The Sims FreePlay CSP - Language & Representations blog tasks

The Sims FreePlay CSP - Language & Representations blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'The Sims FreePlay CSP - Language & Representations' and complete the following tasks.

Language / Gameplay analysis

Watch The Sims: FreePlay trailer and answer the following questions:

1) What elements of gameplay are shown?

Sandbox stereotypes, free will of anything that happens within the game as long as it's within the games boundaries. The ability to find love, have pets and create a town are also present here.

2) What audience is the trailer targeting?

It could be argued that it may be targeting children in order to give them an early prospect of a stereotypical life, or even possibly teenagers for the same reason.

3) What audience pleasures are suggested by the trailer?

Diversion as you are able to escape from the real world to your own virtual world. Personal relation as you are able to connect with the Sims that you create. Surveillance as it allows you to learn more about how the real world (reinforces capitalist ideas)

Now watch this walk-through of the beginning of The Sims FreePlay and answer the following questions:

1) How is the game constructed?

It is constructed by using an over-the-top view of Sim City, they also use tutorials and helps reinforce the middle-class ideals.

2) What audience is this game targeting?

A predominantly female audience, ranging from possibly children to younger teens.

3) What audience pleasures does the game provide?

4) How does the game encourage in-app purchases?

They create certain features such as being able to have children or the Sim Gems and place said content behind walls that allow you to engage in new content and speed up game progress.

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?

Capitalist ideals such as going to school and getting a job are reinforced. Other stereotypes are that you must have a family and have a pet and children.

2) What stereotypes have you identified in The Sims FreePlay?

Middle-class suburban life. Family life, school life and work life stereotypes are being reinforced.

3) What media theories can you apply to representations in The Sims FreePlay?

Butler's "gender is a performance", Gauntlett's gender fluidity, Gilroy's double consciousness.

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?

In terms of actions in the game, the game intends to be realistic using real-life ideals such as getting paid for doing tasks, falling in love with people and having a family. The game does a good job of representing this, even going as far as making the player wait in real time for tasks to be completed.

2) How has The Sims tried to create more realistic representations of ethnicity?

The Create a Sim feature allows unrestricted access to create a sim to be as they wish. even allowing subtle changes to their appearance while limiting stereotypes.

3) How has The Sims responded to racism and sexism in society?

"Our game is kind of a caricature of life. We don’t really have a message—there’s no racism message, there’s no tolerance message. We have same-sex marriage in our game. Our Sims will not discriminate based on gender preference whatsoever. But there’s a line where it becomes too real. The only manner of hatred we have in the game is between incompatible Sims, something that’s driven by the traits of the Sim—a hotheaded Sim, or a Sim who hates children."

4) What is The Sims perspective on gender fluidity and identity?

Currently, and the way it has always been, players have only two genders to choose from - 'male' and 'female'. Maxis' PR manager states that gender fluidity has been a topic the team has been discussing a lot. They have thought about whether they should add other gender identities or not have any gender option at all but it is not something that has come to a final decision yet.

5) How does The Sims reinforce the dominant capitalist ideologies of American culture?

The game revolves around performing tasks to acquire money in-game which is used to buy items to gain more money and get a job to provide for your in-game money as well as the middle-class lifestyle that the Sims revolves around

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?

"When he was originally hired on in October 1998 to program the behaviors of the sims, Barrett was given old design documents to work off of. These documents included the allowance of same sex relationships, which had been scrapped to avoid controversy. Unaware of this, Barrett programmed the feature back into the game. When Will Wright saw this in passing, he simply said he was happy to see the feature included in the game again."

2) How is sexuality now represented in The Sims?

Yet, one of the game’s riskier inclusions — the ability to make characters LGBTQ — proved to be a saving grace, drawing positive publicity to the title when it needed it most. It continued to do so throughout the series’ lifetime as well, allowing it to establish itself as one of the better examples of diversity in character sexuality across the whole of the medium.

3) Why have fans praised the inclusion of LGBTQ relationships in The Sims franchise?

“The Sims helped me a lot,” reddit user iErgunn said. “I was only 5 years old when the Sims came out, but I remember it was a huge part of my childhood since same sex relationships were possible. The connotation that you could just do that played a huge role in my perception of sexuality, that it was not wrong but one of the most normal things ever.”

4) Why did the Sims run into regulatory difficulties with American regulator the ESRB? How did EA respond?

“When we went to the ESRB on The Sims 1, they didn’t have any guidelines on same sex support because no game had ever done it,” Barrett said. “So we got a T-rating. Well, we didn’t know, but the ESRB corrected that after the game shipped and same sex support was an automatic M.” This posed a serious problem. Fans had contacted the team regularly about how much they loved the feature’s inclusion, and their fears that it could be removed in later versions. On top of this, the team was proud of its inclusion and wanted to stand by an integral part of the game that had been intended from the beginning.

5) How is sexuality represented in the wider videogames industry today?

“I don’t think the industry as a whole, or actually at all, has picked up the ball from where The Sims left it,” Barrett said. “It’s really disappointing because The Sims shipped 17 years ago and the rest of the games in the industry haven’t caught up to The Sims yet.”

Reality, postmodernism and The Sims

Read this Paste Magazine feature on reality and The Sims franchise.

1) What does the article suggest about the representation of real life in The Sims 4?

The article suggests that the Sims 4 doesn't have the same excitement as the Sims 3. The Sims 4 is too real and the writer questions how one can 'escape from real life' (the main reason people play video games) when they are constricted in a game that requires them to live a normal, traditional, domestic life.

" The Sims 3 was a magic fantasy free for all smorgasbord of human indulgence. The Sims 4 is basically real adult life and I fucking hate it."

2) What audience pleasures did the writer previously find in The Sims franchise?

The writer loved the magic and fantasy available in The Sims franchise. In particular, the ability to do things you couldn't do in real life and the inventive and mischievous ways to act out or blow off steam.

3) Why the does the writer mention an example of a washer and dryer as additional DLC?

The writer expresses her disappointment in that particular DLC. She never ended up using the expansion because it reminded her of real life- "I have no desire to do laundry in real life, why would I do it in a Sims game after so many years of not having to at all?"

4) In your opinion, has The Sims made an error in trying to make the franchise too realistic?

In my opinion, I think the game has made an error in making the game too realistic. Part of The Sims' pleasures is having the ability to try things out that you are unable to do in real life. If the game resembles real life routine, then there isn't much fun to it. Games are meant as a way of diversion (Blumler and Katz) and making the franchise too realistic means it has lost its appeal.

5) How does this representation of reality link to Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality - the increasingly blurred line between real and constructed?

Baudrillard discusses the increasingly blurred line between real and constructed. In terms of The Sims, the line has practically vanished. The game has become an exact replica of real life and it reinforces the traditional ideologies of a capitalist life- going to school, finding a job, earning money and starting a family.

The Sims FreePlay social media analysis

Analyse The Sims FreePlay Facebook page and Twitter feed.

1) What is the purpose of The Sims FreePlay social media channels?

The purpose of The Sims FreePlay social media channels is to keep players aware of any new updates available or coming soon.

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.

The posts below allow audience interaction because they ask the audience questions. The followers also have the option to comment on a post to share their ideas and even tweet their own content that The Sims FreePlay can then retweet.

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 many requests for new content from gamers on the Facebook page. This is important for the appeal of the game because fans are able to let the creators know what they want and for them to get regular updates.