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Lisa: The latest video game in
Nintendo's critically acclaimed
"Legend of Zelda" series has
smashed sales records since its
release several weeks ago.
It even boasts a guinness world
record for the fastest-selling
Nintendo video game of all time.
But the game's influence goes
beyond its commercial success.
Ali rogin has more.
>> The legend of Zelda video
game has been around since 1987.
Over the decades, the game has
evolved.
It has become more imaginative.
It also has gender fluidity.
Our digital video producer has
immersed herself in the latest
installment and joins me now.
Thank you so much for being
here.
For those not familiar with the
game, what is legend of Zelda?
>> An action-adventure game.
You play as the main protagonist
who goes through a series of
adventures to save the princess
Zelda from people.
So you beat bad guys and go
through quests and solve
puzzles.
These games have had different
iterations over the years.
This latest is particularly
notable.
It has been a large commercial
and critical success in the way
you play.
Reporter: What makes the game
unique compared to others?
It has been around since 1987.
What is unique about it?
>> The way legend of Zelda has
been built over the years is to
make it a really immersive game.
The way the game is created,
there are three worlds
essentially stacked on top of
each other.
Worlds to discover and learn
about with mountains and
whether.
It is a game you can constantly
play and discover new things but
this game has a physics set up
that is also hard to explain.
You can use boards to make giant
machines that defeat your
enemies and do an infinite
amount of play.
Reporter: The main protagonist
is a character called link and
game creators have said link
presents a Peter pan character
but can also be perceived as
gender-neutral.
Tell me about the impact link
has had among the lgbtq+
community.
>> The creator said they did not
want to have a link be perceived
as a boy or girl.
Even the name is meant to
represent a link between the
player in the game.
So the idea is that link is a
silent character.
Never speaks in any of the
games.
You are meant to be the
character.
So you are projecting how you
see yourself with the character.
The way the avatar has evolved
over the years has become more
customized.
You can get all sorts of
headdresses and tunics and
really create the character you
want to see.
That is really important for the
lgbtq+ gaming community and for
someone who may be does not know
what gender they want to present
themselves as, it can be a
journey for them.
I think that is why it is such
an important part of the lgbtq+
gaming community.
Reporter: Tell me about some of
the other representation notable
about the game.
>> And a lot of the games you
basically play through as just
link but the characters you meet
along the way, in one of the
Zelda games you meet a male
represented character who was
like a ninja who helps you with
a quest and later it turns out
it is princess Zelda the whole
time.
And there is a game where link
has two dress up as a member of
an all-female old -- all-female
tribe that does not let men in.
So by pushing these sorts of
traditional generals and not
boxing the men it is a really
interesting aspect of the game.
Reporter: There is really no
limits.
Are there crossover impacts in
how gamers approach real life?
>> One of the gaming developers
who also created super Mario
brothers was inspired by his
childhood in Japan, exploring
forests to create this game and
if you played Zelda or any game
I think you would realize
discovering new things is the
main part of the game.
You are discovering secret
passageways and riding a horse.
The sense of discovery is real
important and going back to the
gender discussion, I think that
discovery within the game can
mirror the discovery you are
seeing in yourself, the
progression of the character,
for a lot of the transgender
people I have read about, seeing
links progression throughout the
game mirrors how they feel in
their transition.
That is not to say that link is
a trance character but I think
it is an important avatar for
people to see themselves in.
Reporter: The game is so popular
some people are taking time off
work to play.
You got to play it for work.
>> It was a last to learn more
about the game.
I have played it my whole life.
I played the original Zelda.
When I was reporting on the
story and talking with my
friends about it, I heard a lot
of people who play the new game
with their kids but also played
the original game so they are
continuing this tradition of
playing video games together and
I think that is one great
example of the games continuing
popularity.
Reporter: The fruits of your
extensive research can be
watched online on the pbs
newshour website.
Casey, thank you so much for
joining us.