Gamasutra - In-Depth- No Female Heroes At Activision?
Look to that methodology to explain why all of Activision's flagship properties are male-led, says the source: "If Activision does not see a female lead in the top five games that year, they will not have a female lead," says the other source. "And the people that don't want a female lead will look at games like Wet and Bayonetta and use them as 'statistics' to 'prove' that female leads don't move mass units."

BitMob - The Fall of Pixel Art and the Demise of Memorable Character Design.
It is possible, of course, for nostalgia to cloud objectivity. It is also all too easy to find yourself lamenting the fact that everything from Curly Wurlys to cartoons are not as good as they used to be, but it is difficult to imagine Blinx being fondly remembered in 30 years time. Ape Escape’s Specter and associated primates were examples of great design, but what of the rather forgettable hero, Spike? Even Uncharted's Nathan Drake, stripped of Nolan North's memorable performance, is surprisingly generic. Design today often focuses on technology, rather than appeal. Covering a charmless character model in physics-enabled trinkets or clever cloth dynamics is simply lipstick on the face of a gorilla, and no amount of superficial decoration can make up for an inherent lack of personality.