Finally, Princess Zelda can play too

Its taken 2024 for Nintendo to finally make its character Princess Zelda playable in The Legend of Zelda Echoes of WisdomThe first game in the series was released in 1986 and since has seen 20 entries on all major Nintendo game consoles as well as a number of spinoffsWhile one can play as Zelda in some of the spinoffs and side adventures such as Zeldarsquos Adventure Zelda The Wand of Gamelon Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity among others these games have either had poor animation gameplay that doesnrsquot have a hook and have never received the same success Echoes of Wisdom is the first time shersquos a playable protagonist in a series and is headlining it In more happy news Tomomi Sano is the gamersquos director and the firstever female director on The Legend of Zelda seriesThirsty Suitors by Outerloop Games is an example of how indie game studios are leading the inclusivity front with representation of nonbinary trans characters and people of colourThe gaming industry has long faced scrutiny over its representation and hypersexualisation of women The representation of women in the gaming workforce is equally poor and GamgerGate an organised online harassment campaign against feminism and progressivism in video game culture in 2014 proved this Using the hashtag Gamergate the campaign targeted women working in the gaming industry and some journalists in the US on X formerly Twitter primarily feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian and video game developers Zoeuml Quinn and Brianna Wu The harassment included rape threats death threats and doxing to the extent where when Wursquos address was leaked online she was forced to flee her homeDespite much criticism games have been made through a misogynistic lens ldquoThere is a conviction that they are appealing to a male gamer baserdquo says Padmini Ray Murray FounderDirector of Design Beku a tech and design studio ldquoIn games configured on the quest model therersquos a heroine to save Brianna Wu and others made this point just before GamerGate that women are often confined to this role of needing to be rescued This fantasy drives the protagonist forward and therefore the women characters are not really developed into meaningful charactersrdquo Visual artist and designer Afrah Shafiq says that game studios tend to follow a framework that has worked in the past She explains ldquoThe production of large format games is extremely expensive They have huge teams working on them for years and the distribution systems and networks are quite akin to say distributing a Hollywood film When the stakes are so high the game absolutely needs to be as lucrativerdquoTraditional gaming studios and AAA studios major publishers that produce games with large budgets have a tendency to adhere to a narrow demographic of gamers despite the fact that women are part of the gaming arena too In November 2023 the State of India Gaming Report published by venture capital firm Lumikai in partnership with Google revealed that 41 per cent of gamers in India were women 66 per cent of which were from nonmetro citiesShagun Shah and Shagufta IqbalSpeaking on how games are funded Shagun Shah veteran games designer says that the investment logic is more practical Investors care that the game is not actually sexual content illicit or inappropriate for a large audience as that is something they would not fund He adds ldquoThere is no thought or requirement of a male or female protagonist Publishers look at game design to make sure that this actually addresses what the audience looks for including the artwork what the gaming experience will be like and the game storyrdquo Souvik Mukherjee a video games researcher says that in the last 10 years some inclusivity boxes have been checked ldquoThere have been some attempts even if restricted to the global northrdquo Mukherjee speculates ldquoScholarship in games studies games journalism and game developers has contributed to this change There was a lot of criticism in journalism and GamerGate contributed to this waverdquo Shah adds that Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider series who was once hypersexualised is now no longer a pinup doll but a hardbitten survivorIndie game studios lead this front as their creations represent nonbinary trans characters and people of colour Some examples include Raji An Ancient Epic Punersquos Nodding Heads Games Thirsty Suitors by Outerloop Games Horizon Zero Dawn Guerrilla Games Hellblade Senuarsquos Sacrifice Ninja Theory among othersBut does the gender of the playing character matter ldquoIrsquove played games with female protagonists and honestly I donrsquot notice much of a difference Itrsquos more about how well the character is developed If their story is compelling Irsquom hookedrdquo says Shagufta Iqbal a gamer who goes by Xyaa She adds that female characters are still often designed with the male gaze in mind but itrsquos not always negative and cites Stellar Blade as example ldquoHowever we do need more character designs that prioritise authenticity over just sex appealrdquo she saysAlso ReadAre esports gaining prominence in Mumbai Gaming experts share insights