Virtual Gender Equality?

In more video games today, females are no longer portrayed the "Damsel in Distress" but more as their own heroes of the franchise.  Today, they are given their own roles as strong, independent characters who don't rely on a male character to do their job for them.  Before, the main character in a game would always have to be a male, for video games were always a sort of "boyish" thing to interact with and it would often appeal to a male demographic.  Having a male as a character would allow the majority of the players, who are male, to somehow relate to him, as if this connection between same genders would give them a sort of indescribable immersion with the character.  However, this changed when the lead character of the game Metroid, had turned out to be a girl the entire time.  This baffled many players at the time due to the assumption that underneath all that bulky power armor lied a man, when instead they were introduced to a woman, thus changing the course of the female roles in video games to this date.  This introduced the concept that not every woman is shouting for help at the top of a tower, this small plot twist was the inspiration for many female video game leads.  For example, take the popular titles such as  Mass Effect or Dragon Age, both are considered to be some of the best Western RPG franchises available, you are given the option to make your character male or female.  Now some may think "I want to play as a male, because they're obviously stronger.", however this is not the case.  Even if you were to choose the female character, you would receive no major twist in the plot line due to the fact that you are female, they are equal no matter what you choose.  They are both outstanding in the categories of character development, narrative, and strength or willpower.  Personally, I would have to say that the female counterpart does a much better job bringing out the true essence of what a hero in a video game is supposed to be like.  Despite being compiled of different pixels and coding, these virtual women are seen as some of the most influential beings in the gaming community, and that is something to be proud of.