Task 6

The game that I have chosen to write about is MLB 09 which is obviously a sports game. Every character in this video game is male. From the players on the team, to the broadcasters voice commentating during the game. There is not a single aspect of this game which involves women in any sort of way.

This game is similar to some of the online computer games because the player can create a character from scratch. However, the only choice is male, but the player can adjust any aspect of the avatar from eye position to weight and height.

In this game race is not really an issue. It is more about being realistic and making sure that it incorporates all the players in real life baseball. In real life baseball their are numerous players from different parts of the western world, from South America to Canada. That being said, any male of any race could relate to the game. Even with the avatars that the gamer can create because of all the different skin colours to choose from.

Part 2:

Totilo, Stephen. (2006). Can Social-Change Video Games Tackle Divorce, Poverty, Genocide?
Retrieved May 21, 2009, from
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1535474/20060629/index.jhtml?headlines=true
The article from this website talks about how people think that video games are incredibly violent. Then it goes on to talk about all the good games which are accessable online, which resemble problems in everyday life such as families dealing with poverty, families dealing with divorce, solving major problems between two opposing countries. I would use this article in my paper to support the message which the game provides to the gamers playing it about actual events in the real world.

Dill, Karen. (2007). Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People’s Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions. Journal of Sex Roles, 57: 851-864. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://www.springerlink.com/content/d7667776258nt866/fulltext.pdf?page=1
This article focuses on the portrayal of gender roles in video games. I can use this article in my essay by explaining the roles of each gender in the game Ayiti. There are not specific roles for each gender. the player can choose which gender does what task, whether it is working on the local farm or being educated.

Entertainment Software Association. (n.d.). Video games and social issues. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://www.theesa.com/gamesindailylife/social_issues.pdf.
This article talks about the video game industry being a new way to connect to the public in the 21st century. It is a way to explain to young teenagers and those unable to travel to poverty stricken countries, the continuing issues going on in other countries accross the globe. I can incorporate this article into my paper when I talk about the social interaction created by video games in recent years.

Dill, Karen. (2006-2009). Gender and Race on the Screen. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/gender-race-screen/.
This article touches on both the issues of Race and Gender in video screens. It says that women of colour are almost completely non-existent in video games and that video games have typical stereotypes of each race. The black men in the games are criminals and gangsters compared to the white who are more dominant in heroic roles. The part I plan to use in my paper from this article is near the beginning when it talks about the role of women in real life as housewives and how they are viewed in video games now as objects.