Video Game Blog - Super Smash Sexism?

For years Nintendo has been renowned for being a family friendly gaming company that plays it safe with its happy go lucky cast. Characters such as Mario, Link and Donkey Kong, appeal to young demographics whilst also retaining enough charm for the older generation of gamers… Which is why this blog entry may come as a bit of a shock.

Recently, Nintendo has come under criticism for the character design of Zero Suit Samus in both Super Smash Brothers for Wii U and 3DS. The character debuted in the Smash Brothers series back on the Wii and has seen some changes made to her design since then.

Zero Suit Samus. Killer of aliens, wearer of stilettos.

Yes, this is a Nintendo Game

Undeniably, next to the rest of the Nintendo universe this incarnation of Samus stands out for obvious reasons. With her skin tight suit, exaggerated physique and bleach blonde hair, Zero Suit Samus (who shall now be referred to as ZSS) is a highly sexualised character that stands out immensely whilst stood next to a stodgy Italian plumber. Recent criticisms of the character design have stemmed from the fact that the character now wears high heels (rocket powered high heels to be precise). Despite the criticisms of the design, Nintendo didn't hold back from showing ZSS’s alternate costume on a Nintendo Direct, which really doesn't stray away at all from the vibe ZSS was giving off.

To me this reveal feels like a wii bit of a blunder (puns, the lowest form of wit), the costume is from an old Metroid game from the Game Boy Advance (Metroid: Zero Mission) which Nintendo is just trying to pay homage to… But I think when you step into the realm of somewhat realistic looking graphics you need to be very careful to not present your characters like a piece of meat. I don’t think that Nintendo needs to hide away ZSS, hell pretty much the entire cool factor of Samus’ character comes from the fact that she is a female. But some realistic body proportions and some plausible foot wear might make a bit more sense.

The original Metroid itself, released in 1986 drew various elements from Ridley Scott’s 1979 hit science fiction horror Alien, notably the female protagonist. Playing as a girl in a super powered mech suit was a pretty innovative idea for the time, but I don’t think anyone took Samus’ sexualisation as seriously when she was just a bunch of 2D pixels. (Check out her death animation from Super Metroid on the attached link). I can see why some may be offended, but looking at some of Nintendo's recent design choices and games on the horizon it does beg the question of whether this is a trend for the company? Is Nintendo trying to change their image? Rounding off this blog with a few final screenshots and comments.

Please comment below if you have any thoughts on the subject, thought this would be an interesting blog to start off with.

Thanks for reading.

Actual promotional image for Mario Kart 8. All of the female characters (excluding the one that is you know... A MUSHROOM) abandon their dresses for leather biking suits. Needing a change of clothes in a world where apes and dinosaurs can drive go kart's is a bit of a reach. Specially as Mario rides a bike quite easily in plumbing overalls.

Bayonetta was one of the most sexually provocative games and characters all time on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Bayonetta 2 launches EXCLUSIVELY on the Wii U.

This is a screenshot from a ZELDA GAME. To be precise Hyrule Warriors isn't a game made by Nintendo, it's being created by KOEI for Nintendo, but still. All I see is tits.