The range of sporting games for a range of gaming consoles is immense. Cricket, the NBA, FIFA, NFL, NHL, UFC, WWE, MLB - among many others - are all represented in games. It is a subject that encompasses not only gaming culture but sports culture as well.
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Courtesy: http://thespawnpointblog.com
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According to Stuart Hall, “the event must become a ‘story’ before it can become a communicative event” (Hall, 1980: 52). The unfolding of basketball through seasons and playoffs, and as such, the gaming medium of sports creates a context through which it can be ‘read’ or interpreted by its audience. Although signified messages may be encoded in one way they may be decoded by audiences in another. The reading of messages can be preferred/dominant-hegemonic (the way a message has been encoded to reflect social/political ideologues), negotiated (that which adapts the hegemonic reading on a situational level), and oppositional (Hall, 1980: 59-61). The encoding and decoding of media messages are the “determinate moments” of an audience’s understanding (Hall, 1980: 52). Being a huge NBA fan, I’ll specifically be looking at the different readings of the NBA 2K series.
The fact that most, if not all, of these sporting games are made to only feature male leagues is an issue of gender inequality in itself and reflects a social condition that places men’s sport over women’s. The commentary, that is not necessarily predisposed to any gender specification, in the NBA 2K series also illustrates this predominance of male figures in sport and any representations thereof. Of all the commentators since its initiation in 1999, NBA 2K has only seen one female commentator: Michele Tafoya. NBA 2K (excluding the PS2 version) features Cheryle Miller and NBA 2K11 includes Doris Burke, both as sideline reporters. It could be said that it’s an authentic representation of reality but that just means the dominant-hegemonic reading of this text validates the broader occurrence of male-dominated sport.
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| Courtesy: http://live.drjays.com/index.php/2010/10/05/nba-2k11-review/ |
In NBA 2K9 gamers can create their own players and teams. For players, physical appearance, tattoos, gears, but also ability, play style and signature moves can be established according to the gamer’s will. This ability to create and change the subjects through which the gamer plays, allows a negotiated reading of the gender, race and age of professional basketball players. Choosing the ‘pre-made’ but real players, however - Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, etc. - reinforces dominant ideologues about professional athletes.
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| Courtesy: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1354137-nba-2k13-review-gameplay-impressions-and-features-for-hit-basketball-video-game |
In 2K13, representations of class are established through the soundtrack. Made in collaboration with exec. producer Jay-Z, the soundtrack reflects the hip-hop culture that surrounds the NBA and basketball in general. It’s ironic then that the preferred reading of the game - if read in relation to the soundtrack - is of a subculture and therefore promotes opposition to the traditional dominant-hegemonic order.
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| Courtesy: http://totalrevue.com/nba-2k14-announced-featuring-lebron-james-box-art/ |
For player LeBron James, “...NBA 2K is among the coolest and purest ways for fans to connect to the NBA” (Whitaker, AllBall Blog, 2013). This interactivity (Rassens, 2005) of NBA 2K series gamers enables a negotiated or even opposing reading of representations of gender, age, class and race but does not guarantee it.
References:
Hall, S 1973, ‘Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse’, Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham, England, pp. 507-17, accessed 2 Sept 2013, >http://visualstudies.buffalo.edu/coursenotes/art250/250A/_assets/_readings/encoding_decoding_hall.pdf< Lee, N 2012, ‘Game Review: NBA 2K Series’, Blogspot, 26 September, accessed 3 Sept 2013, >http://lenam701.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/game-review-nba-2k-series.html<
Rassens, J 2005, ‘Computer Games as Participatory Media Culture’, Handbook of Computer Studies, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., pp. 373-388
Robinson, J, 2012, ‘Jay-Z named ‘NBA 2K’ Executive Producer’, ESPN Playbook, 31 July, accessed 3 Sept 2013, >http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/tech/post/_/id/1431/jay-z-named-nba-2k-executive-producer<
Whitaker, L 2013, ‘LeBron James Covers NBA 2K14’, AllBall Blog, June 7, accessed 2 Sept 2013, >http://allball.blogs.nba.com/2013/06/07/lebron-james-covers-nba-2k14/<
Hi Claire, was really intrigued with this post! I always realised there was a lack of female input in global sport like the NBA. But I had never made the connection to the video game itself. Most sports games I have played there have been zero woman in any form representing the male dominance in sport around the world. There have been advances with the WNBA being broadcast around the world as well as the WNBA and W-League around Australia. Your take on the culture around the video game is interesting as well, and that representations of class are seen through the soundtrack. This piece really got me interested, well written, keep at it!
ReplyDeleteHi Clare,
ReplyDeleteThis post jumped out at me immediately and I believe it raised some really valid points. As a massive NBA and 2K fan, I have never even considered some of the points you raised throughout your post. I agree with your discussion surrounding the lack of female representation throughout the 2K franchise reflecting a dominant-hegemonic reading. It will be interesting to see whether as the game further develops a WNBA option ever becomes available, therefore challenging this reading . A combination of obvious passion for the subject and a great deal of background research ensures this was a great post. Well done.
Hi Claire,
ReplyDeleteI found your discussion into sporting video games, in this case the NBA, and their lack of womens leagues to be an interesting blog topic. I found your introduction to be well researched and presented the theory in a way which supports your NBA example. Your use of images throughout your piece also allows readers who have not played an NBA video game to see what it is like even it if is just through a few screenshots you can still determine that there is a strong emphasis on race and gender. Overall, I found your piece to be highly insightful. My only suggestion is to include more than one link in the body of your piece possibly linking LeBron's quote to the article instead of just referencing in the bibliography. Overall though a great post.
Hello Claire!
ReplyDeleteBlogger Fernanda Schabarum wrote: ‘Young girls can't be portrayed by male video game characters. We want them to be able see themselves in the games they love, as the soccer players that inspire them.’ She started a collection of signatures, asking EA Games to make female sport games. When SO many women are interested and active players in different sports, that are also realised as games, there MUST be a market for it? I think so.
Clearly I agree to your questioning about gender inequality. I have not have a problem with princesses made a figure to rescue, as it is a bit romantic in my eyes – but sports? No, this is a problem, since we have many sports played by women at professional stages.
Your research is wide and you give many examples of different ways games divide age, music etc. into estimating boxes. Thank you for enlighten me this!
Silja
Ref:
fernanda schabarum,’ Tell EA Sports to include female characters on their soccer games.’ Change.org, 2012
Hi Claire,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting point about female representations in video games, and one I hadn't really considered at all even after years of playing FIFA and NBA 2K games. It's an intriguing viewpoint, however I feel as though it's just a reflection of sporting culture, where female sports are always seen as inferior to their male counterparts, and games take their lead from real life. You also explored representations of race and the hip hop sub culture very well, as they do indeed re-enforce dominant ideals about African Americans especially. You also used the reading by Hall very well to back up your assertions. Keep up the good work!