Videogames: Lara Croft Case Study

Lara Croft Case Study

Language

1) Who is Lara Croft and when did she first appear in a videogame?
Lara Croft is a female protagonist and and she first appeared in a videogame in 1966.

2) What classic films influenced the creation of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider games?
Indiana Jones was the film that influenced Eidos to create the first Tomb Raider game.

3) How has Lara Croft and Tomb Raider moved beyond just being a videogame?
Lara Croft and Tomb Raider has moved beyond just being a videogame because there have been movies based on the character of Lara Croft and more games have developed off Tomb Raider such as Lara Croft Go.

4) What devices can you play Lara Croft Go on?
Phones, Tablets, iPads etc.

5) What type of game is Lara Croft Go?
Lara Croft Go is an adventure puzzle based game.

6) How does Lara Croft Go use narrative (storyline)?
The narrative of Lara Croft Go is to go through to complete lots of different mazes to unlock individual levels while collecting gems and artefacts to help complete the game.

7) What iconography can be found in Lara Croft Go? How does this help communicate the sub-genre of videogame?
The iconography found in Lara Croft Go is costume, weponds & props. The sub-genre communicated is danger and action.

8) What other characters or enemies feature in the game?
The characters found in Lara Croft Go is Lara Croft, spiders, snakes etc.

9) What is the setting for Lara Croft Go? How does this compare to previous Lara Croft or Tomb Raider games?
The setting for Lara Croft Go is set in an Amazon jungle with ancient ruins, this compares to a Tomb Raider game because it has kind of the same setting. Mainly games like Tomb Raider or Lara Croft Go are set in ancient ruins.

10) Read this BBC article on the history of Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. How has the character of Lara Croft evolved over the last 20 years?  
The character of Lara Croft has evolved over time because she used to wear short ridiculous clothing but now shes more dressed and wears clothing that's suitable for exploring.

Industries

1) What does PEGI stand for?
PEGI stands for Pan European Game Information

2) What is PEGI's job?
PEGI's job is to use the rating system to rate video games in the European to help the consumers make informed decisions when buying a video game or an app through the use of age recommendations and content descriptors.

3) Which company created Lara Croft Go?
Lara Croft Go was developed by Square Enix Montreal, a studio that was founded to develop a triple-A Hitman game but was re-purposed to create mobile games for the West.

4) What two popular videogame franchises were combined to create Lara Croft Go?
Lara Croft Go is the combination of two successful franchises, Lara Croft Tomb Raider & Hitman Go mobile game.

5) What else is part of the Lara Croft/Tomb Raider franchise?
Hitman Go is apart of the Lara Croft & Tomb Raider franchise.


Audience

1) Why might an audience enjoy playing Lara Croft Go?
An audience may enjoy playing Lara Croft Go because it uses Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications theory of diversion and personal relations. Diversion is a good way to hook gamers into your game as a way of escapism so that they loose track of time, where as personal relations will have you as a gamer feeling a sort of way towards a character. For example, getting upset if a character dies.

2) Where and when might an audience play a game like Lara Croft Go? Think about the device it is played on and the times of the day someone might want to play the game.
Because of the fact that Lara Croft is a phone and tablet game an audience may play this type of game when they are on the go, when they are waiting for something or when they get bored. This is because its an easy access game.

3) How did Square Enix design Lara Croft to make it appealing to an audience?
Square Enix designed Lara Croft to appeal to an audience because it used two very popular games back in the 19th century to grab a large audience, also it uses puzzles and females are more likely to play puzzle games so that is how they upped there gamers.

4) Which of Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory might apply to Lara Croft Go?
Diversion (entertainment)
Personal relationships (social interaction)

5) Who is the target audience for Lara Croft Go? How does brand loyalty contribute to this target audience?
Lara Croft Go is targeted mainly at a female audience since its a puzzle game and female are usually interested with puzzle games, but its also because of the fact that the protagonist is female and shes an adventurer and females like action and adventure.


Representation

1) How are women usually represented in videogames?
Women are usually represented as some kind of sex object in videogames, this is because they are mainly not wearing a lot of clothes.

2) How does the character of Lara Croft reinforce female stereotypes in the media?
Lara Croft reinforces female stereotypes because they focus on her appearance, they make her over sexualised (sound effects and clothing)

3) How does the character of Lara Croft subvert female stereotypes in the media?
Lara Croft subverts female stereotypes because during 1966 she was the first female playable character and she was a protagonist. Also, she has male traits such as superior strength, intellect/skill and she knows how to handle weponds.

4) Why do some people believe the videogames industry is sexist and needs to change?
Some people believe that the videogame industry is sexist because most of the female characters are represented as sexual objects because of the fact that the creators decide to emphasis certain body parts (making them bigger, short clothing etc.)

5) Do you think Lara Croft is an empowering feminist icon or just another objectified woman designed to appeal to male gamers?
I think Lara Croft is an empowering feminist icon because shes a female character who isn't in need of saving by any male character because she knows how to defend herself and shes a protagonist , but on the other hand some people may disagree and see her as an objectified woman design to appeal to male gamers because of how they emphasis on certain body features and wears a certain type of clothing to make them more known.

https://youtu.be/GoyGlyrYb9c

1) What were the first videogames like?
The first videogames had bad quality, were simple and almost had to do the same thing for each game. For example, Pong.

2) How have videogames changed over time?
The quality has changed and they are more sophisticated, also each game has its own narrative.

3) What do the most successful games have in common?
The most successful games were Pacman, Tetris, Street Fighter, Minecraft, Call Of Duty, Mario Kart Wii.The thing that they all had in common was the fact that they all came out different compared to the games during there time.

4) What criticisms have been made towards videogames?
Criticism made towards videogames is that is promotes violence and it may be an influence on young children or teens.

https://youtu.be/2gUtfBmw86Y
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2018/mar/07/fortnite-battle-royale-parents-guide-video-game-multiplayer-shooter

1) How many Fortnite players are there worldwide?
There are approximately 250 million players worldwide.

2) Why is it so popular? What are the audience pleasures of the game?
Fortnite is popular because its free, fun and has a very silly offbeat sense of humour.

3) Why might some people criticise Fortnite?
Some people may feel the need to criticise Fortnite because its too addictive.

4) Copy and paste two comments from 'below the line' of the Guardian article - these are comments written by Guardian readers in response to the feature. Select one comment you agree with and one you disagree with and explain why.