Sunday, October 25, 2009

Analyzing Mortal Kombat Breifly





Fight! Mortal Kombat is not an easy game until one plays it for duration of time. The characters are made up of different races and gender. One will encounter an Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic and also African American character. This game in my opinion is very diverse and many can relate to the character. When I play this I never really choose the race of my background, but of another race on the chart. The game is highly aggressive and violent at the same time. There are different stages of this game, where one can move up to a higher level. The game usually has three rounds of one fighting their opponent to win the battle. However, one will observe the culture of power and who is really the dominant race in the game. Technically there is more white male character than any other race.

Therefore, there are also character that look like creatures, but one can see the skin color underneath their costume. Would this game be considering violence in pop culture? I think that there are a high percentage of children, adapting what they see in the video game to the reality of their life. It is up to their parent to teach them right from wrong. While playing this game I was fascinating to see that women are not a bystander, but actually fighting in the game. I have been playing this game for years, but have not realized the low percentage of women fighting. After reading the article of “The connection: Life, Knowledge, and Media it made me realize that we cannot always be looking at one perspective of life. The goal is to reconstruct your knowledge, and know there is right and wrong of many situations in life. When I apply this to article to Mortal Kombat, I analyze that in the game that there is a higher percentage of a certain race, but also there is other races to be depicted.

Super Mario Smash Brothers Brawl


The Super Mario Smash Brothers Brawl was so difficult for me when I played it the first time, but I guess I need more practice. When I picked the player that I wanted it was fairly easy, until I actually had to play. It took less than five minutes when I realize that I lost to the other player. I was so anticipated to play another round but there was something in the back of my mind that was just telling me to observe. One will encounter culture of power when playing this game because there are a wide variety of different races, gender and ethnicity. This game is highly aggressive, but very entertaining to watch.

However, I was comparing this game to Mortal Kombat, which I enjoy playing. I observe that there is a tremendous amount of violence that occurs in Mortal Kombat, but Super Mario Smash Brothers Brawl shows less violence then I would have intended. I am very impressed to see that they have a female fight, even though she is very girly, she is not being portrait as a bystander. The characters are look like creatures, but one can tell whether they are a female or a male competitor. This game I think was awesome all though I felt that I killed my own self.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Violence and Pop Culture

Everything this article had to say about violence and pop culture was phenomenal. It gets down to the basic of how children are easily influence by the media. This topic on violence and pop culture is an issue that parents needs to speak to their children about. Should we blame the media for our kid’s action? No I do not think we should blame the media because it is up to the parents to teach their kids right from wrong. When playing video game is violence that occurs at times, but it is up to the child, if they are going to take from the game and use it in life. If they were raise correctly they will know that violence is wrong and it solves nothing. Most of the video games I play are very violent, but I do not allow myself to be influence by the violence I perceive. The game which I enjoy playing and using in my analysis is mortal combat on the super Nintendo. Although it is a fighting game it is very entertaining and interesting in what these characters play. My favorite character is sub-zero because he would always be freezing his opponent to win his battle. Another is Lui Kane, who is popular for his Chinese act with his feet. This game is a challenge, but one can see the different race and ethnic background. There are actually female characters that actually fight, and that is what I like about this game. There are all types of race and gender, so whoever plays this game would not get offended. As the article say parents need to be aware of what their children are watching on the internet and playing. Many children who find themselves as being lonely, usually turn to the internet for comfort. We cannot let go of our children but understand their feelings.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Reaction to Gender in Video Games


Male or Female……We are constantly faced with gender in video games, but why are females portrayed differently from male’s characters? Females are more the bystander in video games and are less likely to be a player controlled character. Are video games trying to say that women are weak? This is what I encounter when I play different video games on a month to month basis. It is true that males are aggressive and more hyper-muscularized, but that does not mean that women have to portray a role that is weak. The game that I am playing one can see that males are the dominant characters and usually the fighter. Therefore, women who are in video games are more attractive in video games based on the clothing that they are wearing. They are also very revealing in showing their breast or even their buttocks. Males who look at females in video games visualized that they are giving off a sex appeal but not being a competitor. However there will always be issues when it deals with males and females in video. Will the stereotyping ever change in video games? In my opinion I do not think so, because most women are less likely to perpetrate violence without the use of weapons according to researchers.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Fair Play Reaction (Race and Gender)


The article Fair Play is very interesting and basically gives one an insight on video games and their stereotyping. Throughout the article one will understand the gender in video games and who have the highest percentage (male or female). Basically the video game that I’m playing at the moment, I see that males are very dominant and females do not have a strong self-image. Males have a stronger emotion toward video games and can handle certain conflict. Females are usually the bystander and males are the player controlled character. I agreed in the article when it said, females characters were sometimes hyper sexualized and male characters were often hyper muscularlized. There is a huge gender stereotyping when it comes to males and females in video games, but many fail to realize the different circumstances. However, when it comes to competitor, fighting, and being the hero, males would have a higher percentage than females. Race is a factor that many indivduals look at when it comes to video gaming. One will look at the color of another character skin color before they choose. Many realize that the half of the human characters in a video game is whites and other races are stereotyped into different categories. Most characters who are Latinos according to the article play sports and Asians are more the fighter. Therefore, African Americans show aggressive behavior in different games. In society we as individuals must put a stop to sterotyping and looking pass a person skin color and their gender.