This Is A Linkle/Female Link Post

     A while back we were introduced to a "new" character for the up and coming Hyrule Warriors Legends game for the Nintendo 3DS, Linkle. Up until Linkle's debut she was just a concept art for the Hyrule Warrriors game. She was believed and written to be a female version of Link, the protagonist of the Legend of Zelda series. Now that she's an offical character in the game, Linkle is more of her own established character instead of being the female version of Link. This isn't more about Linkle's, but what she represented before she was made a full fledged character.
    Linkle represented an interesting ideal that whether the protagonist Link in the Zelda could be female. If you are new to the Zelda series the games and the Hyrule timeline spans across years with a new a different incarnation of the main characters Lunk and Princess Zelda. In almost each game you have a different Link and Zelda. This was introduced to the game Skyward Sword where Zelda was the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia and at the end of game both Link and Zelda's souls were destined to be reincarnated whenever Hyrule is in trouble. Linkle leads to a interesting theory that there could be a female incarnation of the

legendary hero. 

     It was a rumor that around Linkle's discovery as a concept art for Hyrule Warriors that the incarnation of Link that would be introduced in the upcoming Zelda Wii U game could possibly be a woman. The question is if Nintendo decided to switch the character of Link, and possibly Zelda, would it be a good decision?

     If Link was a woman in a possible Zelda game, it would be in fact good. Story wise, it would be interesting. It has never been said that the spirit of the hero has to be passed down to a male incarnation. It could add more to the Zelda mythology of the spirit of the hero being passed down to one person to another. It would be great as it would breathe new life to the supposed characters. It would be interested to see a Prince Zel and a female Link interact with the threat that could affect Hyrule.

     It could be important as it could symbolize what the character Link is suppose to be. Link is suppose to represent the link between him and the player. It is apparent that more women are playing video games as a hobby. It would be good for a girl who is new to not only video games, but new to the Zelda series to be able to play as a character that represents her.

What do you think about having a female Link in a Zelda game?

Bayonetta 2: Too Sexy for Feminism?

     Creator of Feminist Frequency, Anita Sarkeesian posted on her Twitter account disdain over the recently released game Bayonetta 2, criticizing it as being oversexualized attended for male gamers. She also attacked several sites for "turning a blind eye" and not mainly talking about how overtly sexual the character is. Along with Sarkersian, Polygon in a none accusing sexism manner bashed the new game, giving it a 7.5 for it being too sexy. The question is: Is Bayonetta too sexy and is it too sexy to the point of it be objectifying to women?
      First of all, this is not an attack on Ms. Sarkeesian at all. This is a disagreement. I respect and admire her a lot for exposing a well known problem we have in the gaming community with sexism. Any other time she would be right. There are several games out here that do overtly sexualize women to the point that their only purpose in the game is to just be a big pair of tits that talk. From the bikini ninja women (Kitana, Mileena, Jade, Tanya, & Skarlet) of Mortal Kombat to the women of DOA, which went to a kinda respectable fighting game to just pure fanservice by having them play volleyball and jiggle physics. Again, she would be right any other time, but her tirade against Bayonetta 2 is just over reaching.
      Going back to the original question of whether Bayonetta the game and character is sexy, of course she is. The game screams sex. It is brazen with its sexual themes. It is full of sexual undertones and it is unapologetic for them. Is it sexy to the point where it is objectifying women? No. Again, the character Bayonetta is a very fanservicey character that is sexualized a lot, it's not in the same way as the female characters in Mortal Kombat or the girl in that chainsaw zombie game. Those other female characters are sexualized for the sake of sex whereas Bayonetta isn't. Living up to the origin of her name, bayonet, there is something deeper to Bayonetta's sexuality. It is empowering. Her character is one who is fearless and will put it out there and won't care if you are offended, especially when it comes to being sexy. She uses it and is actually in control with it. She puts it in your face, forcing you to deal with it. Bayonetta uses her sexuality as a weapon. One way you can compare Bayonetta to is a dominatrix. She exuberates sex and also used as a powerful force. She gets her jollies pummeling her enemies into oblivion and doing it in a sexy way.
      Is it possible for a woman to be sexy, in control with it without it being considered to be pandering or her being objectified to men? It is, but some people can't see it that way. There does seem to be an issue with some feminists and women's sexuality. It's almost and still sad to this day that a woman to this day cannot claim to be sexy without being slut shamed, even by the so called people who fight for her rights to do so. It's almost like a few feminist that bashed Beyonce over her recent album for its adult tone. They are wrong for doing so. Sexuality is a good thing. It's not something to be ashamed of. Owning it and not caring what people think is a bold and brave thing, especially if you are a woman. In a way, Bayonetta, the games and the character, are a fine example of feminism. She using something that people are afraid of against them. If that isn't pro woman. I don't know is.

What are your thoughts on Bayonetta being sexual? Is it TOO much and/oris it really objectifying?

Dear Sam Pepper, Fuck You (Metaphorically)

     YouTube celebrity and former Big Brother contestant Sam pepper is coming under a ton of scrutiny this week after his latest prank video he posted this week. In the prank video, Pepper performed a bit of pranks where he touched several women inappropriately with a fake hand. The reaction of the video has been mostly negative and by negative I mean he's being crucified. Pepper has gotten a bombardment from not only people on the internet, but from fellow and top YouTubers as well. The video has been removed after people have requested.
     As a response to the backlash, Pepper has decided not to apologize on his Twitter account or make an apology video. Instead he created a video claiming that the prank video was a "social experiment" by showing how sad sexual harassment occurs with men... by touching women's butts with a fake hand. Most people didn't buy it and it is rightfully so as his explanation doesn't make the slightest sense, especially considering that Pepper has a lot of prank videos doing the same thing and he hasn't considered them to be "social experiments."
     The controversy has led to a number of women stepping up, making videos on YouTube giving testimonies about their past encounters with Pepper. They tell us experiences about how he took advantage of them and were sexually assaulted by him. YouTube user, thisbedottie, gives us an insight of Pepper's devious behavior when she agreed to go with him to see a movie after a meet and greet. Pepper told her that this will be "there little secret. At the movies Sam forced him self on the then 16-year-old by kissing her and trying to get her hands on certain parts of his body while putting his hands on hers. Again, thisbedottie isn't the only one who have had the same experience with Pepper.

     YouTuber Laci Green has reached other women who have been assaulted sexually be Pepper. One of the women Green contacted stated an encounter where Pepper forced himself on the her and masturbated on top of her.
     The only good thing about this is that people are coming forth to talk about not only sexual assault, but being sexually assaulted be a person in the public eye like Pepper.Often most women who have been sexually assaulted rarely come out to report it due to them either not being believed or based on ridicule of being sexually assaulted, especially by someone famous. This has happened before. There have been other counts of famous YouTubers that have harassed other women.  Hopefully this will lead more women to come out and Sam will get what he deserves in the end.

Ubisoft, Step Your Female Game Up!

     Last week Ubisoft released a new trailer introducing a new character, Elise, in their upcoming game Assassin's Creed: Unity. According to Ubisoft:
"As an independent young noblewoman, Elise is determined to secure her place in the Templar dynasty amidst the chaos of the French Revolution. Her quest leads her to cross paths with Arno and establish an unlikely bond with him."
     She is the romantic love interest for the lead character, Arno, and assists him in battles in the game. This seems to be a response to the outcry from fans had back during E3 when there were acusations of Ubisoft being sexist for not including female characters in the Assassin's Creed games. To recap, the Creative director for Unity, Alex Amancio said the following:
"It's double the animations, it's double the voices, all that stuff and double the visual assets," Amancio later said. "Especially because we have customizable assassins. It was really a lot of extra production work."
     So they have obviously learned from their mistakes and with Elise, things should be fine, right? Not so much.
     Elise, even though she sounds like she is a good addition in the series, is a minor character. She shows promise, but just as much potential for her character to stand out, Ubisoft can easily ruin that. While can be truly the independent woman Ubisoft wants to present her as, but there could be times where she can be considered helpless and be deduced to glorified damsel in distress character the main character has to rescue her or the writers will develop her character poorly. It would've been nice if she was the protagonist or at least had a bigger role. It Almost seems that there is an issue with how Ubisoft in putting women in bigger roles in the main Assassin's Creed series.
     In Ubisoft's defense, they did give us a female protagonist in Assassin's Creed III: Liberation but, there are some issues about that. The female protagonist for Liberation, Aveline de Grandpré, was almost a thrown-in character and Elise could possibly be. One, Liberation was for the Vita which nobody plays , and two it was a spinoff. This is kinda lazy. It's almost like Ubisoft isn't really listening to the demands of their fans. The idea that they can just throw in a girl in the games and thinking that will shut people up isn't going to cut it. There is a high demand for better women characters in the series and even a female assassin in the main series but, then again, they just don't care. Why is that?
     Ubisoft, like other developers in the gaming industry, seems to be stuck in the past when it comes to diversity in games. They still believe that it is mainly men who buys video games. This isn't true anymore. There are more female gamers then there was before. The demographic of who buys and plays video games is changing and Ubisoft needs to realize this and get with the program that they need to upgrade with how they write and design women in their main titles. Interestingly enough, Nintendo is taking notice to this and have responded by giving more and better roles for women in their upcoming games like Hyrule Warriors with not only Princess Zelda being playable, but showing a more larger female cast to help Link on his latest quest and an including more female characters in the upcoming Super Smash Bros game. So yeah, you need to do better Ubisoft.