Women representation in games
Super Mario Bros.
For this task I will be looking at the Super Mario Bros. series and how women are represented, I will give my opinions on some things. The mario series has always been about a man saving a woman, who at first wasn’t even named. A damsel in distress is something that needs to be saved, and some people didn’t like the fact that Princess Peach was like a object or a trophy to win at completion of the game. In my opinion, I agree with this and I think that the player should be able to have some way of choosing the damsel in distress. For example, upon starting the game, the first thing that happens should be an option to choose a prince or a princess. Another thing some people didn’t like was that Peach could never save herself and just waited to be saved. Also the fact that two men (Mario and Bowser) are fighting over her. Again, I agree with this. I think that this should also be changed. Maybe have some missions where peach writes a letter to you that she has escaped and that you have to go out and try to get to her before Bowser catches her. And when Bowser catches her, there should be a boss fight where Peach helps you in some way. From this research I have learnt to have more character diversity where possible in any games that I make in future projects.
Battleborn
For this task I will be looking at Gearbox’s Battleborn and how women are represented, I will give my opinions on some things. Gearbox’s Battleborn is a game where the main protagonists are women, in battleborn, women are seen using firearms and not doing the things people might consider “stereotypical”. Some of the audience liked this and some didn’t. Some players liked the fact that there are strong leading female characters. Others didn’t like the fact that they didnt get the choice to play as a male character. In my opinion, I think that this is a nice change, as most games force the player to play as a male character. The story of the game is about two women that develop respect for each other and eventually team up to take down a male villain. This was a new idea that hadn’t been seen in many games. Many people were happy to see that women were the strong leading character in the game, as most playable characters in games are men. Again, in my opinion, this is an nice change from the “traditional” male hero/male villain combo that are in most other games.
Grand Theft Auto 5
GTA 5 is known for its poor treatment of women, with players being able to pick up prostitutes and throw money at strippers. There has been a lot of controversy about this game and the lack of female appreciation. Lots of people think that the game would be better if one of the three protagonists was a woman. Female characters are mostly cast as nags to the player, one of the playable characters daughters has the word “skank” tattooed across her back. A lot of people think that Rockstar deliberately portrayed women this way in GTA 5 to shine a light on how female stereotypes are used in advertising, media, and entertainment.
Sexuality in games
Super Mario Bros.
In super mario brothers 2, there is a character called “Birdo” who “is a boy but thinks she is a girl” and would rather be referred to as “Birdetta”. This means that she is transgender. In Super Smash Bros Brawl the gender confusion is referred to by not assigning a gender in Birdo’s character description. Several games still mention Birdo’s male body. The character has received mostly positive feedback for her role in the mario series, although her appearance and gender is confused.
Battleborn
A lot of battleborn’s characters hint at having a different sexuality, but never say that they do. For example, in Caldarius’s story he refers to the prison guard as “pretty handsome”. But the creative director, Randy Darvell, did confirm a number of diverse sexualities in the playable character roster. Including Reyna (bisexual), Shayne (gay), Meiika (exploring her sexualities), and Kelvin (asexual). So sexual diversity is definitely there, but it is only referenced in game and never confirmed.
Grand Theft Auto 5
Trevor (bisexual) is the only main character in gta who is sexually diverse, there are npcs who are gay stereotypes and drag queens. The Los Santos Benders are a professional soccer team in GTA V, their name may be a reference to the british slang term for homosexuals. There are also in-game tv shows that feature homosexuals and even some discrimination from the characters towards homosexuals.
Racial Equality in Games
Grand Theft Auto 5
GTA is known for its bold portrayal of racial ethnicity. Black Americans can only be found in ghetto areas and in street gangs and all criminals. There is a street where there are black men dressed in gang colours and if you get close enough they will start to threaten you. A black audience would most likely find this offensive as rockstar are just using the stereotypical view when they could portray different races differently. Shop owners are all indians except for the gun store owners who are the “typical” gun-loving Americans. Taxi drivers are all immigrants and often drive recklessly.
Super Mario Bros.
In Mario, we see that Toads with their pale skin, big eyes and non-existent noses most likely relate to Japan’s native racial stereotypes, as do Princess Peach, Daisy and Rosalina. In games like mario kart and mario party, all the playable characters are white. The only diverse character you can get is if you choose to play as your Mii which is a custom profile avatar for the Nintendo Wii:
Some people complain about Mario and Luigi’s stereotypical Italian voices, saying that children will get an idea of what “all Italians” are like from the stereotype.
Guild Wars 2
Guild wars has 5 playable races: Asura, Charr, Human, Norn, and Sylvari. Each race has their own unique physical features to adjust during character creation, and are granted exclusive access to cultural armor skins. The player’s race determines their biography questions, tutorial mission, starting area, and early to mid personal story. Race also has an effect on how certain NPCs react to the character. Each race has their own capital city that the player can live in in a personal home instance located within their characters capital city.
Violence in Games
Super Mario Bros
The violence in Super Mario Bros is very light and is considered suitable for 5 year-olds. Although, some parents think that the game is not suitable for their children simply because in Mario Bros the player kills anything that’s in their way, even if they aren’t a threat. For example, enemies like goombas and shells don’t attack you they only walk left and right and the player only needs to kill them either to get points or because they get in their way. Other than that the game can be played through completely without killing any characters but the bosses.
Grand Theft Auto V
GTA V is known for its high level of violence. Allowing the player to freely use firearms in populated cities to kill anyone they want, including animals. The most controversial scene in GTA V is the mission “By The Book”. In which the player has to torture a man to get information out of him. While helping the man escape, character Trevor monologues about the ineffectiveness of torture, pointing out the man’s readiness to supply the FIB with the information without being tortured, and expressing that torture is used as a power play “to assert ourselves”.
Guild Wars 2
In this MMORPG, the player has to fight and knock out enemies to both progress in the story and earn upgrades. There is no gore and every enemy that you defeat is knocked out. The only way to complete some levels is by using violence. Players have been known to do a “pacifist” playthrough of the game, where they don’t kill any mobs or animals directly, and only let their pets protect them. The player would run away if their pet dies or can’t defend them. Overall, Guild Wars can be completed without using violence, but it is supposed to be completed by defeating enemies. There is also wars that happen between different races and kingdoms.
Level 3 Games Development 1st Year 