Time to break out my trusty antique letter opener (the guy I bought it from said Teddy Roosevelt's butler's servant used to open up TR's "crazy mail" with it) for another edition of Bitmob Mailbag!

Mailbag will be arriving every other Thursday now, which means I need a steady flow of mail from you guys. Otherwise, I'll be forced to take up this space with Shakespearean sonnets about characters from the Sonic universe. Send your comments, questions, and game-related poetry to letters@bitmob.com (Subject: “Mailbag") to make sure that never happens.

Hey, just wanted to hear your thoughts on what the Zelda series needs to evolve. New playable characters? New story? I think they should give you the option to play as Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf with an overarching story that connects all three characters.

-Brandon G.

Brett: Gears of Zelda: Modern Warfare.

Shoe: I think your idea about having different characters to play as is spot on. That’s my main problem with the Zelda series now: I’m sick to death of Link. This mute, personality-less protagonist is always the same from game to game (including from a gameplay perspective, more or less) -- getting to play as Ganondorf would be an incredibly refreshing twist!

Jason: Nintendo needs a new approach to The Legend of Zelda. I don't mind the puzzles -- I'd like to see more complex puzzles, in fact -- but I'm so tired with the "get a sword and then a shield and then a bow and then a boomerang and then a grappling hook" progression the games take. I would like to see the current formula ditched in favor of something new.

Jay: Zelda did evolve. It's called Darksiders.

Seriously though, I don't think I'm going to get interested in Zelda again unless I see some radical changes in setting, gameplay, and characters. Gimmicks and new modes of transportation just aren't doing it for me.

Maybe they could do more of a Metroidvania mash-up, or perhaps Zelda reimagined as sci-fi. Replace the master sword with a lightsaber and you've got yourself a winner...

Jasmine: I'm a pretty vocal Zelda hater, but that comes from years of trying to get into the series and finding that you really can't do much with the same game over and over. The best way to overcome series stagnation isn't to add wolves, boats, or trains, but to work on a new adventure with the same main character -- if you even have the same main character. That's why I like Link's Awakening. It had a similar layout to Link to the Past, sure, but it had a completely different feel because the world had changed and so did many of the items, tricks, and dungeon puzzles.

Andrew: I don't think they should change the story. The "coming of age" narrative is universal and timeless -- I'm pretty sure you could substitute characters in Catcher in the Rye with Zelda characters and still come up with a pretty good approximation of Ocarina of Time. And I don't think you can get away from the item-based puzzle mechanics, as it's the defining feature of the game. I would play up its strengths and suggest something similar to your idea but tweaked slightly: online co-operative play. Think about the potential in terms of dungeon puzzles and boss fights! Of course, this would break Nintendo's mandate of "no quality online functionality," but I am pretty sure it would be my dream game.

People often talk about the lack of visible minorities as protagonists in games, but what about the lack of minority authorship in games? Throughout history, we've really only ever seen games by white American dudes, white European dudes, and Japanese dudes. What are the chances of seeing games created by other cultures anytime soon? Is it inevitable, or does the fiscal imbalance between countries (i.e., only ridiculously rich countries having the resources to develop games) necessarily prohibit it? Also, supposing we do see this kind of thing, what sorts of innovation do you think it might lead to? Personally, I'd love to see a video game developed in China, Africa, or India.

Keep up the awesome, you guys.

-Jayson Young, Toronto

Brett: Aw, thanks Jayson. Keep up the awesome letters! I passed your question on to one of Bitmob's minority staff members (and fellow Torontotonian), Omar Yusuf.

Omar: Thanks for the question, Jayson. It's something which I've spent some time thinking about. In fact, before I joined Bitmob as an intern, I wrote an article on the subject. Without looking far, it becomes clear that most video game protagonists are white men, usually between the ages of 20 and 40. As you mentioned, the issue may lie in the authorship of these games. After all, 88% of game developers are indeed of European descent. While the correlation exists, I'm not convinced that developers imagine mostly-white, mostly-male protagonists simply because they themselves are white men. I don't think that an author's race or upbringing necessarily precludes them from writing a genuinely enlightened story about a foreign culture. Generally speaking, companies like Valve, Bethesda, and BioWare have always provided accurate portrayals of characters from different ethnic-cultural backgrounds, despite the fact that their employee body isn't necessarily diverse.

How good at games do you have to be to write about them accurately and professionally for a media outlet?

-Michael Rousseau

Shoe: You better be as good as the audience you’re writing for, generally speaking! Just like you wouldn’t want to read a film review from a guy who knows or appreciates movies less than you do -- same with games. You should at least know the culture (and not just on a superficial or academic level), and you should be fairly capable with them, too. You don’t have to be a tourney-level expert by any means, but you should be able to hang with a good majority of your intended audience.

Jason: Who cares how good you are at games? Someone's who's good at games may not be able to string three words together. I'm a poor golfer -- horrid, in fact -- but I was a damn fine golf writer. Like sports, games are really about people. I want to learn about the thoughts that went into the game, how developers' experiences influence a game, how a game's story may have its roots in events of our past (and have an interesting lesson about those events to deliver). Someone skilled at shooters but ignorant of the significance of Ayn Rand's philosophy would not be able to comment about BioShock in the same way as a gamer with average skills but a knowledge of Rand and the history, architecture, and culture of mid-20th-century America.

Greg: You don't have to be the next wizard to write accurately about games. In fact, plenty of editors are downright bad...at least at certain genres. While it helps to be able to hold your own when wielding a controller (especially if a reviews editor assigns you a toughie like Ninja Gaiden), once you pass a certain level of competence, it really doesn't matter. The real key is having the perseverance to actually get through games you wouldn't normally stick with.

But gaming skills make up just half the equation. You also need to get across your impressions in a way that actually connects with the reader. For many aspiring writers, that can far more demanding than reaching the top of the Modern Warfare leaderboards.

Who is your favorite community member?

-Alex R. Cronk-Young

Brett: This one is easy. My favorite community member is the one who can create the best drawing of me and my beard. Post your pics in the comments section!