Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'Metroid Prime 2: Echoes case study' and complete the following in-depth tasks.

Language

Analyse the game cover for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (above).

1) How does the cover communicate the genre of the game?

Mecha costume connotes Japanese sci-fi 

Ghost of alien in the background 

blue/orange colour scheme 

2) What does the cover suggest regarding gameplay and audience pleasures?

binary opposition, multiplayer

3) Does the cover sexualise the character of Samus Aran? Why/why not?

I don't think the cover sexualieses her at all. Her armour has huge shoulder pieces, traditionally a masculine feature, and she's in an action pose. 


Trailer analysis

Watch the trailer for the game:




1) What do you notice about genre?

Metroid was originally based on Alien so the sci-fi elements are very prominent. 

2) How is the character introduced? Is Samus Aran obviously female?

I think the way the chest plate protrudes gives her a different silhouette to everyone, very obviously hinting to her being a woman. 

3) How can we apply Steve Neale’s genre theory that discusses “repetition and difference”?

Genres go through a cycle, so Metroid Prime is introducing multiplayer to the Metroid franchise, distinguishing itself from the previous iterations 

Gameplay analysis

Watch the following gameplay clips again:





1) What does the gameplay for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes involve?

Lot's of reading, killing, exploring, rolling

2) Write an analysis of the media language choices in the construction of the game: e.g. genre, narrative, mise-en-scene, camera shots etc.

genre: alien eggs, dark aura, 

narrative: Finding Dark Samus and ending the fissure 

Mise en Scene: 

camera shots: Most of it is POV, putting the player in Samus Aran's place.

3) Analyse the clips for audience pleasures, applying audience theory and considering media effects.

Distraction, personal relationships, personal identity 

Audience

Research the audience for Nintendo and specifically the Metroid franchise, including Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. You may wish to start with the following pages:

Reddit discussion of why people play Metroid
Giant Bomb forum: Who exactly is Nintendo’s demographics?
Reset Era: Nintendo’s audience getting older

1) Who might the target audience be for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, based on your research? Discuss demographics and psychographics.

Because it's darker than average Nintendo games aimed at a younger or family demographic, Metroid prime 2: Echoes is aimed at the target audience most associated with other gaming consoles such as the Play Station and XBox. 15-30 males. 

2) How has Nintendo’s audience changed since the original Metroid game in 1986?

They now try to reach a very wide demographic

3) What audience pleasures are offered by Metroid Prime 2: Echoes or the wider Metroid franchise?

exploration, acquiring new items, backtracking,

very similar to another Nintendo franchise Zelda

4) What effects might Metroid have on audiences? Apply media effects theories (e.g. Bandura’s social learning theory, Gerbner’s cultivation theory). 

Over time, consuming Metroid Prime will normalize women being in roles of power such as samus aran is. (cultivation theory)

By Bandura's social learning theory, Metroid fans should go around shooting people with arm guns. 

Read this Gamesparks feature on gaming demographics and answer the following questions:

1) Who is considered to be the stereotypical gamer?

adolescent boys

2) What has changed this?

The introduction of mobile gaming

3) What role do women play in the videogames market? Quote statistics from the article here.

42 percent of women said they had either an Xbox or PlayStation in comparison to 37 percent of men.

4) Why are older gamers becoming a particularly important market for videogames producers? How can you link this to the Metroid franchise?

The average age of the gamer of today is around the age of 35

They grew up with video gaming so there is a strong sense of nostalgia and personal relationship with the Series.

5) What does the article suggest regarding audience pleasures and expectations for different generations of gamer?

Younger gamers prefer competition while older gamers’ interest in it tapers off at around 40.

Industries

Read this Destructoid blog on the Metroid franchise. Answer the following:

1) Why has Metroid never quite fitted with the Nintendo brand?

It's for 15-35 year olds. A demographic they struggle with. 

2) What franchises have overtaken Metroid in the sci-fi hyper-realism genre in recent years?

Halo, Mass Effect, and now No Man's Sky

3) Why does the writer link old boy bands from the music industry to the Metroid franchise? Do you agree with this reading of the brand?

They're beating a dead horse to cash in on nostalgia.

4) What is an ‘AAA’ or ‘triple-A game’ in the videogames industry?

AAA (pronounced and sometimes written Triple-A) is an informal classification used for video games produced and distributed by a mid-sized or major publisher, typically having higher development and marketing budgets.

5) Do you think there will be further Metroid games featuring Samus Aran? Should there be?

I think there should be more Samus Aran, perhaps getting a similar makeover like Lara Croft where it's move obviously aimed women as well.

Representation

Read this BBC3 feature on Samus Aran and answer the questions below:

1) What was notable about the original Metroid game in 1986?

They didn't reveal that Samus Aran was a woman until the end

2) What were the inspirations behind the gameplay and construction of Metroid?

Mario and Zelda, as well as the film Alien

3) Why are the endings to the original Metroid considered controversial?

The quicker you completed the level, the more undressed  Samus Aran would appear for the player.

4) What reaction do you think the reveal of Samus Aran in a bikini would have got when the game was first released in 1986? Have attitudes towards women changed?

It would have been ok to have a woman in a state of undress as a reward. 

Now, we can all pretty much agree that it's a little dodgy. 

5) How have later versions of the Metroid franchise sexualised the character of Samus Aran?

Like the time she wore a skin tight bodysuit and heels in Super Smash Bros

6) How can we apply Liesbet van Zoonen’s work to Samus Aran and Metroid?

7) What did Brianna Wu suggest regarding the character of Samus Aran?

Samus is transgender

8) Do you see Samus Aran as a feminist icon or simply another exploited female character?

I view Samus Aran as a feminist character because on the most part she's given a bulky functional appearance for most of her game play. She also isn't given a male counterpart or love interest, not pivoting her self worth on the men in her life. 


Read this Houston Press feature on Samus Aran and entitled male gamers. Answer the following questions:

1) What does Anita Sarkeesian suggest regarding Samus Aran?

Samus’s increasingly naked body is used as a reward for male skill. It doesn’t diminish Samus as a character, but it does sort of diminish the games themselves for using this sexist convention.

2) Why does Brianna Wu (and others) suggest Samus Aran may be transgender?

 Hirofumi Matsuoka, who worked on her original design, said Samus was a “newhalf”, a somewhat vulgar term that is close to the English term “shemale.”

Samus was originally portrayed to be 6’3” and more muscled in her appearance.

3) Why is Samus Aran useful for male gamers trying to argue videogames are not sexist?

 If you question the number of female protagonists you’ll get a list that will virtually always start with Samus as a counter-argument

4) Why are Lara Croft, Zelda and Peach not ideal examples to argue for female equality in videogames?

 Lara Croft will always be haunted by her cartoonish, sexual appearance and Zelda and Peach are damsels too often, and the anti-feminist crowd is hesitant to use Chell since Portal 2 is a feminist masterpiece. 

5) What does the ‘SJW’ in ‘SJW-gender politics’ refer to?

Social Justice Warriors, people who argue over the internet about left wing politics 

6) How can we apply Gerbner’s Cultivation theory to representations of women in videogames as discussed in the article? How might this lead to ‘entitled male gamers’? 

Because over the years the representation of women has been so poor, men have become accustomed to the hyper-sexualisation. As they lack the female experience, they can't possibly fathom why these representations hurt women so they view it as ugly feminists trying to take their frustration out on men. 

7) Does the videogame industry have a problem with gender? Provide evidence for your argument.

The video game industry is making improvements to representation of women but even when companies attempt to make female characters they can miss the mark on making them human. Characters such as Bayonetta more in unrealistic ways in skimpy outfits that centre her characterisation around her body. 

 Tomb Raider Anniversary: blog tasks

Language and Audience

Analyse the game cover for Tomb Raider Anniversary (above).

1) How does the cover communicate the genre of the game?

The light coming from behind her indicates a small light source like that of a temple 

2) How does the pose and costume of the character appeal to primarily male audiences?

both assets are visable

3) How might the cover be read as empowering for female gamers?

It's an active woman character not characterised as weak. 

Gameplay analysis

Watch the following gameplay clips again:

1) What does the gameplay for Tomb Raider Anniversary involve?

Lots of physical activity for Lara Croft as well as puzzles

2) Write an analysis of the media language choices in the construction of the game: e.g. genre, narrative, mise-en-scene, camera shots etc.

The genre is action and adventure and employs iconography from Indiana Jones for nostalgia's sake. 

The narrative follows an independent woman character raiding a tomb and killing vicious animals. 

The camera angles often give excessively sexualised views of Lara "for the presumed straight male player"  

3) Analyse the clips for audience pleasures, applying audience theory and considering media effects.

Male Gaze- Mulvey

Distraction, personal relationship- Blumler and Katz

Representations

Read this NME feature on the evolution of the character of Lara Croft. Answer the following questions:

1) Note the statistics in the opening paragraph.

gracing more than 1,100 magazine covers, and selling over 58 million videogame units worldwide

2) How does the article describe the cultural change in society and the media since the early 00s?

There are women as the leads in big blockbusters and #metoo has solved all sexual assault 

3) How was the original 1996 Lara Croft received by audiences and critics?

Women saw her as their first role model in gaming 

4) What did the 2013 re-launch do differently – and how successful was it?

They re-did her appearance and motion captured an actual woman so that the movements were more true to life. 

They also gave her emotions and a backstory. 

5) How is ‘woke Lara’ defined in the conclusion of the feature?

she will find the courage to survive her journey.


Now read this feature – Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft: feminist or femme fatale? 

1) Why is Lara Croft considered a “polarising figure among gamers”?

"She was a sex icon and a feminist icon, and there is no issue being both of those at once."

2) How did the limitations of game construction in the 1990s help to establish the way female characters were animated?

Because women were harder to distinguish from men, they'd have to greatly exaggerate their form.

3) Why were Lara Croft’s physical attributes emphasised in the original games?

for advertising purposes

4) How does Anita Sarkeesian describe Lara Croft?

Lara Croft was simply a stereotype for the category of games typically associated with male players. Even the camera angle in the game focuses on her rear end, she said, putting it at the centre of attention.

5) Why has Lara Croft’s appearance and characterisation changed over time?

To appeal to her changing audience, nearly half of which were women. 

Industries

1) Why is Lara Croft such an iconic figure in the gaming industry?

She is widely regarded as a sex symbol and has appeared on magazine covers for the male and female gaze. This links to hyper-reality as she's blurring the lines between what was fiction and what is real. 

selling over 58 million videogame units worldwide

2) What products and spin-offs have featured Lara Croft or the Tomb Raider brand?

There are many spin off titles for hand held consoles and mobile devices 

3) Why might Lara Croft be considered a postmodern icon?

She relates to Baudrillard's theory of Hyper-reality. Because she's completely constructed, we are blurring the lines between reality and fiction by having real models appear as her as objects to be looked at. 

4) Why is Tomb Raider Anniversary a 'case study in conglomerate ownership'?

Core design --> Eidos Interactive --> Square Enix 

This exemplifies vertical integration by conglomerates.