Videogames - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

The basics

• First-person action-adventure game produced for Nintendo GameCube (2004)
• Part of Metroid franchise – 7th game in series, sequel to Metroid Prime (original Metroid was 1986 on NES; latest release was Metroid: Samus Returns in 2017 on 3DS)
• Sold around 800,000 copies worldwide (quite low based on Nintendo franchises and previous Metroid games) 
• Game follows bounty hunter Samus Aran as she is sent to rescue Galactic Federation Marines
• She must battle the Ing (a destructive race from another dimension) and a mysterious version of herself called Dark Samus
• The game’s head-up display simulates the inside of Samus’s helmet and features map, radar, health bar, weapons and more
• Prime 2 Echoes is the first Metroid title to feature a 4-player multiplayer element

Language

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

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

• On the cover of Metroid there are alien characters and unknown pacey creatures which suggests the sub-genre sci-fi. 
• The mise-en-scene (props) of armour and guns/weaponry communicates the genre of action/adventure. 
• The angled font subtly hints to the Star Wars brand communicating sci-fi genre; intertextuality and rewards the audience for recognising this similarity. 
• The metallic font looks futuristic and advanced which hints at the idea of space and highly advanced technology, ultimately communicating the sci-fi genre.

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

• Multiplayer gaming: audience pleasure of playing with a group rather than in solo mode. 
• Exclusivity: only available on one console; sells the console as well as the genre.
• Binary oppositions: the secondary image shows the villain and the primary image shows the narrative.

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

• The main character is not sexualised as the body is covered by heavy armour and doesn't accentuate her body type as a female. 
• Female protagonist with masculinity and masculine power which hints at the change in representations of women in the media; hints at the concept of gender fluidity. 

Trailer analysis

Watch the trailer for the game:

1) What do you notice about genre?

Action/adventure presented through the violent element of the game and science fiction presented through the space mise en scene and characters.

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

The character is introduced as being a powerful, independent character. Character Samus Aran is not obviously female, the gender of characters is not noticeable, drawn out or apparent - this shows the gender of character as not being important. 

Analysis:
The multiplayer feature acts as a unique selling point - enables this Metroid to differentiate itself from the previous editions in the franchise.
First person shooter perspective - allows the gamer to immerse themselves in the game and its narratives. 

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

Angled font: hints to the Star Wars brand (intertextuality) 
Repetition: Creature characters used to represent the sci-fi genre
Difference: Unlike some other video games, this one does not highlight or noticeably set a part gender roles 

Gameplay analysis

Watch the following gameplay clips again:

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

Bounty hunter Samus Aran is sent to rescue Galatic Federation - must battle Ing (destructive race) and mysterious version of herself Dark Samus. The game also has a multiplayer option and the head up display stimulates the inside of the helmet. 

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.

• Clearly conveys the sci-fi genre as there are mystical alien creatures present
• The head up display stimulates the inside of the helmet. 
• The curves and somewhat tight armour accentuate her body a little more than on the poster - depicts her personality
• First person shooter perspective - encourages the gamer to engage with the narrative 
• Non diegetic sound - SFX exaggerates the theme and genre 
• Diegetic sound is also hyper real - overly loud 
• Cinematic elements of the camera movements (pans etc) - visual pleasures 

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

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.

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

The audience has changed as now the audience is getting older the gaming industry is growing into adulthood as more adults are getting involved with gaming.This is due to the nostalgia appeal of the previous franchises. 

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

The audience pleasures could be diversion and personal relationships as applied to Blumer and katz theory. There is element of autonomy as the player has full control over the characters in the gameplay along with agnecy. This is what Rigby accentuates in her theory of audience pleasures along with competence and relatedness as fans and players are bought together because this is not the first edition.

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

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. This image has persisted over the years thanks in part to the aggressive marketing to this demographic by AAA studios. Based on these ads, it might seem like the market hasn’t shifted at all. After all, plenty of big console titles feature macho men with big weapons while more neutral and colorful games don’t get the same level of attention.

2) What has changed this?

Yet with the rise of smartphones, the gaming demographic has dramatically shifted. While AAA studios might still cater to the male 18-25 demographic, the truth is more than 50 percent of the gaming audience is made up of women. While the console and PC gamers dismiss the mobile market as “not real gaming” because it is too casual, that doesn’t change the fact experts believe mobile gaming will pull in $36.9 billion in revenue in 2016. That’s higher than both the PC and consoles will expect to bring in.

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

A recent Pew survey found more women owned 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. That being said, game consoles aren’t personal devices like smartphones or laptops. They’re more akin to televisions, meaning if one person in the household buys and plays console games, it’s likely other members of that household will cite they also “have” the item. As the survey didn’t specifically note whether these were single-person households, the numbers are up for debate.

4) Why are older gamers becoming a particularly important market for videogames producers? How can you link this to the Metroid franchise?

Video gaming took the world (and living room) by storm with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Many people who grew up during that time period continue to game. Consoles are becoming more accessible and advanced, with some of them able to take the role of a home media center for nearly all entertainment needs. The market hasn’t gone away. The average age of the gamer of today is around the age of 35. While there’s been ample discussion around how men and women game differently, there hasn’t been much discourse on how people’s gaming habits change as they age. Some surveys suggest age is actually the biggest factor in different gaming tastes and motivations, especially when it comes to competition. Younger gamers prefer competition while older gamers’ interest in it tapers off at around 40.

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

Thanks to technology becoming more accessible, schools are using video games in the classroom. In fact, 74 percent of K-8 teachers use digital games for educational purposes. According to teachers, these games help promote focus and concentration in children while also improving their coordination, reading skills and fine motor skills. Even parents are using video games to help their children. As gaming becomes more acceptable by society as an educational tool, the number of gamers under 18 will increase. This is especially true as the ‘gamer generation’ gets older and has children of their own. With schools and parents utilizing games as a means of education, this newest generation of gamers will be more accepting of games of all kinds.

Industries

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

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

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

New franchises like Halo, Mass Effect, and now No Man's Sky have filled the space where Metroid had dominated back in the NES and SNES eras. 

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 50-plus-year-old men running the company now might look back on the Metroid series like a Boy Band they formed in late 1980 -- a time when they actually cared about being young and cool. Is there any chance that the biggest hit in Metroid history is yet to come? As we learned with Other M, and now Metroid Prime: Federation Force, when Nintendo tries to do a new style of Metroid, old fans will say that it sucks and that they should do something like the classics. On the other hand, if they were to make a new game like Super Metroid or the first Metroid Prime, they would have to be better than their predecessors in order to justify their existence, lest they be accused up being "old and just in it for the money."

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

"We have this increasing segregation of the industry going on right now - the games that survive are either really expensive, traditional AAA offerings or inexpensive but innovative mobile/Indie/handheld offerings. Nintendo has gotten increasingly skittish about the former and enamored with the latter, because when AAA games fail, they fail hard, whereas small games can fail individually but as a whole still make large profits. Nintendo makes one or two big AAA games a generation now, and lots of spinoffs." - Tom Happ (creator)

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

"The 3D Metroid games are on the AAA side of things, and with the poor sales/reception of Other M, I think Nintendo sees it as too big of a risk at this point. So I think Federation Force is their way of trying to break out of that trend with something smaller and innovative. But that still doesn't answer why we haven't heard about a 2D Metroid - which might not be that innovative or different, but it would definitely be smaller and lower risk for them. He went on to say that he's "...still holding out hope that something is in the works, maybe for Nintendo's next console. Though I personally have a suspicion that they may feel constrained by all the previous Metroids - they think they have to make a game about Samus, and she gets the Morphball first and the Space Jump last, every time - and are just uninterested in it. Or maybe they tried all kinds of crazy new formulas behind the scenes (Metroid Tennis! Metroid Cooking! Metroid with a Balance Board!) but none of them stuck and they just threw in the towel."

Representation

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

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

Metroid introduced gamers to intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran. At first players were led to believe that the hero was a man - the game’s accompanying booklet referred to Samus as a “he”. But 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. They further developed the weapon and armour upgrade system used in Zelda, and took the pioneering step of allowing players to explore at will by backtracking and revisiting areas of the map. Meanwhile, Hirokazu Tanaka’s eerie soundtrack increased the sense of isolation for the player, aiming to make the player ‘feel as if they were encountering a living creature’.

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

Nintendo offered 5 possible endings, determined by how fast you could finish.Slower players would witness a triumphant Samus in full body armour at the end. But complete the game in a speedy 3 to 5 hours, and you were rewarded with a sequence where Samus’s helmet was removed - (this was the historic moment when ‘he’ was revealed as a she - a huge deal in 1986). If they could complete the challenge in under an hour, were treated to the sight of Samus in a bikini. It was a simple message: the faster you play, the skimpier the outfit. Some players even found they could play the whole game in a teeny weeny bikini if they entered a special password.

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?

In 1986 it is notable that the majority of gamers were male and would have enjoyed and possibly credited (male gaze) the reveal of Samus Aran in a bikini - this follows and reinforces the conventional sexualisation of women in gaming and looking at it even broader, in society as a whole. The reveal in the bikini takes away the credit of a female character being dressed in armour to fit her character role instead of being sexualised as eventually, by the end of the game, she is stripped off and objectified for the dominating audience of male gamers. 

5) How have later versions of the Metroid franchise sexualised the character of Samus Aran?
The questionable message of this early approach - Samus Aran bikini reveal at end of game - has been followed in the decades since by further controversies over the sexualisation of Samus. Like the time she wore heels in a Super Smash Bros game:

6) How can we apply Liesbet van Zoonen’s work to Samus Aran and Metroid?
Van Zoonen believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this behaviour reinforces societal views. The media does this because they believe it reflects dominant social values (what people believe in) and male producers are influenced by this. This is a patriarchy (a society ran by men for men) which dominates and oppresses women.

Liberal Feminism: It is essentially a reformist approach , which tends to see more equal gender relations being brought about by equal opportunities policies and affirmative action programs . It does not appear to question the power dimensions in society that maintain male superiority of status and female inferiority. Instead it concentrates on sex role stereotypes, prescriptions of sex-appropriate behaviours, appearance, interests, skills and self-perceptions (Van Zoonen, 1991: 121 ).
Radical Feminism: Patriarchy a social system in which all men are assumed to dominate and oppress all women, accounts for women’s position in society. Radical feminists have been in the forefront of exposing male abuse of women and politicizing issues formerly considered as private, such as domestic abuse and more recently, sex tourism and trafficking in women. Van Zoonen believes the media strategies of radical feminism are straightforward: women should create their own means of communication and try to free themselves completely women have to cut off all ties with men and male society.

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?

I think that overall Samus Aran is a feminist icon as we do see Nintendo push Samus as an icon of girl power - this is particularly shown through their imaging celebrating Women's History month in 2015 using Samus as their centre image: 
We can see Samus being presented regarding her character rather than her gender - her character is not objectified or sexualised. 
However, it is notable that some elements of the game such as the bikini reveal at the end has a sexualised and objectifying nature, presenting the reveal of Samus Aran's body as a reward to the player for completing the game. 

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?

In many games, particularly the early ones, the faster you beat the game the more naked Samus will appear in the ending, with usually the best ending involving a two-piece bathing suit. While this was originally lauded as a neat twist on video game heroes at the time (surprise! The hero you though was a male in a spacesuit is a girl!) 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?

Hirofumi Matsuoka, who worked on Samus' original design, said she 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...."I’ve always felt that Super Metroidwas basically about a fear of motherhood, but if Wu and McGrody are right those themes might indicate regret of the inability to bear biological children.".

3) Why is Samus Aran useful for male gamers trying to argue videogames are not sexist?  4) Why are Lara Croft, Zelda and Peach not ideal examples to argue for female equality in videogames?

No other female hero has her pedigree. 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. Samus as a good example of a badass woman who can hold her own in a video game and never needs rescuing is something the average entitled male gamer can hold up as proof that it’s not all bad in games.

5) What does the ‘SJW’ in ‘SJW-gender politics’ refer to?

Social justice warrior  is a pejorative term for an individual who promotes socially progressive views, including feminism, civil rights, and multiculturalism, as well as identity 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’? 

Cultivation Theory suggests Television influences its audience to the extent that their world view and perceptions start reflecting what they repeatedly see meaning TV is considered to contribute independently to the way people perceive social reality and will have an effect on the audience’s attitudes and values. The repetitive viewing of representations of women like this makes us get the impression of the way women should be which means an image is constructed for us.

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

The video game industry has been known to represent gender in a traditional, stereotypical manner as representations are quite structural, especially representations of females - it is believed that this may make people object to the way the gender is presented however some people argue that audiences are educated enough to not allow a video game to influence their view and treatment of genders.