Language / Gameplay analysis
Watch The Sims: FreePlay trailer and answer the following questions:
1) What elements of gameplay are shown?
Building a house, socialising and romance is emphasised a lot through being able to get married and having children.
2) What audience is the trailer targeting?
As all videogames do this targets boys as usual, however the gameplay and the game allows you to do would appeal to a female audience such as building your dream home and having your own family which correlates with feminist traits. This would also apply to the aspirers psychographics and perhaps the C1 demographics.
3) What audience pleasures are suggested by the trailer?
- Personal Identity - The audience might be able to relate with certain characters, perhaps the job that that character is doing or the lifestyle they have. They might make a home which is similar to their home. They might design the character to look like themselves.
- Personal Relationships - The audience might create certain bonds with the characters they've made and want to take care of them as they are real people. They might take care of the town or the babies as their own.
- Diversion - The game provides a platform for the audience where they can do things that they never imagined and
- Surveillance - Might give an insight to younger people how when you're older, that you are much more independent and have to look after your home, get a job and even have your own family.
Now watch this walk-through of the beginning of The Sims FreePlay and answer the following questions:
1) How is the game constructed?
The game is constructed to allow the audience to build there own town giving them a responsibility to look after it and to look after the citizens. It gives the audience complete control allowing them to do what they want.
2) What audience is this game targeting?
The game is targeting audiences from the aspirers and explorers psychographics giving them and opportunity to live a life which would seem unlivable and idealistic for them, allowing them to try out new jobs and task that life throws at you. This would also appeal to a youth female audience as it goes along with feminist traits of designing your ideal home and having your own family.
3) What audience pleasures does the game provide?
It allows the audience to live their American dream, having the best life you could possibly have, giving them the ideal lifestyle in this sand box genre.
4) How does the game encourage in-app purchases?
It gives the audience to get special edition things in the game and to speed up the rate of production such as a house or for extra added on things in the game.
Representations
Re-watch some of the expansion pack trailers and answer the following questions:
1) How do the expansion pack (DLC) trailers reinforce or challenge dominant ideologies?
Reinforces dominant ideologies of capitalism through education showing the teens working on homework. It also show how you could become a teenage idol or a pop-star, reflecting capitalism again suggesting how everything (in this case the teen sim) is commodified. It also shows women buying clothes in a shop suggesting capitalistic ideologies again suggesting that if you work and earn money, then you have the freedom to spend it on what you need and want.
1) How do the expansion pack (DLC) trailers reinforce or challenge dominant ideologies?
Reinforces dominant ideologies of capitalism through education showing the teens working on homework. It also show how you could become a teenage idol or a pop-star, reflecting capitalism again suggesting how everything (in this case the teen sim) is commodified. It also shows women buying clothes in a shop suggesting capitalistic ideologies again suggesting that if you work and earn money, then you have the freedom to spend it on what you need and want.
2) What stereotypes have you identified in The Sims FreePlay?
Reinforces stereotypes of teenagers of education as there is a new school edition and shows a clip of a teen struggling with homework. It also reinforces the typical teen romance showing 2 teens kissing. It also shows how every teenager wants to be a modern pop-star, known to all people in their generation. It also reinforce women having to dress and look a certain way (Mulvey - male gaze and van Zoonen - sex sells)and how women are materialistic as there is an expansion pack which is showing women buying clothes. There is also a man who is in this shop who looks like he has been portrayed as gay. This is due to how he dressed and standing in very feminised way - a metrosexual man. This is reinforcing the stereotype of that only gay men take part in fashion.
3) What media theories can you apply to representations in The Sims FreePlay?
- bell hooks - the men in the game have the more powerful roles in the game which links towards patriarchal society and how bell hooks suggests that they are more dominant in society.
- Gauntlett - he suggests that identity is fluid an so can change. The players can control the characters identity on how they want it to be, seen through sandbox genre element.
- Gilroy - double consciousness in term of sexuality, the homosexual audience are seeing something portrayed of them which they don't see, when majority of media is depicting heterosexual relationships and is mainly run by heterosexual people.
- Hall - the game suggests that is a mirror reality but doesn't represent ages correctly, can also be applied to gender.
- Gramsci - consumerism -the more you buy, the happier you are. This is shown in the penthouse clip.
- van Zoonen - shows how gender is constructed through the different things done with the characters. Shown in the DLC pack showing how women are linked to materialistic attitudes and how the are expected to dress and look a certain way.
Representation reading
Read this Forbes article on gender and racism in The Sims franchise and answer the following questions:
1) How realistic does The Sims intend to be?
The producers suggest that want to be less realistic and be more believable.
2) How has The Sims tried to create more realistic representations of ethnicity?
They have tried to add certain details with the ethnicities without trying to be too stereotypical.
3) How has The Sims responded to racism and sexism in society?
The characters in the game will not discriminate each other based on their ethnicities or each other in their sexes, and the game allows them to have interracial and same-sex marriages.
4) What is The Sims perspective on gender fluidity and identity?
When creating a Sim, you only get 2 options, male or female. The producers look at their own diversity on their company and try to reflect that. They suggest that it is a topic which comes up a lot and that they will be looking into it, but it is not something that they are "supporting" at this time.
5) How does The Sims reinforce the dominant capitalist ideologies of American culture?
The Sims FreePlay social media analysis
Analyse The Sims FreePlay Facebook page and Twitter feed and answer the following questions:
1) What is the purpose of The Sims FreePlay social media channels?
It provides a platform for the producers to promote their new updates to the game and make their players aware of these additions. It also allows audience interaction with the producers and with each other.
2) Choose three posts (from either Twitter or Facebook) and make a note of what they are and how they encourage audience interaction or response.
3) Scroll down the Facebook feed briefly. How many requests for new content can you find from players? Why is this such as an important part of the appeal for The Sims FreePlay?
There are loads of comments asking for updates e.g. different body shapes, forest themed housing etc. in almost every post. This is an important appeal for the game as it is a sandbox genre game providing escapism for the players allowing them to live life like they never have before.
4) What tweets can you find in the Twitter feed that refer to additional content or other revenue streams for EA?
They are adding new content such as new map expansions and new styles of house designing and including neighbors where players can be neighbors with each other.
Read this Forbes article on gender and racism in The Sims franchise and answer the following questions:
1) How realistic does The Sims intend to be?
The producers suggest that want to be less realistic and be more believable.
2) How has The Sims tried to create more realistic representations of ethnicity?
They have tried to add certain details with the ethnicities without trying to be too stereotypical.
3) How has The Sims responded to racism and sexism in society?
The characters in the game will not discriminate each other based on their ethnicities or each other in their sexes, and the game allows them to have interracial and same-sex marriages.
4) What is The Sims perspective on gender fluidity and identity?
When creating a Sim, you only get 2 options, male or female. The producers look at their own diversity on their company and try to reflect that. They suggest that it is a topic which comes up a lot and that they will be looking into it, but it is not something that they are "supporting" at this time.
5) How does The Sims reinforce the dominant capitalist ideologies of American culture?
It promotes goal-orientated, currency-driven quest ideologies, helping you to economically fulfil your life, linking towards capitalism. It also reflects the American Dream with buying a house, and having the money to have freedom.
Read this New Normative feature on LGBTQ representation in The Sims franchise (the website link no longer works but that will take you to the text of the article - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access). Answer the following questions:
1) How did same-sex relationships unexpectedly help the original Sims game to be a success?
The game was being exhibited at an expo when an attendee was playing a wedding scenario where a same-sex couple shared a kiss. This was never seen before and attracted a lot of attention from LGBTQ+ gamers, the wider audience at the expo, and other attendees who saw this as an opportunity to for new property.
2) How is sexuality now represented in The Sims?
If a sim gets engaged to another sim of the same-sex twice, or to the opposite sex twice, this becomes the normalised and natural preference for the sim. Although at first, marriage was not allowed to take place between sims of the the same-sex, they were referred to as "roommates"
3) Why have fans praised the inclusion of LGBTQ relationships in The Sims franchise?
It helped fans to learn about sexual preferences and same-sex relationships in a safe way or even for the first time. Also at this time, people were trying to fight for gay rights and that this game allowed people to have the freedom that they wanted.
4) Why did the Sims run into regulatory difficulties with American regulator the ESRB? How did EA respond?
The game was given an "M-rating" as it included a same-sex relationships, previously given a "T-rating". The fans contacted the team to tell them how much they loved the update and how they feared that it would disappear. EA felt the same way. EA then convinced ESRB to change the rating back to "T-rating".
5) How is sexuality represented in the wider videogames industry today?
The gaming industry is becoming more accepting to the LGBTQ+ community. Games such as "Fable" allow gay and lesbian relationships and "The Last of Us Part II" made a lesbian kiss.
Reality, postmodernism and The Sims
Read this Paste Magazine feature on reality and The Sims franchise. Answer the following questions:
1) What does the article suggest about the representation of real life in The Sims 4?
That it is too realistic and doesn't provide escapism like the other Sims games did, its just about how life would be when you're an adult and shows the stress of this.
2) What audience pleasures did the writer previously find in The Sims franchise?
The writer talks a lot about escapism and how the other games had different expansions of the map with different supernatural worlds.
3) Why the does the writer mention an example of a washer and dryer as additional DLC?
The writer suggested that they didn't bother buying the DLC as they never used a washer and dryer in real life, why would they use it in a game. They didn't want to add an additional chore for the sim to do to add to its life.
4) In your opinion, has The Sims made an error in trying to make the franchise too realistic?
I think that they have made an error by making it too realistic as the whole point of the game was to provide a platform for the audience to live life like they never have done before. By making it too real, it just feels like a normal life for the audience, allowing them to do nothing new and do the same things they already do in real life.
5) How does this representation of reality link to Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality - the increasingly blurred line between real and constructed?
Read this Paste Magazine feature on reality and The Sims franchise. Answer the following questions:
1) What does the article suggest about the representation of real life in The Sims 4?
That it is too realistic and doesn't provide escapism like the other Sims games did, its just about how life would be when you're an adult and shows the stress of this.
2) What audience pleasures did the writer previously find in The Sims franchise?
The writer talks a lot about escapism and how the other games had different expansions of the map with different supernatural worlds.
3) Why the does the writer mention an example of a washer and dryer as additional DLC?
The writer suggested that they didn't bother buying the DLC as they never used a washer and dryer in real life, why would they use it in a game. They didn't want to add an additional chore for the sim to do to add to its life.
4) In your opinion, has The Sims made an error in trying to make the franchise too realistic?
I think that they have made an error by making it too realistic as the whole point of the game was to provide a platform for the audience to live life like they never have done before. By making it too real, it just feels like a normal life for the audience, allowing them to do nothing new and do the same things they already do in real life.
5) How does this representation of reality link to Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality - the increasingly blurred line between real and constructed?
Baudrillard suggests that we perceive the fake as more real than the actual real reality. The Sims shows hyperreality as it allows the audience to live through a constructed fake game about living life, portraying how real life is when it is not.
The Sims FreePlay social media analysis
Analyse The Sims FreePlay Facebook page and Twitter feed and answer the following questions:
1) What is the purpose of The Sims FreePlay social media channels?
It provides a platform for the producers to promote their new updates to the game and make their players aware of these additions. It also allows audience interaction with the producers and with each other.
2) Choose three posts (from either Twitter or Facebook) and make a note of what they are and how they encourage audience interaction or response.
- On the Facebook page they have posted a post saying they updated a bug in the game and ask the audience to reach out if they need any help etc. encouraging the audience to respond to them.
- On there Twitter page there is a post asking a question with a poll to vote allowing the audience to interact.
- On the Facebook page there is a post saying to watch a trailer and comment there telling them to write there thoughts of this clip.
3) Scroll down the Facebook feed briefly. How many requests for new content can you find from players? Why is this such as an important part of the appeal for The Sims FreePlay?
There are loads of comments asking for updates e.g. different body shapes, forest themed housing etc. in almost every post. This is an important appeal for the game as it is a sandbox genre game providing escapism for the players allowing them to live life like they never have before.
4) What tweets can you find in the Twitter feed that refer to additional content or other revenue streams for EA?
They are adding new content such as new map expansions and new styles of house designing and including neighbors where players can be neighbors with each other.
Extension: Postmodernism academic reading
If you're interested (or planning on studying Media or Cultural Studies at university), read this highly academic and challenging summary of hyperreality, implosion and postmodern theory from the University of Chicago. Consider how these approaches apply to the digital media landscape we’ve been studying and in particular the videogame industry and franchises like The Sims. For example, linking to our work on postmodernism and The Sims, how could The Sims FreePlay's social media presence be an example of Baudrillard’s hyperreality and simulacra?
If you're interested (or planning on studying Media or Cultural Studies at university), read this highly academic and challenging summary of hyperreality, implosion and postmodern theory from the University of Chicago. Consider how these approaches apply to the digital media landscape we’ve been studying and in particular the videogame industry and franchises like The Sims. For example, linking to our work on postmodernism and The Sims, how could The Sims FreePlay's social media presence be an example of Baudrillard’s hyperreality and simulacra?
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