Another day, another article accusing a video game of "stale, retrograde gender stereotypes" because it's low-hanging fruit and makes for good social signaling to others of a similar political bent who don't actually care that much about games, but find they make an easy target. Everyone knows video games are super sexist, after all.
In this case, the game is Nintendo's first major mobile title, Super Mario Run, and the author is the New York Times' Chris Suellentrop, who writes:
Super Mario Run begins, as does almost every Super Mario title, with Princess Peach becoming a hostage who must be rescued by Mario. Just before her ritual kidnapping, Peach invites Mario to her castle and pledges to bake him a cake. Upon her rescue, she kisses Mario. The game also includes a second female character, Toadette, whose job is to wave a flag before and after a race, like a character from “Grease.”
By failing to update Super Mario for a contemporary audience, Nintendo is lagging far behind the Walt Disney Co., one of its closest American analogues. Disney’s film “Frozen” subverted and reinvigorated the fairy-tale princess movie; “The Force Awakens” gave us a female Jedi. Super Mario Run doesn’t even try.
The problem with this argument is that Super Mario Run does, in fact, try. Both Princess and Toadette are playable characters in the game. They're simply unlockable characters. As with many mobile games (and non-mobile games, for that matter) Super Mario Run has rewards for completing certain benchmarks. Like many, many other games, these rewards include unlocking various characters.
Suellentrop acknowledges this, noting that both female characters are unlockable after completing certain tasks, but complains that this is negated by them then feeling like "prizes"---though he notes this is also true of playable male characters.
In this case, the game is Nintendo's first major mobile title, Super Mario Run, and the author is the New York Times' Chris Suellentrop, who writes:
Super Mario Run begins, as does almost every Super Mario title, with Princess Peach becoming a hostage who must be rescued by Mario. Just before her ritual kidnapping, Peach invites Mario to her castle and pledges to bake him a cake. Upon her rescue, she kisses Mario. The game also includes a second female character, Toadette, whose job is to wave a flag before and after a race, like a character from “Grease.”
By failing to update Super Mario for a contemporary audience, Nintendo is lagging far behind the Walt Disney Co., one of its closest American analogues. Disney’s film “Frozen” subverted and reinvigorated the fairy-tale princess movie; “The Force Awakens” gave us a female Jedi. Super Mario Run doesn’t even try.
The problem with this argument is that Super Mario Run does, in fact, try. Both Princess and Toadette are playable characters in the game. They're simply unlockable characters. As with many mobile games (and non-mobile games, for that matter) Super Mario Run has rewards for completing certain benchmarks. Like many, many other games, these rewards include unlocking various characters.
Suellentrop acknowledges this, noting that both female characters are unlockable after completing certain tasks, but complains that this is negated by them then feeling like "prizes"---though he notes this is also true of playable male characters.
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