Video Games – Metroid, Tomb Raider and The Sims Freeplay

Metroid	tomb raider	the sims
hyperreality structuralism subversion media concentration simulation/simulacra voyeurism resonance	hyperreality structuralism subversion media concentration simulation/simulacra convergence voyeurism resonance	hyperreality structuralism deregulation media concentration simulation/simulacra convergence fluid identity resonance
– Produced: Retro Studios – owned by media conglomerate Nintendo  – Exhibited: Nintendo game cube, Wii, WiiV  – Regulated by PEGI – audience is likely to be pre-sold – played the og Metroid – marketed through websites	– production – Eidos Games (named as Britain’s most successful company in 1999), Eidos Interactive ltd, part of SCi Entertainment Group PLC – platforms – PS2/3/4, PC/MAC, Xbox/360/1, Wii  – 7 million copies of the first game and 16 millions copies worldwide of the first 3 games  – audience is likely to be pre-sold – played the og 1996 tomb raider	developed/produced by EA mobile and Fire Monkeys – subsidiaries of EA (also responsible for other games EG FIFA) –  spin-off from the hugely successful Sims franchise first published by Electronic Arts (EA) in 2000 – As of October 2019, all The Sims games combined generated lifetime sales of more than US$5 billion –  OVER 200 million downloads since 2011 – remarkable success – target female casual gamers – 18-40 – virtual ‘dolls house’
Todorov: equilibrium: samus on a mission Dis-equilibrium: arrives at planet to find everyone is dead – doing of the Ing – so Samus must save Aether New equilibrium: light is retieved to Luminoth peace is returned Bathes: action code – samus must collect the light and return it to the Luminoth Temples symbolic code – light symbolises good, dark which has taken light symbolises bad Levi-Strauss:Light vs dark – light is taken from light world by the dark world – drives the narrative and creates drama   Baudrillard: depicts pure simulacrum which has no relation to reality EG depictions of aliens and space travel – illusions of actuality maintains our attention and therefore £ Neale: Hydrid-genre: conventional = adventure, first person shooter, unconventional = sci-fi   Butler: her physical ability to fight bosses and solve puzzles are unconventional of her gender – identity is gained through repeated acts  Gauntlett: by representing people are traditionally underrepresented in the industry – women – people from that group are able to identify more can construct identity from her sense of independance, strength, bravery etc… also attracts a female audience which overall makes the company more money Van Zoonen: samus is not represented with ‘prudence’ of a women and instead with the ‘ruthlessness’ of a man – not sexualised as she wears a robotic suit however, if gamer defeats boss in under an hour – samus strips off her armour and celebrates her victory in a bikini = sexualised so to appeal to male audiences Hall: subverts traditional female stereotypes through representing her with power and in a dominant position – therefore not reduced to objective characteristics Hesmondhalgh: use of remake – requires less time, effort, money, uses previously succesful material to engage ready made audience through nostalgia based appeals serialisation – Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Metroid Prime Trilogy   Gerbner: depicts mild violence which could influence the way in which audiences view the real world – especially due to real aspects of the video game (link to baudrillard) the unrealistic and violent elements may cause audiences to view reality in the same way the game depicts it Hall: preferred – male audience view lara as an object of pleasure to help game sell, female audience view her as a symbol of power negociated – women may not agree with sexualisation, but see her powerful qualities oppositional – women may reject her sexualisation and see it as a working of the voyeuristic nature of patriarchal gaming industry Jenkins /Shirky: does not create much interactivity within the game EG cant customise characters however some consoles provide opportunities for interactivity EG Xbox chatroom interactivity possible outside of the game through – fanwebsites, videocame conventions, fan art, social media	Todorov: condensed equilibrium – immediate disruption by ‘fearsome creatures’ -disruption – hired to find ancient artefact -new equilibrium – defeats Natla and retrieves scion -sub plots – Puzzles block progress through the levels   Bathes: enigma code – first scene  fantastical creature disappears from the screen, the audience is left to guess about its identity until its origins are revealed later in the game action code – fatal final battle between Lara and Natla Levi-Strauss: simple hero VS villain – although the villain is not revealed until the end – generates excitement, tension, conflict Baudrillard: depicts pure simulacrum which has no relation to reality EG depictions of ancient worlds and creatures – illusions of actuality maintains our attention and therefore £ Neale: -first person shooter/adventure game -conventional- elements of fighting and violence, quests, puzzles, boss battles etc… -unconventional- female protagonist   Butler: conventional in how her appearance is represented, however her physical ability to fight bosses and solve puzzles are unconventional of her gender – identity is gained through repeated acts  Gauntlett: by representing people are traditionally underrepresented in the industry – women – people from that group are able to identify more can construct identity from her sense of independance, strength, bravery etc… also attracts a female audience which overall makes the company more money Van Zoonen: appearance is constructed to appeal to western patriarchal culture, however rather than being portrayed with traditional female characteristics, she is represented with the ‘rationality’, ‘individualism’, ‘ruthlessness’ of a male Hall: subverts traditional female stereotypes through representing her with power and in a dominant position – therefore not reduced to objective characteristics   Hesmondhalgh: use of remake – requires less time, effort, money, uses previously succesful material to engage ready made audience through nostalgia based appeals serialisation –   Gerbner: depicts mild violence which could influence the way in which audiences view the real world – especially due to real aspects of the video game (link to baudrillard) the unrealistic and violent elements may cause audiences to view reality in the same way the game depicts it Hall: preferred- samus is a symbol of female power negociated- may not see her gender as a significant aspect of her character -symbol of power oppositional – sexualisation at the end of the game, may disagree Jenkins /Shirky: does not create much interactivity within the game EG cant customise characters however some consoles provide opportunities for interactivity EG Xbox chatroom interactivity possible outside of the game through – fanwebsites, videocame conventions, fan art, social media	Todorov: micro-narratives, due to open-ended game, rather than to larger meta narrative that cross the whole game e.g. Equilibrium: The sim lives in a small house with limited furnishing Disruption: A new task appears telling player to buy TV new equilibrium: player buys TV and sim can now watch TV Baudrillard: reflects ‘order of sorcery’ as it masks the absence of reality and instead replaces it with its own simplified reality – hyperreality – illusions of actuality maintains our attention and therefore £ Neale: hybrid of sandbox genre – not constrained to achieving specific goals and has a large degree of freedom to explore, interact with, or modify the game environment life simulation – icons for people and furniture, indexes for conversations Butler: enables players to give male characteristics to female characters EG facial hair as well as allow them to do stereotypical male acts EG gaming – vice versa therefore sims identity is built upon performance of acts, rather than the biological gender they are issued with Gauntlett: players are able to choose their identity and literally construct it – appearance, job, home, aspirations can create almost a better version of their identity and mirror it to theirs improves the narrative within the game but also within the players own life Van Zoonen: sims does not present objective representations of men and women as it is the audience who construct their avatars identity Hall: does not present objective/stereotypical representations identity as it is the audience who construct their avatars identity Gilroy  Livingstone and Lunt: citizen: despite being self-regulated, it still protects citizens from harmful material EG- when the sims are going to the ‘toilet’ or ‘trying for a baby’ a blue graphic appears in order to hide the activity which could be considered offensive material consumer: ensures choice by making the avatar completely customisable, value for money by the game being free (however in app purchases, which many players feel like they cannot proceed far into the game without indulging in) hesmondhalgh: remakes – SFP remade the sims franchise digitally requires less time, effort, money, uses previously succesful material to engage ready made audience through nostalgia based appeals serialisation – spin off of OG sims console game Gerbner: SFP representation of reality distorts our own reality as tasks in the Sim world are significantly a lot easier than in the real world – therefore the more sims people play,  the more likely they are to hold a view of reality that is closer to SFP’s depiction of reality Bandura  Hall: preferred reading: audience enjoys creating town and life for their avatar negociated – dont feel as though the game reflects real life but still enjoys playing oppositional – may deem the game to unrealistic Jenkins/Shirky  audiences engage and create their own content and narrative- create character, house, job can interact through app store, social media – EG suggested the pregnancy feature

how do video game producers target audiences

Hesmondhalgh claims that in the culture industry, targeting audiences is becoming increasingly difficult due to increasing competition and the needs and wants of audiences are continuously adapting – therefore producers are constantly searching for new and innovative ways to appeal to mass audiences.