The game I decided to play is Super Smash Bros., developed by Nintendo and other companies. It is a game that is targeted towards the 6-16 age range.
While the inclusion of female characters does create some sort of gender representation, some design aspects of Super Smash Bros. potentially perpetuates harmful stereotypes and “bro” culture.
Chess explores the “Medium in transition” and “curling of the margins” as a reference to how the gaming industry is evolving towards the inclusion of marginalized voices. Super Smash Bros. is well poised to embrace this transition by diversifying its character roster and storylines. For example, instead of just adding more female characters, the game could add more substance to their backstories, highlighting strengths and independence (possibly doing away with the theme of relying on male characters, such as peach needing to be saved).
The author also talks about the connection between games and masculinity and points out that many games, including Super Smash Bros., are designed for the male audience, underscored by the aggressive nature of the game, male-dominated roster, and more.
From a feminist perspective, there are a few improvements that it can incorporate. In addition to focusing on welcoming all genders, it can also address more specific issues such as that of the representation of female body types in games. Currently, female body types are portrayed in the slender, stereotypical body type, while male body types are portrayed across a wide spectrum. These subtle design decisions perpetuate hyper sexualization of female bodies and only serves to feed into the absence of body positivity and inclusivity. Many characters like Zero Suit Samus and Wii Fit Trainer are sexualized, while most of the larger, stronger characters (i.e., Ganondorf, Bowser, Donkey Kong, etc.) are male. This stereotyping is counterproductive when it comes to reaching true feminist goals in gaming.
Other forms of stereotyping is, for example, how Princess Peach perpetuates the “damsel in distress” trope considering her original role within the Super Mario franchise ass Mario’s love interest and Bowser’s main target.
