Issue 22: Beauty Before Brawn

Take a look at the content planned for this week’s celebration of video game heroines.

By M. Noah Ward. Posted 11/01/2010 09:00 Comment on this     ShareThis

Issue 22: Beauty Before Brawn

Each year we get more news and press releases about girls and women playing video games. Coincidentally, we’re not seeing an uptick in the presence of females in our games. Some might hope those stats would go hand-in-hand, but that’s not stopped the fairer gender from embracing a traditionally male hobby. Perhaps one reason for the increased interest is, even if underrepresented, there are still a few awesome heroines in our games. From Muramasa‘s Momohime to Resident Evil’s Jill, gamers have had multiple opportunities to play as a female who can literally win a game instead of being a trophy whose collection will win the game.

Yet given the male-skewed demographic of video games, there’s still room to grow. Blatant stereotypes and objectifying are still acknowledged with indifference or hastily jumped upon. Whether there’s the all-too-typical sexual objectification in games like Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball and most female characters’ costume designs, or the crusty “save the princess” objective, or even the apparent sexism of Metroid: Other M‘s characterization of Samus, few would argue more maturation is needed. For this week, we’ll work with what we’ve seen so far in celebrating our favorite heroines in Nintendo games and look toward a brighter future with them.

Enjoy,
Noah


Issue 22: Beauty Before Brawn

Top 5 Unsung Heroines by Andrew Hsieh
Admit it, you love these ladies.

Nester64x: Get back in another castle! by Nester64x
Nester’s scared by all this female empowerment.

Toadstool’s Big Day Out by Matthew Tidman
She may be a spoiled Princess, but occasionally she puts on her Work Pants and gives everyone a Group Hug.

Trophy Heroines by James Labalokie
Nintendo’s princesses have suffered continuous setbacks simply via the context they’ve been introduced within, and how that context has persisted.

Hot Air: Xtremed by Aaron Roberts
With Dead or Alive coming to 3DS, the time is ripe for a Nintendo character-populated Xtreme Beach Volleyball.

Round Table: Our Favorite Heroines by Nintendojo Staff
Whether popular or obscure, here are our favorite heroines of video gaming.

Not Peachy Enough by Carter Fagan
Why Nintendo needs to reintroduce everyone’s favorite video game princess in a big way, and why Super Princess Peach stinks.

Nintendo Tattler by Aaron Roberts
Breaking! We never thought we’d catch them doing this.


Additional features in this issue…

Monday

  • Nightly News Roundup by Matthew Tidman

Tuesday

  • Nightly News Roundup by Andy Hoover

Wednesday

  • Dojo-Show-Go! Episode 115 by M. Noah Ward
  • Nightly News Roundup by James Stank

Thursday

  • Nightly News Roundup by Robert Thompson

Friday

  • Nightly News Roundup by M. Noah Ward

Coming Up Next Week…

Issue 23: Ammo/Cash
First person shooters have become a defining genre of our video game generation. We look at the highs and lows from a gamer’s and business’ perspective.

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