I have beef with video games and therefor I am completely biased. That is my disclaimer so if you want something objective you will be sadly mistaken by my rampant subjectivity. My house is filled with video games to a point where they become the priority over EVERYTHING. I hate the Wii and the X-Box with a passion.
Now on the other hand, like every other one of my female friends, I love Mario Cart and Dr. Mario. Nothing does it for me more than zoning out to a nice game or Tetris on my cell phone. So there are games I do enjoy, but they do not center my life. Nor do I need rehab for them or stay up until all hours of the night: which is cool but not if it is clearly becoming an addiction.
So instead of being completely subject and lacking self-awareness I began to think about why I don’t like video games. Well, I start by thinking about WHO video games are created for and who they are marketed to. I started doing some more reading and as it turns out an article in Game Zone show:
“males between 14 and 28 are the primary console game market” (Game Zone, 2000)
and Sony Playstation targets 16 years old age category, with Nintendo targeting 12 year old boys, girls between 12-14, and families who like to play. This explains why I like Mario, as Nintendo creates a niche for females.
Then I think about Laura Croft. Turns out that even though some females feel empowered by the character, well that was not the intention of Edios (the company). In Final Fantasies: Virtual Women’s Bodies. Feminist Theory, 4(1): 51-72 by Laura Fantone we are shown an editorial statement given by Tricia Gray (PR for Edios Interactive):
The Lara Croft image that was supposed to come across to people was: here you
have a woman with a nice body, but she likes getting dirty, climbing mountains,
killing predators, finding treasure. It was like guys were infatuated with
Indiana
Jones, so they made a female version of him to suffice their manly needs. . . . This
was supposed to be the all around perfect woman for the creators. A beautiful,
wealthy, tomboyish woman you can control, make her move, jump, run, kill.
(Fantone, 2003, p. 66)
And I thought the problem was me. Turns out the game was never made for me or has anything to do with me. It actually is about the ideal girlfriend that men would enjoy ‘controlling’. So if the company is clearly showing an example of the ways games are targeted to men, well I feel a-okay with saying I don’t like most video games.
I find it especially interesting how the creators of video games and those who created the internet are/were men, but women take these technologies up and make them theirs. I understand it is great for women to have agency with technology, but isn’t there more diversity within the group of people who create such techonologies?
I don’t really identify with this Laura Croft:
Maybe with this one:
I find your post ironic and more of an oxymoron. You say you don’t like video games, but then state how much you love Mario Cart and such. Aren’t those games??? Also, you say you don’t like the Nintendo Wii or the X-Box, but Mario Kart can also be played in the Wii. All you have to do it attach gamecube controllers to the slots in the Wii and you’re set. Also, Tetris being a classic game can be found on gaming system like X-Box. After all, I own the tetris for X-box, so I am wondering how different can a game like Tetris be on X-Box compared to your cell phone?
I like how you also linked last weeks discussion on porn to this weeks discussion on video games, as I also did in my blog this week. Stereotypes are literally found in every media source I can think of and video games are no exception. Men are portrayed as tough, strong, and powerful. Women are portrayed as sex objects, with large breasts and skinny waists. There is something wrong that.
It makes sense that the primary game market is 14-28. I may be wrong, but isn’t age 14 the age when they are into fads? So if their friend has a particular game and or game system, the other person decides that they want it too. I think that this statistic is what it is largely because (at least with under 20yr olds) these people have money but not many expenses.
I found it interesting the comment you made in regards to the gaming people developing the “ideal girlfriend” so that it gives men a chance to control them. I do not know if I necessarily agree with this. I would have to say that I personally feel that it is to get people to play, and with pubertal boys and early adult males being the prime “gamers” what better way to get them attuned to a game than by casting or creating a sexy, femal lead? This makes sense to me. I do not know if I can really grasp the idea of control in a video game…although I do not totally despise them either…However, I think it is an approach worth thinking about? Good post
tb test
Video Games – Not so Much « Corners of My Mind