Not a day goes by in this world where some issue of race of gender does not come up. Whether it be on a global scene, a local news report, or a personal encounter, these have always been significant issues in society. Although many of the major problems surrounding these topics have been resolved, culture clashes still exist in many forms and in many places, such as the video game industry. Digital games have, for the most part, refused to acknowledge their general lack of equality when it comes producing for all audiences. Most games are produced by males and for males, exaggerating aspects of male interest (such as conquest and combat) and pushing these ideas onto all potential audiences. Not all games, however, keep as narrow a view as this when picking an audience. This essay will examine Nintendo’s Super Mario 64 to see how, as an enormously successful and influential game, it addresses issues of gender and culture, if at all.
The gaming industry has dug itself into a deep trench that caters to a very particular group of gamers. This core target group is what makes game developers money, because the games that are produced are attractive to this core group, so developers continue to makes similar types of games, and thus the gaming market finds itself in a deadly cycle that is unwilling to change and risk losses in profit [1]. Nintendo, however, managed to make a game that was enjoyed by a wide range of people, not just the ‘core market’. Super Mario 64 was not particularly innovative in targeting a minority group of gamers; it was simply attractive to more than the typical boy target group.
Most games have a combat-centered game space, with end goals of either destroying or conquering an enemy or area. In spaces such as these, females are guests in the world of boys. They will play, and sometimes enjoy, the games that work this way, but there is no getting around the intended aim of the developer [2]. SM 64, however, did not have such a narrow game space. The world that the character inhabits is expansive and open-ended, with goals of exploration and collection. This game introduced the idea of an over world that was still part of the real world, part of the narrative and playable by the character. Mario could move freely about the castle as he collects stars, discovers areas, and unlocks new worlds. The goals of the individual worlds—while at times focusing on the destruction of some kind of enemy—usually rely on reaching new areas of the map, solving puzzles, finding secret areas, and just general exploration. Fullerton et al talk about the importance of spaces and the idea of a ‘secret place’ when designing with females in mind:
Secrecy is… a large part of classic children’s literature, and specifically literature focusing on female characters… These alternative universes cry out for player agency, for players to not only be transformed by, but also to transform the space as part of the play experience... [2]
Obviously this game was not specifically targeted at girls, and many aspects of the design are catered towards masculine interests and ideas for achievement. The main character is a plumber who has to save the beautiful princess (who is clad almost entirely in pink) from the evil monster. For the most part, however, the gender exaggerations and stereotypes end there. The tasks Mario must complete are not specifically masculine, he never fights with a weapon, and he isn’t overly muscular. In short, this character could easily be a female, pending some alterations to the narrative. So another attractive feature of SM 64 to females and the non-core gamers is its lack of boy focus. Most video games can be seen as a parallel to boy childhoods. ‘Boy culture’ becomes shifted into the digital world, leaving little room for girls to move in and join in the play space [3]. But SM 64 creates a world centered on goals that can be seen in both the childhood play of girls and boys: exploration, collection, decision-making, and discovering secrets, for example.
Game design does not necessarily need to push for designing games specifically for girls (although this couldn’t hurt, and has been done before with some success) but simply needs to make games more accessible to wider audiences. Getting too specific in games can lead to failure at times, as some games of the girls’ games movement demonstrate, where extremely ‘girly’ games lead to financial bombs. But a change must be made to allow for males and females alike to inhabit the gaming community [4]. SM 64 gave a glimpse of how it is possible to create a game accessible by many, and its influence led to the creation of similar platformers, although many reverted back to a heavy male focus. The game was still played primarily by males, because the industry’s audience is male dominated, and one game cannot change that alone. But it was played and enjoyed by many, and its influence is still being explored today. There exists massive untapped markets outside of the core gamers, and if game designers will take a risk and work towards breaking from the deadly cycle of industry entrenchment, games could begin to rise to a new level of influence and respect.
Works Cited
1. Fron,
J., Fullerton, T., Morie, J. & Pearce, C. (2007). “The Hegemony of Play”. In Situated
Play: Proceedings of Digital Games Research Association 2007 Conference.
Tokyo, Japan. 1-10.
2. Fullerton,
T., Morie, J. & Pearce, C. (2007). “A Game Of Ones Own: Towards a New Gendered
Poetics of Game Space”. In Proceedings, Digital Arts & Culture 2007, Perth,
Australia. 1-11.
3. Jenkins, H. (2004). “Game design as
narrative architecture”. The Game Design Reader,
670-686.
4. Laurel,
B. (2001). Utopian Entrepreneur. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
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