Ladies, here is your chance. Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma is open to the idea of having playable female characters in the upcoming Zelda Wii U game, but here's the catch: you first need to prove that it'll be a worthy investment for Nintendo. Aonuma didn't flat out say that in an interview with Kotaku, but he very strongly suggested that if we want to see playable female characters then there needs to be evidence that it leads to more sales among female gamers. And it all starts with Hyrule Warriors.
'So there are actually many female characters you can play as in Hyrule Warriors. We've introduced Midna, we've introduced Princess Zelda, and Impa as well," Aonuma said. "So if that connection needs to be there—I'm not saying that it does—let's see what happens with Hyrule Warriors, if as a result of there being more female protagonists, more women pick up the game, I'm all for it, so I've decided to see what happens with this title."
Granted, I don't know the tone in which he said this, but it still seems wrong to me that females seemingly have to prove they are buying games to have their gender included as a playable character, but the bottom line is video games are a business. And Nintendo is in the business of making money, though not of late it seems. It's a harsh view to have, but then again this is the business world we're talking about — no time for feelings.
If it helps, Aonuma prefaced that statement by saying the main character of Zelda "isn't actually Link — a male protagonist — but rather "it's the player."
"Of course we have to have a main character in the story, so Link is that main character. But I don't want him to be like a superhero. I want him to represent any player, have that possibility. So that's why I don't really know if we need or want to define it so clearly."
I'm a male, so I will probably never understand what females have to go through to have their gender included in games — and I'm not just talking about objects of desire. So, please, I encourage you to share your feelings on his statement in the comments below.
