Evolution
of Females within Video Games
A video game is a game that is electronically played
by changing images produced by a computer that is displayed onto a screen. It
also involved human interaction and a form of controls e.g. keys on a keyboard
or a portable controller.
The very first video
game was created in 1947, just after WWII. It was created by Thomas T. Goldsmith and Estle Ray Mann
who were inspired by the missile displays used in WWII. Th game is called ‘The
Cathode Ray Tube. From then till 1981 video games did not include any female
characters, Playable or Non-Playable, mostly because until the 1970’2 video
game characters didn’t have a ‘gender’.
In 1981 Nintendo
brought out a game; Donkey Kong which featured the very first female character
within a video game. The name of this female
character was ‘Lady’ and she just served the purpose of the game; for the
protagonist to save her.
From 1981-1988 the female character within video games
were mostly shown as the ‘Damsel in Distress’ waiting to be saved by the hegemonic
male hero. Metroid was the first video game to feature a female protagonist,
where she is the hero/saviour of the game instead of the stereotypical male.
This happened in 1988 when Nintendo released the game Metroid, which is a very
successful franchise. Within the game, the player does not find out that the
main protagonist is a woman until the very end of the game.
Since
then the gaming industry has created games that have a female protagonist e.g.
Jill Valentine in Resident Evil (1996) Lara Croft in Tomb Raider (1996) and
Chell in Portal (2007)
The Evolution of Taki: Soul Calibur
When the character of ‘Taki’ first showed up in the
Soul Calibur franchise she was ‘cartooned’ and there was a very big focus
within every screenshot on her backside, which was for the benefit of the male
audience. Her costume is ‘skin tight’ and has very little armour. Her face is
also half covered by a mask, and the weapon is holding has no detail to it. The
overall image of the character shows her to be graceful and vulnerable, which
hints that she is going to need ‘saving’.
In the second
game within the franchise ‘Taki’ was made 3D however her mouth was covered by a
cloth and her arms and top of the chest was bare. In the image the focus is on
the front of her body and her breasts. The armour she had previously has been
taken away, and another weapon has been added; a blade, to go with the first
blade.
The image of ‘Taki’ completely changed in the Soul
Calibur II game because the screenshots were mostly focused on her backside and
her chest, which has been enhanced to look bigger since the first game. The
positioning of ‘Taki’ shows her to be sexualised in the sense that both her
chest and her backside can be seen. The colour of the outfit is still the same
and is still skin tight, however the armour has changed colour and has also
been added to her waist again.
Soul Calibur III , made in 2005 has a completely
different image of ‘Taki’ again. This type her costume has changed from red to
navy blue and has more armour around the shoulders and chest. The mask covering
her mouth has been added and she also has a second weapon attached to her lower
back. The image of ‘Taki’ is still sexualised as the use of the armour highlights
the characters breasts. Overall ‘Taki’ does look more realistic, however the
colours used still make her look like a cartoon drawing.
Within the 5th installment of the Soul
Calibur franchise, ‘Taki’ is shown in a sexualised way, through her positioning
that draws attention to the breasts and her thighs, which is stereo-typically to
attract a male audience. The image immediately draws the audience’s attention
to her breasts because they are drawn bigger and the costume also makes them
seem bigger by the use of armour situated around the chest. The
graphics make the costume seem more realistic with the natural lighting added,
however the overall image still looks like a cartoon e.g. the upper part of her
body, and the shape of the character still looks like someone has drawn her.
In the latest game Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, that
was released in 2009 , the character of ‘Taki’ was given a different outfit
which is now pink and also allows the character to show more ‘skin’ , by the
use of netted material on the sides and around the back of the costume where
the rib cage is situated. The image of the character is also very realistic
through the use of 3D imagery. The positioning of the character isn't as
sexualised as before, but more ‘ready for action’ and ‘no-one messes with her’.
The Evolution of Princess Peach
In 1985 Princess Peach made her first appearance in
the original Super Mario Bros. NES game, as Princess Toadstool. She was the
damsel in distress and the two protagonists; Mario and Luigi, had to rescue
her. However the player had to complete 8 levels to actually find her. In this game the image of Princess Peach is very
small and pix-elated.
The Super Mario Bros. 2 game gave the player the
option to play as the Princess, even though she was the slowest runner and couldn't collect items as fast as the other characters. Her only real ability was that
she was able to float in the air for long distances at a time, with her skills
for jumping.
Princess Toadstool provided special items for the main
protagonists in Super Mario Bros. 3. But she still gets kidnapped within this
game as well by the villain ‘King Koopa’. This was in 1990.
2005 was the year that Princess Peach changed her
outfit from the normal long pink dress to a basketball outfit of shorts and a
t-shirt.
Princess Peach goes back to being the damsel in
distress in the 2006 Nintendo DS game Super Princess Peach/ New Super Mario
Bros. DS. Within this game Princess Peach goes back to being 2D, however the
drawing makes her look 3D. The coloured used are block colours which, again,
shows that she is a cartoon character.
In 2008 Mario Kart WII was introduced and it gave the
player two different options concerning Princess Peach. The first option is to
play as Princess Peach, and the second option is to play Baby Princess Peach.
In this one Princess Peach has her own pink vehicles e.g. Motorbike, cars etc. The
image of her within this games shows her to be very realistic, but still have
that ‘cartoon feel’ to her.
When the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games series
was introduced the character of Princess Peach could be played by the audience.
In these games she had difference outfits according to the Olympic game e.g.
swimming costume, gymnastic costume etc.
However throughout all of the games that Princess
Peach has been in, she has still kept her trademark colour Pink.
No comments:
Post a Comment