Did Samus Aran Set A New Standared For Female Gamers, Or Was It Nintendo?
Judy Ramsook
September 10, 2010
When I began playing video games in the late ´80s, there was one distinct similarity I observed in most of the games. Unless you were playing a Nancy Drew point and click detective type game, the video game hero was usually a male character.
Like Mario, Luigi, (Super Mario Bros.) Sonic, (Sonic the Hedgehog) Spyro, (Spyro the Dragon) Link (Legend of Zelda series.) So when a game such as Metroid made its debut on the 8 Bit NES and some of us gamers realised that the hero is in fact a female, we were surprised. Why?
Because here was a female character (Samus Aran) out in space on the fictitious planet of
Zebes battling critters known as Metroids, and ultimately the Mother Brain. But the energy tank, missile, charge beam etc toting action did not end there. There were other games in the series. Games such as: Return of Samus (Nintendo Gameboy) Super Metroid (SNES) Metroid Prime Trilogy (Nintendo Wii) Metroid Pinball (GBA and rare. You´ll be fortunate if you can get a copy of it today.) Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
And the latest one titled: Metroid: Other M ( Nintendo Wii.) And there are more female gamers in the world today than there were before, something which led me to wonder, did Samus Aran set a new standard for female gamers? Or was it Nintendo?
In some small way, the character who dons a gold or yellow robotic looking heavy suit of armor may have. For video games are just not for the macho button mashing guy any more.
Samus Aran may have changed that stereotype when Nintendo placed her in the starring role in the Metroid games that followed the NES one.
For Samus is no damsel who needs to be rescued all the time by some dashing male video game hero. But she is the one who saves mankind from a vicious creature known as the Mother Brain.
I say it was Nintendo, Samus Aran´s creator that changed the main character in an action video game to female. Nintendo took it a step further because in 1986 it would have been easier to make a male video game hero the star in Metroid.
But some how and probably not even realizing it, Nintendo may have set a new standard for the female gamers out there. Thanks Nintendo!
The fun will amaze you, and the game will keep you returning for more-
Yours Truly
Like Mario, Luigi, (Super Mario Bros.) Sonic, (Sonic the Hedgehog) Spyro, (Spyro the Dragon) Link (Legend of Zelda series.) So when a game such as Metroid made its debut on the 8 Bit NES and some of us gamers realised that the hero is in fact a female, we were surprised. Why?
Because here was a female character (Samus Aran) out in space on the fictitious planet of
Zebes battling critters known as Metroids, and ultimately the Mother Brain. But the energy tank, missile, charge beam etc toting action did not end there. There were other games in the series. Games such as: Return of Samus (Nintendo Gameboy) Super Metroid (SNES) Metroid Prime Trilogy (Nintendo Wii) Metroid Pinball (GBA and rare. You´ll be fortunate if you can get a copy of it today.) Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
And the latest one titled: Metroid: Other M ( Nintendo Wii.) And there are more female gamers in the world today than there were before, something which led me to wonder, did Samus Aran set a new standard for female gamers? Or was it Nintendo?
In some small way, the character who dons a gold or yellow robotic looking heavy suit of armor may have. For video games are just not for the macho button mashing guy any more.
Samus Aran may have changed that stereotype when Nintendo placed her in the starring role in the Metroid games that followed the NES one.
For Samus is no damsel who needs to be rescued all the time by some dashing male video game hero. But she is the one who saves mankind from a vicious creature known as the Mother Brain.
I say it was Nintendo, Samus Aran´s creator that changed the main character in an action video game to female. Nintendo took it a step further because in 1986 it would have been easier to make a male video game hero the star in Metroid.
But some how and probably not even realizing it, Nintendo may have set a new standard for the female gamers out there. Thanks Nintendo!
The fun will amaze you, and the game will keep you returning for more-
Yours Truly