Topic: "... female explorer Brittany."

I'm guessing that this was given out with review copies of the game. Not really sure why they had to single out one of three characters in the way they did, not to mention the "one of the playable female characters in upcoming Wii U games" part.

Did Nintendo really have to say this?

Perhaps Nintendo really is trying to derail from this "damsel in distress" appearance for female characters. Explains why Peach is playable in 3D World and perhaps this hints for the future of Zelda with Aonuma's statements on how he's tired of the usual formula for Zelda. Eh, I don't know...

Nintendo is a dinosaur. A silly dinosaur that thinks having a playable female will make females want to play. Oh you silly dinosaur.

So if the Wii U has more female playable characters in it's games, then more girls will play and buy a Wii U........

METROID U!!!!!

what's the problem? I'm happy to have the option, and it's nice to know about it in advance — if that is something that came with review copies, perhaps they wanted it to be mentioned? it's sad that they have to go out of their way to point it out like this, though, because these are the sort of options that should've been much more widely available to us (the gaming community at large) long before now.

That's my opinion. I agree with everything regarding that it shouldn't have taken this long for the option to available.

then why ask whether Nintendo had to go out of their way to point it out? It's an option that largely is not available nowadays that they seem to be making an honest effort to offer. why would they not try to advertise the new direction they're taking?

I don't know but I like the sound of this female explorer Brittany

Sounds adventurous.

Edit:

There she is

What a looker

We've come so far! Finally a prominent female character in Pikmin. Of course, the first critique we hear is about her looks, but...Progress!

I think it's more or less the fact that it sounds redundant. Brittany is a female name. Wouldn't it be kind of obvious that she's female?

Well that and she looks to be holding a vacuum

But I agree, progress is progress. lol

lol, or she's pulling a Pikmin out of the ground. But the mind sees what it wants to see, right?

But now I want a vacuum that looks exactly like that!

@moomoo: never take 'obvious' for granted, especially in video games with made-up names. :3 besides, it wouldn't be the first time i'd ever seen a largely-accepted-as-female name used for a male, whether as a game character or someone i know IRL.

That sounds about right. Unfortunately there's not much else going on in the photo, so they're not giving me much to work with. lol

lol exactly. Lets start a petition and make this happen

i'd sign a petition to get an explorer outfit and helmet as clothing in AC... Brittany's so adorable, i want that outfit now

You've hit the nail on the head.They have said exactly this when talking about the addition of princess peach in 3d world.

If it's not obvious that Brittany is a female name, why not also point out that Alph and Charlie are male explorers, especially since there are actually girls named Charlie (on Disney Channel, no less)? There are certain social norms that exist that everyone just follows into, and that includes names associated with different genders. Yeah, there's people that choose to go away from such norms, but when people hear that a person's name is Brock, they're going to assume that that person is male. The same applies to Brittany.

I think part of why it looks like such a jarring statement is that Pikmin is one of those games where most people can play it without really caring about who they're playing as when it comes to character selection. Yeah, the option is nice and welcome, but if it wasn't there, would anyone complain? I have plenty of friends that are girls, and they seem to not care at all that they can only play as male characters in New Super Mario Bros Wii. For a game that has character customization, like Mass Effect, then yes, I think it matters to have that option, but when it comes to Pikmin I just can't see it as something that truly matters for the vast, vast majority of people. For the ones that it will matter for, they'll be able to glean from the fact that one of the character's names is Brittany.

I write too much.

Well, with him of all people

and him

being named Brock, you can't blame people for always assuming it's a man with that name. Yeah, the same can be said for Brittany, but again, nintendo wants people to know you can play as a girl and as a way of attracting customers and catering to a common suggestion. They just couldn't have come up with less awkward wording.

Reminds me of Doctor Cat and Human Nurse.