Yankee Gamer Blog

      A (Respectful) Critique of Anita Sarkeesian’s Tropes Versus Women in Video Games Anita Sarkeesian’s YouTube video series entitled Tropes Versus Women in Video Games takes a feminist approach to critique video games and their various representations of women. Episodes discuss topics such as the damsel-in-distress trope, the sexualization of women, and positive female role models in video games. Sarkeesian’s ideas are thought-provoking but fail to capture the full context of several video games and franchises, making many of her arguments incomplete. Some examples include her discourse on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , the Super Mario franchise, and Hitman: Absolution. In her discussion on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , Sarkeesian points to how Sheik becomes a damsel only minutes after revealing her true identity, Zelda. She states, “However, as soon as she [Sheik] transforms back into her more stereotypically feminine form of Princess Ze...

          Jonathan Jones is an art critic who writes for The Guardian. Jones has not shied away from controversy in his career. Accusations of hypocrisy came about when he gave seemingly contradicting opinions on Soviet art and “far-right artworks.” Jones also found himself in controversy when claiming video games are not art. Despite these conflicts, Jones is knowledgeable about the arts and gives insightful perspectives. However, he does not understand video games and fails to recognize their artistry in his article, “Sorry MoMA, video games are not art.” Unlike chess, checkers, Life , or Monopoly video games provide a clear evolution of games into art and provide players with experiences rivaling other artistic forms.   An issue from the onset of Jones’s article is the set parameters for what constitutes art. Jones refers to an Oxford debate he attended and the distinct parameters given for what art is: “A work of art is one person’s...

A video game’s ability to fuse interactivity with other mediums helps create unique emotional experiences. Emotions come through in a multitude of ways. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask’s structure encourages the player to explore the world of Termina. Doing so reveals several side quests where NPCs (non-playable characters) have unhealed trauma needing resolution. These factors lead the player to care about the NPCs and the strife that they can help alleviate. For example, Cremia of Romani Ranch endured the death of her father and now struggles to provide for her younger sister. The player learns all this when assisting Cremia in delivering milk to Clock Town. Doing so helps bring much-needed revenue to Romani Ranch, which relieves the player, as they just helped assist a struggling individual. Intrigue in Cremia’s story builds when she tells the player that her friend, Anju, will soon get married. This new detail about Anju gives Cremia a deeper connection to the world of Termina b...

One of the strongest arguments against video games being art is their interactive component. For some, this makes them more akin to board games such as Monopoly or Life . However, this criticism fails to account for the uniqueness of gaming and its evolution over the last sixty-plus years. Gaming today is more than reacting to something on a screen. Almost every video game is a unique experience created by one or multiple artists, with some intent to evoke certain emotions similar to those experienced in cinema or literature, which distinguishes gaming from something like Monopoly or Life . Video games also use other artistic mediums to create distinct aesthetics and emotions, such as cinematic cutscenes rivaling the best movies, areas looking similar to live-action paintings the player can interact with, or a soundtrack that leaves a lasting impression. These emotions are not far from what a movie or book evokes. Emotional states such as sadness over a character’s death, awe over th...