Upskirt Danger Caused Sex Change in Ico's The Last Guardian

[Jumplion]

That's fair then, although I still have to question why he didn't just say "We wanted the character to wear a skirt/toga, but if the character was female it might distract/give certain players the wrong idea".

I guarantee you that someone, somewhere, out there, would be desperate enough to use it in an unfortunate manner. Hell, I've seen Super Smash Bros Brawl pictures of Princess Peach and the like all trying to get an upskirt.

Again, I agree, so why did Ueda feel the character's gender was significant enough to bring up in the interview?

Well, they did change a character from female to male, I'd think that's a significant enough change to say. I dunno, just me.

 

[GideonB]

Fox News is probably why he changed the gender. I mean seriously when they have a slow news day, they pick on EVERYTHING and make up false bullshit (case in point: mass effect).

 

[boholikeu]

That's fair then, although I still have to question why he didn't just say "We wanted the character to wear a skirt/toga, but if the character was female it might distract/give certain players the wrong idea".

I guarantee you that someone, somewhere, out there, would be desperate enough to use it in an unfortunate manner. Hell, I've seen Super Smash Bros Brawl pictures of Princess Peach and the like all trying to get an upskirt.

Again, I agree, so why did Ueda feel the character's gender was significant enough to bring up in the interview?

Well, they did change a character from female to male, I'd think that's a significant enough change to say. I dunno, just me.

I agree with the above. It's just the wording/context that made his comments seem slightly sexist.

It really wouldn't be an issue if instead he had said something along the lines of "The character was originally female because we wanted the protagonist to appear light on in feet in order to contrast with the creature. Unfortunately we had to change her because we really need the main character to wear a skirt for (insert story reason here) and if she was a girl certain players might try to look up it."

 

[Jumplion]

That's fair then, although I still have to question why he didn't just say "We wanted the character to wear a skirt/toga, but if the character was female it might distract/give certain players the wrong idea".

I guarantee you that someone, somewhere, out there, would be desperate enough to use it in an unfortunate manner. Hell, I've seen Super Smash Bros Brawl pictures of Princess Peach and the like all trying to get an upskirt.

Again, I agree, so why did Ueda feel the character's gender was significant enough to bring up in the interview?

Well, they did change a character from female to male, I'd think that's a significant enough change to say. I dunno, just me.

I agree with the above. It's just the wording/context that made his comments seem slightly sexist.

It really wouldn't be an issue if instead he had said something along the lines of "The character was originally female because we wanted the protagonist to appear light on in feet in order to contrast with the creature. Unfortunately we had to change her because we really need the main character to wear a skirt for (insert story reason here) and if she was a girl certain players might try to look up it."

Eh, I guess it a way you could interpret what he's saying like that, after all women are sometimes depicted as more intelligent and nimble (Example off the top of my head: In Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, if you chose a female character, depending on race, she would have more intelligence and faith or something)

But whatever, it's all good now. Your initial post (and several others) sounded unnecessarily hostile to Ueda, and damnit, do I love him like a Trucker Husband who never comes home except on the few times he has a shipment my way...so I'll defend him as best as I can mostly, especially since he hasn't done anything before to warrant any intense hate.

 

[OrpheumZero]

Honestly. I can't understand why people are getting so bent out of shape. It's not sexist, and neither is Ueda-san. It's like people have a programmed need to find something and scrutinize it and beat it like a dead horse. Could they have done pants? Yes. Should it really be a big deal what the gender (and it's actually sexist to try and derail ANY gender by constantly doing pro/cons)? No. Seriously, if Ueda was some scumpig, Yorda would have been some bimbo with absolutely no redeeming qualities.

So please, just shut up and think about things a bit before running your gobs off and crying "He's sexist!" "Japan's full of dominant male overlords!". It was a change made for artistic reasons, and I doubt he was actually trying to say "women are weaker than men, lol". For one, kids in general are weaker than adults even at the 10-12 range. And as some have pointed out, it would have been equally sexist if it were a change from "dumb boy" to "smart girl", something that I think both sides need to stop doing. This is why feminist get lampooned and men are called sexist; no one will stop with the "well our gender is better at x than the other is". It's like both sides want to always one-up the other. Sure, there are some truths; Women are inherantly more confident and tactful than men, and men are physically built to be the stronger of the sexes. It's only sexist to apply these truths and then deny that the opposite gender can't push past whatever limit they have. Women are capable of gaining great strength, just as there are plenty of smart guys who don't think with their dingdongs.

I agree that it'd nice to see more, nonsexualized female leads (like Samus before the Other M). But this whole thing has gottne out of hand. Yes, the comment was poorly made, but it's idiotic to blow it so far out of proportion.