Videogames - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Language

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


1) How does the cover communicate the genre of the game?
Metallic Font communicate science fiction genre- highly advanced technology and space
Scrolling text- intertextuality to star wars
Strange creatures and aliens show how its an action genre and adds to science fiction.

2) What does the cover suggest regarding gameplay and audience pleasures?
Enigma codes are seen throughout the cover makes the player wants to play it more
4 player game- More people can play the game together
Diversion- Alien creatures create an escape from this reality

3) Does the cover sexualise the character of Samus Aran? Why/why not?
They way she poses it highlights her body figure to some extent however the costume itself doesn't focus on her figure and isn't feminine


1) What do you notice about genre?
The trailer shows how it is from a scifi genre through the alien characters and the location based on space.

2) How is the character introduced? Is Samus Aran obviously female?
At first glance, it is very hard to tell if Samus Aran is a female however there are some camera angles of when she is walking which are quite feminine

3) How can we apply Steve Neale’s genre theory that discusses “repetition and difference”?
There are many repetitions in the games for the genre. For example, the game is located in space and the use of dark colours with bright neon lights shows conventions of scifi and also the villains and first perspective gameplay. The difference could be that the main character is female.


Gameplay analysis


1) What does the gameplay for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes involve?
Problem Solving, Shooting, Navigation, Combat, Narrative, Roleplay

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 first perspective from the helmet- makes the player feel like they are playing through the character
There are dramatic camera shot through the game- Makes the game more interactive and dramatic

3) Analyse the clips for audience pleasures, applying audience theory and considering media effects.
Personal identity - Playing the first perspective and seeing through the element makes the player feel like they are apart of the game
Diversion- The scifi element of the games makes the player feel escapism

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.
Metroid was aimed more towards the conventional gaming audience: slightly older teenage males
Nintendo is catered towards young children and family-based gamer
However, because of nostalgia, the audience is targeted more 25 plus.


2) How has Nintendo’s audience changed since the original Metroid game in 1986?
There must have been an increase in their demographics of females playing because there was an increase in female players through the years.

3) What audience pleasures are offered by Metroid Prime 2: Echoes or the wider Metroid franchise?
Personal identity- Since the games is fps the player feels as if they are in the game
Division- Escapism from reality because of the space like the world
Personal relationship- Create a bond with Samus

4) What effects might Metroid have on audiences? Apply media effects theories (e.g. Bandura’s social learning theory, Gerbner’s cultivation theory).
How people perceive women- May see women as sex objects or as a reward
The game could influence the player to be more violent



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

1) Who is considered to be the stereotypical gamer?
There’s a stereotype that the only people who play videogames are adolescent boys

2) What has changed this?
Rise of smartphones, the gaming demographic has dramatically shifted

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
50 percent of the gaming audience is made up of women.

4) Why are older gamers becoming a particularly important market for videogames producers? How can you link this to the Metroid franchise?
he average age of the gamer of today is around the age of 35.
Metroid Franchise offers nostalgia for the offer audience

5) What does the article suggest regarding audience pleasures and expectations for different generations of gamer?
Many older gamers do want challenging games and narratives that remind them of the games of their childhood. This reflects the audience pleasure of nostalgia.

Industries

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

1) Why has Metroid never quite fitted with the Nintendo brand?
Metroid is based on science fiction and is fps and this is where Nintendo doesn't really specialise in

2) What franchises have overtaken Metroid in the sci-fi hyper-realism genre in recent years?
Halo, Mass Effect and 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?

4) What is an ‘AAA’ or ‘triple-A game’ in the videogames industry?
The term 'triple-A' refers to a game that has been produced and distributed by a mid/major publisher

5) Do you think there will be further Metroid games featuring Samus Aran? Should there be?
There will most probably not be another Metroid game because although it has created it success and profits if it was realsed now it wouldn't be as successful

Representation

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

1) What was notable about the original Metroid game in 1986?
Those who completed the game fast enough were in for a shock: at the end Samus revealed herself to be a woman.

2) What were the inspirations behind the gameplay and construction of Metroid?
Its developers took inspiration from genre-definers like Mario and Zelda, as well as the film Alien.

3) Why are the endings to the original Metroid considered controversial?
This was the historic moment when ‘he’ was revealed as a she - a huge deal in 1986. There had been minor female gaming characters before, but this was a mainstream champion

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?
The reaction would have definitely been shocked because female as the protagonist was quite rare and also there was a lack on the internet so most people wouldn't have known this was possible.

5) How have later versions of the Metroid franchise sexualised the character of Samus Aran?
Some fans have questioned whether their female icon deserves better than pandering to teenage male fantasies. Nintendo, meanwhile have been happy to push Samus as an icon of girl power - check their image celebrating Women’s History Month in 2015

6) How can we apply Liesbet van Zoonen’s work to Samus Aran and Metroid?
Initially, the game constructed Samus Aran to almost appear has masculine from her costume and the weapons and the way she is portrayed. However, the way she walks exaggerate her feminity and her tight amour try to highlight her figure.

7) What did Brianna Wu suggest regarding the character of Samus Aran?
Transgender gaming commentator Brianna Wu has even argued that Samus is transgender too, further demonstrating the characters appeal to gamers with gender agendas.

8) Do you see Samus Aran as a feminist icon or simply another exploited female character?
She is another exploited female character because in the game her body and figure are seen as more of a reward at the end rather than the gameplay or narrative itself. 

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?
Sarkeesian points out that the female reveal sort of pales as 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?
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?
She can be a female icon for however it can be seen that she is exploited for her female character. She isn't rewarded for her bravery but rewarded for her body and therefore she isn't valued and seen as a sex object.

4) Why are Lara Croft, Zelda and Peach not ideal examples to argue for female equality in videogames?
Peach and Zelda are not ideal examples because they were created to be saved by the male protagaisnst and represent 'dismal in distress' characters.

5) What does the ‘SJW’ in ‘SJW-gender politics’ refer to?
Social Justice Warrior gender 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’?
The cultivation theory is that is we consume a certain media for a long period of time it can have a subtle but damaging effect on the mind. These representations of women in a video game may make male gamers see women as rewards for their sexual pleasure and not able to identify women has real people.

7) Does the videogame industry have a problem with gender? Provide evidence for your argument.
In the past, the videogame industry definitely has a promblem with gender. Female characters weren't represented fairly and most of the female characters were exploited as sex objects. For example, Lara Croft in Tomb Raider may have been the first protagonist female however she was exploited by the clothes she wore which were impractical and were more to highlight her figure.
However, with the increase in female gamers and the change in people's views as a society, there has been a change in female representation in video games. A diverse representation through race and body shape and female are rewarded through bravery.