Tag: Nintendo

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Zero Suit Samus’ Heels: Why it’s a Big Deal and Why You Should Care

bikiniarmorbattledamage:

capriceandwhimsy:

So the thing I keep hearing is that Samus’s new Zero Suit design from SSB4 is okay because “they’re not actually high heels, they’re jet boots.”

Bullshit.

But before we get into that: why is it a big deal that Samus is wearing heels in the first place?

Read More

Great article regarding character and costume design of Samus Aran throughout the years. Things to learn from it:

  • why slapping “jet boots” label on high heels doesn’t justify the heels
  • what Samus’s appearance conveyed in the old Metroid games and what it does now
  • why is Zero Suit worse than a two-piece skin revealing costume Samus used to have
  • how the recent games betrayed Zero Suit’s original purpose

I highly recommend reading it whole!

~Ozzie

In addition, Shattered Earth did a great breakdown on the “Jet Boots” (Dr Evil air quotes there) and explored what they might have looked like if they were designed with purpose here.

– wincenworks

This week’s blast from the past: great breakdown of the infamous Samus’s “jet boots” which happen to look exactly like really badly designed and anatomically impossible high heels. 

Also, as a reader, Ceithir, reminded us, our blog never featured this concept art from Metroid Fusion, which confirms that Zero Suit was never meant to involve impossibly high heeled footwear.

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Well that priority sure survived for long…

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~Ozzie 

Posted on

Zero Suit Samus’ Heels: Why it’s a Big Deal and Why You Should Care

bikiniarmorbattledamage:

capriceandwhimsy:

So the thing I keep hearing is that Samus’s new Zero Suit design from SSB4 is okay because “they’re not actually high heels, they’re jet boots.”

Bullshit.

But before we get into that: why is it a big deal that Samus is wearing heels in the first place?

Read More

Great article regarding character and costume design of Samus Aran throughout the years. Things to learn from it:

  • why slapping “jet boots” label on high heels doesn’t justify the heels
  • what Samus’s appearance conveyed in the old Metroid games and what it does now
  • why is Zero Suit worse than a two-piece skin revealing costume Samus used to have
  • how the recent games betrayed Zero Suit’s original purpose

I highly recommend reading it whole!

~Ozzie

In addition, Shattered Earth did a great breakdown on the “Jet Boots” (Dr Evil air quotes there) and explored what they might have looked like if they were designed with purpose here.

– wincenworks

This week’s blast from the past: great breakdown of the infamous Samus’s “jet boots” which happen to look exactly like really badly designed and anatomically impossible high heels. 

Also, as a reader, Ceithir, reminded us, our blog never featured this concept art from Metroid Fusion, which confirms that Zero Suit was never meant to involve impossibly high heeled footwear.

image
image

Well that priority sure survived for long…

image

~Ozzie 

Posted on

If there’s something more pathetic than refusal to finally have a female protagonist in a well-established game franchise (especially when there’s clearly demand for it!), it’s the attempts to justify why only a guy main character is a possible option.

Jim points out what amazingly absurd rhetoric Nintendo employed lately to explain why neither female Link nor playable Zelda are viable option for the next Legend of Zelda game. The arguments are downright nonsensical.

At this point @LewieP’s joke explanation* sounds more cohesive than anything Nintento representatives had said:

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[props to jimquisition commenter who found this]

~Ozzie

see fan imaginings of Zelda-led game: @annalandin‘s elemental-powered armors |

タバコ’s Hyrule Valkyrja | @dresdencodak‘s Clockwork Empire

*edit: Sadly, the joke, unlike Jim’s video isn’t trans-inclusive.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Posted on

coelasquid:

I am mostly convinced this was kind of a happy accident rather than intentional worldbuilding, but this here’s a thing I get a kick out of regarding Gerudo fashion;

In Gerudo society, this is women’s armour that armoured warriors would wear;

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When you crack even the regular not-Nabooru Iron Kuckles open there’s a unique, not-Nabooru Gerudo lady inside of them, Iron Knuckles are covered in Gerudo motifs, this is all around a pretty Gerudo construct.

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BUT, this is Ganondorf’s armour when he was young and functioning as their king;

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We got a skin tight black leather catsuit under sculpted muscle leather armour topped off with thigh-high boots. Ganondorf comparatively wears the masculine equivalent to form-fitting titty breastplates. I’d go so far as to say this is like the Gerudo saying “But if they can’t see his sweet abs and manly, narrow hips how will they know he’s a guy? Better hammer some pecs into that chest plate just to be sure. Put some weird beads on his big bulgy biceps, it’ll draw people’s attention and he’ll get the upper hand while they’re distracted.”

The in-universe implications of of the character with the most aggressively on-display masculine secondary sex characteristics also being the character who was most likely dressed by women are kind of interesting to consider. It’s kind of taking “male power fantasy” and looping it around into some kind of “strong male character”  situation, like some Gerudo fashion designer is standing there all “okay, so the fabric might not breathe at all and you’ll probably get your sternum crushed by the first guy who tries to punch you in the chest, but just get a load of how masculine and empowered you look!”

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone did female society worldbuilding deliberately and unironically like that?

Matriarchal society (say, drows?) where female warrior attire is designed with functionality and coolness in mind, while male fighters are dressed to look as masculine and conventionally attractive to the women as possible.

It’s quite sad that no-one in the mainstream media seems willing to try the idea.

~Ozzie

(ht: @lightlunas)

Posted on

coelasquid:

I am mostly convinced this was kind of a happy accident rather than intentional worldbuilding, but this here’s a thing I get a kick out of regarding Gerudo fashion;

In Gerudo society, this is women’s armour that armoured warriors would wear;

image

When you crack even the regular not-Nabooru Iron Kuckles open there’s a unique, not-Nabooru Gerudo lady inside of them, Iron Knuckles are covered in Gerudo motifs, this is all around a pretty Gerudo construct.

image

BUT, this is Ganondorf’s armour when he was young and functioning as their king;

image

We got a skin tight black leather catsuit under sculpted muscle leather armour topped off with thigh-high boots. Ganondorf comparatively wears the masculine equivalent to form-fitting titty breastplates. I’d go so far as to say this is like the Gerudo saying “But if they can’t see his sweet abs and manly, narrow hips how will they know he’s a guy? Better hammer some pecs into that chest plate just to be sure. Put some weird beads on his big bulgy biceps, it’ll draw people’s attention and he’ll get the upper hand while they’re distracted.”

The in-universe implications of of the character with the most aggressively on-display masculine secondary sex characteristics also being the character who was most likely dressed by women are kind of interesting to consider. It’s kind of taking “male power fantasy” and looping it around into some kind of “strong male character”  situation, like some Gerudo fashion designer is standing there all “okay, so the fabric might not breathe at all and you’ll probably get your sternum crushed by the first guy who tries to punch you in the chest, but just get a load of how masculine and empowered you look!”

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone did female society worldbuilding deliberately and unironically like that?

Matriarchal society (say, drows?) where female warrior attire is designed with functionality and coolness in mind, while male fighters are dressed to look as masculine and conventionally attractive to the women as possible.

It’s quite sad that no-one in the mainstream media seems willing to try the idea.

~Ozzie

(ht: @lightlunas)

Posted on

shattered-earth:

Backstory made to fit a sexualized design vs. a design made to fit a backstory requiring a character to wear minimal clothing.

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Thank you, shattered-earth! 

It is crucial to understand that a character design has to be informative of who the character is. And that sexualized designs do not inform us of it, just break the immersion.

Quiet’s a mercenary with a fictional condition that requires her to uncover as much skin as possible? Fine, then either make her totally nude or give her minimal clothing that is actually comfortable for her job.

Princess Zelda is royalty and a magic user, so her armor has to be fancy rather than simplistic and practical as Link’s? Sure, then make it gown-like and ornamental, just don’t leave out random patches of skin where she can be conveniently stabbed.

Charlotte is a gold-digging seductress who pretends to be innocent and demure? Then maybe instead of a boob-flaunting bikini give her a child-like costume that matches that persona?

~Ozzie