Media Studies Blog

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Our second videogames CSP is Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004). Representation Read  this BBC3 feature on Samus Aran  and answer the questions below: 1) What was notable about the original Metroid game in 1986? At first players were led to believe that the hero was a man as the game’s accompanying booklet referred to Samus as a “he”. But those who completed the game fast enough saw that at the end Samus revealed herself to be a woman. 2) What were the inspirations behind the gameplay and construction of Metroid? There inspirations came from games like Mario and Zelda, as well as the film Alien. They further developed the weapon and armour upgrade system used in Zelda. 3) Why are the endings to the original Metroid considered controversial? It’s because Nintendo offered 5 possible endings, determined by how fast you could finish the game. Slower players would see Samus in full body armour but if it was completed in 3-5hours she would take her helmet of...

Read  this Pocket Gamer interview with EA’s Amanda Schofield , Senior Producer on The Sims FreePlay at EA's Melbourne-based Firemonkeys studio. Answer the following questions: 1) How has The Sims FreePlay evolved since launch? At its release, The Sims FreePlay allowed you to   control 16 Sims, have a pet dog and a career. Five years later, however, you can get married, have children, buy more clothes, decorate your house in an infinite amount of ways, p ets now range from puppies and kittens to dragons and fairies and the world is full of places for Sims to go. 2) Why does Amanda Schofield suggest ‘games aren’t products any more’? She suggests they are '   services built in a partnership with our players.' and this is because  customer support and community management are a critical part of the game development process and must be embedded within the game teams so they not only know what their players are saying about the newest update, but they also can qui...

A REVIEW OF THE CSP’S Teen Vogue  might, in a terribly patriarchal way, conjure up images of ultra-feminised vapidity but it has become highly politicised and socially engaged – in fact it has become the go-to news source for a particular slice of the audience (some surprisingly big news editors keep an eye on Teen Vogue’s pages). Go and  check out their homepage right now!  As I write the top stories include abortion rights, whitewashing in Hollywood and youth voting. The mag has been at the forefront of both the gun control debate and the anti-Trump resistance. Some really useful articles about how Teen Vogue changed and became impactful can be found  here,  here,  and here! Remember that Vogue is the most famous magazine in the world (it has been doing its thing since 1892. In 1905 Condé Montrose Nast bought the magazine and it has been the heart of the Condé Nast magazine empire ever since. Italian Vogue is  the  fashion bible and th...