Mini Bossfight: Maidens in distress..

Mini bossfight: Maidens in distress
Source: Siliconera , IBtimes

Do you have the target in your sights, Ms. Moneypenny?

 So, stop me if you heard this one. Ubisoft blunders their way through an Assassin's Creed: Unity Q and A, stating that there is basically no female playable characters for their game. Community responds. Large scale commentary warfare results. Half, overblown for the sake of hype, and half actually warranted, as the French Revolution was actually largely influenced by both Men and Women respectively. That was a pretty big flub, and it's not to say that Ubisoft couldn't repair the damage by producing some sort of Female character DLC inclusion, but I can still see people purchasing the game in it's final state.

Now, Siliconera obviously wants to keep the rage train a-rolling on towards Nintendo for speculation on the possibility of a Rule 63 Link. Here's the word on the blurb.

Speaking with Game Informer at E3, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma shared some brief thoughts on the trailer that Nintendo showed off for The Legend of Zelda on Wii U. Aonuma says that he’s been hearing people say that they think Link is a lady now.

“That might be something that consciously we kind of did, but not to say anything specific—I am not saying anything specific—but, I am hoping people continue to comment, and I will continue to follow the fan comments and reactions to the trailer,” Aonuma said.

“I am certainly curious, and I am sure there are things we as developers can glean.”

Meanwhile, speaking with MMGN, Aonuma clarified that his earlier comment about the character in the trailer not being Link was more of a joke.

“Actually that comment I made jokingly,” he said. “It’s not that I said that it wasn’t Link. It’s that I never said that it was Link. It’s not really the same thing, but I can understand how it could be taken that way.”

Aonuma also stated that he doesn’t want people to focus too much on Link’s appearance in the game.

“I don’t want people to get hung up on the way Link looks because ultimately Link represents the player in the game,” he said. “I don’t want to define him so much that it becomes limiting to the players. I want players to focus on other parts of the trailer and not specifically on the character because the character Link represents, again, the player.”

Of late, Nintendo have been making a very conscious effort to include more playable female characters in their games. Since Nintendo have always maintained that Link is supposed to be an avatar for the player, including a female variant would make sense, and judging by Aonuma’s comments, he’s open to the idea.

The Legend of Zelda for Wii U is planned for release in 2015.

Now I agree with Aonuma when he says that the appearance of link should take the backseat to the actual story and game, itself. In perspective, Link pretty much is used as a means to an end;  A tool controlled by you, the player to end the plight caused by the antagonist. Fem Shep-ping Link could be pretty easy, but it also sounds like it would make the game less organic and more generic (MMO vibe) from an aesthetic and story based point of view. Not to mention the fact that it's not really as significant a change that it would strike a blow for women's rights everywhere, unlike Mrs. Pacman.

This is where I attribute the writer's notion of pushing for this to a need to create controversy where there really is none. LOZ has many strong female characters involved in it's vast storied lore. I would find it more intriguing to be able to play as Zelda, wielding her light arrows and discovering the world from her eyes, or the brash and bold Impa along side of Link instead of being a female version of the main character. This is where Hyrule Warriors gets it right, in certain aspects. In a way, that's kind of what I wanted from Skyward Sword. Zelda was off doing awesome things and fulfilling her role as the new incarnation of the goddess, and here I was just playing catch-up, and being sexually harassed by Demon Lord Ghirahim. This is the real issue the writer should have, instead of trying to force a change so boring as "make the main character a woman for womankind!!" .

because we could easily do nut jiggle physics, but that would just weird people out..

One more thing: With all the litany about a lack of female characters in gaming, What I don't see is an influx of indie games created by would-be female developers creating strong female leads to lead the charge! That's kind of hypocritical that we would depend on men to create stunning female leads, when they can barely understand the need for females in games about the French Revolution. Now don't get me wrong, I am sympathetic to the cause, but it's high time for the women who are making waves to step up and show these guys. Change is often made when we get off our duffs and do something about it, instead of just seeing who can squeak the loudest before grease is applied.

 So to you, future female game developers, the gauntlet is dropped. With the buzz surrounding Indie gaming reaching critical mass, you obviously have a thriving market out there that's yours for the taking  It's high damn time for you to go out there and take it.

Game On!