Super Smash Bros. Brawl & Wii Sports

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one fun crazy game. Once I began to play, it was difficult to keep up with the fight and keep track of where my character was. Next thing I know I lost the match not realizing what happened. Its the type of game that you need some practice if you wanna be good at it. I did like that the control was fairly simple. I found it interesting the characters consisted a mix of male and females and non-humans. Princess Peach put up a good fight considering how girly she looked. On the other hand, theres Wii Sports. I found that game to be very entertaining. I admit I wanted to continue playing that game after the class ended. My two favorite games were tennis and cow racing. In regards to cow racing, I thought the motion control gameplay was pretty cool. It's intriguing how diverse the avatars were. Being able to customize a male or female avatar to your taste is real neat. It shows the developers were open to diversity.

Violence and Pop Culture

Finally! I have to thank the author for sharing with everyone that media is not to blame for the teen's violent actions. The attention should be focused with what children are doing with the media. Why has it taken so long to acknowledge this? From time to time, browsing through ign.com, gamespot or gamepro, there would be an article about a teenager who killed his sister over a wrestling move he saw in a game or random shooting because the kid thought it was cool to see that in a video game. Rockstar company has dealt with this situation several times with one lawsuit after another being the blame for the kids violent actions from their GTA games. Stories like these upset me because society needs someone to blame and they point fingers at game developers. Hey genius! Point the fingers at the kid and their parents. I have worked at Gamestop myself and you have no idea how often I would have an underage kid ask me to sell him an "M" rated game or parents purchasing a game that is not appropriate for this child. And I would inform them exactly what the game contains and how it's not suited for young children. Yet, seeing their lack of knowledge to potential consequences left me surprised.

The article states that students draw into their world the darkest, most brutal, antisocial images available to them and turn those symbols into vehicles for their personal demons, their self-destructive impulses, their desires to hurt those who have hurt them. This statement is almost genius because THIS is what children, who go out commiting stupid crimes, are doing with the media. This is how they interpret the games they interact with. It's not the game developers fault. They have a clear targeted audience for their product. They have no control as to who plays their game. The parents need to have a better disciplinary system for their child and video games. Game designers dont advertise their violent game to children with signs that say "Shooting people is cool. It's fun commiting crimes in video games so go out and apply it to the real world!"

Society needs to wake up and smell the coffee.

GTA: Vice City

Ok, I've played the game before back when it first came out and I was amazed by the graphics. Despite being one of the most controversial and stereotypical game of GTA series, lets face it: Rockstar is very balsy. I give them credit for sticking their necks out there. You beat up a hooker on the street to get money and you kill cops, haitans and cubans just for fun. In regards to the story, a drug deal goes wrong and Tommy tries to solve the situation. The series blows me away of how violence is so significant to the story and becomes justified by rewarding the player. Good thing there is consequence having the cops chase you down. Personally, I found Vice City boring and it reminded me that I never beat the game when I first played it. I'm sure the game becomes more intriguing after the first couple of mission but it never held my attention enough to ride through the whole thing. Yet, GTA 4,the game that raised the bar for GTA series was the first one I beat. Yea, you have the same stereotypical elements from the previous games but the game is so much more in depth. You can even meet game characters from online in the game world. Crazy, cool and weird at the same time. If you never played part 4, give it a try, you'll be taken back by just how much you can do.

Fair Play

After reading this article, I was kinda surprised at what the pie graphs revealed and all the percentile facts about violence, gender and race to video games. The author points out the male characters were most likley to be portrayed as competitors (47%), while female characters were most likely to be portrayed as props or bystanders (50%). However, given the nature of today's video games, I have to object to this fact. I'm not saying it is not true because 5-10 yrs ago that was the case, but gender, race and its relation to violence in video games is drastically changing now. Take for example the game Infamous. The main character, Cole, is a male and the supporting female is his girlfriend. While Cole is trying to adapt to his newfound powers and making critical choices to either save or destroy New York City, his girlfriend appears to make her own contribution to save what is left of the city. Ontop of that, Cole is forced to make a deal and work under a mysterious woman working for the government. The game developers have integrated the roles of these woman to the plot of the story. What is more interesting about this game is how your act of violence can either help or destroy New York City. Society will either praise your character, looking up to him as a hero or villain.

Another example is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Aside from being a masterpiece, throughout its campaign, the story makes it clear that the women in the game can do just about anything the main character can. Yes, the main character, Drake, is a white male, but the women show they can hold their own during a gun fight. One thing the article mentioned that caught my attention is that females in rated "E" games show more skin than what is considered appropriate for kids to play. Further revealing that its violent content is significant to the plot. But in regards to race, it is true that the only genre that shows a variety of race is sports genre whereas action/adventure games always have a white male as the competitor.

EA Sports Active!

EA Sports has delivered a game that seems to promise huge results in sports and fitness. After reading the review and video review from ign.com, I found myself wanting to try this game out myself. Unfortunately I dont have a Wii, so thats out of the question. This game is similar to Wii Fit. You start off by creating your own profile and fill out a daily journal that calculated your daily amount of food and exercise. The fitness program can even last for 30 days. Talk about consistency! Based on the videos, it was pretty cool how players interacted with the controllers, resistant band and leg strap that detects your body movements that corresponds with your avatar.

Now, a few things to point out about this game:
1. The game includes a real-life certified personal trainer, Bob Greene.
2. The game does not offer much information about Bob Greene.
3. The game's clearly targeted audience is women.

It was intriguing that the review itself pointed out that this game mainly targets women. The video demos on the website only showed one man interacting with the game. Although the game has a male personal trainer who certified the 30 day program in the game, the videos never show a male avatar, only female avatars. Again, it further indicates the game is targeted for women and will not appeal to the male audience. As I watched the videos, I took mental note that only a white and asian women appeared to interact with the game. There were no african-american or hispanic women playing the game. The game itself didnt show avatars of different race either. Only white female avatars. Keep in mind, it does have an option for male avatar.
Supposedly a sequel will be released soon, we'll see how different that one will be.

Fair Play?

While reading this article, I found myself surprised how educational the context is. It actually broadened my perspective how I view video games. It's intriguing how the article points out the lack of ESRBs accuracy to give appropriate ratings on video games. Experts found that 32% of games rated E (Everyone) was inappropriate for 3-7 yr olds, 13% of E-rated games were inappropriate for 8-12 yr olds and 57% of the T (Teen) rated games were questionable for 12-17 yr olds. Now that is huge!
Also, there is the issue of gender. After reading this section, looking back at countless video games I've played, I realized there is a lack of women as player-controlled characters. Sure, theres the Tomb Raider series, the recently released WET game, the female sidekick in Resident Evil 5, and several others. But the majority of player-controlled characters are male, particularly white males. The article does have a point in saying there are few Hispanic and Asian characters whom usually appear in sport genres than any other genres. There is not one video game I have seen that reveals female characters without portraying them as hyper sexualized. Every female game character has a "perfect" body and showing a good amount of skin. Unfortunately all of this sends out the wrong messages to kids about what the norm is in society.

Character Investigation

In the entertainment media, stereotypes are most effective in three ways: Limited exposure, the range of characters portrayed and projected through simple characters. One thing that caught my attention about this article is their statement about Asian Americans. It is stated that very few Asian Americans portray simple or complex characters on prime time television. Now to educate you a bit, simple characters are one-dimensional and unrealistic whereas complex characters are multilayered, contradictory, and nearly a reflection of real people. In regards to Asian Americans, it's interesting the article points out their lack in numbers of appears on TV. To my knowledge, there is not one show on TV that stars an Asian American. Sure, every other show might have one has an intelligent supporting character, but never has the leading role. Stereotype!
Another thing I liked about this section of the article is the differentiation between major and minor characters. As an experienced actor, I am no stranger to these two terms. Major characters are the center of the plot. If they are abscent, the plot makes no sense. On the other hand, minor characters are other characters that have speaking parts. Yet, going back to Asian Americans, not one show I have seen portrays them as a major character. They always appear as minor character. Stereotype!
Characters in Entertainment Media are seen as four types:
1. Mimetic: Complex characters that demonstrate depth, contradictions, and ambiguity.
2. Ironic: A character who may not appear intelligent, may be more like a caricature person.
3. Romantic: Does not necessarily involve love and affection but rather appear real in personality.
4. Superhero: Self explanatory. Characters that possess superhuman powers. Superman, Batman, Bionic Woman. Duh!