bearsionated:

Hey guys! Check out OSO’s first line based on my Super Smash Bears series! They are currently in production and pre-ordering will be available soon! 😀

Not quite sexy male armor this Friday, but deliberately sexy male redos of iconic video game characters nonetheless.

As we made a point before, a lot of unironic masculine equivalents to standard female sexualization come from gay or otherwise LGBTQ male artists. 

And @bearsionated’s OSO project is no different: reimagining various Super Smash heroes as human bears (stocky, hairy gay dudes).
Now that’s some quality balance to, say, turning pokemon into underclad generic waifus. Except the art is so much better, more creative and varied, even though all characters fit one beauty type!

~Ozzie

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 

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 

Sexy is not bad. Stripping is not bad. Wearing sexy boots is not bad. You know what is bad? Pandering is. Being a lazy designer at the cost of catching a wider audience is.
A bounty hunter who runs over rugged terrain does not need stripper boots, she needs something with treads and function that can *gasp* still be sexy. I can picture a hybrid boot design that is feminine but rugged, functional but badass.
You know what conveys things like “boosters” and “power” and “high jump”? Springs, coils, energy cells, treads, jets… you don’t have to be literal but you also might want to show, not tell, what a prop does.

High-Jump Stripper Boots! by stephlaberis

Very important quote from this article regarding Samus’s high heels, but it applies to character and costume design in general.

~Ozzie

adventuretitan:

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natasha allegri’s response to samus’s new character design

YES PLEASE!

~Ozzie

Everyone looks so heroic!

– wincenworks

Heroic and AGILE!

~Ozzie

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

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

Repeat after me, kids:

There is no reason to design jet shoes as 4-inch heels.

There is no reason to design jet shoes as 4-inch heels.

There is no reason to design jet shoes as 4-inch heels.

  • There is NO REASON to design jet shoes as 4-inch heels.
  • THERE IS NO REASON TO DESIGN JET SHOES AS 4-INCH HEELS.

Think for a moment before you jump in to argue that the heels are justified with the fire launchers inside.

Cause you’re making yourself look silly. Sillier than a 6’3’’ space bounty hunter running around in sky-high heels; and that’s saying something.

Those shoes could literally look like whatever and still serve the same function for the gameplay!

Also: their color scheme clashes awfully with the rest of zero suit.

~Ozzie

Also, briefly, let’s consider the visual language of the Metroid franchise and particularly the character Samus prior to the ugly heels event.  

This is a jetpack (x):

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These are space jump boots (x): 

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This is a missile attack (x):

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These are the “Jet boots” (x):

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One of these things is not like the other,
One of these things just doesn’t belong!

– wincenworks

edit: a reader left some commentary worth sharing:

sianea replied to your post: Repeat after me, kids:

Not to mention that those ain’t even boots, it looks like just attached heels. There’s nothing there that suggests to me that those are full shoes and not just some bits strapped onto her suit like some sort of bizarre addition.