feitclub

mattzarella:

feitclub:

“You had a 50/50 chance and you weren’t even close”*

I spoke out about this on Twitter but I want to elaborate how much it bothers me that Nintendo elected to include a generic male villager from its mega-hit Animal Crossing franchise in the next Smash Bros game.

The first objection is the most obvious: this is a game chock full of male characters. Obviously a fighting game based on a video game company’s legacy is going to skew male; Nintendo doesn’t have a time machine to undo decades of sexist choices. But just look at this list of Smash Bros characters. You can count the number of women on one hand with fingers to spare. This was an easy way to offset that M/F ratio and Nintendo blew it.

What makes this choice insulting is the nature of Animal Crossing: this is a very successful series of games that is extremely popular with women. The latest version on 3DS has sold nearly four million copies in Japan alone. It’s far and away the most popular console game of 2013. Do you really think hordes of men are driving those record sales? Not a chance. I’ve seen the ads and I’ve seen it first-hand: my wife has been consumed by the game since December. It’s practically the only game she plays.

Cross-promotions go both ways. Put a Phoenix Wright in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and suddenly a whole new audience will be curious about his next game. Likewise, people who already know Animal Crossing but not Smash Bros (again, that is a LOT of people, many of whom are women) will hear this crossover news and they will be curious about Smash Bros. Does having a boy villager instead of a girl turn them away? No, but i wager it doesn’t lure them in the way a girl might.

Lest anyone forget: representation matters. For every entitled male asshole who shouts down the notion that women belong in games, there are stories like this of people using video games to explore their own identity in ways they cannot in the real world.

And please, don’t talk to me about Smash Bros being “for guys.” It’s for EVERYONE. Nintendo is in no position to pretend otherwise. Besides, fighting games which are marketed to guys still feature plenty of women on the roster. Those women are often weirdly sexualized, sadly, but they are women. Hell, I’d say that’s yet another reason to choose a female Animal Crossing villager: she’d be the lone asexual female option. Even Samus Aran is a sex object now - stupid Zero Suit.

Picking a girl from Animal Crossing wasn’t even a 50/50 choice, it was the obvious choice. Instead they went with a boy, perpetuating the idea that a male character is the “default” character. So yeah, maybe through alternate costumes it’ll be possible to switch the Animal Crossing villager’s gender, but that doesn’t change the fact that every poster, every website, and every ad is going to feature the boy-version.

At least there’s Wii Fit Trainer…

*name that Bond villain!

All I got from this was “I’m mad that Nintendo is adding a male character in a game called ‘Smash Brothers’! I am outraged!” This has honestly been the only complaint I have heard about the gender. Seriously, this website isn’t happy about anything (and yes, I am generalizing).
I just wanted to get that off my cheat before I blacked out for the night.

You got me: the name of the game is “Smash Brothers” so it shouldn’t have any girls in it at all! Samus, Peach, Zelda, GTFO this game is for bros not hoes. Also, I guess this means everyone in the game is now related, because the word Brothers is right there staring us in the face.

tinycartridge:

Pac-Man Battle Royale coming to 3DS eShop

…and Wii U, and PS3, Xbox, and PC, this winter! It’s part of Pac-Man Museum, a collection that includes who cares what else. If you’ve never played Battle Royale, it’s a four-player arcade game where each player controls a Pac-Man, rushing to grab power pellets and eat one another.

It’s incredible. INCREDIBLE. And it’s never been available outside of arcades. This is the best announcement of E3, no doubt.

BUY Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL consoles, upcoming games

No Vita :(

Seriously though, this is FANTASTIC news. I never see Pac-Man Battle Royale outside of trade shows, so this will increase my access to the game by …I don’t know…ten-thousand percent.

“You had a 50/50 chance and you weren’t even close”*

I spoke out about this on Twitter but I want to elaborate how much it bothers me that Nintendo elected to include a generic male villager from its mega-hit Animal Crossing franchise in the next Smash Bros game.

The first objection is the most obvious: this is a game chock full of male characters. Obviously a fighting game based on a video game company’s legacy is going to skew male; Nintendo doesn’t have a time machine to undo decades of sexist choices. But just look at this list of Smash Bros characters. You can count the number of women on one hand with fingers to spare. This was an easy way to offset that M/F ratio and Nintendo blew it.

What makes this choice insulting is the nature of Animal Crossing: this is a very successful series of games that is extremely popular with women. The latest version on 3DS has sold nearly four million copies in Japan alone. It’s far and away the most popular console game of 2013. Do you really think hordes of men are driving those record sales? Not a chance. I’ve seen the ads and I’ve seen it first-hand: my wife has been consumed by the game since December. It’s practically the only game she plays.

Cross-promotions go both ways. Put a Phoenix Wright in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and suddenly a whole new audience will be curious about his next game. Likewise, people who already know Animal Crossing but not Smash Bros (again, that is a LOT of people, many of whom are women) will hear this crossover news and they will be curious about Smash Bros. Does having a boy villager instead of a girl turn them away? No, but i wager it doesn’t lure them in the way a girl might.

Lest anyone forget: representation matters. For every entitled male asshole who shouts down the notion that women belong in games, there are stories like this of people using video games to explore their own identity in ways they cannot in the real world.

And please, don’t talk to me about Smash Bros being “for guys.” It’s for EVERYONE. Nintendo is in no position to pretend otherwise. Besides, fighting games which are marketed to guys still feature plenty of women on the roster. Those women are often weirdly sexualized, sadly, but they are women. Hell, I’d say that’s yet another reason to choose a female Animal Crossing villager: she’d be the lone asexual female option. Even Samus Aran is a sex object now - stupid Zero Suit.

Picking a girl from Animal Crossing wasn’t even a 50/50 choice, it was the obvious choice. Instead they went with a boy, perpetuating the idea that a male character is the “default” character. So yeah, maybe through alternate costumes it’ll be possible to switch the Animal Crossing villager’s gender, but that doesn’t change the fact that every poster, every website, and every ad is going to feature the boy-version.

At least there’s Wii Fit Trainer…

*name that Bond villain!

nadiaoxford:

1) I love Kirby attempting the tree pose. Imagine being the person who had to animate it. (“My weekend job involves turning water into wine!”)

2) When Wii Fit Trainer tapped Mario on the shoulder, I thought she was going to gently correct his pose. Nope. “YOU SUCK. GET THE HELL OUT OF MY CLASS AND MEDIATE ON YOUR FAILURE.”

3) Fighting. Barefoot.

My wife’s reaction to this reveal: 強そう！やってみたい。She had no idea what Smash Bros was prior to today.

wilwheaton:

(via Reddit)

Color this green and I think Microsoft would actually use it.

Wired’s Chris Kohler fighting with Nintendo’s Hiroshi Yamauchi. Winner decides the future of the Virtual Console.

inkpanic:

I do this with video games

There’s a word for that! It’s tsumige, 積みゲー

One of these days I’m going to get down to Esaka and take pictures of the landmarks SNK used as King of Fighters backgrounds. That street sign is just a bit too dark to read though…

(via gameological)

gameological:

The four seasons of Mega Man’s walk home at the end of Mega Man 2. Today on Gameological, John Teti looks at why Mega Man 2 has one of the best game endings ever.

It took me years to understand that those pink things were cherry blossoms. I thought it was raining Quick Boomerangs.