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Man Edits Wind Waker so 3-Year Old Daughter Doesn't Feel 2nd Class

The story:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/...playing-daughter-dad-gives-link-a-sex-change/

The Details:

Dad has been playing Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker with his three-and-a-half year-old daughter. Dad says to himself "I'm not having my girl grow up thinking girls don't get to be the hero." Dad goes at Wind Waker with a hex editor, and changes all pronouns referring to Link from the masculine to the feminine. An example being:

windwaker_girl_1-640x497.jpeg


The questions:

How viable is this as a solution to the problem of young girls having not too many games (comparably) in which girls represent the hero?

Will this introduce problems later when the girl discovers that she has the only version of Wind Waker in which Link is a girl?

Ultimately, is all the work worth it in order to be assured the girl does garner some semblance of self-worth from playing the game in this way? Is such an assurance via video game even possible?
 

Croc

Banned
She's 3 years old, why bother?

"I'm not having my girl grow up thinking girls don't get to be the hero."

Young kids are impressionable and it gives her something to look up to.

I'd think it's awesome if I learned my dad did this.
 
For fuck's sake. Give her some Metroid games.

Seems overreactive. Especially considering she's 3 and probably hasn't questioned any of it yet. I can associate with any character regardless of gender or race. I dunno why people get so pressed about it.

Corollary: I would play and enjoy a Zelda game with a female Link. I really just don't care.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
As cute as that is, its really pointless.

Proper education should tell said child that just because some text on a screen says something does not mean its set in stone as a fact.

Less coddling I say.
 

markot

Banned
I think its great. Most girls pick girls to play as in pokemon. Would it be as popular if there was only a male choice?
 

Eusis

Member
Well, there's Okami instead, but that might have some aspects not really desirable for a 3 year old anyway. Also I think both male and female pronouns were used with Amaterasu, though generally being regarded as the Sun Goddess pushes that to female.

Then there's the fact she's a wolf rather than a humanoid, so that's probably not the most ideal for positive gender reinforcement anyway.
 

nullset2

Junior Member
Pointless without, you know, actually rewriting like, the story to make the pronoun change coherent and relevant and actually having the main playable character model be a girl instead of link, dude.
 

JordanN

Banned
Seems pretty stupid. If I wanted a girl to feel like a hero, I would hand her a game that has a female hero.



<------ Shameless avatar quote.
 
Knowing three year olds;

assuming the three year old pays attention to the game longer than 20 seconds
assuming the three year old can read at a high enough level to make sense of the text changes
assuming the three year old cares about gender issues

Assuming all that? The three year old will probably want to watch him play a decent zelda game instead anyway.
 
Not playing. Watching

She shouldn't be watching it either.

There's parts at the beginning that would scare most three year olds.

She's three.

Knowing three year olds;

assuming the three year old pays attention to the game longer than 20 seconds
assuming the three year old can read at a high enough level to make sense of the text changes
assuming the three year old cares about gender issues and

A thousand times this...
 

Eusis

Member
Pointless without, you know, actually rewriting like, the story to make the pronoun change coherent and relevant and actually having the main playable character model be a girl instead of link, dude.
I think he's banking on the design and voice making it sort of work. It helps Tetra looks as if she could be Link's brother.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
every parent has some grand ideas of how to raise a child even at those really early stages

Still seems like a lot of trouble for something her daughter probably dont care about at this age, especially if she can't read or anything. I mean, there is no voice acting there.

If he cares that much, give her that Princess Peach game on the DS or something.
 
I think its great. Most girls pick girls to play as in pokemon. Would it be as popular if there was only a male choice?

Yes, because while people choose characters that correspond to their own gender, I assure you that people only really give a shit about the Pokemon themselves. That's how it works.

If I had to play as a female character only it would not affect me at all.
 

Croc

Banned
You guys...he is playing the game WITH her, she is not playing it by herself.

He's probably reading this stuff off to her and making a point of it.
 
She'll probably grow up to hate gaming, because her father forced it down her throat. Just like I did.

edit. Also a lesbian.

KKThZ.png
 

markot

Banned
Do numbers seriously matter?
Of course. There need to be more 'strong' female leads in games, if only for some dame variety. MMOs are popular with women, because they can play as females. Not to over generalise, but men are main characters cause men prefer it, women are not being catered to. Would the next cod or what nots be as big as they are if you played as a female? When people have a choice they generally pick their own gender to play as. Why's the white male the standard? Because he is the main consumer and target audience.
 
J

Jotamide

Unconfirmed Member
ITT: people who assume 3-year olds have no concept of the world around them.
 
What a stupid thread title.

It's a paraphrase of the dad's own quote. Felt it summed up the the thrust of the article decently enough - it's also the subhead for the article itself.

(shrug) I'm sure if you come up with something way cooler a mod will switch it.

Eusis said:
I think he's banking on the design and voice making it sort of work.

Yeah, Link is pretty androgynous in Wind Waker. If all the text is referring to him as a her, it's not much of a stretch at all to believe the main character is a girl, especially if that's your first exposure to the character.
 
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