[media-credit name="Sega" align="alignleft" width="241"][/media-credit]Gamers awaiting Aliens: Colonial Marines have been patient, to say the least, in waiting for the first-person shooter for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U — and the shenanigans aren’t over yet.

Naturally, a game based on the Alien franchise known for Ellen Ripley’s heroics and other strong-willed, take-charge women would allow you to play a female character in a single-player campaign. But for some reason, the survival horror game being developed by Gearbox Software and published by Sega won’t allow female characters in the online multiplayer mode.

GeekTyrant — which says the game is set for a Feb. 12, 2013, release — reports on a petition to redress this glaring omission. So far, they post, neither Sega nor Gearbox has addressed the issue, and they call for them to do so soon before the nerd rage snowballs. I’d go farther to say 20th Century Fox should get involved to protect one of their core properties’ integrity. Or nuke the whole thing from orbit — it’s the only way to be sure.

Tags: Alien, Aliens, Gearbox, Nerd rage, Prometheus, Sega, Sex