There is no denying that there is a lack of strong lead female roles in video games. But Nintendo is attempting to show gamers its supports women by celebrating Women's History Month with Rosie the Riveter posters starring some its most iconic characters.
"Paving the way for diverse and interesting female protagonists in video games, Nintendo has picked a few of their popular leading ladies that merit this recognition for the month that honors outstanding women," Nintendo writes.
Gracing the seven posters are Toadette, Bombette and Rosalina from Mario games, Tetra from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Samus Aran from Metroid, Bayonetta from Bayonetta and Lucina from Fire Emblem.
Gamers may be surprised to find out that Princess Peach isn't included on these posters, probably because she is always the damsel-in-distress.
But how strong are these female characters? Tetra is kidnapped in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, needing a man to rescue her, even though Nintendo considers her to be a strong character.
While Peach wasn't included on the posters, let us remind you that she is kidnapped in 13 out of 15 of the Mario platform games, and is only playable in two of these.
While the posters are supposed to celebrate women, we can't help but be reminded of the lack of strong female characters in games. The majority of female characters in games either need to be saved, are oversexualized or are just female versions of a male character—ahem, Toadette.
Even though the month of March is coming to end, it's better late than never for Nintendo to highlight women in games—even though the list of characters is short.
At least Nintendo is celebrating Women's History Month and attempting to engage more female gamers, but next time let's hope they announce more strong female lead characters in the games.
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Photo: Ian Muttoo | Flickr
