Females targeted by DC Super Hero

Introduction

Compared to games that appeal to boys, fewer games are geared at women. There aren’t many video games geared just toward women, and the market is quite small. The American animated video DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games, released in 2017 by Warner Bros., is one game geared toward women. The DC Super Hero Girls franchise-based video game, which was released on May 9th, 2017 features super heroes competing against Korugar Academy in the Intergalactic Games (Bros, 2017). The game is targeted at females since it features young female characters as the heroines and constitutes actions associated with femininity such as own decency, concern for each other, and desire of doing the right thing.

Gameplay and Characters

The game targets females for its use of female superheroes as the main characters who fill the screen with action. The actions involve heroes battling against robots and traitors in their high school and face several physical threats. The dressing is feminine with some characters such as Ivy wearing pants underneath their skirts while the wonder woman is in jeans and bulletproof bracelets. The main theme of the game is also feminine as it emphasizes on positivity and trust in friends. For instance, the dance video used features a visit to Hi De Ho Comics and the costumes of the characters in the cartoon are associated with females (Bros, 2017). The avatars represent various characters depending on the action played or the happening on the stage such as fighting, weapons, fires, explosions, and other physical threats. For instance, super-girl has superhuman speed and Bumblebee is able to shrink all which are super natural happenings.

Expanding the Female Gaming Market

Trying to create a female gamer market is not a way of reinforcing gender stereotypes but is a way of making computer games popular to female fans. Previous game producers have focused on games for males involving a lot of action and fighting popular to male fans. However, trends are changing and currently many games are featuring female characters and actions to attract more women and girls in the gaming industry. To widen the female gaming market there is need for designers to come up with games that feature female activities and femininity to capture the attention. For instance, cartoons dressed in feminine clothing, characters such as queens and princesses as well as play games associated with girls should be created.

The Impact of Violent Video Games

Violence in video games has effects on the players’ thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Research reveals that people that watch violent video games more often tend to be aggressive towards others and may express violent behavior towards their peers (Anderson et. al., 2004). Others suffer from emotional breakdown when they watch violent scenes especially those that show fierce fighting, injuries, and deaths. Some video games are scaring such as the ones that involve supernatural beings and characters may fear walking or being alone due to intense fear. Other people experience nightmares and trouble sleeping after watching violent and scary scenes. For this case, people should choose video games wisely and avoid ones that can lead to adverse effects on their physical and psychological well-being.

References

Anderson, C. A., Carnagey, N. L., Flanagan, M., Benjamin, A. J., Eubanks, J., & Valentine, J. C. (2004). Violent video games: Specific Effects of Violent Content on Aggressive Thoughts and Behavior. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 36, 199-249.

Bros, W. (2017). DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOTnjVqwdcY