Analyse the relationship between signifiers and the signified in the two CSP games covers 

In this essay, I am going to apply a semiotic analysis to both the Tomb Raider and Metroid video game covers. Semiotics is ‘the study of signs and symbols and their use of interpretation’. Signs are made up of both material forms and mental concepts. The ‘signifier’ is the material form, whereas the ‘signified’ is the mental concept associated with it.

The Tomb Raider cover is a creation of the Male Gaze, which I feel does not represent women in a positive or productive way for the gaming community. The Male Gaze theory is where women in the media are viewed from the eyes of a heterosexual man, and are represented as objects of male desire. The dominant signifier of the cover is the main character of the game, Lara Croft. The design of her character is highly sexualised; She is wearing tight, revealing clothing, has a busty physique with an unnaturally twisted body and has applied makeup to represent the over-sexualisation of women within media. This is a reactionary depiction of a female character in media – largely connected to voyeurism – and is used to appeal to straight men. A quote to evidence this is used in the article ‘Leveling Up Representation’, and it states that women are “sexual objects who exist purely for men’s entertainment.” There is also a point to be made that there is a radical side to the representation of women in this game, since the stereotypical ideology suggests that women are ‘weak’ and ‘cautious’ and men are ‘strong’ and ‘daring’, but on the cover of this game Lara Croft is holding guns which goes against what is expected in society and separates her from the norm. In previous games, the heroes have stereotypically been depicted as male. The guns are an indexical sign that shows that she is adventurous, and indicates that the game involves violence.

The Metroid cover represents women in a more positive view – moving away from negative stereotypes of women being ‘meek’ and ‘submissive’ and heading towards them being ‘assertive’ and ‘domineering’. The dominant signifier of the cover is a character in some sort of futuristic outfit. The design of the large, bulky armour suggests that this character is a male, yet the character, Samus Aran, is actually female. With the image of heavy armour and Samus holding a large weapon, most people would assume that this character is a male since it is unordinary and radical for a woman to be in this type of role. It also contrasts from Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’ theory since it countertypes the sexualization generally used for female characters. Typically in video games, the women are seen as a ‘damsel in distress’ who must be saved by the brave male protagonist, but Metroid goes against the patriarchal nature of video game heroes and creates a female character who is not there just to be rescued.

In conclusion, both the ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Metroid’ covers have signifiers that would stereotypically relate to male characters yet, in both these cases, they are radically represented to showcase female characters.

Leveling Up Representation:
– “As technology advanced, Black and other characters of colour became more prevalent, even if most often confined to the fighting genre. And stereotypes were not limited to African Americans; Latinx characters have often been portrayed as gangbangers and drug dealers.”
– “Developers need to consider not only showcasing meaningful diversity in terms of people of colour, but also including people from other marginalized communities, such as the LGBTQIA+ community and the disabled community, in ways that don’t dehumanize them or try to “fix” them.”

Why Diversity Matters:
– “The industry traditionally projects an image that is young, white, straight and male, but there is growing understanding that – if only for the sake of releasing more interesting products – this has to change.”
– “The argument that it’s not the gender, ethnicity or physical abilities of a character that are important, but whether they’re written well and fun to play, is easier to make if you’re already being comfortably represented.”