted this, do you think that they'd have courage?

Someday I hope we live in a world where penises aren't considered one's most important trait.

And now I return to the resurrection shrine for another six years...

 

[WrenchNinja]

Whatever happened to artistic freedom?

It's their game, not yours. Sure it's disappointing to hear but you people are blowing this way out of proportion.

the artistic freedom of locking a helper companion behind an action figure

much art such wow

 

[Japanmanx3]

Another year and no game with Zelda as the main protagonist. And now this Weird bit-o-logic.

Nintendo really is a weird company.

This is a really weird post.

 

[Platy]

So you want a focus tested Zelda, awesome!

And women being the majority of gamers is not relevant, women are the majority of everything.

The Legend of Zelda has always been a favorite for female gamers, its only now that they are demanding the protagonist to be changed into a woman for some strange reason.

What's up now, women are not comfortable playing with penis Link anymore?

We have no problem with a male once in a while but why not a woman once in a while too ?

You have the perfect excuse with the reincarnation thing to go like "one man, one woman" and repeat ...

 

[.JayZii]

I'll be pretending Link is a well-built, flat-chested girl in my version.

Join me, won't you?

 

[Galactic Fork]

I would have been ok for Linkle but if not here and no female Link I'm ok too.

Why no female Link? I'd answer why would there be a female Link?

If your answer is "for inclusion" then I'll tell you that thinking that a women are men without penises is a little insulting so if they have used a real female character to put in the game (Linkle, Zelda... a new one) I'd be very happy... but just a "female" Link... yeah, sure it's the best way to show what women can achieve and make them being well represented in games. A copy / paste without a penis... good idea -_-

note : I'm still hoping for Linkle DLC

No the answer isn't simply "for inclusion." But there are many Links, and a new Link is created for most of the games, all set in a different time in the same world. They all exist independently of the previous Links. And these Links are The Hero chosen by destiny at the time to save the world. So Nintendo made a world where only boys can save the world? Why would there NOT have been a Link that was born a girl in the framework Nintendo created? Are you just going to say because "it's always been that way"? Is that a good reason?

Holy.. over 50 pages on this?? I haven't been following closely, but what are we mad about at this point? The fact that there is no female Link option, or is it more Nintendo's weird explanation?

Either way they probably would have been better off not even addressing it beyond "Link has always been a male character for decades; we're not changing that at this point". I doubt they actually SERIOUSLY considered it even if they say they did.

Nevertheless, it's not like gender swapping Link would solve any perceived problems, would it? In this particular case, would women not see it as pandering, and inclusion for the sake of inclusion? Is this the kind of inclusion we want? Is it really better than no inclusion? This doesn't strike me as a logical hill to die on in the fight for gender equality in games.

This only works if you wrongly see Link as a singular character, but answer above, since Link is many characters, each their own people, why does every subsequent one need to be male? We're talking about new characters. That's why this particular case is unique. It's not gender swapping a character. It's saying in Hyrule, when crap goes down not only boys that have save the world throughout time.

 

[lazer_bean]

Someday I hope we live in a world where penises aren't considered one's most important trait..

"Is it a boy or a girl ?
- shut up who cares.
- ..."

the artistic freedom of locking a helper companion behind an action figure

much art such wow

a helper companion is there to help their companion. They can't have their own main quest because then they wouldn't be there to help their companion anymore. And a helper companion who fails to help their companion simply doesn't deserve the main quest.

 

[Ultra Numb]

Nintendo clearly see Link as a male character, it seems like he'll even become more of a character from now on. They probably should of just said that though, instead of using what some would call a 'half arsed game lore' excuse

 

[Freshmaker]

But the Triforce of Strength is held by Ganondorf.

Link's is the Triforce of Courage.

i do love them worrying about "balancing" something that consists of 3 parts.
Making Link's gender user selectable would actually create a better balance than a 2 : 1 skew.

How? It'd still be a 2:1 skew.

 

[DriftedPlanet]

They chose a male link when making the game. Due to tradition or any other reason, this is what the developers chose and the game is very polished/extremely close to finished. We have no idea how soon they'll be manufacturing the discs or other production constraints, nor how long it would take them to satisfyingly make their model, animate everything, and re-record sounds.

I'm not saying they can't do it, but it's unfair to try and push them to do it at this point in development. They might add in such an option as free dlc after launch. They'll likely consider the responses to breath of the wild when developing the next LoZ game too. There is no reason to be outraged; disappointed, sure. Not outraged.

 

[Zxrophantom]

Dumb reasoning on Nintendo part but i knew they would not make link female. Don't see why we can't get Zelda her own adventure, seems like a no brainier if you ask me. A new game or even if not a new game just have parts where you play Zelda. Witcher 3 did it so i don't see why Zelda could do something like that.

 

[Wild Card]

Seems pretty clear to me, his BS response of balance or whatever was just something cooked up in a few minutes to try and answer all the questions about it. In my view, they percieve Link as a male character, with no real plans to change that, and ruled out Zelda cause this game has probably been in development for quite a while, certainly longer than whenever these rumours started, and probably only really become aware of them until not long ago.

So basically, Link is male, this game is too far along to make any changes, we can come up with ideas and maybe Zelda will get a game next time.

 

[royox]

, but having a female protagonist helps me enjoy a game more, and it's something that gets me interested in games I otherwise might've not been interested in.

I don't think I would enjoy Metroid Prime more if Samus was a guy. I feel stupid just by thinking about it.

Maybe it's you who has a problem with the gender of the characters.

 

[Dangansona]

Seems pretty clear to me, his BS response of balance or whatever was just something cooked up in a few minutes to try and answer all the questions about it. In my view, they percieve Link as a male character, with no real plans to change that, and ruled out Zelda cause this game has probably been in development for quite a while, certainly longer than whenever these rumours started, and probably only really become aware of them until not long ago.

So basically, Link is male, this game is too far along to make any changes, we can come up with ideas and maybe Zelda will get a game next time.

That's what I have been trying to say the whole thread. But everyone is interpreting his comments to be his overall feelings for the prospect of Zelda as the playable character for the future of the franchise...

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Would be perfectly fine with this.

Yeah.

"So, we decided that one option was to actually have a female main character. But she is the damsel in distress so we said no."

And I mean. Even their reasoning of "what is Link's role?" is completely fucking stupid given that Zelda has already been an active fighter in the games.

"Oh, uh, the Triforce requires TWO MALES. Uh, yeah."

 

[JackelZXA]

I understand the perspective that Link isn't really just an avatar, he's a character. The idea of a game where Zelda fights is more interesting to me than a gender swapped Link. Giving Zelda the lead role is more interesting than "Link but different".

As far as the "What would Link do?" thing...ignoring the reaction to the comment, I wouldn't mind a game where Link becomes Dark Link (Or Fierce Deity) and Zelda has to battle him while Ganon calls the shots from behind the scenes. It would be a good way to use Link in a non-player role where he doesn't speak without betraying the things that make him cool in the first place.

They've teased imagery of an evil Link forever it seems (That one cutscene in Twilight Princess being super prominent) and it would be a cool thing to build a game around. Maybe Ganon defeats Link, corrupts him, uses him as a vassal. Zelda flees the castle, and fights to save the day and free Link from Ganon's dark magic.

That could be really cool and would be in line with existing Zelda franchise stuff already. Just...."What if Dark Link?" and bam, Zelda playable.

 

[Bossking]

I don't understand everyone's issue with the "throws off the balance of the Triforce" reasoning.

Since people love to read social commentary in everything, if both Link and Zelda are women, they would possess both wisdom and courage and are both pure of heart while Ganondorf, the only male, possesses power and is the king of all evil. Since the entire crux of the Triforce relies on courage and wisdom coming together to keep power in check, I really doubt Nintendo would want to put a game where the main premise of the story is that women come together to defeat men. A man and a woman coming together to defeat an evil entity is obviously a bit more universally appealing. So then you would have to also possibly consider changing Zelda into a man or Ganondorf into a woman, which I doubt many people, especially Nintendo, would be comfortable with.

So then if we switch it up and Zelda is now the main protagonist, then Link has to be thrown into another role. I said this in a prior post, but Zelda has almost always had an established personality in nearly every game. When you throw Link into Zelda's role, that means he now needs dialogue and a personality. That's kind of a tall order when Link has been most famous for being a "link" to the player, a silent but endearing avatar that you guide.

There's a lot of things to consider with a genderswap or even just switching up the roles with such well-defined characters, and as much as I personally would like a playable Zelda or a female Link, I can understand why the idea can be intimidating. I do hope that you can play as Zelda, if only for a brief scene, in this current title. Something like the Peach scenes in Paper Mario, or a moment where you need to help Link get out of a jam. Hell, something like Spirit Tracks would be fantastic. Zelda's always a great character, and I'd love to see them expand on her without taking away Link's importance to the player.

 

[domlolz]

Wow, first Alison Rapp and now this. Nintendo really hates women.

Lmao

 

[SpaceCadetKeon]

I don't understand everyone's issue with the "throws off the balance of the Triforce" reasoning.

Since people love to read social commentary in everything, if both Link and Zelda are women, they would possess both wisdom and courage and are both pure of heart while Ganondorf, the only male, possesses power and is the king of all evil. Since the entire crux of the Triforce relies on courage and wisdom coming together to keep power in check, I really doubt Nintendo would want to put a game where the main premise of the story is that women come together to defeat men. A man and a woman coming together to defeat an evil entity is obviously a bit more universally appealing. So then you would have to also possibly consider changing Zelda into a man or Ganondorf into a woman, which I doubt many people, especially Nintendo, would be comfortable with.

Their reasoning just comes off as even more problematic when you put it that way.

 

[Illucio]

 

[domlolz]

nintendo of america did not develop this game

 

[Illucio]

nintendo of america did not develop this game

Well sorrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyy I didn't use the Japanese HQ. Would that make you happy? If I go and spend time making another joke image with the Japanese HQ?

 

[NHarmonic.]

Things Link Can Be:

- A child
- A teenager
- Blond-haired
- Brown-haired
- Pink-haired
- Split into four color-coded versions of himself
- Partners with two other seemingly-identical but also color-coded Links
- A train conductor
- A rabbit
- A wolf
- A plant-thing
- A fish-man
- A rock-man
- A god
- An octorok
- A moblin
- A like-like
- A ghost inhabiting a suit of armor that teaches his future incarnation skills
- Partners with an alternate-timeline wolf version of himself

Things Link Can Never Be Because It Would Destroy The Whole Character, Nay, The Franchise:

- A woman

Pretty much, LMFAO.

Nintendo: Women shouldn't go into huge adventures, they can't. That's why Metroid is dead, and Link is always male.

 

[correojon]

Pretty much, LMFAO.

Nintendo: Women shouldn't go into huge adventures, they can't. That's why Metroid is dead, and Link is always male.

Just in the Zelda series: Zelda, Tetra, Midna or Sheik say hi. But I guess they won´t count because reasons, same as Samus being adventuring for 25+ years doesn´t seem to count.


What I don´t understand is that the Zelda series has some awesome female characters (Zelda, Impa, Tetra, Sheik...) yet they seem to not be good enough or something and everyone just wants to gender switch the cooler male character (yes, I´m being sarcastic). Heck, the whole series seems to be pretty balanced in regard to male and female characters, I´d even say the female characters got the best roles:

• Zelda
• Hilda->Evil
• Tetra
• Impa
• Sheik
• Midna
• Ruto
• Saria
• The Gerudos (a whole race)

VS

• Link
• Ravio
• Ganon->Evil
• Zant->Evil
• Grahim->Evil
• Demise->Evil
• Darunia (Do the Gorons even have sex?)
• The King
• Tingle

Female characters are way cooler than male ones in this series: from a princess who can use magic to attack a castle to a goddes, a pirate or a whole race of ninjas. While in the male part we get mostly evil people you must take down and goofy characters. But it doesn´t matter because the playable character has a penis so Nintendo must hate women.

 

[Kanhir]

i do love them worrying about "balancing" something that consists of 3 parts.
Making Link's gender user selectable would actually create a better balance than a 2 : 1 skew.

How? It'd still be a 2:1 skew.

Only after you pick a gender. Until then it's Schrodinger's Triforce.

 

[A Link to the Past]

EDIT: What? That list is really unbalanced. Barnes? Sahasrahla? Groose? Male characters of quality are not in short supply. Oh, and Kafei, the first and only time a game natively allowed you to control a non-Link/Link-like character (for the purposes of Tri-Force Heroes) if I recall, unless it happened in Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess.

Why is that character female by the way? What is the developers reasoning behind that? I DEMAND to know.

Why do you care?

Only after you pick a gender. Until then it's Schrodinger's Triforce.

Exactly. It essentially is 1.5 - 1.5.

 

[correojon]

EDIT: What? That list is really unbalanced. Barnes? Sahasrahla? Groose? Male characters of quality are not in short supply. Oh, and Kafei, the first and only time a game natively allowed you to control a non-Link/Link-like character (for the purposes of Tri-Force Heroes) if I recall, unless it happened in Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess.

I left out a lot of characters, I just made the list with the ones I could remember that had an important role. Anyway, Sahasralah is just an ancient man who you after visiting the first palace you don´t need to see ever again in the whole game. Groose fits into the "goofy" group quite well, but I admit he has a cool character development through the game. Still, nothing in that list compares to a whole race of "baddas warrior bandits feared by everyone": Zant was literally the cohort´s buffoon, Ravio is a coward wearing a rabbit costume, Grahim is the definition of weird and Tingle...is just Tingle XD Link, Ganon and Demise are very cool, Darunia is a bit goofy but is cool too...But in the female list there´s not one single entry you would feel ashamed to be seen with, only exception could be child Ruto but she ends up growing into a cool character as well.

 

[Henkka]

I don't understand everyone's issue with the "throws off the balance of the Triforce" reasoning.

Since people love to read social commentary in everything, if both Link and Zelda are women, they would possess both wisdom and courage and are both pure of heart while Ganondorf, the only male, possesses power and is the king of all evil. Since the entire crux of the Triforce relies on courage and wisdom coming together to keep power in check, I really doubt Nintendo would want to put a game where the main premise of the story is that women come together to defeat men. A man and a woman coming together to defeat an evil entity is obviously a bit more universally appealing. So then you would have to also possibly consider changing Zelda into a man or Ganondorf into a woman, which I doubt many people, especially Nintendo, would be comfortable with.

So then if we switch it up and Zelda is now the main protagonist, then Link has to be thrown into another role. I said this in a prior post, but Zelda has almost always had an established personality in nearly every game. When you throw Link into Zelda's role, that means he now needs dialogue and a personality. That's kind of a tall order when Link has been most famous for being a "link" to the player, a silent but endearing avatar that you guide.

There's a lot of things to consider with a genderswap or even just switching up the roles with such well-defined characters, and as much as I personally would like a playable Zelda or a female Link, I can understand why the idea can be intimidating. I do hope that you can play as Zelda, if only for a brief scene, in this current title. Something like the Peach scenes in Paper Mario, or a moment where you need to help Link get out of a jam. Hell, something like Spirit Tracks would be fantastic. Zelda's always a great character, and I'd love to see them expand on her without taking away Link's importance to the player.

Some good points here.

To those who want a playable Zelda, would she be a mute vessel for the player like Link often is?

 

[A Link to the Past]

I left out a lot of characters, I just made the list with the ones I could remember that had an important role. Anyway, Sahasralah is just an ancient man who you after visiting the first palace you don´t need to see ever again in the whole game. Groose fits into the "goofy" group quite well, but I admit he has a cool character development through the game. Still, nothing in that list compares to a whole race of "baddas warrior bandits feared by everyone": Zant was literally the cohort´s buffoon, Ravio is a coward wearing a rabbit costume, Grahim is the definition of weird and Tingle...is just Tingle XD Link, Ganon and Demise are very cool, Darunia is a bit goofy but is cool too...But in the female list there´s not one single entry you would feel ashamed to be seen with, only exception could be child Ruto but she ends up growing into a cool character as well.

Actually, Sahasrahla speaks to Link throughout the game. He's also in A Link Between Worlds!

 

[correojon]

Actually, Sahasrahla speaks to Link throughout the game. He's also in A Link Between Worlds!

Yeah, that´s why I said that you don´t need to see him ever again, because he just speaks through the tiles and some telepathic messages once or twice. When I first played ALttP I wasn´t even aware that it was Sahasrahla who spoke to me through the tiles (I didn´t know much English then so I understood many things totally wrong or just didn´t get them).
I can´t remember him even appearing in LBW so his role surely wasn´t that important, though it may be because I have shitty memory XP.

Anyway, even if we put Sahasrahla in the list, not much would change. He´s an old wise man, not comparable to pirate captain Tetra or shadow ninja Sheik.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Well sorrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyy I didn't use the Japanese HQ. Would that make you happy? If I go and spend time making another joke image with the Japanese HQ?

Why so defensive ?

 

[Palculator]

I don't understand everyone's issue with the "throws off the balance of the Triforce" reasoning.

Since people love to read social commentary in everything, if both Link and Zelda are women, they would possess both wisdom and courage and are both pure of heart while Ganondorf, the only male, possesses power and is the king of all evil. Since the entire crux of the Triforce relies on courage and wisdom coming together to keep power in check, I really doubt Nintendo would want to put a game where the main premise of the story is that women come together to defeat men. A man and a woman coming together to defeat an evil entity is obviously a bit more universally appealing. So then you would have to also possibly consider changing Zelda into a man or Ganondorf into a woman, which I doubt many people, especially Nintendo, would be comfortable with.

So then if we switch it up and Zelda is now the main protagonist, then Link has to be thrown into another role. I said this in a prior post, but Zelda has almost always had an established personality in nearly every game. When you throw Link into Zelda's role, that means he now needs dialogue and a personality. That's kind of a tall order when Link has been most famous for being a "link" to the player, a silent but endearing avatar that you guide.

There's a lot of things to consider with a genderswap or even just switching up the roles with such well-defined characters, and as much as I personally would like a playable Zelda or a female Link, I can understand why the idea can be intimidating. I do hope that you can play as Zelda, if only for a brief scene, in this current title. Something like the Peach scenes in Paper Mario, or a moment where you need to help Link get out of a jam. Hell, something like Spirit Tracks would be fantastic. Zelda's always a great character, and I'd love to see them expand on her without taking away Link's importance to the player.

These are good points I hadn't actually considered at all. The cynic in me assumed Aonuma just half-arsed some explanation because he didn't want to outright say they prefer a male Link, something I always figured was due to The Legend of Zelda leaning pretty heavily into the monomyth which traditionally has a male hero. But your thoughts on his explanation make it seem less ridiculous -- to me, anyway.

 

[Mariolee]

the artistic freedom of locking a helper companion behind an action figure

much art such wow

GAF: Nintendo should make amiibo figures more useful!

...

GAF: How dare they be useful and be locked behind an action figure?

 

[BGBW]

Triforce of Courage - Farore
Triforce of Wisdom - Nayru
Triforce of Power - Din

Three females, zero males. That's pretty unbalanced if you ask me.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

GAF: Nintendo should make amiibo figures more useful!

...

GAF: How dare they be useful and be locked behind an action figure?

I think this is unfair. And by that I just mean that I think you're doing the hivemind thing where you're conflating what two distinctly different groups are saying as "GAF." This has been sort of the crux of the philosophical battle since the beginning. Amiibo fans who want to buy the figures anyway are probably going to be more inclined to welcome better in-game features for activating the figures. People who aren't Amiibo fans (i.e. me) have been wary since they were announced about the prospect of these being used poorly to coerce people into buying overpriced physical DLC. Personally, I want them to be as useless as they can possibly make them because I'm not an Amiibo collector and I'd rather buy digital DLC than buy $13 toys that double as DLC.

 

[IronicSonic]

Just in the Zelda series: Zelda, Tetra, Midna or Sheik say hi. But I guess they won´t count because reasons, same as Samus being adventuring for 25+ years doesn´t seem to count.


What I don´t understand is that the Zelda series has some awesome female characters (Zelda, Impa, Tetra, Sheik...) yet they seem to not be good enough or something and everyone just wants to gender switch the cooler male character (yes, I´m being sarcastic). Heck, the whole series seems to be pretty balanced in regard to male and female characters, I´d even say the female characters got the best roles:

• Zelda
• Hilda->Evil
• Tetra
• Impa
• Sheik
• Midna
• Ruto
• Saria
• The Gerudos (a whole race)

VS

• Link
• Ravio
• Ganon->Evil
• Zant->Evil
• Grahim->Evil
• Demise->Evil
• Darunia (Do the Gorons even have sex?)
• The King
• Tingle

Female characters are way cooler than male ones in this series: from a princess who can use magic to attack a castle to a goddes, a pirate or a whole race of ninjas. While in the male part we get mostly evil people you must take down and goofy characters. But it doesn´t matter because the playable character has a penis so Nintendo must hate women.

Never playable though

I don't understand everyone's issue with the "throws off the balance of the Triforce" reasoning.

Since people love to read social commentary in everything, if both Link and Zelda are women, they would possess both wisdom and courage and are both pure of heart while Ganondorf, the only male, possesses power and is the king of all evil. Since the entire crux of the Triforce relies on courage and wisdom coming together to keep power in check, I really doubt Nintendo would want to put a game where the main premise of the story is that women come together to defeat men. A man and a woman coming together to defeat an evil entity is obviously a bit more universally appealing. So then you would have to also possibly consider changing Zelda into a man or Ganondorf into a woman, which I doubt many people, especially Nintendo, would be comfortable with.

So then if we switch it up and Zelda is now the main protagonist, then Link has to be thrown into another role. I said this in a prior post, but Zelda has almost always had an established personality in nearly every game. When you throw Link into Zelda's role, that means he now needs dialogue and a personality. That's kind of a tall order when Link has been most famous for being a "link" to the player, a silent but endearing avatar that you guide.

There's a lot of things to consider with a genderswap or even just switching up the roles with such well-defined characters, and as much as I personally would like a playable Zelda or a female Link, I can understand why the idea can be intimidating. I do hope that you can play as Zelda, if only for a brief scene, in this current title. Something like the Peach scenes in Paper Mario, or a moment where you need to help Link get out of a jam. Hell, something like Spirit Tracks would be fantastic. Zelda's always a great character, and I'd love to see them expand on her without taking away Link's importance to the player.

So, basically you are saying the change is intimidating for this (patriarchal) society because defies (patriarchal) social conventions and Nintendo's comfort zone?

THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT!

The Triforce balance could be achieved in a lot of different ways. Zelda, Link or Ganon are not tied to certain roles, at least, from a creative standpoint, they aren't

Also, If Links is a "link-to-the-player" why no offer others options?

 

[Palculator]

So, basically you are saying the change is intimidating for this (patriarchal) society because defies (patriarchal) social conventions and Nintendo's comfort zone?

THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT!

The Triforce balance could be achieved in a lot of different ways. Zelda, Link or Ganon are not tied to certain roles, at least, from a creative standpoint, they aren't

That's not really what they're saying and if "the whole point" of this genderswap is to fight the darn patriarchy then it's kind of silly to expect Nintendo indulging in it because they don't strike me as the company who'd make waves in politics. I was also under the impression that the push for a female Link has been primarily about relatability and representation for female players, not to "fight" those pesky males like you frame it, which makes this whole situation seem rather petty. Like the petty kind of bullshit that has little room for discussion because ultimately it's about winning and not progress of understanding -- the actual purpose of discussions.

Also, If Links is a "link-to-the-player" why no offer others options?

The problems Link faces on his journey are not specific to any gender, race or creed and thus neither of those options would have a significant effect. You can be "a Link to the player" without trying to imitate superficial aspects of their demographic reality and instead being the locus of player agency, which Link is doing just fine.

 

[IronicSonic]

That's not really what they're saying and if "the whole point" of this genderswap is to fight the darn patriarchy then it's kind of silly to expect Nintendo indulging in it because they don't strike me as the company who'd make waves in politics. I was also under the impression that the push for a female Link has been primarily about relatability and representation for female players, not to "fight" those pesky males like you frame it, which makes this whole situation seem rather petty. Like the petty kind of bullshit that has little room for discussion because ultimately it's about winning and not progress of understanding -- the actual purpose of discussions.

Give gender (race, creed, etc) alternatives is a way to "fight" social conventions. Patriarchal social conventions in this case, even if you are not aware of this fact. The world is diverse, videogames (and others forms of media) aren't.

The problems Link faces on his journey are not specific to any gender, race or creed and thus neither of those options would have a significant effect. You can be "a Link to the player" without trying to imitate superficial aspects of their demographic reality and instead being the locus of player agency, which Link is doing just fine.

This argument works to both sides though. If Link are not specific to any gender, race or creed I can ask then why Nintendo chooses (always) a white young male to symbolize the courage? the spirit of adventure? The active part of the history?

I love Nintendo games, ever since Sega seems to be a ghost of its former self, but those are valid questions, and not only about Nintendo BTW

 

[Lgndryhr]

Wasn't sure if this was mentioned in this thread:

http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/l...-gender-rumor-speculation-according-to-aonuma


EDIT: Nevermind. Just realized the update in the OP is the same source as my link.

 

[balgajo]

You guys saw that? Miyamoto being honest.

http://gamerant.com/zelda-female-link-miyamoto/

 

[Platy]

You guys saw that? Miyamoto being honest.

http://gamerant.com/zelda-female-link-miyamoto/

It is weird that they always answers as "Zelda will never be the protagonist" while people are asking to LINK be reincarnated as a woman because we FUCKING GET IT, the protagonist of Zelda HAS TO BE LINK, needs to be SOMEONE WITH THE TRIFORCE OF COURAGE but how about THAT be a girl ?

But well ... they already said that they DO listen to fan backlash ...

 

[A Link to the Past]

Well hopefully enough backlash will convince Nintendo that the series is benefited by having a playable Zelda.