Videogames: The Sims FreePlay part 3 - Representation

 The Sims FreePlay - Representation blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'The Sims FreePlay case study part 3 - Representations' and complete the following tasks.

Textual analysis

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?

Pregnancy - Western beauty ideals within the female community 

Police DLC - society is still run and controlled by institutional opression

Pre-teen DLC - targets key audience

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

Usually white characters that are featured

Despite the higher female players, more males appear in the trailer

Normalisation of heterosexual relationships

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

Male gaze - females are positioned to appeal to the male gamers

Gauntlett - we reflect genders as opposed to adopting them 

normalised traumatisation - males expected to behave in a certain way


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?

It intends to reflect everything individual players want in their ideal life. Although it's a simulation, content created about it can be a simulacra. 

“We’re not really looking for realism, we’re looking more for believability,” he told me. “It’s kind of a model of life with things like death and aging, but we don’t do things like broken bones and bleeding. It’s just not the kind of thing our game demands.”

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

They try to take a very neutral stance on issues like racism because this game doesn't reflect real life and therefore race and ethnicity hasn't got much relevance in The Sims. 

"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.“

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

They don't include any indicators of a bias as it's not meant to reflect society rather a simulation.

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

The customisation methods make it very easy to assign characters with its own identity including gender.

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

The freemium model encourages players to spend money in order for a big successful developer to get ece richer whist the average working class are getting ripped off

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?

It allows players to express their sexuality however they feel, something that society doesn't give  a chance to do.

2) How is sexuality now represented in The Sims?

It's presented as fluid to allow the players to wrap the meaning of sexuality + gender around their individual needs

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

It presents the game as progressive which allows them to create more LGBTQ content that gives players to opportunity to find personal relationship and identity with their characters

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

Their new "Love Bed" addition was given an M-rating instead of the usual T-rating which meant that EA had to remove it but they protested that claim all the way.

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

It's more open to interpretation as players can choose their own gender and females are being given more central roles without being sexualised. A recent example is the inclusion of "gender neutral" as an option when picking a character for Call of Duty: Cold War

Reality, postmodernism and The Sims

Read this Paste Magazine feature on reality and The Sims franchise. Answer the following questions:

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

Although games are meant for diversion, The Sims seemingly does the job despite reflecting a simulation of real life.

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

Escapism, personal relationship, personal identity

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

Although the washer and dryer was added as a DLC, the writer still didn't use it because if the addition of that task to the Sims' daily routine. This suggests that not all DLCs are in high demand. 

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

I think it should have all the human comforts we use in our everyday life but the developers should stop making it too much like real life as players are trying to escape from the real world as opposed to living in a virtual version of real life

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

Although you're emulating a real world, the actions you complete and the characters you create would most likely not exist in the real world, blending the meaning of illusion and reality. 

The Sims FreePlay social media analysis

Analyse The Sims FreePlay Facebook page and Twitter feed and answer the following questions:

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

To promote new DLCs and gameplay that some newbies might've missed out on. 

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.

Twitter:

- Morocco update encourages audiences to go and download it to escape the winter period in the northern hemisphere

-The new customisation update allows you to wear hijabs, a very big inclusion to make sure more players are engaging with the game
- Christmas Carol house update suggests that players should immerse themselves in the seasonal feeling and play this unique map

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?

I can see quite a lot of people asking to fix bugs and other various small tweaks. This allows the developer to constantly cater the game's content specifically around The Sims' audience, making it more likely that they'll interact with it

4) What tweets can you find in the Twitter feed that refer to additional content or other revenue streams for EA?

The Arabian update brings in a lot of money because if the amount of time spent in lockdown. The christmas updates also suggest increased revenue too.

5) Linking to our work on postmodernism, how could The Sims FreePlay social media presence be an example of Baudrillard’s hyperreality and simulacra?

The real world is something that the real wold tries to emulate but also calls itself a simulation, allowing characters to create content that suits their individual needs. You could argue that because EA include so many real-world objects that the game is an example of hyperreality because the world in Sims might be seen as more of an indicator for reality as opposed to the real world, in the eyes of the gamer.

Simulacra also appears in The Sims' social media team. They're real people interacting with real gamers but centre its content around a completely fictional universe.