Metroid blog analysis

Language

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

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

• The game cover communicates sci-fi action through the costumes worn by the characters, they are seen wearing what is conventionally known as space armour with very neon 'futuristic' colours. They are also carrying conventional sci-fi props such as laser guns. The setting also enhances the sci-fi theme with a typical space-themed setting with space ships and luminous colours. The font style is a metallic intertextual Star Wars font.

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

• The cover suggests a first-person perspective game that allows the gratification of control and personal identity and relationship amongst the player and Samus Aran.

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

• I don't think the cover sexualises Samus Aran because we can't see anybody proportions or facial features. She is also covered in heavy metalled armour.

Trailer analysis

Watch the trailer for the game:

1) What do you notice about genre?

• The trailer emphasises the sci-fi genre through the music which is very dynamic and fast-paced aswell as the obvious visuals of the gameplay that contains the sci-fi settings and aesthetics.

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

• Samus Arans character is strong-willed and heroic and subtle hints such as female body proportions make her seem obviously female. Her character is very active and is constantly moving within the trailer. 

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

• The typical conventions of science fiction can be seen as the 'repetition'- the obvious pastiche of Alien and star wars can be a repetition motif also. 
• In terms of difference, the fact that the game protagonist is a female is a significant difference in the videogame industry

Gameplay analysis

Watch the following gameplay clips again:

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

• There is a lot of POV gameplay- This helps player be aware of their surroundings aswell as fight enemies 
• Head up display- This allows realism and addition to the POV experience 
• Freedom to choose weaponry and upgrade inventory

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.

• In terms of mise-en-scene, the game uses typical sci-fi genre conventions through the setting of a spaceship aswell as the costume and lighting in which is very convenient to heavy metal armour and dark lighting to show suspense and danger and lighter high key lighting to emphasise the spaceship setting. The narrative follows the bounty hunter protagonist Samus Aran who is set to resue Galactic Federation Marmes whilst battling the antagonist Ing.

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

• The pleasure of intellectualism, realism, personal identity ( female gamers ) and diversion
• The gratification of autonomy whereby the player has complete control 
• the praising of technology 
• realistic sounds 

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.

• The typical target audience would be that of young male gamers that could go up to the max-age of 25. I do think that because Samus Aran is a female, the game would attract a lot more female players
• The psychographics: explorer, struggler and mainstreamers and possibly aspires. 

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

• No, as Nintendo has always been on a family target audience.

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

• Diversion: a videogame offering escape from reality into a fictional game to better your level and thus ones personal gratifications.

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

• The fact that the original Metroid game revealed Samus Aran as a prize as if the player continued to win she would remove more and more clothing. Cultivation theory suggests that high-frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages. Therefore, it can be applied to the Metroid game through how players of the game could start to view women as sex symbols and view them as prizes to be won.

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

1) Who is considered to be the stereotypical gamer?

• "People who play videogames are adolescent boys."

2) What has changed this?

• The rise of the digital age as meant more smartphone gamers thus leading to a change in stereotypical gamers.

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

• "Women own more consoles than men. It said around 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?

• Older gamers act as a 'guide' for the game developers who base the newer games off of older gamers past interests.

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

• Younger gamers are seen to prefer more competition as opposed to older players.

Industries

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

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

• The game is of a sci-fi genre which is something Nintendo has seen to steer away from. 
• It targets a more niche audience as opposed to their conventional family audience.

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

• Halo
• Mass Effect
• 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?

• The link is made as boy bands have been popular before but as audiences have grown up they have become uninterested and "grown out of it" like Metroid.

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

• AAA: a very successful game in the gaming industry.

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

• I don't think there will be any further Metroid games because of how quickly the trend for it died out.
• I do want more games like Metroid in terms of it representation but not for its female objectification.

Representation

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

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

• The fact that there was a masked female protagonist.

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

• Mario brothers
• Zelda
• These original games were used to build the concept and gameplay in the game.

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

• It was controversial as the protagonist, who was not supposed to be sexualised, ended up being undressed and sexualised. 

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

• I do think it wouldn't be very acknowledged but now in a more liberal age, it would've been more criticised and probably cancelled.

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

• In terms of the body proportions, Samus Aran was sexualised with a cinched waist.

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

• van Zoonen states how gender is constructed through the media
• It can be linked to Samus Aran through how she is big breasted, thin waisted and the ideal type for gamers - it constructs an ideal type for women and could possibly harm their self-esteem.

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

• Wu argues that Aran is transgender which could lead to further personal relationships and identities.

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

• I can see both in her character as she was sexualised at first but same time she was a pioneer for later female game protagonists 

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?

• the female reveal of Samus's increasingly naked body is used as a reward for male skill

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

• "When interviewed for the official Super Metroid strategy guide and asked to share unknown trivia about the hunter, 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.” I’ve seen some fans argue that this refers to Samus having blood from the alien Chozo race in her veins, but Wu and McGrody also mention how 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?

• Because of the fact that she is female doing and playing traditionally male roles in games.

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 in early games, 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 Warrior"

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’? 

•  Cultivation theory suggests that high-frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages.
• Therefore, it can be applied to the Metroid game through how players of the game could start to view women as sex symbols and view them as prizes to be won.

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

• I don't think they have a problem with gender but I do think that because of the set traditions and stereotypes of games and who can play games and representations within those games, its become so much harder for developers to break out of the socially constructed mould of game tropes.
• Examples would be League of Legends representations compared to Dota