1. Assignment 15: Primary &
Secondary Research
Have video games evolved for the better or the worse?
Abigail Menzies
Pamela Younes
Jodie Foster-Pilia
Laura Cuk

2. Jodie foster-Pilia

3. Females represented in video games
Damsel in distress
•
Female characters are often cast in a role of damsel in distress and their rescue as
the final objective of game
•
They are belittled in a sense as they are shown to be quite vulnerable and weak
His task is to rescue the
princess and bring her
back to safety
Here is a game where a
woman is represented
as a damsel in distress
The male (The prince) is
expected to fight the
guards inside a massive
castle where the princess
is trapped

4. YouTube video (female represented as a damsel in distress)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6p5AZp7r_Q&safe=active
She explains that women are normally represented
as a damsel in distress in video games. Damsel in
distress comes from the french word Damoiselle en
détresse. Damoiselle meaning young lady and
detresse meaning anxiety and despair caused by
abandonment or helplessness
The damsel in distress is a plot device, in which
a female character is placed in a situation
which she cannot escape alone and she must
be rescued by a male
The woman is provided as a motivation
for a male quest

5. Flirtatious/Sexual
Her clothing differs from
what is usually associated
with princesses, instead of
having a feminine dress,
she has revealing clothing,
showing her belly and
legs.
The princess is wearing Red
which is a sophisticated and
seductive colour immediately
changing the innocent and needy
princess into a more seductive
princess (Negative stereotype)
The body language shown by the
princess is also quite flirtatious, due
to her leg positioning which seems
rather alluring. (Negative stereotype) The idea of a defenceless woman is
challenged as she is equipped with
her own weapons, and armour
indicating that she can defend
herself (positive stereotype)

6. Female Domestic Roles
This is a children's game, and
therefore is influencing
domestic roles of women at a
young age
The stereotype of women being
domesticated is reinforced. The game
‘Cooking Mamma’ evolves chopping frying
etc. which is targeted at a female audience.
The fact the stereotype of women being domestic could
be seen as both a positive or negative stereotype.
Negative in the sense that women do much more than
just cook, and positive in the fact that women aren't
undermined by being sexualised

7. Public interviews
Expert interviews
Name: Jerome
Name: Miss Sylvester charles Age/A
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Women in video games are always sexy,
they are typically brunettes or blondes,
with a curvy body. Women are used as a
selling tool because if men see this on the
front of a game cover they would be more
likely to purchase the game
Name: Mafalda Age: 17
Female
Gender:
There aren't many females in video games
it is mostly males but if so, they are
portrayed as being sexual to seduce a
particular male.
Women are massively degraded when it
comes to video games, they are seen to be
exploited and demoralised as they are mostly
seen to be in there underwear or even totally
in nude. This then socialises younger girls
negatively as they may aspire to be this way.

8. Article on portrayal of women in videogames
Is the sex appeal in women in video
games ‘nothing but harmless
entertainment or is it ‘degrading women
everywhere?’
What is the difference between
‘acceptable socialisation’ and ‘over
sexualisation of female characters is
video games?
is there actually such a thing as "acceptable
sexualisation"? Or does the very fact that a
character was designed to look sexually
appealing in the first place already classify
such a character as "over sexualised"?
videogames are entertainment after all,
and sex appeal is as valid a part of
entertainment as any other.
http://n4g.com/user/blogpost/zerocrossing/523577

9. Challenges/positive stereotype
• Strong and independent portrayed and highly capable
woman.
• Skilled at hacking and engineering and easily able to
hold her own in a fight,
• Cheerful, witty and even practically attired,
• Fully clothed, decent (not sexualised and revealing

10. •Here I decided to play the
game, ‘Grand theft auto’.
My character was a male
and I experienced, for
myself how women are
presented in these types of
games
•I was able to pay for a
woman to give me an
erotic lap dance
•Playing this game
immediately gave me a
feel of discomfort and
uneasiness. Due to the
vile images shown of
women.
•During the game I was
able to touch and caress
the women in anyway I
pleased as if she were
some sort of object.
Here the woman was give
the male a sexual lap dance

11. Questionnaire
I questioned 10 people regarding females in video games.
Females are represented positively
in video games
I
Females are represented negatively
in video games
IIII IIII
Females are represented correctly in
video games
Females are represented wrong in
video games
III
IIII II
Males are seen as more dominant
than females in video games
Females are seen as more dominant
than males in video games
IIII IIII
•9/10 people think that females are represented negatively in video games
•7/10 people think females are represented wrong in video games
•10/10 people think that males are seen are more dominant than females in video games

12. How are males represented in video
games?

13. What are tropes?
• A trope is a common pattern in a story or a recognisable
attribute in a character that conveys information to the
audience.
• A trope becomes a cliché when its overused.
• Some of these tropes often perpetuate offensive stereotypes.

14. Primary research:
How are men represented in video games?
How are men represented in video games?
Stranger
(Gender – Female) (Age – 18)
I believe that males are represented as a heroic dominant
gender. However, I think this is a negative stereotype
considering the female heroic games like Lara Croft: Tomb
Raider.
Pedro (friend)
(Gender – Male) (Age – 16)
They are not real, I mean only characters can be represented
in a strong muscular way, but this representation has a
negative influence on males.
Blessilda (friend)
(Gender – Female) (Age – 17)

15. Secondary research:
How are males represented in video games?
Source: Wikipedia
The portrayal of men in video games
Men are shown as being big in all aspects. They are shown to be the
more dominant gender role.
Stereotype of male characters in video games:
• Rescues the damsel in distress
• Strong/muscular
• Aggressive/violence
• Some are villains
• Dominant gender role

16. Primary research:
Do you think male are being portrayed as a negative stereotype in video games?
YES
NO
The respondents were from a variety of 14-18 years old
They were both males and females
All British
I interviewed 18 people, strangers and friends
Most males that I interviewed said yes because they believe it is a negative body
image.

17. Secondary research:
Do you think male are being portrayed as a negative stereotype in video games?
YES
NO
Most respondents said yes to males being portrayed as a negative
stereotype in games.
Most believed that the male characters are not real and have a huge
influence on society.
Also some said that they would like to see changes in the portrayal of
male characters that they do not currently observe.

18. Secondary research:
How does male representation impact on society?
Children:
Boys come to see
Spiderman as a masculine
symbol because of his
heroic persona.
Adults:
Males are affected by
male representation in
video games.
Masculine symbols become a
part of a child’s identity.
Males see these characters as the ideal
male and try to gain weight/muscle
mass to become this image.

19. The advancement of video game
technology

20. Evolution of video game graphics
•
•
•
As technology advances over the years so does the quality of video games
Video games are now more realistic and as well as interactive
This evolution of video games and their graphics has now blurred the line between fantasy and reality as
they become more life like
Evolution of fighting games over the years
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_perry_on_videogames.html
This timeline shows how the graphics for video
games has advanced over the years allowing it to be
more detailed as well as violent

21. Evolution of video game violence
•With the evolution of video game violence comes the evolution of video game violence
•Over the years video games have becomes more detailed in their portrayal of violence
Death Race
•Involves the player driving
over gremlins
•Played in black and white
and looks simple however
story behind the game is
violent
Mortal Kombat
•In this fighting game you
can pull out your
opponent’s heart
•Decent quality, blood looks
cartoonish but still portrays
violence
Solider of Fortune
•First shooting game
where you can shoot off
the body parts of enemies
•Blood and damaged body
parts are not designed in
much detail but idea of
shooting enemies’ body
parts is gruesome
http://david-benzino.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/evolution-of-violence-in-video-games.html
Gear of Wars 2
•Can chainsaw enemies in
half
•Blood looks more realistic
and designed in greater detail

22. Realism of video games
•
Due to the advancement of video games and their graphics, some players can’t tell the difference
between the real life and the life of video games and become addicted
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_perry_on_videogames.
html
•This guy (his name isn’t told) believes his brain can no
longer tell difference from real life and virtual world of
video games
•Describes life of video games as his ‘virtual reality’
•He believes to some degree gaming has taught him how to
drive
“Greater realism leads to greater immersion; greater immersion leads to greater effects. One of those
effects can be increased aggression.” - Marina Krcmar (associate professor of communication)
http://news.wfu.edu/2010/12/22/video-games-andrealism/

23. Some argue video games need to be more realistic
•This article shows how many video game
developers try to base their games on as much
characteristics of the real world as possible but
these games still need to be more sense of realism
•Mr. Entis (chief technical officer at EA games) says
that “game worlds must not just look lifelike, but
also react in a realistic manner too”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6934462.stm
•Charities like the Red Cross have argued that war games need to be more realistic by reinforcing the
laws of war for example; punishing the player for killing civilians or using torture to get information
Games like Call of Duty try to avoid this
criticism by not including civilians in their
games at all
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/realistic-war-games-havecollateral-damage-of-their-own/article5236419.ece

24. Audience views on the realism of video games
Name
Age
Gender
Role/Profession
Opinion
Matthew
14
Male
Student
Realism in video games is good cause now I
can relate what I see in video games to every
day real life situations e.g. the change of
weather in grand theft auto
Tracey
37
Female
Mother
The realism can be seen as both positive and
negative cause you have some video games
real enough that you can learn from and you
have negatives ones that can warp your mind
and make u want to do it in reality
Deandre
16
Male
Student
I think how video games have become so
realistic is a good thing as myself as the
gamer feel more engaged and apart of the
video game world but at the same time this is
a bad thing as video games are now a huge
part of my life

25. Dwight
46
Male
Account manager
for commercial
printing
Development of gaming units (xbox,
ps3 etc) has made all the difference .
Video gaming now has a more 3
dimensional look apposed to 2D look
of the past. Video games now look
and feel more life like due to new
technology

26. Evolution of interactive video game consoles
•
Platforms like the Wii, PlayStation move and the Kinect emphasises how the video game technology
has advancement to make the player feel more engaged and apart of the virtual world of video games
December 2006
Designed to allow
users to control the
game with physical
gestures as well as
button-presses
November 2010
December 2012
September 2010
Allows the user to
interact with the
console through
motion and position
in front of a
PlayStation camera
Enables users to control
and interact with the
Xbox 360 without the
need to touch a game
controller, through a
natural user interface
using gestures and
spoken commands
Can be used
alongside Wii console
to enhance virtual
experience

27. Pamela Younes
The Affects of the body and the
mind

28. How it affects body and mind…
Primary Research
Body
Mind
Obesity
Changes their perception of the real
world
Laziness
Mental
Tired
Aggressive
Not facing reality

29. Advantages of video affecting the
body/Mind
Primary Research /Secondary Research
a video game in which players pilot Roxxi the nanobot through the bodies
of fictitious cancer patients, zapping cancer cells with the Chemoblaster,
the Radiation Gun
Would keep us thinking, such as the war games you would think where to
go etc.
Wii fit would keep us active
Source:
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/surprisi
ng-health-benefits-video-games

30. Disadvantages of video affecting the
body/Mind
Primary Research
it would make the body lazy where they would prefer playing video
games rather than going outside and playing football, whereas they prefer
playing it on their game console
It makes the mind aggressive, this can be due to when the person loses
on a game and then becomes aggressive
It can make the person gain weight, where they wouldn’t be active as
there sitting on the sofa and playing games, whereas if they play outside,
there being active and leads to becoming fit.
changes their perception of reality, such as GTA makes the brain think that
all women would be represented that way also the men. Can change
there schema in the real world.

31. How do others Feel about this
Primary Research
Name / Role
Age / Gender
Opinion
Diana - Mother
35 – Female
Its not good, when there playing it everyday as it effects
the brain by making children more aggressive
Elias – Father
42 – Male
its good when it cones to the Wii, it makes them more
fit as they keep moving not sitting down, maybe that’s
one of the reasons why they designed the Wii.
Sally – cousin
15 – Female
I personally don’t think its bad, because its entertaining
and at least it makes your head work as we would be
thinking when playing
Mark – Friend
19 – Male
I think that video games does effect the body / mind.
But there is obviously a limit, I'm a video game player
and I realised that its changes the way we think about
the world, which is completely wrong.

32. What do experts/Theorists say about
this topic?
• Primary Research
Dr Lewis
HMV
“Its good and bad in the same
way, it good as it makes the
children focus, but its bad if
they are on it for too long, can
effect there eyes”
“we need to keep the people
entertained, and the only way is
to keep updating out games”
“some specific games are good
such as the brain age, as they
have specific games to make”
“if we don’t update our games,
we’re falling behind with
technology, we need to keep
up, by improving our games”

33. Educational Game
 Keeps the brain thinking as there
are maths problems
 Educational in an entertaining way
 This would be good for the mind as
its solving problems such as Sudoku

34. Source: http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/02/how-playing-violent-video-games-maychange-the-brain/
Have been many case studies on this…
• Dr. Vincent Matthews designed an experiment
8. their brain
functions still weren’t
quite the same as
before they were
exposed to the violent
games.
1. looked at what
happened in the
brain in 28 students
who were randomly
assigned
7. When Matthews
brought the
participants back after
a week of not playing
video games, their
brain activity had
changed again,
reverting to more
normal reactions
6. Researchers found
that those who played
the violent video games
showed less activity in
areas that involved
emotions, attention
and inhibition of our
impulses
2. play either a
violent, firstperson shooter
game or a nonviolent one every
day for a week.
3. None of the
participants had
much previous
gaming
experience.
Dr.
Vincent
Matthews
4. At the start of the
study, researchers
used functional MRI
to scan brain activity
in the participants
5. The participants
were then scanned
again while they
repeated the same
tasks, after a week
of playing the video
games.

35. Source: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/surprising-health-benefits-videogames
Why does this exist?
Cause laziness
It helps heal cancer, as there's
a special game where it
triggers it
Obesity
Distraction
Good for
education as it
keeps the
mind thinking
Great impact on the children
who play, as different games
can be very stereotypical, and
the children would get the
wrong perception of reality