Prior to the release of Metroid: Other M in 2010, Samus Aran was the exact opposite of an offensive video game heroine: she was essentially the premiere video game icon for women, long before Lara Croft ever arrived on the scene. It was a huge plot twist when gamers finally discovered that Samus was a woman, and Metroid's success instantly cemented her as one of the all-time video game heroes regardless of her gender. This continued unabated until Other M, where Nintendo made some incredibly controversial changes to the character for basically no reason at all. To cut a long story short (IGN posted an excellent piece on the full story here), the tough Samus we once knew is revealed through a series of cut-scenes (marking her first time speaking in the series) to be extremely fragile and overtly emotional, adhering to the much-maligned stereotype of the woman held hostage by her feelings. Other M may not commit the cardinal sin of parading Samus around in skimpy clothes, but it completely ruins the character by making her subservient and weak, which isn't how fans envisioned the character (and to put it kindly, they were not pleased).
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
