Super Mario Galaxy 2

[A Black Falcon]

Damnit we're talking past each other because none of the fire emblem games have numbers in them anyway, it's hard to keep them straight when most of them weren't even released in the US.

You're right that none officially have numbers, but they're used anyway to easily tell the games apart. The first six weren't released in the US, but every one since 7 has had a US release...

7 - Fire Emblem (GBA) - main hero Eliwood, secondary heroes Lyn, Hector
8 - Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA) - main heroes Ephraim and Eirika
9 - Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GC) - main hero Ike
10 - Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii) - main heroes Ike, Micaiah
-Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (DS) - main hero Marth. Remake of the first Fire Emblem game for the Famicom. Disappointing compared to the other four US releases, in my opinion.

The next FE game was just announced. It's another remake for the DS, unfortunately, this time of the second half of Fire Emblem 3 (the first half was a remake of FE1, which they released as a stand alone game for the DS).

The official explanation on the Toad thing is that Miyamoto was having trouble with the idea of having the animators work with Peach's dress, which would have to be animated differently than the otherwise rather "solid and statuey" other characters. Toadette would have been a good choice, except her pigtails would also need their own animation. It's not a very good excuse, it's pretty lazy actually, but there it is.

I've heard that excuse before, and it's so incredibly stupid that I don't think I even need to say anything further on the subject except use it as additional proof for my point. I mean, THAT is the best excuse you can come up with? Seriously? Unbelievable, simply unbelievable.

As for the rest of it, a gender option for "Link" would be interesting I guess.

It would be pretty simple to implement, too, and wouldn't really affect the game at all. I mean, they'd have to slightly alter a few cutscenes here and there, but that wouldn't exactly be hard. And as Link is supposed to be a cypher for the player anyway, I can't see any downsides at all.

Just remember what we're talking about here. I still think you're making a big deal about nothing.

What, do you think that sexism is all over and done with now or something, American society is all equal? I really, really hope you don't, it's very obviously not true... to say nothing of more sexist cultures like Japan's...

The emotion thingy, I don't think it needs to be a stereotype thing. I mean I thought it was funny.

"Women are overly emotional" is a very old stereotype, almost always used as a negative one. I'm sure you know that. Using that as the basis for your powers in a game starring a female character -- when no game in the series starring a male character had done anything similar -- is very, very blatant sexism.

They had some stupid excuse about "the island amplifying emotions" or something, but some on, there's no excuse for having it at all.

I really had no idea you had some issues with Twilight Princess. No, I'm not interested in hearing it actually.

... Huh? Weren't you sort of referrring to some of my criticisms in that paragraph?

Regardless, you've just forgotten. Here's a thread where I talked about it, for example: http://tcforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4314

I would rather this be about Mario Galaxy 2. Mario rescues Peach. There's no reason to pretend to be offended by it, it's a typical cartoon story.

But the point is that the symbolism behind that story is quite negative.

Of course the game's gameplay sounds amazing, and in games gameplay is far more important than story, but it does matter.

You want something to be offended by? Try NEW stories that continue old stereotypes, or better yet, lazy's new thread about how all woman are she-monsters who just want to break his poor wittle heart. Yeah, he's still making those threads every few weeks, and honestly I'm getting tired of it.

Agreed mostly on that point... many people get frustrated in general at whatever the group of people they are attracted to is. It's pretty common. Doesn't make their complaints accurate though, of course, certainly, and sometimes, yes, it can be a problem.