If you ever saw the Combos commercials (pizza pretzel things I guess) the people that protested it weren’t mothers, but fathers, because they felt they were being represented as uncaring and irresponsible. Though honestly, the commercials were funny, so screw those whiners.

Also, gaming is still (if you don’t count casual games where this is a non issue) still predominately male. Easier to make guys be in a father role than make guys be in a mom’s role. (Because we are all irresponsible llolololololo)

Also, the focus on the Big Daddy probably would not have changed much to at all, considering it was a parent/child relationship, not a father/daughter one. I enjoyed it, especially that the pace at the end of the game sent me rushing through halls rather than my previous measured pace, even though I knew the sense of urgency was psychological and not at all actually timed.

And Blizzard’s junk just does not count because they are terrible at writing. Remember the major plot twist in Warcraft 3? Sargeras blows up world tree, gets blown up himself. I did not even slightly care about this outcome at the time because I knew it wouldn’t affect the inevitable expansion by adding something to the Night Elves. Which it didn’t. Nothing changed at all except you did the Night Elf missions first, which were also INCREDIBLY boring.

In the end, daddy issues is usually a crutch for bad writing (note: See Caprica for further information. Hard to be disappointed by it too after seeing the finale of BSG though)

I agree we could use more games like Bayonetta. Though the marketing on Bayonetta was terrible. It looked like a purely gratuitous game, rather than one about kicking absolutely everyone’s ass. Note that Metroid with its reveal (zomg the main character is a female!?) was only 23 years ago. I think we’re progressing just fine.

Totally. That, and often-intertwined tale of the noble hero what got corrupted and now be totally evils. Can’t pick up a rock in Azeroth without finding one or the others.

Personallies, I thinks is because game designers watched Star Wars too many times as kids, and picked up a Skywalker fixation.

You already mentioned it in between the lines, Games are made by boys for boys mostly. We are talking about reaching the majority here. You could also bring up, that the way females are presented in games is similar to what Heidi Klum serves her audience in casting shows. Nobody would actually want to play Sophie Scholl.
At this point we are getting close to discussions about roles in society and how they changed, which I do not want to open here.

Just let me say, I am with you. It would actually be a vital alternation from the existing flood.

Chrono Trigger did feature the mothers of five protagonists: Crono’s, Lucca’s, Marle’s, Robo’s (sort of, he was built) and Magus’. Of these, Crono’s and Marle’s mothers are simply like any other NPCs, uttering just a few lines and not generally doing anything. On the other hand, there is a storyline about how Lucca’s mother’s accident was the spark that drove her to learn about machines.

Finally, there’s Magus, who has issues, to say the least. Being a queen, his mother was somewhat distant and thus he tended to rely on his big sister, Schala. To avoid spoilers, let’s just say that it ended badly, and by the time the other protagonists meet Magus for the first time, he’s a bitter, brooding villain.

I can’t think of any others though.