In “Tropes VS. Women in Video Games”, Anita uses lots of visual aides as well as compelling audio commentary to explain her view of the subject at hand. Her argument is that many video games made in the 1990’s and some made in modern culture have a sexist “damsel in distress” plotline that displays women characters as weak, helpless prizes that the protagonist acquires once he beats all the trials faced throughout the game. Since this idea was displayed as a video, it was able to have a more compelling argument by use of clips from video games mentioned, as well as dialogue from the games. One specific example is when the video displayed a scene from “Donkey Kong”, showing the monkey kidnap the princess and force the player to get through the obstacles in order to obtain the princess back. This displayed her argument of the general plot used: male hero to save the “damsel in distress.”
The article, “How a Star Wars video game faced charges that it was promoting gambling,” explains the conflict between EA Games, and partnering companies, as well as the franchise’s fanbase. The conflict surrounds the implementation of in-game purchases that allow players to have the chance to win upgrades they can use in game to be more successful than the opponent. Those opposing EA claim that this tactic is a form of gambling, since the players can purchase the chance to win these upgrades. In fact, social media had a large impact on the conflict between the fanbase and the developers. EA posted on reddit their argument for implementing this mechanic, and the fans backlashed. The post got the most downvotes any post has gotten on reddit in 12 years. This showed EA that this mechanic was widely unpopular, so they decided to postpone the mechanic. This issue has shown up in multiple areas other than just EA; mobile games like Clash of Clans and similar games have implemented these microtransactions, making the game a “play to win” scenario. Clash of Clans, for example, uses gems as currency that players can buy to speed up building times or buy gold/elixir to upgrade buildings inside their base.
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